The week days were the same old same old with work, errands, chores and playing for all members of the family except for Wednesday. Guess what? The Paraguayan Ambassador arrived this week and we were invited to come meet him and his wife at an informal dinner at Paulista, the churrasqueria we've visited a time or two. Alicia was able to come over to watch Mackenzie that night while the parents went out for a date. It was wonderful! Fun time, good company and ok food. Either the meat wasn't that great or we have gotten over all the great meat that now it is unimpressive. The desserts were pretty good though so we haven't gotten tired of dulce de leche! All in all it was a fun evening and were happy to have an excuse to go out. Oh and the Ambassador seems pretty great too.
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| A beautiful day with two beautiful ladies. |
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| Mackenzie really likes hats. |
Friday evening Scott went to play soccer with some co-workers and wives were not allowed so Kiersten and Mackenzie stayed home and played their own soccer...for like 20 seconds but they had fun all the same. Scott enjoyed himself more than he thought and after getting all cleaned up, Brenda and Netza came over so we could play the last level of Harry Potter, level 7. And! We won on our first attempt! It was stupendous! We enjoyed a delicious vanilla custard pie while defeating all the villains. It was a very fun night.
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| Such a tasty pie! |
Ever since our trip to Buenos Aires Scott has been a little behind at work so after doing some chores on Saturday morning he went into the office to play catchup. Kiersten and Mackenzie drove out to the park near the airport (Nuguazu Park) for a run and to play at the park. Mackenzie handled the 3 mile run better than expected and so did Kiersten. Starting to get back into running shape because, well, she misses it and with the weather cooling off that's just another perk.
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| A new park to explore! |
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| Bear crawling through a tunnel. |
Scott got back home a few hours later and we went out to eat at a burger place we've been trying to go to for about 2 weeks now. It is called Walhburger and it is straight from Boston, Mass in America and boy did these burgers taste like America. We were the only customers at 5pm on a Saturday evening. There was a big inner-city rivalry soccer game happening at the same time so we enjoyed that while we ate our dinner. Good food, good game, good times.
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| So American! Look at those loaded fries! |
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| Welcome to Walhburger Paraguay! Since 2014. |
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| She was all tuckered out after a full meal and a full day. |
Sunday was a busy, busy day for us. Scott got a calling last week as a High Priest so he had to wake up early to attend a meeting before church. Then three hours of church which went pretty well. Primary was calm and actually fun! Then Scott offered to drive some of the priests to a sick woman's home to give her the sacrament then he drove to the airport to pick someone up. He was a busy, busy guy. We were able to connect with Kiersten's parents for a FaceTime chat after dinner and with Daylight Savings we are now only one hour ahead of the East Coast! Yes! And in two weeks we'll "fall back" and be in the same time zone again! Hooray!
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| The artist at work during church. |
During the night the power went out at least 2 times. How do we know? Well when the power goes out, the fan and AC in our room turn off and then we get hot and wake up or when the power comes back on, the AC and security alarm beep which wake us up. So that's how we know. We haven't had a power outage in ages so we were due. The power went out on Sunday morning before church too for about 30 minutes so it wasn't completely unexpected to have it go out at night. Just unpleasant. Then today (Monday) the power went out again in the afternoon during M's nap and with all the beeping from alarms and air units, she didn't get a very restful nap. Scott has been at work all day and is getting home late so it was a long afternoon with a semi-cranky toddler. The girls did manage to get in the pool for about an hour which was very fun. The rain from last week made the water too cold to get in and now with the heat pushing back up into the 90s it was just right so we made the most of it. Alicia was out sick today and just as well since Kiersten is starting to have misgivings about keeping her. She's afraid Alicia isn't actually teaching and playing with Mackenzie, just silently participating in games. She keeps the house spotless and that's a nice bonus but not our purpose in hiring help. We need to talk to her about it and see if anything changes.
Misadventures in Baking:
- It's been far too long since Kiersten did any proper baking and this week she baked a pie... two pies! The first one was the vanilla custard pie from the Friday night game night. It was delicious and much easier than anticipated. Banana slices on top of the crust, custard filling then blueberries on top. Mmm! The second pie was an apple crostata or rustic pie. The crust she'd made for the custard pie was a double crust so she was left with a second crust and only fruit fillings. What to do? A rustic pie is a pie shell rolled out, fruit filling (usually) piled in the center then the edged folded over towards the center. Place it on a baking sheet and bake like a pie. It was perfect! And delicious. Both recipes were curtesy of Kiersten's birthday present 'The Art of Pie' book.
Look at the layers! 
Before shot.
After shot of the rustic pie.
The Mackenzie Update:
- She is 21 months as of Saturday! This little girl truly is the light of our lives. We love her energy and spirit. Her personality is very strong and funny. She makes us laugh and she gives us moments of frustration but that's just the way it should be. She loves to laugh, dance, run, jump and play with Mom and Dad. Her favorite toys are her stuffed elephant and bunny. She's a belly sleeper and night-time pooper. She loves yogurt, guacamole, cheese, blueberries and anything she can eat independently. She is such a joy to have in our little family!
Playing games after nap time. "Hola!" - She has started to do this thing where she sucks in too much air while breathing normally and then act like she's choking and coughing. It's annoying and scary all at the same time because you don't know if she's really choking. We hope we grows out of this phase very soon.
- We turned Mackenzie's car seat to be forward facing. Scott couldn't bear to have his little girl sit with her legs all scrunched so we changed it. Yes we are supposed to wait until she is 2 years old but we don't live in America and many people here don't even have car seats. Besides the rule also states "or until the child is 25 pounds" and she is 26 pounds so there.
Enjoying some cheesy bread from the grocery store. - Mackenzie is a fan of the grocery store and she is usually very good while we are there. We let her pick out a 'treat' and so far the sky's the limit; chocolate milk, juice, candy, bread, cups, etc. Only once has she disliked her own treat (orange juice). It has so far prevented any tantrums and excess grabbing of hand level items. She is also starting to help out in the produce section. She loves to be of assistance!
Eating her Snicker's snack with Daddy. 
And getting Kinder all over herself! - Naps are getting pushed to later in the day as of this past week. She's been taking one nap a day since she was about 11 months old and 11am was the golden time. This week when we put her down at 11 she would play and run around her crib (which was another sign that Alicia isn't exactly playing with her because she isn't tired out like she usually is). As a very curious toddler she doesn't want to miss anything so we've decided her naps can start a little later in the afternoon, anywhere from 12 to 1 and sleep as long as she needs.
- Speaking of naps she has started to pretend to be asleep. She can fake snore and will now "fall asleep" around the house. In her high chair during meals, playing with her toys, in the car seat, etc. She thinks it's hilarious!
Shh! She's sleeping.
Just kidding!
This week we celebrate Pi Day on Wednesday (3.14) and we have a pie menu for dinner and dessert that we are very much looking forward to. Then Saturday is St. Patrick's Day which is totally an American holiday but we will be having friends over and enjoying Irish food and more pie! It's gonna be a fun week! Thanks for reading!
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