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We spent this past week on vacation with family in northern Michigan, camping in a state park right on Lake Michigan. The water is beautiful there, incredibly clear. We spent lots of time on the beach, but also took bike rides and enjoyed eating wonderful fresh donuts from a local bakery. We also visited our friends who run a local produce and flower farm up in that area. We had a great time.

We had such a wonderful time in Guatemala.

Our trip was a combination of relaxation, extreme beauty, Mayan culture and Spanish colonial history, all wrapped up into one. We’ve come home with pounds of freshly roasted coffee and piles of beautiful woven fabrics. I find myself continuing to translate words from English into Spanish, and oftentimes preferring the way the Spanish version sounds.

Check out our album for some recent photos from our trip.

Today we fly to Guatemala. We're very excited about the trip. We'll be out of communication for a while, but will be sure to check in once we return. Happy 4th of July!

We've booked a summer vacation to Guatemala! We haven't been out of the country for several years, and decided we were due for an international adventure. We'll be spending a week at a beautiful lake surrounded by three volcanoes and several Mayan villages. We're looking forward to taking some hikes, swimming, kayaking and checking out the village markets. Can't wait to share beautiful photos. Stay tuned!

We spent Memorial Day weekend with friends in the mountains of southwest Virginia. We rode our bikes and enjoyed taking day hikes. Here's a photo of Darian getting close to a baby wild pony at Mt. Rogers.

This past weekend we went to Edisto Island in South Carolina. It's a beautiful place--covered in big old oak trees that have Spanish Moss dangling from their branches. We saw lots of wild life; including dolphins, sharks and sting rays. We enjoyed walking along the beach, looking for cool shells and sharks' teeth.

Today friends from West Virginia & Virginia came to visit and join us on a 62-mile bike ride called the Raven Rock Ramble. It was a beautiful spring day. We could have used a few more clouds to give us a break from the sun, but other than that, it was a great day.

We spent this past weekend in Illinois, attending a family funeral. While the reason for our visit was sad, it was good to spend time with family we hadn't seen in a while. We also had a great time with our new nephew, Adam. He is a sweetheart and easily gives you a smile.

This weekend we rented a house with some friends in West Virginia. We all went to celebrate a surprise birthday party for our friends, Eric & Debra, who have birthdays very close together. The party was big--maybe 50 people--coming from various states.

Eric & Debra were so surprised. As they walked into the house we yelled, "Surprise!", then sang Happy Birthday. Debra immediately started crying, which made me cry, too. It's was so moving to be surrounded by so many good friends and family.

Then today a bunch of us headed out to their new property to walk around and have a pic-nic. It's a gorgeous piece of land; rolling hills, mostly fields, with some woods and a stream. It was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze. We all enjoyed lying in the grass and eating the wonderful left-overs from the party.

It was a great weekend.

Daffodils are everywhere! It's so exciting to see signs of spring all over the yard. We've had a very dry year, so we weren't sure the bulbs and plants we planted in the fall would make it. But they have! And luckily, deer don't like daffodils.