Guatoberfest Recap

We had a wonderful time at Guatoberfest 2008!!! It was so nice to see so many beautiful children in one place. I had such a fantastic time meeting some blogger buddies in person and reuniting with others.

The drive was long, but Gabriella was really good, so that made it easier.

I will say though, I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I had imagined I would. Even with Ferdy and I both there, it was a full-time job keeping up with Miss G.



Me, Tricia and Sig. It was awesome to finally meet Tricia after over 2 years of "knowing" her. And seeing Sig again was great! We hadn't seen each other since Guatemala. We were there on our pickup trip and she was meeting her baby girl for the first time.



Of all the treats the kids got, Gabriella's favorite is the deck of cards that I think was meant for the parents..... She played with those cards all afternoon today. Taking them out of the box and putting them back in. Over.And.Over. Well, OK, 2nd to the juice boxes which she sucked down within the first 30 seconds since she doesn't get them at home (hey, she's wild enough without adding extra sugar to the mix!).





A whole lotta cute....

Guess who got a new purse at the Aquarium? She must have known it matched this outfit.

Gabriella LOVED Miss Kim and Alex. She was asking for "Agex" all weekend long. I'm quite sure she would have gone back with them to Kentucky if given the choice.

The other Miss G ...... Holly, how the heck did we let this weekend get by without a picture of us?????????

Gabriella was fascinated with trying everyone else's strollers out all weekend. I think she liked this one since it matched her outfit.

She had a blast with these pom-poms. We found her a pair of Steeler's ones the next day and got them for her. And she already knows to yell "Touchdown Steeler's" and wave them.

JuJu and her little firecracker Abby-Grace. We've decided that she and Miss G are two peas in a pod. Fiesty little divas.

I wanted to try to get a good pic of Miss G with this cute little Fall display the hotel had. Notice the pile of flower petals? Yep, she grabbed the flowers and pulled them all off. oooops.

I want to end this post by saying a HUGE Thank You to Julia, Kerry, Megan and everyone else who helped out with making this awesome gathering a reality. It grew by leaps and bounds from last year and the logistics had to have been crazy. These ladies have a heart of gold. Their dedication to the children of Guatemala is heartwarming. Please go over to their website Global Orphan Team to see a video they showed us. The pictures are from a mission trip they did a few months back. My heart breaks to think of all of these children who will grow up without knowing the security and love of a family since adoptions have stopped in Guatemala for the time-being.

I'm already on the edge of my seat waiting to hear about where it will be next year.