Cahal Pech Ruins

(I have been wrestling with this post for a few days now.. I cannot seem to format the text correctly but decided to just post it anyhow and move on! :) Please excuse the clunky text.. hopefully it is still read-able!)

Edgar our very friendly tour guide was very knowledgeable about the ancient Mayan Civilization. In addition he has spent many years studying and learning all about the vegetation of Belize and it's beneficial properties and uses both medicinal and nutritional. We were so blessed to get a lesson in horticulture and medicine as well as history!

This beautiful tree is located in the courtyard of the ruins

The site consists of seven plazas and over 30 structures including temples, residential buildings, ball courts, and an altar, all situated on just 2 acres. A royal burial chamber was found in one of the structures. Included in the discovery were shell & bone ornaments, pottery vessels, obsidian blades, and jade objects, the most impressive being a jade & shell mosaic mask. One of the temples in this small complex commands the best view of the surrounding Belize River Valley. The view was wonderful but to get up there was a bit harrowing! The rain made the 82 ft high climb a bit rocky.. but what do you do when your tour guide bounds up the sheer, slippery 1,000 year old steps? Follow of course! I had Laura on my back and Grady carried Gracie. All I could think about as we admired the view from up there was "How in the WORLD are we going to get back down?"

A view from above: This is the courtyard where they kept the Mayan princesses..

The money changers pavilion

It was a scary trip back down but we all made it in one piece!

These steps were seriously so mossy and slippery.

We were all so happy to get back on solid ground!

A lovely view of one of the passages within the ruins

This is a view of the temple which we had climbed to the top of.

You can see the throne where both the King and Queen sat.

A closer view of the throne

On the left hand side of this photo you can see where they are just starting to dig.

The know that under this hill lies another temple or housing area. The

various archaeological organizations which are responsible for the digs are waiting on

funding to finish discovering just what lies under the dirt here..

Nearing the end of our tour was this gift shop.

Seemed a bit out of place in the midst of ancient old ruins..

This is the site of an ancient ball court. Strangely enough, the winner of the Mayan game was promptly beheaded and his head was used for the ball in future games. The incentive was that the family of the deceased would be moved up one rung in the social structure for their sacrifice.

Interestingly enough many of the Mayan stories and history also align up with the Bible.. a flood which washed away the evil spirits.. a man like white bird creature which descended from the sky to teach what is right and good to all the Mayan people. We enjoyed speaking with our tour guide about the correlations. We also discussing how the Mayan calendar does not show past the year 2012. Many Mayans believe there will be a great catastrophe which will once again wipe out the evil people as the flood of old and only the upright will inherit the earth. 2 of the verses which came to mind were:

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NIV

However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. Matthew 24:36NLT

We are praying that our new friend finds the one true God! We also are so grateful that the Word of God does not return void ♥

Out and About

While the pools heated up back at the hotel, we headed into San Ignatio for some breakfast. We found a great fast food place which prepared 8 breakfasts for our family for $8 US! And boy was it yummy! Normally we head into San Ignatio on Saturdays for the market and are in such a hurry that we miss the normal city life. This day however we were able to really take the time to wander the streets; meeting folks and checking out some of the shops. We met quite a few locals and some American transplants as well. We especially enjoyed visiting with Sean, the espresso guy from Boston who had moved to BZ 18 years earlier. He was a wealth of information plus he makes a mean americano!

Dad and Mom check out the Belize map.. making future plans for exciting road trips! But first, San Ignatio town for breakfast.



The San Ignatio market is much more quiet on a weekday. Still, we were able to shop for some fruit and veggies for the week

La La enjoys some breakfast

Uh hem, I thought we stopped by this park for Laura and Grace! Well, I suppose parks bring out the kid in all of us..

One thing that is fun about Belize is that people share their things more freely. Also, children are a very welcomed part of their society and it shows in the way they treat babies and children. This bike was on the sidewalk near the fast food place we ate at. Many of the children took turns on it.. no need to ask. Here you find many restaurants have play areas and toys to keep the children occupied.

Sean the espresso guy talked with Dad for a full half hour about local ruins and tourist attractions which we may want to consider visiting. This included a Mayan ruin which literally sits on the same block where our hotel was located! (pics of this to come in the next blog post)

You would never know it by looking at this photo but Gracie had experienced a fever of 105.7 the night before! Poor little thing has been battling something for the past 2 weeks but thankfully seems to be getting better now.

Time Together

This past two and a half months has been so exciting and fun as well as challenging and exhausting. We were praying that our family could get away for a day or two.. just us as a family. And Ashley's 20th birthday was a milestone which we really wanted to make special.. The problem being that Grady still is unable to work and the finances could not justify or allow such an extravagant expense. As a very specific and direct answer to prayer, a brother and sister provided us with a little vacation at a local hotel. There is no way we could have afforded it ourselves.. thank you friends for this wonderful gift and blessing for our family ♥ The kids had three pools all to themselves all day! It was supposed to rain the whole time but no, it ended up being beautiful weather! We came home encouraged, refreshed and oh, so grateful for some time alone as a family..

We visited this lovely resort: http://www.cahalpech.com/

This was the view from our room. Cahal Pech sits overlooking San Ignatio. The view is absolutely gorgeous, especially on a clear day

~Best Friends~

Before leaving the States, Mandy made these lovely suits for us

The special guy on the right is starting to remind me more and more of how the special guy on the left used to look when I first got to know him.. where do the years go?

We hadn't seen a smile like this in a month! Thank you Lord that she is starting to feel better!

Our birthday girl!

The workers at the hotel came out to see what or who was making all the racket! I think they were enjoying the children's (and their father's!) antics! ;)

Meet Carla, the sweetest lady in all of San Ignatio! I came downstairs in the early morning to grab a cup of coffee and ended up speaking with her for a half an hour about the Lord. Please keep this precious lady and her family in your prayers..

Ashley Elizabeth... our sweetheart turns 20!

~ Ashley Elizabeth McDonald~October 15, 1991

She wasn't supposed to be here.. but the Lord had other plans for her life. Literally rescued from the abortionist's hand. The Lord used her to bring Grady and I to himself.. and now I am priviledged to call her one of my very best friends. She is a very talented, gentle young lady who amazes me daily with her abitlity to juggle household duties, dissapointments and challenges with a smile and an eternal perspective always in view. She loves the Lord Jesus and is such an encouragement to me. I adore you my sweet Ashley. Thank you for your example to me and for your ministering spirit. Your father and I love you so much.

You can visit her blog at:

http://servantforjesus.blogspot.com/

Laura Jean

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...

Recently we were chided for having so many names for Laura. I do not know why we always give our children so many nicknames.. well I guess when you have as many people in a family as we do, everyone wants to get in on the action! Here are Laura's current nicknames:

Lulu, Lala, Lobelia, Lucy, Lucinda, Lolly, Lori and Ashley's favorite LaTicha (? where did she get that?)

My current favorite is Lucy. It just seems to fit her. Well whatever we happen to be calling her on any given day, our youngest daughter has been such a joy and blessing to our family. Much of the time she just plays contently by herself. She also loves playing with Grace and is daily learning more and more the ways of being a little girl instead of my baby. She 'gets' jokes now and is always watching carefully what everyone else thinks is funny and what everyone else thinks is serious. Recently she has been fussing at night to nurse and also being very 'grabby' in public, making a scene if she wants mama. Dad and I decided that maybe it is time for her to be weaned except for at night.. so I went to the store and bought a bottle in order to switch her to cows milk during the day.. well luckily for her it leaks like crazy and was promptly thrown in the trash! So my little baby gets to continue to be my baby for a few more days until I get another bottle from the store that is! Her other favorite 'yum-yums'are homemade yogurt and watermelon. And her vocabulary is growing daily. She currently says Mama, Da, Ashley, Mandy,bike, up, down, uh oh, baby, dog and kitty. In sign she knows please, up, more, all gone, milk, thank you, more and all done. The signing has been a wonderful tool to use while her verbal vocabulary catches up. I just love this age and watching her process what is going on around in her little world. You can almost hear her brain working and making so many new connections daily. We give thanks to the Lord for this most precious little blessing.. our family would be so incomplete without her.

Laura Jean, 15 Months Old

Amanda Update

The results of the halter heart monitor test last week revealed that she indeed suffered from tachycardia all day long.. her heart rate racing up and down from 80 or 85 bpm to 120 bpm. No one can really tell us why this is happening which is probably the most difficult part of this trial. The good news is that both the monitor test and the echocardiogram test shows a perfectly formed and funtioning heart which is such a blessing and miracle! The only problem is trying to figure out why Mandy's heart is racing up and down. We had thought that once her infection was gone that the issue would be resolved but that is not the case. Some have suggested that it may be hormone issues, some are suggesting that it could be a thyroid issue. We will be retesting her for the thyroid in another 4 weeks. In the meantime she is on many supplements and vitamins which is helping her with her exhaustion and headaches. We are so so blessed she is feeling better but it does not tell us *why* she is still suffering from the tachycardia. Please keep praying that she continues to feel better and that we have the wisdom to order the tests which are going to give us more information on her situation. Thanks to all!