Happy 4th of July

Do they have the 4th of July in Guatemala? Of course. It's just not a holiday.

Heidi went to Buen Samaritano this morning and Matt recorded. Then we had a chance to chat with Matt's parents and our niece, Sophia, by video conference this afternoon. You know, kids grow fast. Guess we'll get to witness that firsthand here pretty soon.

Yesterday in Guatemala City, we passed a hotel that had a pretty serious amount of security around it. About 50 army guys, some large army trucks, and a pickup truck with a 50-caliber machine gun mounted in the back (no, they don't have Hummers here - at least the army doesn't.)

Also, in one of the hotels we visited to look for rooms for when the baby is born, there were a LOT of different languages being spoken and a lot of folks had IOC lanyards on. Turns out that the security was for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the IOC people were there for the meeting to determine who will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Seems that Putin's trip paid off - the games will be in Russia.

Anyway, a few minutes ago, our friend Regina knocked on the door. Her daughter, Carolina, one of our cleft palate babies, is apparently sick. While our house is not a clinic, we have a special place in our hearts for those two and we'll take a look at her when Regina brings her by. (For whatever reason, she just came by to see if we were here...)

Tomorrow is a day off. The first Thurday of every month is when two Guatemalan doctors come to ASELSI. Russell, Bethany, and Tye come in on Friday, then we head to our normal weekend clinics with the Fickers on Saturday.

Enjoy your 4th of July holiday. We miss being in the US for this day more than most. In fact, we REALLY wish we were with Matt's family in Alaska (where we were last year). Heidi is getting into that I'm-always-hot-and-can't-get-comfortable stage. Alaska would be nice!