The Sherwoods

Guatemala

have you ever planned something a year in advance,

looked forward to it all year,

and then when it happened it felt like a dream?

that is how our trip to Guatemala felt.

the week before we left was rough.
i dont know how many times we said "just make it to friday."

but we made it.

Guatemala is a magical place.

the people and the sense of community they have,

the volcanoes in your face all of the time,

being there with the whole family,

celebrating Christmas,

sleeping in our own open air hut every night,

heck, even the taxi boat drivers who ripped us off over and over again because we are white.

that week in Guatemala is something we will always treasure.
(we are forever indebted to my parents for that trip.)

from swimming in the lake,

taking taxi boats to surrounding towns,

hippie "christmas" markets,

tres volcano nachos,

group sauna time,

markets with beautiful textiles every where,

tuk tuks,

mom handing out candy canes to the kids,

windy mountain rounds...

we left a little piece of our hearts there,

and we intended to go back for them.

that little hut on the right is where garrett and i slept.

inside our hut

breakfast.

pops ice cream break

mom handing out candy canes to the kids

Chichi market day

Xela market

results of the markets.

sunset view.

old church in Antigua.

last dinner in guatemala with the family.

christmas spirit.

to get into the christmas spirit we painted ornaments with my cousins.

garrett painted a black santa.

or i guess he really just painted a suit on a black ornament.

we went to the lower lights christmas show.

elder oaks sat across from us so it was interesting to watch his reactions (and lack of clapping...)

And of course one of my favorite parts of the season

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!

Garrett said the whole family had to come.

so naturally we piled sal and jay in the car and drove around.

they looooved it...

getting out of bed.

getting out of bed in the morning is progressively getting harder and harder.

between a husband that radiates body heat and these to fluffy creatures why the heck would i want to get out of bed?

oh and the fact that its still dark when we get up isnt helping either.

or the cold...

last night something strange happened.
we were laying in bed.
me with a book in hand
garrett with a book in hand.
and garrett says
"where did you get this book?"
it was desolation angels by kerouac (one of my all time favorites, and garretts too.)
i said i don't know.
and kept reading my book.
but he kept pushing it
"but think hard, where did you get this book?"
i said i don't know, amazon, di, some where books are cheap.
but he STILL pushed it.
"ok, just think really hard. when and where did you get this book?"
"and did you do all of these writings in it?"
i told him i honestly don't remember where i got the book.
mostly likely at di in rexburg a few years ago.
and then he said
"this is my book!"
"i let an ex girlfriend read it and i was so mad when i never got it back."
"i wrote in this book, theses are my writings."
boom baby.
i bought my husbands favorite book back for him with out even knowing it was his or that he was going to be my husband.

garrett just wrote his take on find his beloved book again Here.

house hunter.

I've been looking at homes in the area that we can potentially afford in the near future.
I would take any of these and be perfectly happy.

Salt lake has some of the best houses.

I mean, you should see the ones we can't afford

They are so beautiful and unique.

I like the idea of settling down here.

Well either here or in an rv on the road.

Or both...

work parties.

last night we attended garretts work party.
it was 10 minutes down the road but due to rush hour and bad weather it took us an hour and a half to get there.
but that hour and a half was well worth it.
he is so blessed to work with such a good group of people.
we had dinner at the fanciest restaurant either one of us have ever been too.
(think $40 a plate and options like Bison, Lamb, Elk, etc)
garrett and ryan played some christmas tunes.
all of the wives got a kindle fire hd... (say whaat? yeah i thought it was a prank at first.)
i had the best cheese cake of my life.
but one of my favorite parts was when one of the owners showed a mormon message.
this mormon message:

also, i really like this blog post by old gary
THIS ONE.

soul christmas

so the christmas show happened.
for having so little time to prepare for it, the show went really well.
and i even got roped into being in the band.
west memphis opened up and they nailed it.