Catching up...

Boy, the photographer is definitely on vacation! :-)

I don't have much in the way of new pictures... been too busy relaxing by the pool and enjoying the moments and conversations! I will try to catch up a bit tonight though on our trip home from Guatemala and post the pictures that I know many of you are waiting for of our items that made it home.
We started out very early in the morning from Antigua and made the 45 minute drive to Guatemala City. On arriving at the airport, Aaron and I realized that we had only 2 quetzales (about 25 cents) left in cash besides the money we had set aside for our exit fees. Obviously, this was not enough to tip anyone, so we prepared to bring all our luggage into the airport ourselves and try to avoid the many people willing to help outside the doors. It was truly embarrassing to be dragging 16 assorted pieces of luggage with us and refusing all offers of help- talk about looking like overly confident, independent Americans!
We made it in and had a very sweet woman assisting us with checking our bags. No problems with any of our items, she checked them all through without incident. Yeah!
The kids prepared to take off for their 5th flight in 2 weeks...
We arrived in Dallas/Ft. Worth to go through customs, and our wood chest was almost taken from us! Unbeknownst to us (because it isn't written anywhere in the multiple page booklet on US border regulations), you apparently are not allowed to bring any wood items into the US unless they have a special stamp on them, which the agent couldn't tell us how you would obtain such a thing- just basically that we couldn't. It was very annoying, but he finally let us through with it and I still am not exactly sure what it was all about!
That day was very long, and we were very glad to finally arrive at home, where our friends had prepared a great welcome and BBQ! Thanks again, you guys! :-)

Here is my wood chest- safely home and assembled again. It looks mighty dangerous, doesn't it? I promise to keep an eye on it and not let it out... :-)

Our lovely wrought iron candle piece- thoroughly sat upon, bent, squished and zip-tied down:

Restored and mounted outside our front door:

Alex enjoys a quiet moment reading in the hammock:Well, now we're here in Cabo, and Aaron decided to try the Screamin' Jalepeno Poppers last night... he made his way through a whole plate full of unseeded roasted jalepenos stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon. He probably only sweat a pint :-)... but he had to finish them off! Beth and Kyler each tried a small bite, and while they like spicy stuff they both looked like they may never taste again.

The view up the hill from the lower pool... our place is all the way up at the top... very fun. You get around by being driven in little golf carts up and down the winding hills. Very similar to much of our last trip, only smaller vehicles and shorter trips!
Ella and Max help Grandpa pay the bill for dinner... Max was begging, "I want to sign something!" Remember that, dear boy, and in a few years we'll let you sign every time we go out to dinner... :-)

Tomorrow we head towards town on an early shuttle (here, that means 10:00 am- the kids have been sleeping until 9 each morning!!) to visit two other resorts for the day- the Blanco and the Rose. Grandma and Grandpa have lots of friends there that are really looking forward to meeting the kids!
We're having a great time- it's been so relaxing and wonderful to not have a schedule and just enjoy being together. The kids are having a blast swimming all day and are trying new tricks in the water. Alex even did a handstand and flip today! Of course, he did the same thing back in our room on the tile floor which quite surprised him- he wasn't expecting to have that much power, I think, and just went right over. Ouch.