lbp @ 13 weeks (ultrasound performed by yours truly...[I'm very proud of that]) 

little baby page @ 6 weeks 

Someone's still logging on!

Wow! I just happened to check on the blog tonight and found a new comment... Good to know people are still checking (even if it's just one of you), and sorry there haven't been any recent updates.

So here's one: Since we've been back, our lives have been thrown back into organized chaos. It only took about a week for us to forget that we were in Central America not long ago.

I remember the first morning we woke up in our room here in Chapel Hill, it felt eerily quiet. Almost like a crypt. I got so used to sleeping with my window open to buses, firecrackers, roosters, and all the great sounds of life that I forgot how we like to shut everything and everyone out in America. It was really sad.

As for our grade 3 spanish, that's probably back to about grade 1 1/2. It's hard to use it when you don't have other spanish speakers around. Cristy and I have tried to hold conversations, but they generally end up being very simple and very boring...so we move on. Every now and then I'll turn on the spanish radio station just to see if I can understand it. I recognize a few words but that's it.

We also canceled our TV subscription. It was so nice to have a life without the intrusion of television for so long. You realize that you don't need it... We actually sit at the table and talk over dinner now! Imagine that.

Well that's enough. If your attention span is like mine then you probably got bored about 3 paragraphs ago. I'll try to get some more pictures up here real soon.

Thanks for checking on us!!

Oh! And if you're reading this and we haven't yet had dinner or lunch or something with you. Please email us and let's work it out.

A new look

In case you thought you logged on to the wrong site...I just decided to change the format up a little. I think the darker color makes the pictures stand out better.

...at the edge of the volcano. 

...a giant stone monster was looming in the background. 

...this was our third tarantula of the day. 

Bob vs the Mayan temple. 

Ruins above the jungle top 

Jaguar temple in Tikal 

...and we,re back!

That's right. Our feet are firmly planted in North Carolina again. We had a very relaxing last day in Antigua. We got to see Bob in action at La Merced (the big Catholic church in Antigua) on Sunday morning. He read a passage from Luke nearly flawlessly for a crowd of about 1500 people. Got some exercise ine. We had lunch with Greg and Anita (missionaries that started the clinic) and their daughter. We bought more Guatemalan wares. We had a wonderful dinner.

And this morning we got into a van at 5am and drove to airport. From there it gets really boring. Two planes later we were back in NC.

We'll put some more pictures up on the blog in the next few days, so if you want to come back and check it out, please do so.

Sorry for the long absence...

I'm sorry we've been neglecting the blog this week. The last week's been pretty hectic with finishing school and helping out at the clinic. This will be the abstract update...tomorrow we'll include the full article.

We both finished at school on Thursday. We were able to finish the 3rd grade (Grade C) without having to take a test.

We worked at the clinic all day Tuesday and Friday. Both were very long days, with lots of sick patients. But our follow-up with past patients showed that they were getting better. Very encouraging. Diagnosed probable TB vs. lung cancer, possible lymphoma, and saw a little baby with a cleft palate/lip.

Hanging out with the bomberos makes you very popular in Antigua. I see some of them almost everywhere we go, and they always come out and talk with us and give us their cards to contact them later on.

Today we went to Tikal ...amazing. Mayan ruins towering in and over the jungle. Animal count - tarantulas: 3, tucans: 1, other scary big spider: 1, howler and spider monkeys: too many to count. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Tomorrow we're meeting up with Anita and Greg (the clinic founders), relaxing, packing our bags, and saying good bye.

This has been a great trip. Thank you everyone for your comments on the blog. They've really been great for us to see that so many of you can keep up with us. And we've enjoyed what you have to say. Thanks for your prayers. We've been very safe and felt protected the whole time we have been here.

We'll be home on Monday, but I'll keep adding to the blog as we remember stories and have new pictures.

later...