Semana Santa and Pascua 2019

We finally caught a break this week. Four day weekend! It was mostly relaxing. Love living in a country that celebrates Holy Week (Semana Santa) by taking off work on the Thursday and Friday before Easter. Helps us to focus on the importance of that day a little more.

Tuesday was a busy day. Mackenzie didn't want to go to school (she'd thrown up again on Monday afternoon) so we kept her home. She played all day with Nanima and then Mommy wore out both girls a little more. They both fell asleep by 7! Miracle.

Yes! She fell asleep at the counter and had to be transported to her room. A first!

Wednesday Mackenzie officially didn't have school so it was another play all day with Nanima. Finley was so excited to have big sister home again that she decided to forego some much needed naps and was a very tired girl by the end of the day.

Weird places we find our child napping! 

Thursday, Scott worked a half day and finished his last interview for our next potential post. Fingers crossed for us while we wait until May for the results and our pending future home. That evening we had Brenda and Netza over for personal pizzas and Harry Potter. The pizzas were a hit and we now know we can make 3-4 personal sized pizzas to fit our pizza stone and they turn out delicious. And! We defeated box 3 of our Harry Potter expansion! Yeah! One more to go!

Went to the mall for lunch and it was so nice we ate outside.

Burger 54!

Mackenzie got in on the pizza making action. She loved the making but not the eating.

Our dear friends! They were such sports in making their own pizzas. It was fun!

Mini cheesecakes while defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!

Friday was busy but restful. No work just chores and playing with the girls. That evening we went to a 'Welcome to Post' party for a new family who just arrived. Mackenzie had a blast playing with the other kids and we all ate way too much food. Kiersten in fact felt so full that she went to bed by 7 along with the girls. Then woke up at 9 very sick and had a rough night. Food poisoning. Luckily it happened on the weekend when Scott was home to take care of everything and everyone. He was the hero of the weekend!

Grocery store run! We even saw the Easter Bunny and Mackenzie was thrilled.

So Saturday we had planned to go on a drive to see some of the Paraguayan country side but alas we spent the day at home so Kiersten could rest.

Easter Sunday found us feeling much better and mostly well rested. Kiersten wasn't sure she'd have the energy to stay for all of church but she did and it was great since it was a third Sunday and that means Sunday School which for us now means English! Highly recommend this fabulous talk by Elder Holland to help you better understand Easter and the Atonement.

Happy Easter from our Paraguayitos!

The rest of the day was very low key. The Easter Bunny came after a very abrupt nap (non-nap) complete with bubble wand, bouncy balls, church board books, chocolate and an egg hunt. The Easter Bunny made sure to leave one egg empty to symbolize the empty tomb and help us remember Jesus on this special Sunday.

Hunting some eggs.

Happy, smiley Easter bunny baby.

Dinner was delicious and simple; chicken, rolls, steamed veggies and cheesy scalloped potatoes. We didn't have our traditional Hungarian Easter brioche loaf since Kiersten wasn't up to much baking nor did we have a carrot cake. Maybe later this week those will happen. We chatted with family and saw a beloved cousin and life was good.

Today we find ourselves back to the normal grind. Scott returned to work and Mackenzie to school. Kiersten is hitting the books hard this week to finish up her Personal Training course before the end of the month and recovering, still, from her weekend.

The Mackenzie Update:

• Some new Spanish words take us a while to decipher. Can you guess what, "doo-sa" means? Took us a week but it's "gusta" which means "like". She'll say, "No doo-sa" or "yes, doo-sa" meaning she doesn't like or does like something. Thank you preschool!
• Lately she's been calling Kiersten 'Mom' not 'Mommy'. Makes her sad. Don't worry though, Scott is still 'Daddy'.
• She's a cheerleader! Meaning she likes to give encouragement to others, mostly Finley and Mommy. "Good job, Fin-ey! You did it!" What a great kid!

  

  "Look Mommy! I a horsey!"

• New game with baby sister. Finley lays on the ground and kicks her legs. Mackenzie stands near her kicking legs and falls down when she "kicks" her. They laugh and have a great time.

  

  "Kick me, Fin-ey! Kick me!" Pillow for safety.

The Finley Report:

• Easter was the big day: first solid foods! We gave her pears at dinner and she seemed to like the taste but was understandably confused by the texture. She had some more today (Monday) and has picked it up quickly.

  

  By the end she was opening her mouth when the spoon came to her.

• Sleep issues. It's really starting to take its toll on us. She wants to play all day and not eat or sleep and she/we pay for it at night. She is starving come bed time and overtired that a few nights this week we had to let her cry herself to sleep. We're really hopeful that the introduction of solid food helps to resolve some of these issues. And the new weighted sleep sack that just arrived. Fingers crossed!
• As a result of crying so much from tiredness, she sounds like she's lost her voice. It's really, very sad. Pobrecita (poor baby).
• Her newest trick is to blow raspberries or bubbles. She even does it sometimes when she's eating. She thinks it's hilarious.
• Happy Baby yoga pose! As soon as she gets on the changing table, her legs come up and she grabs her feet in the perfect Happy Baby pose.

  

  Here she's doing her yoga move AND blowing raspberries. Multi talented baby!

Much better week all around as you can see. We are now counting down the days to our Anniversary and then upcoming trip to Utah at the end of May. Until then, see you next week!