A Walk Down Memory Lane

Wow, talk about deja vu... Just over 9 years ago we made our first trip to Guatemala to meet a little 3 week old baby boy we were naming Karter. It was an awesome trip, but also very unsure. Not unsure because of adopting Karter, but unsure because we jumped on a plane to a country we had never been to, a place we had no friends, a place we did not speak the language. When we landed, we went to a hotel where they placed a little boy in our arms and said have a good weekend, we will see you in a couple days....

Remember, Karter is our first child. We knew nothing about taking care of a baby, and now we had one with no instructions in a land we did not speak the language. Sure they gave us his formula to feed him... But the instructions were in Spanish. We did what any parent would do, we figured it out and had fun. The only problem with the trip was that a couple days later, we had to hand him back to his foster mom, get on a plane and go back home... Not knowing when we would get to see him again.

Now jump ahead just over 9 years... I am so excited to be back in Guatemala for Karter's third return trip to help families and kids in care, and this time to spend a couple days just enjoying the country. I'm even more excited that our whole family including our daughter Kayman got to come on this trip. 

Last night and this morning have been very special to me. You see, we spent the night in the very hotel we first got to hold our little boy. Not only is it the same hotel, but if you saw my picture on Facebook, we actually sat on the same couch in the lobby and took a family picture just like we did 9 years ago on our first trip here. This time, our whole family is in the picture!

Like that trip 9 years ago, this trip is a first also. This trip is the first trip as Karter's Dream Inc.. It is our first trip to help from our new non profit we started just a couple months ago. This time we get to work with old friends, see some new areas, make more contacts, and continue to dream not about when we can see our little boy again, but how we can help more people in this beautiful country! 

Looking forward to a great week! I am so glad it started in the same location our very first journey in Guatemala started!