Tuesday Kiersten received word that one of her dear Freshman roommates is getting married this summer and is having an Open House in Utah right after our return from London so we bought a ticket for her to go out to Utah solely for the Open House. It will be her first trip away from Mackenzie.... We'll see how it all goes when the time comes. Also someone came and took our Mazda away to the shop. Did you know what we have one of five Mazda CX-5s in the entire country of Paraguay? The Mazda dealer shipped 3 down to sell but decided they wouldn't do well here so didn't send for any more. The boss bought one and the other two were sold. We have one and another Embassy family has the fifth. So that means they don't carry CX-5 parts! We'll need to ship any and all repair parts from America. Oh goodie.
On Wednesday during Yoga (of all places) Kiersten was really craving some ice cream so when she got home, she and Mackenzie went on a Mommy-daughter date to Doña Angela which is a cute little ice cream cafe complete with a full menu including breakfast items like medialunas (croissants), egg sandwiches and the like and lunch like pizza, pasta and sandwiches. So we ate lunch then got some ice cream to-go to share with Scott later. We really like ice cream.
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| Sorry it's blurry but its still super cute. And she's smiling! |
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| Great use of stickers! It helped calm her while we waited for the food. |
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| She asked for them to go on her face! |
Then on Thursday morning we had our first successful Play Group. Three moms with kids came and we had a full house all morning. 9 kids! It was a blast to see Mackenzie running around and interacting with so many kids of various ages. The moms liked it too and already planned the next one! We hope it continues.
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| Mackenzie showed this little girl how to play with the treehouse. |
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| That lady is the mother of 5 under 5! A five year-old, triplets! and an almost two year-old. |
Scott needed to work late that night so Kiersten say no to making dinner and yes to McDonalds! Since her first experience ordering to now, it was much smoother and understandable. The girls ordered Daddy a Big Mac combo meal and delivered it to the Embassy so M could see him before going to bed.
Friday Scott and Kiersten went back to Doña Angela for their weekly Friday lunch date. It was so crowded! They have daily specials and the special on Friday is all you can eat pizza. It's like Brick Oven in Utah where they come to your table and offer you slices of pizza. It doesn't taste as good a Brick Oven though. We then got ice cream and went home.
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| Sooo much whipped cream! |
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| And the thinnest milkshake ever! |
That night, we'd secured a babysitter so we could have dinner with Brenda and Netza at their apartment then play Harry Potter. They again introduced us to a deliciously authentic Costa Rican and Mexican dish. We were told it's a dish that busy moms make but it seemed like a time consuming process! Shredded chicken with chipotle adobo sauce, black bean puree, onions, peppers, pico de gallo and tiny corn tortillas (homemade) with sour cream. Oh. My. Gosh! It was so delicious! We definitely ate too many because the tortillas were so small. Afterward Scott admitted they were the best tacos he's ever had "bar none". We contributed 7 layer cookies as dessert and lost our game. We're getting together again this coming Saturday to eat food and try again.
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| Mouth-wateringly good! |
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| Played with our new expansion pack. Kiersten played the newest character: Luna Lovegood. |
Saturday morning was rough for both of us since we went to bed very full and woke up early to participate in an Embassy hosted Around the World 5K race. There was a terrific showing from the community and Mackenzie happily rode in the stroller the whole way. We had a great time apart from realizing how out of shape we are that a 5K was trouble-some. Maybe it was the food from the night before or the humidity but we're pretty sure it was just our bodies telling us we're getting older. Yuck.
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| It wasn't a true 5K. It was really only 2.5 miles. |
The rest of the day we took it easy. That night for dinner we were in the mood for Thai food. That's a little problematic because as far as we know there aren't any Thai people in Asuncion. BUT! There is one Thai restaurant in all of Asuncion about 20 minutes from our house right on the outskirts (almost) of the city. It was easy enough to find with the large purple elephant sign indicating the turn to the restaurant. We were the only patrons inside and we're pretty sure it was just the chef and one waiter in there too. How they have managed to stay open we don't know. We ordered an appetizer, three drinks and two entrees and were pleasantly surprised by both taste and price. They do delivery so one way or another we'll find our way back to this little place.
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| The purple elephant sign. |
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| Since we were the only patrons we didn't mind letting Mackenzie wonder and try out different seats. |
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| Happy family outing! |
Sunday was Fast Sunday for us and Kiersten, for the first time, bore her testimony in Spanish! It was very short as that was all she had the vocabulary for but it was all the needed to be said really. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, Russell M. Nelson is the Prophet of God, and Jesus Christ lives. Choir rehersal was long but very much needed. Stake Conference is two weeks away and the songs we've been working on since January are finally coming together nicely. Mackenzie decided she wasn't going to take a nap despite two attempts so she went down hard at 6:30 and slept for a solid 12 hours. Oh toddlers.
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| French Toast with blueberry-peach compote, nuts and a banana for our Fast Sunday dinner. |
Monday, as previously stated, was busy. Mackenzie kept Kiersten busy with her demanding play schedule then napped for about 2.5 hours. Kiersten did chores and prepped dinner and then they both crashed on the couch and watched part of the live action Cinderella from 2015.
Today (Tuesday) so far has been more relaxing in a sense. Alicia is here and Mackenzie has been happy to play with her and ask her for things (agua, cheese, etc.). Kiersten went to teach her weekly Tuesday morning Bootcamp class and today there were two participants. Last week she had 4 and was hoping we could continue to increase the numbers but 2 people is better than zero. We'll see what happens next week. The rest of the day looks to be pretty good. We were invited to a play-dough play date with another family this afternoon and are looking forward to it... if Mackenzie ever takes her nap.
Misadventures in Baking:
- This was our first time making the 7 layer cookies and it was very easy, come to find out. We added nuts and some dulce de leche because when in Paraguay, right? This helped fill out the full 7 layers and it was delectable.
Seven layers: graham cracker, semi-sweet chocolate, butterscotch chips, milk chocolate, dulce de leche, walnuts and sweetened condensed milk.
Quirks of Paraguay:
- Mazdas. From early in the post we said we have one of the five CX-5s in the country. They have a Mazda dealership here but they mostly deal with trucks or compact cars. We'll see how it goes and how long its in the shop. Thank goodness for our little yellow car!
The Mackenzie Update:
- More words! Can't remember which ones we've mentioned so if there are some repeats we apologize.
- Pooba (like Pumba from The Lion King but without the 'm') - chipa which is the Paraguayan cheese bread. A man in a car with a megaphone drives around the neighborhood advertising chipa and when she hears it she chirps "Pooba! Pooba!"
- Nana - manzana (apple). This one sounds like banana so context clues are everything. She has a shirt with spots on it that look like berries or apples and when she wears it she points to them and says, "Nanas".
- Time outs have made their way into our home. We have been struggling for MONTHS to teach her not to jump on the couch. We get that it's soft and fun and bouncy and just makes sense to jump on it but it's not allowed. That's what trampolines and bounce houses are for. Not furniture. So when she jumps on the couch, we pick her up and stand with her in the corner of the room for a minute. Sometimes she fights us and cries and other times she just takes it. When it's over, we get down to her level and explain to her why she was in timeout. Pray for us that this will finally stick. Disciplining a toddler is hard!
- She loves books and not just the short, boarded baby books. She likes the Dr. Seuss library ones that have real pages and take longer than a minute to read. She can 'tell' us the whole story of 'Are you my Mother?'
"Are you my Mother?" but the kitten ... just looked and looked. - The eensy weensy spider! Kiersten taught her the hand motions and the song this week and she loves it!
That is all for this jam-packed week. Sorry for the delay in publication. Have a good one and we'll see you next week!
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