February 21st through February 25th

February 21^st through February 25^th: Wednesday morning went with John B. and Badger to the temple and did baptisms for about 40 members of our family.  It was nice to be together in the temple.  We then ate breakfast and packed the car one more time.  We drove to San Antonio Polopo, a small town on Lake Atitlan.  John B. wanted to buy Jill a piece of the local fired pottery.  This pottery is something we admire too, so we also bought some.  After finding just the right piece, we drove back to Panajachel and had lunch.  

These are the pieces we bought.

After lunch, we did more shopping and then drove to Hotel Atitlan, mom’s favorite place to stay on the lake.  After checking in, we headed for the pool and hot tub.  It is such a beautiful setting.  

Badger and John B enjoying the hot tub.

View from our balcony.

Thursday, John and I got up early and went for a walk and watched the sun rise on the lake.  We then did a walk through the gardens.  Hotel Atitlan has huge beautiful gardens.  

Just before sunrise.

We watched the sun rise on the lake.

Our early morning walk.

One of the rose gardens at the hotel.

The Volcano San Pedro in the back ground.

John took good care of his mom.

We had the breakfast buffet and then headed for Solola.  We visited the market there and then headed to Antigua. 

Market in Solola.

More of the Solola market.

The vegetables are huge. 

On the way, we stopped at a small roadside workshop that makes wooden furniture.  We had stopped a year ago.  Mom found a table and I found two chairs and for $45.00 each, we decided we had to have them.  They just barely fit in the back of the car with the seats down.  

We don't know where we are going to use these, but we love them.

One of the look-outs on the road above lake Atitlan.  The many volcanoes are always impressive.

We then drove to San Felipe, which is right by Antigua.  John wanted something special to surprise Jill and he found a jade necklace and matching earrings.  Again, we were successful in our shopping.  We had lunch in Antigua and did a little more shopping and then drove home.  Mom helped Badger work on a paper for his homework.  John B. and I watched the Olympics.  Friday we went and climbed Pacaya, one of the three active volcanoes in Guatemala.  John hiked and Badger, mom and I rode horses.  

We shared the trail with a lot of hikers.

From Pacaya, we could see three other volcanoes.  Agua is directly across the valley, with Fuego and Acatenango to the left in the clouds.

The view at the top was impressive.

There were a lot of people at the top.

We are on one of the lava flows from the 2014 eruptions.  The active part of the volcano is in the background.

Roasting marshmallows over a steam vent.

The lava flow was very sharp.  Each piece would cut the skin with ease.

Pancho Pacaya was our guide.

The horses would not smile.


Click below to see us horseback riding.

Horseback Riding

We then went to see Black Panther.  We got home about 5:30 pm had dinner and John and Badger got packed to go home.  

We enjoyed the movie.

Saturday we drove to the airport at 5:00 am and said goodbye to our two visitors.  We needed to spend this time with John B. and to feel his acceptance of the cancer diagnosis and his confidence in moving forward with his life.  He is very hopeful that he will live many years and we share his faith.  It was wonderful to be with Badger and to see how he has grown in the last two years.  

It was too early in the morning for Badger to smile.

I came home and got showered and dressed and went over to the temple.  I had a group of primary children from the La Hermosa ward that I had promised to meet and talk to about the temple.   Primary kids are the best.  It was a lot of fun to be with them.  

The primary.

We then took some of the missionaries shopping.  We decided not to drive to Zacapa and stay overnight, but to get up early and drive on Sunday morning.  Sunday we left about 6:30 am and thought we would get there with plenty of time.  We got stopped in construction again and started to panic.  I called the mission president and asked him to tell Elder Cordon that we might be a little late.  We both said silent prayers and after 30 minutes, they opened the road and we made really good time. We arrived at the conference with time to spare.  We knew our prayers had been answered.  We enjoyed the meeting and felt good about our talks.  Elder Cordon, one of the counselors in the area presidency, gave us a nice compliment, saying that we were doing a good job and many more people were coming to the temple.  I don’t believe we can take any credit for this, but it is nice to know that he feels we are doing a good job.  

L to R President Christensen, mission president, and President Salazar, stake president.

On the way home, we had a flat tire.  It took me more time to find the spare than it took to change the tire.  We then got stopped one more time in the construction.  

Changing the flat tire.

Stopped for construction.

We stopped and got the tire repaired-- it had a screw in it.  They have tire repair shops--“pinchazos”—right next to the road.  He took off the spare, repaired the tire and put it back on in about 15 minutes—all for about $2.50!  I gave him a tip.   

Tire repair.

We headed home, arriving at 4:30 pm.  Chris cooked dinner and I started working on the blog.  We were tired and Chris asked teasingly, “Where do you want to drive tomorrow?”  We put a lot of miles on the car this last week and I don’t want to be behind the wheel of the car for awhile.  It was a great week and we so enjoyed the visit of John B. and Badger.  It was good to feel John B.’s optimism and faith that things will be ok with his cancer.  We were worried about how he was doing, but felt relief and gratitude that he is in a good place.  Badger is a good kid and we love him so much.  We feel so blessed and every week brings new experiences and blessings.