Childhood Memories

A friend of ours, Carlos Rodriquez, painted this picture for us.

It is a pictue of the house my Dad lived in when he was a little boy.

His family lived in the little white house in the center of the picture.

We gave it to my dad the night before he and my mom left Guatemala.

Petersen Visit-Part 2

The second half of my parent's visit was spent taking short day trips around Guatemala City.

They attended church with us. Unfortunately, there was not a translator that day or our English Sunday School teacher so they sat through three hours not understanding anything. My mom reached back to her college Spanish class and could catch a few words but like me, at the end of the block she had a headache. It was very nice to have them there Sunday afternoon when I spend the day alone with the kids. This Sunday though, Blaine and I spoke at a youth fireside on dating so they watched the kids for us.

We went to the Kaminaljuyu museum. It is dedicated the city buried underneath Guatemala City. Many scholars believe this to be the City of Nephi. Apparently all museums are closed on Mondays and so we opted to spend the day at a local market where we stimulated the global economy.

We attended the temple.

The four of us were the only people in our session. It was neat to be there with just my husband and my parents.

We went to the Popol Vuh Museum dedicated to Mayan artifacts. I am going to have to go back since I spent the whole time trying to keep Luke quiet. Each room is set up in sequential order so you can see the evolution of products and influences of other cultures. It was fascinating. (Does using that word make me sound like a grandma?)

We went to Antigua, a Spanish inquisition town that used to be the capitol of the country. We went to the local market and found great things. We then crammed ourselves into one of these bad boys:

to get to my favorite restaurant in Antigua, Santo Domingo.

It is actually an old convent

that was converted to a hotel. This is the outside reception area complete with macaws.

My favorite thing (besides the food) at Santo Doming is these flowers that are dripping down from every wall. It is so romantic.

Normally I could just remember the food tasted good but at Santo Domingo it is also about the presentation:

My dad ordered pecan encrusted salmon with lentils and peeled steamed asparagus.

My mom ate jumbo shrimp with lobster and sweet potato cookies. The polka dots are three different dipping sauces.

I had roasted duck with gnocchi and porcini mushrooms.

It was heavenly. I loved how each food was brought out on a different shaped plate.

The last day my parents were here we visited Lake Amatitlan.

It is so peaceful and the drive really gives you a sense of Guatemalan life. We HAD to drive through Villa Canales were Blaine's cousin is now serving his mission and did a quick drive through of the city. No Elder sightings but we did take a few minutes to visit the little chapel. It is so amazing to see this beautiful building on the edge of that little town.

Mom and Dad, thank you so much for making the huge effort to come visit us. It was great to spend time with you and let the kids get to know you. I loved every minute of it.

p.s. Sorry this is the best picture you could get of the volcano while you were here. It was cloudy everyday. I guess you will have to come back.

Petersen Visit-Part 1

Surprisingly, after our trip to Italy, out-of-towners, stomach flu and school projects due after spring break I was still geared up for another round of visitors. I shouldn't make it sound as if we are always having them because we always welcome more, but I was just so surprised to have so many in a short period of time. As one of nine kids, I seldom, if ever, have had one on one time with my parents as an adult. I was lucky enough to have them for nine whole days all to my self.

The day after their arrival we took off for Rio Dulce, a river that leads to the Caribbean. We stopped in Quirigua to visit the largest stellas in the Mayan world. Our favorite thing was learning about the "and it came to past" glyph and the glyph meaning "Christ."

See the hand with the four fingers with the circle (or nail print) in the palm?

We stayed in a rustic bungalow on Lake Isabel and in the morning took a glorious hour and half ride down the river.
Next we headed to the beach. Cocoli can only be reached by boat and is just a few miles from the coast of Belize. We have been to this spot three times before but decided to try a different beach this trip. It paid off. About 100 yards off shore there was a sand bar we could all stand on. We stayed out there swimming and playing for hours. The water was a little to murky to see the bottom which made it all the more scary when we all started getting bitten/stung by something! But the weather was perfect, the beach was solitary and the company-world class. Can you see why this place makes a bid as my favorite place on earth?

After the beach we took the boat to the hot springs and did a little more swimming, eat a fresh coconut and then hiked up the mountain to do a little spelunking.

My parents in the hot springs.

Grandma and Grandpa

While we were in Italy, Grandma and Grandpa Douglas stayed with the kids. They (the kids) had so much fun. Laura cooked with them, died Easter eggs,
read lots of books, made clay sculptures, and spoiled them rotten. All of this during Spring Break and before grandpa arrived.

When they were both in town they had the kids ready for school early everyday, took Luke to the park every day, went shopping, watched Brice play basketball, took them to church,
toured the school three times, made forts, I heard through the grapevine they took a few naps, went swimming, watched the garbage trucks,
and again, spoiled them rotten.

I am so thankful they were willing to come visit and watch the kids while we were away. The kids were in great hands.