Almost, again.

We started last week with digging footings and setting re-bar cages into the trenches. The guys are enjoying the work for now, and everyone is pitching in. We can hardly drag them out of the dirt, and our only savings grace is not having lights... yet!

 

 

 

Last week we welcomed the first family of this year’s annual rotation of Physicians thanks to DOCs for Hope. We are enjoying the developing community, as well as the encouragement and motivation we have seen and felt form this growing group of short and long term missionaries. We have felt a sense of renewed focus, and responsibility as we embark on the next phase for our ministry. We continue to see the great need for quality, reliable, and accessible medical care and cannot deny the opportunity to shower the love of Jesus on all the patients as they are able to receive healing medical care and the message of the gospel.

Our house is coming along nicely, and we hope to be living there in a week ( I have been saying that for about three weeks now). The ceiling will remain half completed for a month or so, but we have water and electric all done, with the septic system up and running. We worked on the bathroom, and we are hopeful to (somewhat) complete the kitchen this week. I am ready for the move, but not before we have a fence up.

With the construction moving forward, full steam, we are surrounded by heavy equipment, loads of sand and rock, and soon, a well drilling rig. The progress is great to see, but I am reminded that we will live on a construction site, immersed in all the elements that go with it. I am considering placing padlocks at each of the gates of the fence surrounding the house, to ensure no one will sneak out of the yard.

Through this, I am once again reminded that the safely of our children is no more in our hands now than it has ever been. We strive each day to rely on Gods protection over our family. All of this while we try to find the balance between using the knowledge and wisdom that we are equipped with, to be good parents, and being completely reliant on Him.

 Thank you, again, for faithfully supporting us in this ministry, and enabling us to serve here in Guatemala. We are reminded daily that we can not be here without your love and support.







The boys 'fishing'



'This is the Hospit'

Where the sky is not clouded all day, very often.

 Happy New Year to all! It is hard to believe it is a New Year!
IT is even harder to believe that we are HERE!

We saw a few days of overcast skies and some rain. It was a nice difference. The last few months have been very dry, so we welcomed some sprinkles and clouds.

Ryan and I were able to complete the butchering process last month, with lots of help from the family. We now have a freezer of beef and a willing audience to try our new menu on.

 




Jacob having fun at the dirt pile!

 The mixing process to pour the pad for the patio at our new-to-us house.

The pouring went rather smooth, and gave us some good practice with all the equipment. We tried tinting the pad to see if this may be an alternative to 20,000 sq. ft. of tile for the Hospital. I will have to show you the finished product, in a few weeks.

 

As the new year has descended, it has brought new visitors, and the hospital plans are starting to unravel into a days work and conversations.

 

The first of the years family DOCs rotation has begun, and we are so grateful to have help at clinic again for Leslie (mom). More help will come in a few weeks, and then we will have months go by, before we are without help and someone to share the burden.

Thank you for your help with sharing our burden, and stating connected with the craziness we call life.

 

 

Behind the scenes

 As you know, we have been plugging away on our new, well new to us, house. With the help of the local crew under Ryan and Duane's management. Last Wednesday we embarked on a quick 6 hour trip to the Capital city of Guatemala (Guatemala City) for supplies and renewal of our tourist visits.

We were able to spend a few nights at a safe hotel in the city where the kids were able to swim, and we were once again able to grab a few doughnuts!

The trip home we were once again loaded with supplies. Our last trip to the city was two months ago. We were able to make our groceries stretch with a few supplemental items from flights to the city. We are hopeful that we will be able to make our next trip a little less stressful, and drive home during the day. We arrived home at 10 pm Friday night. Needless to say we were all tired. We unloaded the sleepy heads and cold groceries, and crashed.






The trip home was slow, and we didn't start until about 3. The sun was nice, and the scenery was beautiful. As soon as we climbed into the mountains, the weather was cool. At the coolest point, the temp was at 50 (f). Not cool to everyone at home, but for a region that lives in dirt or uninsulated block homes with no central or temperature controlled anything, this is cold.


With the building supplies we brought home, we should be able to move into the 'new' house. We have about two months before the new arrivals come, and we will need to be vacated, but we are hoping to get into the house as soon as possible, and be settled for a little while.


The construction on the Hospital is moving along, slowly, as we continue to prep equipment and hone the raw materials process. We are looking into sand washing and trying to find the most effective, yet realistic approach to modern concrete construction practices, while keeping the 'Guatemalan limitations' in mind.


We are about a week till Christmas, and still no tree. I think I may abandon the idea, and keep my disappointment to a minimum. Maybe hang a few more lights, and pretend. I feel like we need to make new Christmas traditions, as the ones we are so familiar with, are just unattainable here. Maybe that is for the better. Almost all gifts are home made or practical necessities and are up in the air until the day before. We will likely work up to and after the holiday, and try to embrace the Guatemalan tradition of the midnight fireworks. We are still foreigners here. I guess we are blended as much as any family.



I am sure Christmas is in full swing at home, and all the craziness of the 25th deadline is suffocating sometime. I hope you have time to appreciate the Christmas season for what it is, and embrace the prospect of keeping the message of Jesus birth and the events that followed as a reminder of the transcending power of Jesus birth, life, and sacrifice.

Blessing!

-Me

At the current rate...

.

 I thought I would share a little about the seasons here in Guatemala.

Since about mid October, the daily rains have stopped. The air is very dry now, and the nights are cool. The valley of Canilla has an old water supply or canal, that carries water down from the mountaintop. Then, through to several areas of the valley where it is branched off, redirected, and manipulated, almost entirely through gravity.
The Canal has been a large part of the agriculture here for many decades.

Each year as the rain ends, and the dry season begins, the canal allows farmers to irrigate their crops, allowing for a continuous growing season.
The canal is shared by all the farmers in the valley that pay the yearly fees, and engineer a route for the water to reach their property. On the assigned day, boards or a type of block are used to redirect a portion of the water flow. It is not uncommon for the water to pass under roads or through neighboring property.

The water is not  clean enough for drinking, but there are numerous families that  utilize the water supply for laundry, baths and cleaning. My children enjoy dipping their toes into the cold water, as the dry season can bring the hottest weather we see. Some of our neighbors will dip out of the canal, and wet the road to eliminate some of the dust for motorcycle and automobile traffic.The dust during the dry season seems to settle onto everything.

The rains will begin again in June. Between now and then, the entire countryside will turn brown. The grass will go doormat, and the fields that are not irrigated will sit idle until the rains begin again.





The canal happens to run directly past the front of the AIM compound as well as the Hospital construction site.  We will be using the canal water supply for most of the early hospital construction. We hope to dig a well with sufficient water supply on the Hospital property. This is no small task. We have investigated and inquired about a well, and when it is all said and done, we are told the cost will be upwards of $75,000 US.  Needless to say, we have not started drilling, but through God's faithfulness, we will start the well soon, and be one step closer to opening the doors of the Hospital.

Ruby Slippers

Our future house adjacent to the Hospital is coming along. We just started laying tile in the house and the electricity is almost ready to be turned on. The house has changed slightly, but the result of these small changes makes me think it can become a nice home for our family for the immediate future.  It will be nice to practically have Ryan working in the back yard on the hospital construction, as we host teams and juggle all the demands of family life and ministry. 

I wanted to share some pictures of the progress so far, and show how much of the work has to come slowly, as basic supplies are locally available, but anything quality or reliable needs to be brought in from the city, a five hour drive away.

 

The tile will hopefully be grouted by the end of next week, and then we can look to closing in the ceiling and hanging doors. The kitchen will be a long time coming, as all the carpenters are heavy equipment operators currently, and I think that will continue for some time.

Kitchen after demolition of the separating wall

Kitchen, ready for tile.

Living room, after some demo.

Living room, ready for tile.

Kids bedroom, before

Kids bedroom, after windows, ready for tile.

The beginning of the bathroom.

The bathroom ready for rapeo.

The tile will hopefully be grouted by the end of next week, and then we can look to closing in the ceiling and hanging doors. The kitchen will be a long time coming, as all the carpenters are heavy equipment operators currently, and I think that will continue for some time. Once we get the bathroom working, and some doors hung to keep the cow patties in the living room down to a minimum, I hope we can move in. We have a few months before we are down to the wire, but I am looking forward to being able to clicking my heels, and going home, having a yard where the kids can play safely, a family dog can run,  and be able to create a sense of home again.

 

Even if there is a rock crusher and a concrete mixing plant right off the front patio.

Pink icing and sprinkles

Oh  my, we are nearly into November.

Guatemala time is definitely faster then I remember. The days start at around 6, and as the night falls, we are pushed indoors at 5:30. I don’t know why, but we can hardly stay awake past 9 for anything less than an emergency! Oh my, our lives are changing. It was only 8 years ago that I married into this amazing and crazy family.  

We traveled to the city last week for groceries and supplies. It was a long ride, 5-6 hours each way. The kids did great, and it was good to get out for a little, and see the countryside once again.

 

 

 

My baby, Audrey, just turned two a week ago, and she is showing her age through temper tantrums and independence.  We are enjoying watching her personality show through as she learns to talk to us more and more. She now calls out, “Buenos Dias!” to anyone she thinks may speak Spanish, regardless of the time of day or if they are  even close enough to hear her.  She had Dunkin Donuts for her birthday breakfast, pink icing with sprinkles, and her momma was grateful for the doughnuts, too.

 

The boys are doing great at school. We have moved their school time from the mornings, following breakfast, to midafternoon, after we finish lunch.  The new time gives us more patience, and the boys feel like they have had enough time outside, and can afford a delay in their explorations. Jacob has continued to hone is motorcycle driving skills. He is now standing up, and looking for bumps and mud to challenge himself. He had a little topple a few days ago, and blames (we are working on this) his audience for encouraging him to go faster. He drew a picture of the incident, and I think it will be one that I save for years to come. 

 

Joshua is keeping tabs on us all, and seems to be learning new habits and trying new ways to drive his siblings crazy. He definitely keeps us on our toes, but we can almost always find him in the cab of a tractor, backhoe, or truck pretending to drive, haul or load. He enjoys riding along with Ryan in the dump truck, as does Jacob. 

 

 

               

 

The rains have kept up longer than normal, and we are glad to have the moisture. But, oh man does it make laundry more complicated for those of us who are not morning people. I am working on it also, but Ryan is hands down the laundry king of our house. Ryan has been keeping tabs on our new house, but we have shifted focus to preparing a small apartment for a family coming in January. They guys continue to haul sand and rock up from the river, and this keeps them all buys with repairs on our dump truck that is showing its age and experience. The concrete truck arrived here to Canillá after a long journey from Iowa. The planning and preparation for the beginning of making concrete will take weeks, but as we begin to make progress with living quarters, I am hopeful we can change focus soon, and start to make headway with concrete and the beginning of footings.

                The past few weeks have been challenging as the momentum from the move is starting to fade, and the reality of our new lives become more real each day. The days move quickly, and it seems as though we are always working on a dozen projects at once. I think this makes it easy to get caught in a cycle of feeling ineffective, but we are pressing forward. We are working with what we have, and are faithful that we will have what we need when we need it.  Oh how I would love to hug, talk, eat, and just catch up with so many people from back home.  Letters are great, but how do I send a hug? A nudge?

For now, these letters on a page will have to do.

 

Hope you are enjoying autumn in the US (aka Pumpkin Spice Latte season).

Hope the leaves and cooler temps are delightful.

 

 

 

Early riser

It amazes me sometimes, how difficult it can be for us to adapt to this new life. Some things come easily, while others are elusive. Some things are all the same when you get down to it. The commonality is there, it's just hidden under our own comfort or an inability to adapt.

 

We are definitely learning all about adapting. Some days we are more graceful than others.

 

The progress on our new home has putted along, and has been an entirely new challenge in patience and grace.

 

The kids have gotten used to playing in the horse through outside the house, while they wait for us to make plans, and check on the progress.

 

 

Kids playing in the water trough.

 ... Ryan has been filling in where he can, and today it was to haul sand again. I am sure it is like last year at this time, hauling grain to the river all day, only now the scenery is better and the equipment is a little higher maintenance.

Hauling Sand from the river

 

The kids are all doing well, and most all of the colds have past.

Ryan is continuing to work around the injury on his hand and to get out of doing the dishes, but the laundry is still one of his many talents!

 

We are glad to be working together on whatever we can, and trading off with chores and children at home. We are back into schooling every day, and working our way up in attention spans and patience.

Jacob has had a few lessons in riding a motorcycle, and is encouraging Josh to catch up to him with his excitment. Audrey is enjoying all the new faces and places, but from a safe distance.

I am glad you had time to read up and hope to keep you posted again soon.

Thanks for keeping tabs on us, and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Katie Ann

Since my last update, we have loaded our car and trailer into a shipping container. It is traveling across the ocean as I write this. We were glad to see the end of our road trip and escape the cramped seating arrangement we had with all of our suitcases and luggage squeezed into the car and trailer.

 Joshua was a trooper back in the back, and I think he had enough of the trip once we got to Miami.

 Our flight into Guatemala from Miami was smooth, and easy enough. Audrey was not feeling well, and had her fill of the plane shortly after boarding. 
We spent Saturday night in Guatemala city and flew home to Canilla mid morning.
Jacob was able to assist Grandpa in the airplane on the way to the house.

 The last week has been filled with unpacking, laundry, and trips into town, and lots of trips back and forth to our new house. 

We are glad to be here, and excited to start filling in where we can and watching the progress on the hospital property. Ryan has spent a few days hauling dirt and sand with his brother David's help, in preparation for pouring and mixing the concrete foundation.

Next week, we may be able to retrieve our car from the border, but we do not look forward to Ryan's travel to get there and back. We expect a two day trip, if everything goes smoothly.

We are so grateful to everyone who has shared in our journey so far, and we are looking forward to sharing pictures of the ministry, that you have helped make possible, and our new home-in-progress!

                                        Thanks for reading!!!!!  You Rock!!!!!