BC is back in the states!

Well, after almosting missing my flight thanks to horrific Guatemalan traffic and having to wait an hour for one of my bags at baggage claim...I AM HOME!!!! I got to go to Moe's for dinner and eat a wonderfully delicious Sherman Klump (or should I say Super Kingpin) with chipotle ranch! YUM! It definitely feels good to be back in the states, but I am already missing the kids! It's really weird not seeing their faces or hearing them yell my name from across the way! Thanks to all who prayed for traveling mercies for me today!And please keep three of the interns in your prayers; they missed their flights and I haven't heard if they were able to get on another flight back to the states today!

A few pics of my last night at NLCH......

[Alex and I]


[B y Huevo (Edgar)]


[Estela and I]


[Franki, Me, and Pablo]


[Salomon, me and Esdras]

Less than one day.....

As of right now (4PM Guatemalan time), I have less than one day until I'm back in the states! I can't believe that August 6 is TOMORROW! This summer has flown by so fast! I would like to take this post to thank all of you who supported me (both financially and through prayer) while I prepared for this summer and while I was here in Guatemala! And thank you to all of those who sent me emails and/or left messages on my blog througout the summer! I'm so glad I was able to keep in touch with all of my friends and family, and that I was able to keep everyone updated on what I was doing through this blog! I'm really going to miss NLCH. It feels like a second home (where I have 49 brothers and sisters), and I hope that another visit here is in God's plan for my life (I'm hoping I can bring my family next time!)! Please keep the interns and I in your prayers as we travel back to the states tomorrow! I can't wait to see of you when I get back! Gracias por todos! God Bless!

Video Footage of Mambo King!

Here it is! I've been wanting this video footage the entire summer and Beth finally got it last Sunday at church! Yes!


(For those of you who might not be able to pick him out from the rest of the people: Mambo King is the guy in the white shirt who is waving his arms in the air and dancing)

Un dia a la piscina!

We took the level 2, 3, and 4 kids to the pool yesterday! They absolutely loved every second of it! Check out some of the pictures:

[Josue and Kevin]


[Liz and I hanging out by the pool]


[Beth, Jessica, Eslin, and I helped Minga cook the hot dogs for lunch]


[Sammy enjoying his lunch]




[Playing in the kiddy pool]


[Eliseo and Javier having fun on the tube in the wave pool]

Cooking breakfast......at 4:30 AM this morning!

Teryn, Emily, and I woke up at 4:30 AM to help Jon and Minga cook breakfast for the kids. It was very early, but a lot of fun. We made derretidos- which are basically grilled ham, cheese, and egg sandwiches. We first buttered about 110 pieces of bread. Then Teryn and I cracked open eggs while Jon and Emily cooked them in the skillet. After the eggs were cooked, Jon, Teryn, and I assembled the sandwiches on the big round griddle thing. I would put the bread down, then the cheese; Teryn would then put the egg on; I would put ham on top of the egg; and then Jon would come behind me with a little more cheese and the other slices of bread to complete the derretidos. We burnt the first few because Teryn and I didn’t really know what we were doing (and we were a little slow), but we eventually got the hang of it. I think we ended making about 60 derretidos. And since we cooked, we also got to eat breakfast with the boys for the first time this summer (the girls eat in their houses so that’s why we only ate with the boys). They are pretty funny in the mornings because they are still half way asleep; but I don’t blame them….they do have to wake up at 5AM every morning! But anyways, we had a fun and delicious breakfast, and this was just one more chance for us to connect with the boys before we head back to the states in FOUR days!

[Spreading the butter on the bread]


[Jon cooking the eggs]


[Assembling the derretidos]


[The derretidos cooking on the griddle]


[Teryn with the spatula.....WATCH OUT! :)]

Intern Retreat at Panajachel!

We just returned from our intern retreat at Panajachel! It was a great trip! We were able to sleep in, relax, shop, go on a boat ride, watch 5 episodes of "The Office", and share our experiences from the summer and things we have learned! Check out some pics:

[This was my view as I read my devotional this morning! Beautiful!]


[Me at the front of the boat]


[The girls on the boat]


[B falling overboard! Just kidding!]


[The interns at Pana]

Only one week left!

I can't believe I only have ONE week left here at NLCH! The past two months have flown by! Tomorrow, Daniel and Kara are taking the remaining 6 interns (which are all girls...poor Daniel) to Panajachel for our Intern Retreat. This will be a time for us to relax, enjoy each others' company, and reminisce about our internship at NLCH- our favorite memories, our least favorite memories, the things God has revealed to us or taught us during this summer, etc. Please pray for safety as we travel tomorrow, as well as a safe and fun time on our retreat! And thank you all again for keeping me in your prayers this entire summer! God has watched over me and continues to watch over me! I'm so thankful for this home and for this summer! I'm so glad I spent my summer here!

Slumber party!

Last night, we (the interns) had a "slumber party" with some of the older girls at their house. (I put slumber party in quotes b/c some of us actually went back to the dorms to sleep) The night started off with us making Cinnamon Roll Bread. We used a recipe from Donnie Webb (the guy who was here a few weeks ago and is the head of Construction at NLCH). We made 4 times the recipe because we wanted 4 loaves, but after we made the dough, we remembered that his recipe makes 3 loaves. We had one big ball of dough! It was pretty awesome! We had to let the dough rise twice so Emily finished preparing it this morning at 2AM so we would be able to eat it at breakfast. Eslin also braided my hair into tiny braids last night....my entire head of hair! It only took her an hour. I was impressed, especially when I asked her if her hands were hurting and she said no. Check out some pics of all the fun we had:

[Mixing the ingredients for the Cinnamon Roll bread]


[Kneading the dough]


[Enjoying a BlowPop sucker]


[Delia took a lot of random photos of Teryn and I last night]


[Getting my hair braided]


[Eslin and B after the braids were finished]


[Debora, Eslin, and Delia eating breakfast]


[Emily, me, Ibet, and Teryn enjoying our Cinnamon Roll bread at breakfast this morning]

A day in Antigua.....with the Bright Star team!

Yesterday, I got to go with the Bright Star group to Antigua, Guatemala. It was so much fun! The van I rode in had Daniel (the driver), Richard Jacobus, the Grucas, the Altomares, the Reynolds, and the Peteros. Getting to listen to their conversations and enjoy one another’s company was cracking me up! They are all so funny! Our first stop of the day was at La Iglesia de San Francisco. This is the church that holds the bones of Santo Hermano Pedro, the only saint from Guatemala. We walked around the ruins, looked at the museum (where we saw Pedro’s burlap underwear that he wore to punish himself), and we also got to see inside of the church. Our second stop of the day was at the coffee plantation. We had a Spanish tour guide because the English one was not there, so Daniel translated for the group! He did an excellent job! I think the team really enjoyed this place since a lot of them love coffee! We ate NI-FU NI-FA for lunch; it’s a REALLY good steak restaurant in Antigua! It was awesome! We had salads from the salad bar, garlic bread, French fries, and giant steaks. We also decided to have dessert and split them with another person. Kara and I ordered the cheesecake, which was not like cheesecake in the U.S. It had a good crust, but that was about it. The actual cake part had a tofu texture; it jiggled when I touched it! After lunch we headed to the market for shopping. I got to help out the Reynolds with buying jewelry and t-shirts, and then I also helped Heather Petero barter for some things for her friends. I mainly acted as their translator; it was fun and very good practice for me! Oh and Bob Reynolds was cracking me up while I was shopping with him and Nancy. He was trying to figure out an easy way to calculate the exchange rate for quetzals to dollars in his head, which is very hard to do since it’s about 7.5 quetzals for every dollar, but he was determined to find an easy way to do it! And then on the way home, every time someone would mention how much they paid for something at the market, he would try to figure out how many American dollars they had spent. We were all cracking up. Bob had also made the mistake (earlier in the day) of calling a quetzal a “casino”, so we got the pleasure of making fun of him all day for that, too! It was a fun day with the Bright Star team in Antigua! I’m SO glad I was able to tag along and hang out with for day!

[Me at La Iglesia de San Francisco]


[A few of us at the ruins at La Iglesia de San Francisco]


[Tim and Kara in the van]


[Riding with the Bright Star crew to Antigua]


[Jim drinking his free cup of coffee at the Coffee museum]


[Lisa enjoying her cup of free coffee]


[Kara and I sipping on our coffees]


[The Bright Star team at the Coffee museum]


[The restaurant where we ate lunch]


[Jack drinking his Pepsi at NI-FU NI-FA]


[Raise your hand if you want black beans for lunch!]


[Heather and I at NI-FU NI-FA]


[Me with my very yummy steak]

A Busy and Fun Week With Bright Star!

The Bright Star team has kept me busy this past week, but I've loved every second of it! I'm so sad that they're leaving tomorrow...I wish they could stay one more week and then come home with me! Here are a few pics from this past week:



JUST KIDDING...JUST KIDDING! No worries....they DID do work this week and lots of it!
(Pics top to bottom: Richard working on a sculpture for the Comedor; Pam A. and Nancy painting the fishes that Richard made; Nancy painting Bob's face; Lisa and Debbie sharing some educational games for some of the teachers at New Life; Heather Petero painting guitars in the older boys' room)

Bright Star is working hard!

The Bright Star crew is working hard! In the past three days they've already organized the supply closet, painted the boys' rooms, cleaned 26 childrens' teeth, done mulitple construction projects, fixed the telephones, and helped Kara with grocery shopping! They've also spent a lot of times with the kids painting faces; playing four square, basketball, and football; and watching the futbol games! Check out some pics of the team in action:

(Richard painting the boys' room)


(Diane painting an ocean scene in the little boys' room)


(Jack Checking out the ceiling)


(The Altomares eating lunch with Sammy!)


(Tim and Karla)


(Bob Reynolds working hard)