It's another 3 day holiday weekend!

What a glorious week! Mostly in regards to the weather. After a rain storm on Monday the temperature remained in the mid 70s with low humidity for the rest of the week until Friday when the temp hitched back up. We spent more time outside this week for sure with this delicious glimpse of the upcoming Fall.

Tuesday we took a trip to visit a new pediatrician. Our current/previous one has become extremely busy working to train new doctors within the country and has two days of office hours so we got a new one. She was wonderful, trained in the US and spoke English. Mackenzie needed a checkup for something minor so it was good timing.

Wednesday Kiersten went to the Embassy to continue in her new role as the Health and Wellness Coordinator by participating in the monthly Professional Development Day (PDD). There is an hour reserved for a wellness activity or seminar and this month the topic was Heart Health and the seminar was given by a local heart surgeon. After 90 minutes, Kiersten was very bored and had written a lot of notes to hopefully help improve these in the future.

Thursday was Nanima's birthday! We made her mint brownies since she said her favorite dessert was brownies with mint ice cream so we combined the two. Mackenzie remembered all day it was her birthday and once we picked her up she "sang" Happy Birthday to her when we got home. That night for dinner we had our new neighbors over. They are new to Post, having been here just over 2 weeks now, and they live in the townhouses behind us. Very nice and we hope to continue to build a relationship with them especially since so many of our friends are leaving in the coming months.

She loves her treats!

Friday Scott and Kiersten were able to, for the first time since being back in Paraguay, go on a date sans kids! We opted for Gripon Criollo which is another of the many Brazilian Steakhouses (or churrasqueria) in the city. Food was pretty much the same as the others but the decor was very open and modern. We had a great time and talked mostly about our R&R in June.

Meant to get a picture of us but forgot.

Then we looked at some Paraguayan art. We really like this piece but left empty handed.

Saturday morning we took the girls to Parque de la Salud for M to play and S&K to run with F in the stroller. We actually met up with some of our Embassy friends and they were happy to watch the kids at the playground while the parents ran. We stayed for about 2 hours and then went home for lunch and naps.

The afternoon was typically busy with chores then in the evening we drove to the Costanera for an International Gastronomic Fair. We weren't aware there was a fancy, sports car drag race also taking place so parking was scarce, the other side of the road closed and tons of people standing. We drove past everything, looped around through the city and came back again and parked. We got out, walked by some food trucks, passed all the people and fancy cars to the Food Fair. It was supposed to start at 6pm and by the time we arrived at 7:15 only a few stands were open with others starting to set up and they were selling empanadas. It was so Paraguayan. So we went back to the food trucks, got a decent dinner and randomly talked to some Canadians who were vacationing. It was a fun cultural experience.

Fancy cars, funny girl.

Lots of tents and not enough food to show for it.

We finally dined at some food trucks!

Our dinner was from Chewi's.

Sunday was pretty relaxing and best of all, we gathered some English speakers and had a terrific Sunday School discussion in English! It lifted our spirits and we felt edified for the first time in a long time in our Ward here. The rest of the day we played, chatted with family and went to choir. We've been preparing for a Stake Conference that we don't have a date for for months now. Should be soon though...we hope.

Quirks of Paragauay:

• Remember how we've said the roads are pretty bad here? Well they are. And if there is a hole in the street, not like a pothole but like a hole, they'll stick something in it to warn cars not to drive there. Not like a cone but like a stick or a bag or if its really big, a refrigerator (not making that up.)

  

  And they fill the hole with whatever they can find for a temporary fix. How nice.

The Mackenzie Update:

• She calls men 'guys' and women 'little lady'. She'll ask, "What's that guy/little lady doing?"
• She's learned the expression, "That's amazing." 

  

  She loves to "drive".

• If Finley is crying, she'll go over and say, "It's ok baby sister, I'm right here" because she hears Mommy saying it. But it works!
  
• The other day she held up a tomato slice and said, "Mommy, cir-cur (circle)!" She's learning her shapes!
• A few times now when calling for Mom in a public setting she'll call for "Kier-sen!" What?! No!
• New game: steal the arm covers off the couch. Daddy chases her, takes it back then she gets a new one and runs away with Daddy on her heels. She emits a most joyous laugh during this game.

  

  Running away with her stolen arm chair cover.

The Finley Report:

• She's getting better at tracking people. She recognizes Nanima and smiles at her. She doesn't smile at everyone so this is how we know she likes her.

  

  Photo taken by big sister. Not bad, eh?

• She didn't sleep well this week but we suspect it was because of her congested nose from the cold everyone got this week.
• Still in 0-3 month clothing. Failed to mention in last week's 4 month update.

  

  It's she adorable?

• When she giggles, she sounds like a squeaky toy. It's the best.

And Monday is a holiday here so no work or school for those in the family it applies to! We're going to the Hostel for lunch with the American members and saying good-bye to some sister missionaries. Have a great week!