My Fish

HV and HM swim... a lot. Even as cold as our pool is now, they still get in (not daily, but still!). This school year they joined a swim team through their school and have loved it! Technically, HM is too young for this school group, but the coach said "let's try her and see how she does." She's been in the water with them every week since then! They had their first meet this past weekend and did GREAT! Both girls competed in all 4 strokes and placed in the top 3 on all events for their age bracket. HM came home with a medal and 4 ribbons. HV came home with a trophy and 4 ribbons. They issue points based on their ranking and HV had the highest number of points in her age bracket. Needless to say, we are proud of our "fish!" Good job, lovies!

and then she was 8

HM today, her 8th birthday

One of the first photos of HM, 3 days old

Oh my! Our "middle" baby is 8 years old today. Boy, she has grown and changed! Entering the world at just 5 pounds and a few ounces, we never imagined that she would grow up to be such a "big" girl! She can still scream and screech with the best of them, but she can control herself so much more in the last year or so. She's such a good big sister to HG and a little sister to HV. I can't imagine our family without her! We love you, Stinky Girl!

No, she doesn't stink. :) I'm not sure why we call her that, but we do.

Have a Heart Day

The school where HV and HM attend had their annual Have a Heart Day this week. The students go out into the community and do something to give of themselves. J went with HV (they went to a retirement center and then to the animal shelter) and I went with HM. HM's group went to a nursing home, a senior activities center, and a fire station. Here's little HM manning the firehose!

I took this with my phone so the quality isn't the greatest, but you can still see her in action!

Little Gymnast

After we returned from Guatemala in August 2009, HM and HV started taking gymnastics. HV takes a tumbling class where she does floor stuff only (like for cheerleading though she hasn't expressed an interest in cheerleading) while HM does all 4 women's Olympic events. In May, HM had a gymnastics "competition" (term used loosely!) and had a good time! Here's our smiley girl with her achievement ribbons

Princess HM Visits a Princess

On Saturday, we had HM's 7th birthday celebration. As you know, we don't make a big deal about getting presents and focus on celebrating the day with good friends instead. HM's best friend, G-man, asked if he could take her to see a theater performance of "Cinderella" for her birthday. J and I thought that would be a great plan for all of us to do together. And so, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, we met at the theater for an afternoon of fun followed by dinner.

G-man, HV, and HM before the show

The show was cute and pretty short, only 54 minutes. I think HV and HM expected it to be more like Disney's Cinderella in terms of the songs, but they liked it nonetheless. HM did get a bit afraid with the darkness and so we switched seats so that I could sit by her the whole time. After the show, the kids could get the autographs of the various characters and pose for photos with many of them too. At first, they thought this was goofy, but then they got into it and wanted to go back through the crowds and get the autographs of almost everyone!

The girls with the ugly step-sisters

With the king

with the Fairy Godmother

With the Prince and Cinderella, who signed her name as Cindy! You couldn't ask to pose with the Prince or Cinderella. G-man's mom snapped this photo for us as we went through the line.

HM and G-man with their gumballs

HM and G-man go way back. Way back. They were cribmates together in Guatemala and so our ongoing joke is that they knew each other before we knew them. G-man LOVES him some HM. HM LOVES her some G-man.

HM and her loot from her family

per the Princess' request: Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! Watch out, that blue frosting will turn your teeth and lips blue too!

Our big 7 year old! Happy Birthday, Princess!

Monday, Monday

HG, her mom, and her sister (taken summer 2009)

If you have followed our journey to bring HG home for any period of time, you know that the "tomorrow" always changes days. Well, the new "tomorrow" is Monday, March 8. If you remember, we have been waiting for 2 pieces of paper--one for the US Embassy and another one for the PGN/Attorney General's office. Well, we got both of them about a week ago. I have sent a scan of the one to the US Embassy, asking them if it's adequate (it doesn't have the exact wording that they desired, but the Guatemalan government office said they won't do that exact wording). The gal that needs to give me the feedback on it has been out of the office, returning on Monday. So, we will see if she responds. I know she will be swamped when she returns, but I do hope she is able to say "yes" or "no" and then we can go from there. I'm not sure how we will proceed, regardless of what she says, but we can't make a plan until she does. The PGN also received their letter, but it was delivered from one entity to another and so we haven't seen it nor do we know what it says. The PGN then decided that they need to interview HG's mom, again. So, we've made the arrangements and HG and her mom will go on Monday for this. I am not sure what the purpose of the interview is--release the case for processing or to give the approval of the case--but regardless, it's necessary. So, I do HOPE and PRAY that Monday is a good day for us. Please pray for that too! I'll update here as soon as I have word on Monday. Our dear translator said she will email me as soon as the interviews are over. She quite the advocate for me and I wouldn't be able to get much of this stuff accomplished without her help.





In other/unrelated news, HM lost 2 teeth in the last few days. She lost the first one at school and then she literally lost the tooth at school! The tooth was found by her dear teacher and was returned on Friday. We put it in the pillow, but the tooth mouse didn't make it last night. HV's guess is that since it didn't get put out on the day it was lost, it didn't "smell" strong enough for the mouse. :) I'll go with that. So, HM is optimistic that the tooth mouse will visit tonight since she lost one today and the smell will be fresh for the mouse. :) I'm quite sure that he WILL indeed visit tonight. That tricky mouse.... Oh, the second tooth that she lost was a top front tooth. She is quite pumped that she has lost her first tooth on the top!

Splish Splash!

I was looking at old pictures and this one was taken 5 years ago today. Oh my, they have grown.

From the other pictures I had taken on this day, this must have been HM's first bubble bath or at least one of the first. She apparently was amazed at her feet "hiding" under the bubbles and then reappearing when she lifted her foot back out of the water. Oh my.

Fast forward to January 2009 when HM and I traveled to Guatemala for HG's 4th birthday. HM was able to help HG "check out" taking a bath, just as HV had helped her.

Again, oh my.

"Brawl"

Sometimes HM says things that totally crack us up. She's typically not trying to be funny. Yesterday we went to her Open House at school. On the way home, she was excitedly asking us if we saw her pumpkin book, dog puppet, etc. Out of the blue, she says, "Oh and Mom? Alexa has a brawl." Now, this had the tone of like "oh my gosh! I cannot believe that Alexa has a brawl." Confused, I said, "Who is Alexa? and what is a brawl?" HM responded that Alexa is a new girl in another class and she has a brawl like HV's. What??? So then, HV figures it out. Bra! Alexa has a bra! Now, I don't know if Alexa does or doesn't have a bra, but it was just so funny the way it came out of her mouth and at such a random time.
We've had so much rain here in the last 7-10 days, that I am ready for the sun. My mind and body are ready for it too. I know the rain is needed, but I find it rather depressing to have cloudy days every day.
Happy Weekend!

Burnt the Horner

pic of the girls at gymnastics, taken with my sister's cell phone

According to my dad, my older sister and I used to say "Burnt the horner, Daddis. Burnt the horner." What we meant was "honk the horn, Daddy. Honk the horn." So, we've all said this little saying for our whole lives. So, why am I writing about this? HM got to "honk the horn" tonight at gymnastics. HM and HV both started taking lessons 3 weeks ago. HM had been asking to go and so initially it was going to be her thing. My mom owns a gymnastics center in our area and when we went to HM's class, she said that she forgot that there was a class that HV could do at the same time. So, both girls are going. And having lots of fun. The gym has a horn which you get to honk when you learn a new trick. Everyone in the gym stops and looks to see what "the honker" learned, complete with clapping and cheering. HM's honk was for learning a pullover on the bars. Now, I'm actually quite surprised that HM can do this since she hasn't shown to be particularly strong nor has she done much on the bars until today. She is very proud of herself (she told us that on several occasions tonight) and we are proud of her too! Yes, we're proud of HV too, but it's nice for the little sister to get to be the first one to do something for a change.

Limanad

pictures taken before going to the 1st day of school 2009

HM started 1st grade when we returned from Guatemala. She has grown and changed so much in the last 6 years. Looking at pictures of her as a baby don't even look like her to me.

one month old-first picture of her with her eyes open. Those big, dark, and round eyes.

We picked up HM in the evening on this day--January 24, 2004

HM is learning to read. And spell. She's different than HV in that HM will try to spell things, even if it's not correct. HV never wanted (and still doesn't) to write it if it's not spelled correctly. HM will try. I find this note in her backpack the other day. I hope you can read it, but if not, it says "Limanad and cookes for sal $25"

I was so tickled when I saw this. I guess she was planning on having a lemonade and cookie sale. She writes little stories and notes to us all of the time. If she's carrying a purse when you see her, I'm sure that there's a tablet and a pencil in there, ready to write something down. Just in case she needs to do so, you know.

I love you, stinkie. You are growing and becoming such a big girl.

Cabelleriza

I just realized that I never published this post from when we went on the horseback riding tour. Sorry! This was one of the highlights of the trip for HV. That girl loves horses! So, here you go--one month after we did the ride.

I started this post yesterday/Wednesday, but my internet connection was spotty and I never could get it finished.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

This morning, HM, HV, and myself went for a ride. This wasn't just any ordinary ride. It was a ride on HV's most favorite animal, THE HORSE! HG stayed behind with A and had a great time. We rode for 2 hours and saw so much of God's beautiful creations. I don't know that these pictures will do it justice, but here's some (ok, lots of) photos from the day.

Coffee plants. There were tons of coffee plants on the trail. My horse, which seemed to eat the most while on the walk, did not care to eat leaves from the coffee plants. She would put them in her mouth but not pull them off of the plants, leaving them behind.

Avacado tree

Carrots growing

Beautiful view from our ride. Having been to Guatemala many times, this was not a "touristy" thing and I loved it! The girls did too.

I have no idea where these men and their horses were going. Occasionally, we would see people along the way like this, but I never saw any houses or anything that remotely resembled a dwelling place. Everyone was very friendly.

Another man we passed on the trail, carrying his heavy load on his back and his machete in his hand.

Looking back towards the city in which we currently live.

It was rather sunny and I did not stop my horse to take many photos so I simply had to hold the camera up and push the button, hoping it came out ok. You can tell from the photo, but the volcano on the left is puffing some smoke.

Vincente walked the entire time next to HM, leading her horse. He was very nice, always making sure we were all ok.

Heading down the trail between the maize. The horses would grab some of the corn stalks as we walked by and eat while walking. My horse in particular always seemed to want to eat.

After we rode through the trails, we ended up riding through this City. I don't know if it was because HV was riding this very big house by herself at the front or my white/blonde self that attracted the attention, but it like we were in the Macy's Parade. People coming out of their houses, waving, smiling, all very friendly. I thought it was rather funny to see these toothless little old ladies smiling and waving at us as they sold their produce on the side of the road.

This was the largest stallion there, Principe. He was gorgeous! In the stall next to him was Princesa. The two had mated but, from what I could gather between my "great" spanish was that Princesa had the baby yesterday and that the baby had died. Princesa was sad--you could see it in her eyes. I didn't photograph her, but she was almost as big as Principe and the same jetblack color.

trying to get close to the little philly you see in the background, but she wouldn't let them. This was as close as they were able to get.

Our tour guide's wife took this picture. She had never used a camera and so I had to give her a little lesson first. Not too bad for her first photo.

Ah! That's better! I picked up HM, thinking that it would make it easier for her to get us all in the photo. I think it worked!

Vincente, his wife, and their son, Julio Rafael

He was fascinated by seeing himself on my camera in the family shot and so I took his picture alone. While he isn't smiling in the photo, he sure did when he saw it!