Family Time!

Matt's parents and my brother CAME TO VISIT!!

man, oh man, there is nothing like being with family in a foreign land! i'm telling you - i cannot get enough family time. all that stuff about in-laws being annoying or something does not apply to my life -- i absolutely love Mark and D.J. -- and i can't even begin to tell you the depth of my love for my brother, what an incredible guy! I didn't want our time with them to end. maybe heaven will be a lot like that - like an old family get together.

Here we are exploring some of the ruins of the Spanish-colonial city of Antigua. a must see on any trip to Central America. Antigua is full of luscious, verdant gardens hidden in lovely European stucco courtyards. Nothing is casual in Antigua - only absolutely extraordinarily old and beautiful.

Mark and DJ treated us to a super charming colonial-style hotel. matt and i just almost didn't want to leave our room it was that nice.

My brother actually traveled to Lake Atitlan in a chicken bus (pictured above) by himself with hardly any Spanish and it worked - we found him. he was the only gringo on every bus he took and everything seemed to go very smoothly. way to be efficient and user-friendly, Guatemala.

here we are at our fav restaurant in Panajachel on the Lake. everything is wonderfully whole grain, with great meat substitutes and everything is hecho a mano (made by hand). and don't even get me started on the tropical/botanical-garden ambience with celtic or classical music playing in the background. i absolutely love this place.

We also celebrated Matt's 26th birthday together which was SUPER SPECIAL!!

We also got to visit CASA DEL MUNDO, a hotel right across the lake, which if you're ever on Lake Atitlan I would now totally recommend. A completely whimsically tropical, paradisical setting.

hammock = pure bliss


with a labyrinth of beautiful, Italian-villa style dun decks.

and because the owner of the hotel is friends with the couple we are volunteering with, we got to kayak for free!

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

THANK YOU, FAMILY (and those who weren't able to come) = you mean the world to us. your love, generosity and kindness for us and others inspires us to no end! If i could bottle of that time we had together i would - all those warm feelings of togetherness and belonging and freedom and awareness = completely priceless = i love you!