Last week we spent almost the entire week in the pool and this week it rained or threatened to rain everyday so we didn't step foot in the pool. Sometimes that's just how things go.
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| We did however FINALLY receive our last Christmas package that was sent in the middle of December. |
On Tuesday Kiersten and Mackenzie took our friend Brenda to Agro Shopping for her first time. She loved it! We all bought a lot of yummy, fresh produce and had a great time. Later that day Kiersten finally had a real meeting with the Primary Presidency and it was such a good meeting! They are all on the same page about discipline, lesson assignments, calling teachers and how to do Sharing Time that it left Kiersten feeling lighter in her heart than she has since her first week in Primary.
Wednesday was an eventful day at our house. We had two Embassy workers come over to drill holes in our walls to hang our pictures! Now our house really feels and looks like a home. We love having our walls decorated and not the vast white nothingness that was there for the first 6 months.
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| Loving our travel wall! Great conversational pieces. |
On Thursday mornings K&M attend Yoga at a friend's house and this particular Thursday, Kiersten decided to buy some produce from the street vendors that walk between the cars at red lights. You can never have too many bananas ("There's always money in the banana stand.") so we bought some bananas. She also did it because they don't tell you how much things cost so she was curious to know. She bought about 7 bananas for less than a US dollar. Not too bad.
Friday Scott had his first Spanish lesson! And it was great. We are working hard on that New Years Resolution. After both of our Spanish lessons we went out to lunch at Damasco, the Middle-Eastern restaurant that Kiersten went to in November and has been praising ever since. It was so good. At 3pm Kiersten met the other members of the Primary Presidency to buy new materials and toys for the Primary and Nursery. Kiersten had the only car of the bunch so she drove them downtown to a massive store which she can only equate to a Walmart; big, everything you can think of and cheap. It left her feeling extremely exhausted. But that wasn't the end of the day for her! At 8pm she joined some Embassy ladies for dinner at Nacho Rey (Nacho King) which was a luchador and Day of the Dead themed Mexican restaurant. It was a very fun night.
Saturday for lunch we met up with the two other American families from our Ward at a Chinese buffet. It was pretty standard American-Chinese food but it was good and all-you-can-eat so we ate all we could and didn't need anything the rest of the day. That night we met back up with the same two families and a few more to play games and have treats. Even with 10 kids running around, Mackenzie was able to sleep and we played games. It was really fun.
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| Our little social eater did so great during lunch she deserved some dessert. |
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| We took the big step and learned how to play Settlers of Catan. It was as fun as people claim. |
The moment of truth came on Sunday in Primary. We laid down the new rules with the kids and divided the hour with a short lesson and some music time and the kids responded really well. It was still a little chaotic by the end but it was so much better than them being crazy for the entire third hour of church. Before Sharing Time, Kiersten felt prompted to take the three oldest American girls out of their Senior Primary class to have a lesson in English and by the end of that lesson they were all asking questions and participating. It was fantastic! Best Sunday we've had in a while. Mackenzie also stayed in Nursery almost the entire time with Scott hovering just out of sight for a portion of it all.
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| Our 5 class rules lovingly drawn by Kiersten. |
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| Getting ready to play! |
That afternoon we invited our friends Brenda and her husband Netza for dinner, dessert and Harry Potter. We finally beat the third level! We can now move on! All in all it was a super fun weekend.
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| This round killed us again but the next time we won! |
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| Mackenzie was a champ through it all. She was content to play by herself for more than an hour. |
Monday morning Mackenzie and Kiersten went to Brenda's for her Spanish tutoring session and at the end we bought empanadas because we are on a quest for the best. It was a pretty typical Monday.
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| Our delicious Caprese burgers for dinner. The fresh herbs here are heavenly. |
Misadventures in Baking:
- While Agro Shopping Kiersten found fresh rosemary and that afternoon she made some cranberry-rosemary scones which had been labeled as Christmas Morning Scones. They tasted great alone or with the sugary glaze. She served them at her meeting and everyone loved them. Hopefully this will be a new Christmas tradition?
- We have a baby crock pot, about 1 quart. This week we made apple crisp in it and it was perfect for two.
- Black bean brownies. We've made some black bean treats before and they always turn out. We made a big batch of mint black bean brownies for the Saturday night game night and the plate was scraped clean and no one knew what was in them.
Quirks of Paraguay:
- Litter. To get to lunch on Saturday Kiersten and Mackenzie walked while Scott ran a quick errand and met them there. During the walk Kiersten noticed just how dirty and littered the sidewalks and streets of Asuncion are. We've seen people blatantly throw trash on the ground and it is bizarre to us as Americans but they don't have the same ideas. We've even heard that people who live closer to the river just throw their trash in the water because, "it will get washed away" and then they don't have to deal with it. So gross.
- Empanada stores. Empanadas are a BIG deal in Paraguay. You will see empanadas being sold at grocery stores, gas stations, hole in the wall stores and on almost every street corner at dedicated empanada restaurants. Two streets across and less than half a mile away from us are three empanada restaurants. It is our goal to try them all. (To be clear, all the various restaurants not empanadas because every shop has at least 10 different varieties. Right now we are tasting the ham and cheese ones and beef which are the two most common flavors.)
The Mackenzie Update:
- She can jump! She doesn't always leave the ground. Sometimes its just a low squat with a quick upward thrust but occasionally one or both feet find air.
- She likes the rain. Friday morning the girls went for a walk at the park and it gradually began to rain. Mackenzie loved splashing in the puddles and didn't mind on bit that she was getting wet.
She loved playing and did NOT want to leave. - This little girl is growing. Her sleeping patterns are erratic but a few times this week she slept for 3 hours during naps and slept in a few mornings. We can physically see her grow too because she is getting tall.
It was a fantastic week for us. Another fun detail from this week was we finally have a vacation planned and booked! We are flying down to Buenos Aires, Argentina in February. They have great food, night-life, markets, parks, museums and tango dancers. We are really looking forward to exploring more of South America.
Thanks for reading. Have a great week!
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