So, what's in a name??

You may know that names have meanings behind them.  People will search for months to come up with a specific name for children with certain meanings.  Well, this isn't a post to reveal any names we have come up with for our child...sorry.  But, it is to tell you more about the meaning behind a specific name of a volcano - Fuego.

You may remember, if you follow my Facebook, that I was able to visit my parents, who live in Guatemala, in April.  We were able to go up to a location high above their city and take some great shots of 3 volcanoes, one of which is still considered active.  Here are the pictures that we took that day.

The first picture is of the volcano, Agua, which means "water".  It is no longer active but in 1541, it erupted and flooded the city the water.  As you can see, there are many villages all along the base of the volcano.

This next picture is of two volcanoes which are side by side, Fuego and Acatenango.  Acatenango, the one with the twin peaks,  is no longer active.  But, Fuego, the one to the left, remains active.  Even while I was there in December 2010 and in April 2012, puffs of smoke would rise from the volcano throughout the day.

Well, getting back to that "name" thing...the name Fuego means "fire".  And yesterday, it definitely lived up to its name!  Fuego decided to blow a little more than puffs of smoke yesterday.  The local newspaper stated that it "began a new eruptive phase with ash columns that reached 3000 meters high".  Thankfully, my parents are not affected in their city by the volcano but many people throughout the country are.

Photo Courtesy

The local newspaper, Prensa Libre, had some great pictures and video of the eruption yesterday.  Below is a link to local newspaper so the language is in Spanish but the videos and pictures need no translation.

Video coverage from news:
http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/noticias/comunitario/Volcan-Fuego-podria-estabilizarse-horas_0_773922697.html

Picture Gallery:
http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/multimedia/Volcan_de_Fuego_5_773372656.html

It looks a lot different from the pictures that I took in April, huh?  Please pray for those people who are affected by the eruption, many of whom have lost their homes and livelihood.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I am so thankful for a Dad who is and has been a great example. Who loves God above all and his family a close second. There was a quote I saw on Pinterest recently that said "it's not that my standards are high, it's just that my dad set a really good example for me". That is kind of how I feel!

He is always there to take my call when I have questions or when I'm freaking out because there is a mouse in my house! He laughs with me in the hilarious times of life (and we all agree there are a lot of those! But NOT when there is a mouse in your house!!) and sympathizes with me in the tough times. He is strong and gives good wisdom and is more patient than I could ever imagine to be!

I love being able to call and talk things over with him. The call usually begins with "I haven't heard from you in days" (even if I called just a few days prior!) and usually ends with us both laughing about something funny.

I am so thankful for a dad who is a dad...who does fun stuff with his kids like:

climb volcanoes,

do zip lines (multiple times!),

jump waves in the Pacific Ocean,

and take fun pictures.

And even though we may have our differences, I still love him!

He is not one to just sit in the easy chair and watch life pass by as he watches tv, he gets into life! Wherever that may be...

Happy birthday to a great dad... Friend, mentor, encourager, laugh buddy, and adventurer!

1st Visitors

Recently, we had our 1st visitors to our new home.  Our friends, Tom and Christi, and their kids made the L.O.N.G. trip from Texas and spent almost a week with us.  We were able to catch up with them and also do some really fun things.

Sean loves trains so we thought the Metro would not only be convenient but would also be enjoyable for him.  It took a little muscle to get the double stroller to the platform...the elevator just wouldn't do!

We took the Metro (a favorite of Sean!) to the National Zoo.  The Zoo is free...you just walk right in.  Some of the highlights were the pandas, elephants, monkeys and the lions - especially the one that roared!!  I wish I would have thought about getting a video of this!  The lion exhibit had a hands-on area where you could push buttons to simulate different types of sounds/roars that lions make.  When we hit one button in particular, it really riled up the lion and he would stand up and roar.

We also checked out a local working farm which is just a couple of minutes from our house.  We rode on the wagon around the farm, checked out the animals and Sean rode the horse (carousel).

On Sunday, we took another fun Metro ride into the City and visited the Museum of Natural History, you know the one that was featured in the Night at the Museum movies.  It was pretty cool to see the life-sized exhibits.

Since the museum in right at the National Mall, we walked over to the World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument.

 

And, a 14 week shot.

We love that so many things are free and very accessible to us!  I think we will be making many more visits into the City to explore, especially now that things are cooling down a little.  We can't wait until we have more visitors!