Dolly Sods, West Virginia June 2012

Awesome view from our tent site the one nite

The setting sun

The cool thing about this photo is that he had no idea I was taking it

God's creation is beautiful!

The Annual Pumpkin Carving

Last Sunday my sisters and families came down to our house to carve pumpkins, hang out and eat. We had a great time together! Here are a few pictures from our afternoon together.

The finished projects 

Clara just chilling

Hans helping Eliana to paint her pumpkin

Dawn and Abby "sharing" paint with each other 

Cheryl and Ed trying to figure out just how they are going to attach the pattern to the pumpkin

Another Adorable Niece!

Last Friday, April 30th two exciting things happened...the first was my 3rd niece being born and the second that there is now 5 April birthdays to be celebrated in my family. Clara Elizabeth was born Friday evening and is so cute and little. She has some of her mom's features and was so much fun to hold. They are so little at that age. Congratulations Beth and Hans, you have a beautiful, healthy baby girl!

Uncle Neil holding a baby not even 2 days old, we had to capture it on film!

Clara Elizabeth Schneider

p.s. M- this is for you, hopefully you get a chance to check the blog!

Guatemala Part 2...Finally!

Here are some more pictures from our trip to Guatemala. It was really difficult to pick which ones to post, so if you want to see more I guess you will have to come and see us.

One of the last days we were there Neil helped Jim load these triple bunks and we took them out to an orphanage on the other side of the city.

Charlie was working on the ORI bus at the warehouse. When I took this picture he asked if he would be famous...I told him I didn't know.

Boxes and boxes of crocs!

This made my day, at the warehouse complex there was a new greenhouse with tomatoes growing in it...lots of tomatoes!

Sunset as we hiked down the mountain...perfect ending to a wonderful day!

Yes this is real flowing lava...God's creation is so awesome!

Hiking the mountain

Pacaya: an active volcano

This is Javier...I saw him 2 years ago and wow has he grown up!

smiles

Neil and his twins...these two little girls just loved him! He ended up leaving his hat for one of them.

This is inside the mall close to Jim and Sheryl's house (yea, it is bigger than our mall)

For those of you Lancastrians who are familiar with Roots...I would call this market "Roots on steriods"

Massive amount of candles at Hacienda Real (a restaurant)

Guatemala: Part 1

We have been having a wonderful time in Guatemala. Wednesday afternoon we visited a 70 acre coffee plantation (Finca de Dios: Farm of God). We got an excellent tour from the native in charge of processing and drying the beans and then we hiked out into the fields to see the beans growing. The slope the coffee trees are planted on is incredibly steep so it was quite a nice little hike. After we hiked back from the field we sat on the back porch with the owner and drank iced tea. She knows all about coffee and how to grow it. We both really appreciated the way she was running her business.
Ripe coffee ready to be picked

Coffee drying in the sun, it takes 8 days for it to dry

Sheryl and Marci planting flowers in January...yippeee!

The greenhouse where we bought the flowers

We went to buy pineapples one afternoon...there were about 15 little places like this along the same stretch of road.

On Monday we went along to help deliver a concrete mixer to the other side of the city...very interesting!

The mixer made it off the truck...but the boards broke in the process. Neil is inspecting it.

This is a garden at an orphanage we visited on Sunday, Casa Bernabe. They use all the food in the orphanage and are hoping to use the garden as a place to train the kids about agriculture/gardening.

Punkin' carvin' with the fam!

Oh how blessed I feel after an afternoon and evening spent with family! Last year we started a tradition of carving pumpkins together and sharing a fall meal...it is lots of fun! And it gets more fun the older my little nieces get. Oh the creations we have yet to see from them! I really should call it pumpkin decorating because not everyone "carved" this year. I got some finger paints and they were enjoyed by more than just Eliana. Here are the pictures from our time together. Thank you to my fam for being a part of my life and your willingness to be a part of my fun ideas, you guys are the best!

Audra showing Ellie how to use the paints

"Can we switch colors now, please?"

Papa's girl

And the winner is?

"Mom, look at me, it is soooo much fun under here!"