Happy Cartagena Honeymoon!

On August 13, 2024

Our grandson Jonas married his sweetheart Eve in the Provo City, Temple in Utah.

Welcome to the Jason Guffey family Sweet Eve!

The Newlyweds!

When you are newlywed, going back to school and have to watch your budget, what do you do for an awesome honeymoon?

Well, if you're lucky you might have family living in an exotic local that you can visit and you won't have to pay for hotels.

Their flight arrives at the Cartagena Rafael Nuñez International Airport on Saturday August 31st.

An evening on the wall of the old city.

Now, if you're really fortunate, you visit your grandparents, and their mission is two fold. See that you never go hungry and that you save most of your money. 

A delicious deal anyway you look at it.

Jonas enjoying his very first limonada de coco (coconut limeade), which went great with the delicious steaks we had at Marzola Parrilla Argentina Restaurant.

😋😋😋

Sunday September 1, 2024

After church we took the kids up to the Convent de Santa Cruz de la Popa

They seemed to enjoy the history and beauty of the convent and the view.

From there we drove to the fortress Castille de San Felipe de Barajas. A giant fortress built in 1639. It's quite the maze of tunnels and passages inside and quite a climb to the top.

The small guard tower and below is an area where they would have slept on bunks or maybe hammocks.

Getting a photo of the prettiest gal at the fortress. A proud husband moment!

It is kite flying season here and it's not unusual to see dozens or even a hundred kites flying in the parks. This huge whale kite was spotted in the park over the tunnel as we drove home.

Sunday evening was very lovely. We invited some friends over to meet Jonas and Eve and have some cake, brownies and ice cream.

Me, Myriam Glennie and Dunia Ulloque watching the sunset.

Brother Rafael and Sister Dunia Ulloque had a fun time getting to know our grandchildren.

Darryl with Myriam and Ian Glennie enjoying the refreshments. They told the happy couple "Thanks for inviting us to your "Cartagena" wedding reception! Haha!

And the fun has just started. Wait until tomorrow!

She Calls Me Abuela Cindy

 I have a sweet little friend here who calls me "Grandma Cindy". To be fair, I consider her my granddaughter.

I have known my little nieta, Ximena since she was only a few months old. Her father, Lalo, is a good friend who we have known and worked with for over 15 years, and he sometimes teasingly calls me his "Gringo Mama". Ximena's Mama, Cintia is such a sweet, dear friend and one of the kindest women you will ever meet. 

Ximena wanted to learn something new while living near us in Cartagena, so she decided to take up crochet. Twice a week I pick her up and take her to Señora Violet's Craft Shop where she takes crochet lessons. 

And she is quite good and has learned to crochet very fast. She has made some cute animals and a cover for her phone.

When she finishes with her class we walk back to my apartment, usually stopping along the way for some ice cream or a treat of some kind. 

Since Ximena is bi-lingual, she makes ordering the ice cream quite easy. 

Ximena has two younger brothers she likes to play with and take care of. She is a very good big sister.

One day it was extremely hot and threatening rain, so we took the bicycle taxi home.

But on most days we walk the 10 blocks and she will say. "I like to walk with you Grandma Cindy. Walking with you is my favorite, you are fun". And then she will hug me tight and say "I love you Grandma!" and my heart melts. I love you too sweet Ximena!

Temple Time, Birthday Time and Fun Time

 We started off the Month of August taking our friend Sebastian with us to the Barranquilla Temple.

August 3, 224

August 4th

Happy 70th Birthday to the love of my life!

Darryl - you look fabulous for your age!

Our friends, Lalo and his two oldest, Ximena and Eduardo and Sebastian came over to help us celebrate.

We had invited several other people over who weren't able to come, so we had plenty of pastels. 

Darryl wanted a chocolate cake and I bought a carrot cake and made brownies to make sure we had enough. We did.

On Saturday the 11th, we decided to just take a day and go into town. We walked all over the beautiful neighborhood of Getsemani.

Not many people in town on this Saturday morning.

We had a delicious lunch...

...and walked over to the walled city to look for a couple of souvenirs.

The Art of Straw Marquetry

He has started collecting wooden items decorated with straw Marquetry.

Thin strips and pieces of straw are used as a decorative veneer on the wooden items.

I just love these beautiful pieces and we hope to get a couple of more before we leave.

On our Friday night date into "Old Town" we saw this guy chillin' and begging for a little cash.

We are in the rainy season, which they call winter down here, but it does make for some lovely morning walks. Of course, "winter" here means the low temperature might hit 78° and the highs just in the mid to high 80°s. Not quite the same as the USA for sure.

I've also been working on painting watercolor flower cards ...

... and a new project. Painting bookmarks for the young women at church.

And of course - there is 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION NEWS! 

📺📰📻💻

To say the most of the mainstream media is biased towards the Liberal Progressive Democrat party is an understatement. These two news articles were put out 2 months apart. They are about the same economic proposal by the 2 candidates, but the headline and treatment of the Donald Trump story is negative..

😕😕😕

Just one example: Proposal to end Taxes on Tips -

First introduced in June in Las Vegas, Nevada by former President Donald Trump. He said if elected he would propose a bill to stop taxing tips made by service and hospitality workers. The headline states that "Donald Trump's vow to stop taxing tips would cost the federal government up to $250 billion dollars over 10 years"

Kamala Harris was anointed (I use that term because not one primary vote was cast for her) by the leaders of the democrat party on July 21st when they forced President Joe Biden to stop seeking re-election. It's like 3rd world "Banana Republic" politics. They selected the vice president to run in his stead, and on August 13th she went to Las Vegas and proposed to her supporters that if elected president she would stop taxing tips made by service workers. Her headline, by the same news organization reads: "Vice President Kamala Harris is rolling out a new policy position, saying she'll fight to end taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers." At the end of the article it goes on to mention that it could possibly cost the US government $100 billion - $200 billion dollars.

***

This is only one example of what people in the USA are fed everyday on TV, radio internet and Social Media sites. Our news media has become more like a propaganda arm of the progressive democrat regime in this country. The anchors and journalists only give opinions and rarely give full facts on anything relating to the election. The reporting is extremely skewed towards the liberal progressives and all things democrat. The Media Research Center has found that since July 21st, the Legacy Media (the big 3 networks ABC, CBS and NBC) have slanted their reporting so much it almost seems like election interference to an outsider. The 'news' coverage comes out to 84% POSITIVE coverage for Kamala Harris and 89% NEGATIVE coverage for Donald Trump. How can people be so dishonest, disingenuous or conniving and still say they are honorable?

😕😖😞 

The media has the lowest trust ratings they have ever had in the last century. There is a saying among conservatives and it goes...

However much you hate the media, its not enough. You may think it is, but it's not!

I am beginning to think it could be true.