End of August

We had a fun adventure on Monday, but, sadly, forgot to bring our camera so didn't get any pictures to post.  We met our fellow missionary, Hermana Paniagua, and another sister, Bibi, from our ward.  We walked up the street a ways to catch a bus which looked like a chicken bus but was actually a city bus.  We took it to Zona 10 which is a pretty modern area with upscale malls.  Gary and Dena lived in the area on one of their missions, and Gary and I stayed in a hotel there after our Book of Mormon Tour last fall.  We shopped the malls then walked a few blocks to a restaurant that serves authentic Guatemalan food.  We all shared a four person sampler tray.  It was delicious!!  It was a fun adventure.

Here are pictures of the progress in our patio garden.

 You can see that we have a couple of good-sized tomatoes that will be ripe in the next couple of weeks and some more growing above them.  Above that are new blossoms.  Can't wait!

 Our cantaloupe is growing fast and has started blooming too.  That will be longer, but we are looking forward to harvest.

These are bell peppers.  We are just seeing the beginnings of blossoms, but the plant is very spindly.  Hope it can hold up the peppers!

We're now getting quite a bit of rain so hope that encourages the plants to produce faster!

Week of August 18 to 24

This week is the fifth anniversary of our meeting in person for the first time.  We've had such fun remembering that we met in the Las Vegas Airport on the 19th, became engaged in St. George on the 20th, drove to Blanding on the 21st, returned to Cedar City on the 22nd, went to the broadcast of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication on the 23rd, and had to say goodbye for a couple of weeks back at the Las Vegas Airport on the 24th.  Fun memories!!

Meanwhile, back in Guatemala.... On Monday we had a bienvenido for the new missionary couple, the Gardners.  Here is a picture that Sister Burk took of all of us at the welcome party.

Front row, left to right:  President and Hermana Thompson, Elder and Hna Padilla, Hna Tanner, Hna and Elder Gardner.
Middle row:  Hna Cordon, Hna Eberhard and Elder Eberhard, Hna Paniaqua, Hna Barney, Hna Murri.
Back row:  Elder and Hna Cuellar, Elder and Hna Wilson, President and Hna Roberts, Elder and Hna Barlow, Elder Barney, Elder Murri, Hna Cabellero, Hna and President Burk.

We didn't do a post last week, so the pictures below are catch-up.  We had a fun time shopping at the booth set up in front of the CCM (MTC). 

 These are the fun shoes Dorine bought.

 This is the wrap around skirt.

And this is a close-up of the skirt showing the embroidered "bugs."

This is a bag of limes, actually minus a couple of limes, that we bought for around $1.00.  You can buy them like this anywhere for almost nothing.  We bought them to try squeezing them for limonada (Guatemalan lemonade).  We are still working on getting the right combination of lime juice, water, and sweetener.  

Another  purchase we made this week was a musical keyboard!  We went together with the Wilsons so we can share it then donate it to someone else when we go home.  Didn't get a picture of it, but it's the standard keyboard they sell in the Distribution Center. 

August 10

It's not been a particularly eventful week, but here are three things Dorine found to be thankful for!

1.  Sister Barney, the wife in our newest missionary couple, wrote this poem for her and sent it in an e-mail..

 Dear Hermana Eberhard,

 It gave me such security,
 When doing my work last night,
 To know you were there to help
 I felt your shining light.

 I notice your light each day I serve,
 And even out and about,
 So thanks for your sweet goodness
 Of which there is no doubt.

 I want to be more like you
 To speak good of everyone.
 To be supportive, kind, and good--
 To be more like The Son.

 With gratitude and love,
 Hermana Barney


  2.  Our tomato plant is blooming!!!!

 3.  Caught Gary in one of his many loving acts of service.  What a great husband!!

  Life is good!!!
 

First Week of August

 Not a lot going on right now that is interesting enough to blog, but we did finally remember to take out the camera when the fruit lady came.  She comes with these two who we think are her sons, every Wednesday and often on Saturday too.  She has her little pickup filled with fruit for sale.

She has pineapple, bananas, plantains, oranges, mangoes, apples, peeled coconuts, melons, cantaloups, peaches and other fruits we've never seen before and can't identify.  Sometimes we get brave and try something new, but mostly we stick to the known and loved.  We love all the fresh fruit and eat a lot of it!

 And, while we're talking about produce, here is our little vegetable garden.  The tomato plant is big enough that we bought a dowel and staked it up.  We aren't sure if it is blooming or not.  There are some little green pods forming that might be blossoms and might not.  They don't look like our normal tomato blossoms, so we just keep watching and hoping!

 These are two pepper plants that we planted from the seeds of an orange bell pepper that we bought.

 Here's our cantaloupe plants from a cantaloup we bought from the fruit lady.

And these are most likely weeds in the pot where we planted cucumber seeds that looked like they probably weren't ripe enough to grow into a plant.  But we'll stay optimistic and see what grows.  All our plants could be hybrids, but we have both grown gardens for so many years that we don't know how not to!!

But, just you don't think our diet is entirely healthy fruits and vegetables, here is our contribution to the "break the fast" we're attending in a couple of house.  You can see where a "little mouse" couldn't resist tasting!