~GUATEMALA~

Pure and unexpected delights. An adventure around every corner. For me, eye candy every where. I just couldn't stop taking pictures! I think my grand total was 645! Holy cow! I promise not to bore you with all of them :) What a beautiful place to spend a few weeks. (I'm not sure that more than that would be advisable without your own personal helicopter to take you where you need to go completely forgoing the ride on a road anywhere...). The Guatemalan idea of regulating traffic speed is to place a very large speed bump here and there on an already very rough road. Four of them if you are approaching a school zone which could be at any place flat enough to build a building big enough to pass as a school. I almost hesitate to write about this beautiful country because I might give away all of it's secrets and then everyone will go there and it will be over-run with tourists and to crowded to enjoy anymore...It's been three years since I was there and really nothing has changed that much so, I am not too worried about it becoming the next vacation mecca but, if you like an adventure, a little culture shock and a lot of genuine and beautiful people, you really need to go!

We did a little bit of everything this trip. Tried to get in as much as we could in the time that we had and I think that we were able to achieve our goal. I am exhausted! Here are a few of the pictures of the different places that we went. The first family are converts to the church that Garett baptized while on his mission. Carla the cute young lady next to me is now getting ready to serve a mission herself in Ecuador! We were able to take her shopping to help her get the things that she needed for her mission. It was so FUN for us to be able to do that for HER! She is the same girl that we were able to help three years ago obtain her birth certificate so that she could go to school. Her little sister Carolina LOVES Garett! It had been three years since they had seen him. He just walked right in and they threw their arms around him like he had never left! Jonny the little guy still calls him Elder Caldwell...well, they all do. They reminded him that when he left them after his mission he told them that he would be back in three years. It has been almost exactly three years!

Sunday we went to church with the Garcia family. It was so fun. We walked in and EVERYONE knew Elder Caldwell. I of coarse didn't understand a word of the service but, the spirit was the same and I felt very much at home.

From Mazate we traveled to one of my favorite places in the world! Lake Atitlan. To many this is also known as the "Waters of Mormon". It is a breath taking vista of active volcano's and beautiful water that goes on as far as the eye can see. The hotel that we stay at is amazing. The gardens go on forever. It is a refuge for many tropical birds and animals so it sounds like you are in the middle of the jungle at times. Truly one of the most beautiful spots I have ever found. The pictures can't even begin to capture it's essence. YOU HAVE TO GO! I will take you just let me know when...

From there we half heartidly traveled to Antigua where we stayed in a beautiful spot again. If you are Central American history buffs this is the Royal Santo Domingo Convent. The hotel has been built around it. It covers a whole city block. Yes, those are real bones in those coffins...

I loved the colors and the "feel" of the streets and the markets. The smells got to poor Lisa a bit but, she managed to hang in there.

Tikal was our final adventure. What can you say that could possibly express the sheer awesomeness of this place. It was built completely around the Mayan Calender so every building and every stone inside this city revolves around the sun, moon and stars. It is truly amazing and they say that only 30% of the ruins are actually visible...