Here is our computer, Tony. He has been a great help.

Here are two of the great girls from Pan En La Boca who have helped us so much. The one on the right is me.

And here is the beautiful Lake Atitlan that we are located at. Makes you want to visit, huh

Great news.
I have a computer guy here and we are going to start having pictures on the blog entries.
Vicki

After having started back in May looking for land and a permanent place for the orphanage, we finally signed the papers and paid the money for 10 acres of basically flat [ flat for Lake Atitlan is definitely relative] land. It was kind of sad as we bought from two old sisters whose family had had the land for generations. When their dad died , it was divided among the 8 sibs. We will eventually be offered more of the sibs land I am sure. They did not have bank accounts and cashed the checks and took the money home in cash. Quetzals; it takes 7.62 to make a dollar. I do not know where they will hide it.
Anyway it is a done deal and we start road work on Mon.
We leave to go home on the 20th and have a ton to do before hand. We have the builder we want and are looking at a couple of gringoes who live here to supervise the job and report to us. We found out Thurs. our 10th grandbaby will be a boy. That means 3 boy grandbabies all witin 6 months. I can not wait to get home and hold the one that is already born.
Vicki

Today was a really hard day.Alot of bureaucratic stuff that made no sense and caused much emotional upheaval for a while. Enough so my husband and I were both ready to go home to the states and get ready to retire. [ with 10 kids still at home ]We were seriously wondering why do we do this.
Then I went to the orphanage to meet a new long term volunteer and do some training with a new employee. While there all the preschoolers came running up and gave me hugs. Abram,who just turned two, came to us a year ago so sick he almost had to be hospitalized. The back of his head was completely flat and he could not sit at all. But the worst thing was how he cried every time someone looked at him. Well we have all worked with him developing muscle tone, giving healthy foods and giving love and encouragement. Today he gave me a shy smile so I took his hands and practiced walking with him holding on to me. Then I let him go and held out my hands for him to take his first steps. He took three and gave me the biggest, sweetest grin I think I have ever seen. To think he now trusts me after all the neglect and abuse he had as an infant. It just kind of made up for all the bad stuff.
Vicki