on july 9th at 3:15 a.m. our dear friends, Kevin and Vickie Palmer picked us up for our 5:15 a.m. flight to guatemala city. Vickie offered to let us catch a ride with them since it was so early in the morning. thank you so much! it was very nice to be able to leave our kids sound asleep in their beds. plus my sister, tenery appreciated the extra hours of zzzz's.
when we got to the airport we met up with a lot of other people that were part of our group. we were all wondering why we booked such an early flight. we knew we would be able to sleep once we got on our plane.
we had a safe flight to dallas with enough time to grab a quick bite to eat, make a few phone calls and catch our flight to guatemala. i always love traveling alone with clate. we have so much uninterrupted time to talk. it's amazing to me how nice it is to have a conversation without having to stop to change a diaper or go pick someone up from a party or to turn the music down or to say, "play nice" or "answer the phone" or to stop to get someone a drink. . . you get the point. i also love the miracle each time we land on the ground safely.
as soon as we got to the guatemala city airport and had our luggage we went outside to meet Clate's parents. they were taking someone else home from the airport and so Manuel, our guatemalan tour guide, was waiting to pick us up. Manuel is the nicest man and helped us to feel safe our entire trip. he had a bus waiting for all of us and once we had all the luggage loaded up we were off. i think there were 16 of us & that is a lot of luggage. :)
i was very excited to get to our hotel because it is absolutely beautiful! clate and i came to guatemala 8 years ago and we stayed in the same hotel. it was called Quinta Real when we came 8 years ago, but now it is called Hotel Vista Real. even though it has a different name, it is still the same wonderful place and the breakfast is simply amazing.
as soon as we got to the hotel is was so much fun to see clate's parents. they are serving as temple presidents at the Guatemala Temple and this is the first time we have seen them since they came on their mission. mom looked cute, like she always does and it was so great seeing them in their element. they both love guatemala. they both served their missions there. i am grateful for the love they have passed on to their children. my dad served his mission in guatemala and i have a love for the people as well.
once we were settled, we met Dave & Karina Lee and Mom and Dad for some soup and bread. it was fun to sit and talk with them and catch up. after an early dinner, we were off to bed. btw, i LOVED all the fluffy pillows on our bed. it's the simple things in life that make me so happy!
