Traveling with kids is...

We made it to America! It was a little over 24 hours of travel and being in airports with two small children but we made it. The lead up to our departure from Asuncion was not as epic as the journey itself but without the lead up there is no great story.

During the week we diligently ate up as many perishable fridge and pantry items as we could and cleaned both properly. The fridge is bare and the pantry looks organized. On Thursday we had Brenda and Netza over for what we thought would be their last dinner and game nights but it turns out they have been extended to work on the Temple until August. It was a lovely surprise. We ordered burgers and deliciously bad for us cheese fries and played a terrifically epic Harry Potter game.

Poor Finely needed to receive medicine via nebulizer 3 times a day every day until we left.
She HATED it.

Professor Finley joined us during dinner one night.

We had several close calls but we won!

Poor Nanima called in sick twice this week as she was battling a cold so Kiersten was on duty with babies all day. It was good prep for this current week as Scott is in Panama for a training. So on one of these days during school pick-up, Mackenzie said she wanted "burger cheese". They went to a mall food court and then she played in the play area for over an hour. With no extravagant dinner to make at home Kiersten was in no rush to leave. It was a perfectly fun, somewhat relaxing and totally successful afternoon out.

It got cold! Fell asleep on the way home from school drop off. 

Enjoying her "burger cheese" from Mostaza.

Already driving her little sister around.

Friday night didn't feel like a Friday night since we spent it packing and doing laundry. In the morning we grabbed our last minute items and got to the airport with time to spare. Since we were traveling business class on this part of the journey, we got to enjoy the Premium lounge of the Asuncion airport. It was small but quiet and had free food and drinks so it was perfect. Our first flight to São Paulo was about 2 hours. We had a little over 4 hours in the airport there but again, business lounge so it was bearable. 

We set up shop in the United Lounge and settled in.

The next flight to Houston, TX was almost 10 hours. Scott was in charge of Mackenzie and Kiersten was in charge of the babe. Parents, to your battle stations! The flight departed at 9pm Paraguay time so we got both kids in jammies before takeoff. During the dinner service, M fell asleep mid-bite of a dinner roll and didn't eat her dinner (she ate plenty of food in the lounge). Finley ate while Mom ate and soon thereafter she too fell asleep. We were then free to "relax" and get ourselves to bed. 

Business class is really the only way to do a long flight. I can't go back!

We got some sleep then woke and ate breakfast and landed in Houston where we enjoyed the new and posh Polaris Lounge. They didn't have a family room to hide our children but they had showers so the parents enjoyed that while Mackenzie bounced off the walls and Finley cried demanding sleep. This was the beginning of the rest of the day of Finley sleeping and crying for sleep. We made it to Utah by noon Mountain Daylight Time. Got our rental car by 1 and to Pleasant Grove by 2. Since Mackenzie had taken a nap, albeit a short nap, on the plane she was "good to go". Scott had a headache so he napped while the baby napped and Mom and M went to get grocery essentials. The house is currently empty so food was a must. That evening we enjoyed our first American meal, Wendy's.

In the morning Scott went back to the airport to fly to Panama where he will be the rest of the week at a work training. As it was Memorial Day the girls joined Kiersten's grandparents and Aunt and Uncle to place flowers on the graves of their ancestors in Pleasant Grove and Tooele. Kiersten's brother Scott recently moved to Tooele so they reunited after 3 years. Mackenzie was happy to have more cousins to play with but all the familial terms eluded her so she just referred to everyone as "my famby (family)". We had a fun lunch at Denny's then drove to Springville to see the grandparent's new home at the Ashford Assisted Living Home. It was very nice and we are happy they are doing well there. After a very long day, Kiersten got the girls home and both to bed by 7:30. Win! 

Tooele Cemetery with William and Evie. 

Great-Grandma Hammond and our two girls.

The word that best describes today is loud. Finley is still adjusting to a new time zone, location, people and being in a car for more than 30 minutes and today she had had enough. She demanded to be held by Mom all day and cried in the car for long stretches. Mackenzie is doing well with everything as she is a very experienced traveler. We went to Great-Grandma Jackson's where she played in the yard with Uncle Brenton for an hour much to her delight. Then she wanted "burger cheese" again (day 3) so we went to In-N-Out. After lunch we visited Great-Grandparents Hammond in Springville and Finley cried and refused to let anyone but Mom hold her. After a few hours we left and got dinner at Coast Vida (not a burger!) and then home. Both again were in bed by 7:30 and Kiersten finally got silence. Please let tomorrow be a better day.

The perfect pair.

Yet another cheeseburger! We promise to feed her something else this week.

Thanks for reading. It was long.

Eight Years and Counting!

What a fantastic and busy week!

Monday was business as usual. School, work, mom stuff at home, etc. Tuesday, May 14, was the first day of Paraguay's Independence Days. Yes you read that correctly. Days. Plural. Tuesday also happened to be our wedding anniversary! Eight wonderful years! If you'd told us on our wedding day that in 8 years we'd be living in South America with 2 little girls we wouldn't have believed you but here we are!

Flowers and chipa from Casa Rica on Monday for Mother's Day.

The day started well. We got up and got ready to go to the park to take our annual family picture-within-a-picture picture. Our good friend who is a photographer made this our quickest photo session yet with her artist's eye and Mommy sense. We got some really cute photos! After the session, the kids played and the adults chatted.

When we got home, everyone took naps and then Scott rushed out to buy movie tickets and check in to our hotel a few miles from our house. When he returned, we packed an overnight bag and Nanima came and then we took off. First event of the evening, movie! We choose Avengers: Endgame. We'd been watching Avengers and Marvel movies for the past 2 weeks in preparation and it was time well spent. Three hours flew by and it was a great movie. Highly recommend.

I mean, aren't they the sweetest?!

After the movie, we drove down the street for Mexican food at Lupitas which is in an area which houses five other restaurants. This is the latest we've had dinner in Paraguay so far and we expected more people. The restaurant opened at 6, we got there at 8:30 and there was only one other group of people eating in the entire area! Maybe because it was a Tuesday... we don't know but we enjoyed the food and the outside temperature was heavenly. We got back to the hotel and enjoyed our first quiet, kid-free night in almost 7 months. It was marvelous. (We still love our children.)

We got a combo platter and tried their burritos, quesadillas, tacos and guac. Yum!

The morning marked day two of Paraguay's Independence Days and Paraguayan Mother's Day. We had a lovely breakfast then leisurely made our way home. Nanima survived a night with the girls giving us encouragement that we could do this again or maybe a weekend away in the future. The rest of the day we lounged around the house and relaxed. In the afternoon we took the girls to Parque Seminario across the street to burn off energy.

Playing with new friends.

Thursday it was back to work but not school for Mackenzie. She had two bad nights in a row with a cough so we kept her home from school. Sadly, Finley picked it up right as Mackenzie was feeling better so the baby was sick through the weekend.

Friday afternoon we had a terrific lunch date at an old factory turned hotel and restaurant. The decor was incredible! In the evening we had our last Harry Potter dinner and game night with our wonderful neighbors. They have been terrific to us since we arrived and we are truly sad to see them go. We hosted a Hogwarts Farewell dinner complete with Hogwarts feast (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone page 101) and floating candles. Roast chicken, rolls, peas, carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, pumpkin juice, pumpkin cookies, Golden Snitch and treacle tart (Harry's favorite treat). We played games 4 & 5 of Harry Potter well into the next morning and went to bed very late, very full but very happy.

Floor to ceiling bookshelves in the Library.

Check out that old register!

Delicious food.

Welcome to Hogwarts!

We did some decorating. This was on Finley's door since her room is off the main foyer downstairs.

Treacle Tart with whipped cream. There is a reason its Harry's favorite!

Saturday was very productive. With Finley sick we didn't want to take her out so in the morning Kiersten stayed home, completing chores while Scott and Mackenzie went to the park to play and ACE to pick up paint. When they returned home, Kiersten painted Finley's room with some help from Mackenzie and Scott. It looks fantastic and we love it! Our goal is to get Finley's nursery decorated before we leave and that deadline is getting closer and there is still a few things to be done. But the wall looks amazing!

I taped this off about 2 weeks ago.

I love love love these mountains! They turned out amazing! Finley seems to like them too.

That evening Kiersten and Mackenzie had a Mommy-Daughter date to a new burger place; T.D. Burger. It was very, very yummy. We brought one home for Daddy since he stayed home with sick baby. We put the girls to bed and went to bed early ourselves after such a late night the day before.

Such a fun evening with my girl and delicious burger!

Sunday, we opted to keep Finley home again so Scott stayed home with her while Kiersten and Mackenzie attended church. The rest of the day we relaxed at home and since in less than a week we'll be flying to Utah, dinner was what ever we happened to have in the house which is what all dinners this week is going to look like. We chatted with family and cousins, watched a movie and went to bed.

Today was a regular day. After work, Scott came with the girls to the doctor so we could have the girls looked at, especially the baby since she sounded worse again today. After the appointment, it was very late (6pm!) and horrible traffic, we grabbed burgers at McDonalds and got the girls in bed.

They had her favorite TV show on so she plopped down and watched while we waited our turn.

The Mackenzie Update:

• She's started to say, "I love you so much!" It's so genuinely sweet it melts our hearts.
• She has now attended 2 birthday parties at school. She comes home with goodie bags and candy. It has begun.

The Finley Report:

• First real sickness at 6.5 months. Poor baby. She has a nasty cough which makes her sound like a barking seal. We hope she clears up before Saturday.
• Getting lots better at sitting up. Just needs more practice.

  

  In short order this red seat will be her's and big sister will graduate to a big chair.

The countdown is in the single digits for Utah! We are super excited to be stateside for a few weeks. Kiersten will be alone the first week so if you know of any fun, kid friendly things to do, please let her know! Next week we'll be live from America!

Feels like Fall

Every day this week the weather was in the upper 70s and mid 80s. On Friday the "rains came down and the floods came up" to quote a favorite Primary song. No joke. The rain came down hard in the afternoon and the flood waters were lapping at our front gate. We've never seen that much rain fall on our street, which was flooding over the drain area. We received videos from friends of areas where the waters were up to the sides of cars and people being saved by Good Samaritans with ropes. Luckily our house didn't flood and we were safe. 

Literal raging waters. So much rain!

They love to play with Daddy.

And with each other. It was her first time in the saucer and Mackenzie was showing her the ropes.

It continued to rain through the night and it dropped the temperature into the 60s. In the morning, we went to Cafe de Aca, Kiersten's favorite cafe, for breakfast. We enjoyed hot chocolate and a delicious breakfast outside in the gorgeous weather. When we got home, everyone took a nap. Mackenzie napped for close to 3 hours, her longest nap in weeks! That afternoon we went to the Galleria mall in hopes of finding Scott a suit for his sister's wedding but we weren't comfortable enough with our Spanish to get one so we ended up walking around, letting Mackenzie play and comparing dollar burgers at McDonald's and Burger King. Conclusion: McDonald's was the clear winner.

It's basically the same temperature in all the places our families live.

Beautifully chilly at the cafe.

Playing while big sister plays.

Mother's Day part 1 was wonderful. Kiersten had a craving for cinnamon rolls so Saturday she prepped them and in the morning we baked them for breakfast. She received a wonderful card from the girls (with the help of Daddy) and got her first, "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy" from one of her children. It was very sweet. After church, the girls napped and Mom and Dad noshed on a cheese, fruit and bread board. When they woke, we chatted with grandparents and played then ate delicious steak. It was a perfectly wonderful Mother's Day.

Sadly it looked better than it tasted.

Mackenzie doing a decent job feeding Finley.

The grocery store handed this to Kiersten on Monday. How sweet!

The Mackenzie Update:

• A few times she has said, "I eat Bop-bop" which means she's feeding Bop-bop and one morning she had her shirt up with her bunny on her chest... just like Mommy does with Finley. So... she's definitely in the parrot phase of life.
• This week she was caught in the act of stealing Mommy's dark chocolate bar. She actually enjoyed the dark chocolate.

  

  She even knew she was doing something she shouldn't!

• She finally celebrated a Paraguayan birthday party at school and it was for her good friend TC (TZ = Tiziana). We think she had a good time.
• She declared her favorite song is "lead me guide me" which is what she calls 'I am a Child of God'.

The Finley Report:

• This baby wants to crawl! She has been spinning herself around slowly for almost a month now but this week she started pushing herself up on her knees or feet and essentially planking.

  

  Baby plank! I'm so proud of my exercising girls.

• She'll only nurse when she's really tired. Otherwise she gets too distracted and won't eat. Oh well. Kiersten is back to pumping three times a day. She's half breastmilk, half formula fed with 2 servings of solid food daily.

  

  Feeding herself a bottle. She's mildly successful at feeding herself.

• And she definitely had a growth spurt this week. She needed to eat basically every hour. And she ate a ton each time! Growing baby!

Did you notice we said, "Mother's Day part 1"? Yup, Sunday was American Mother's Day and on Wednesday (May 15) it's Parguayan Mother's Day AND its day two of a two day holiday. May 14 is our Anniversary so we get a day off work to celebrate. Nice, huh? See you next week!

Lost in Translation

Nothing like a mid-week holiday to make the week fly by.

Tuesday was Teacher Appreciation Day so Mackenzie didn't have school. It had rained all day so by the evening the weather was very pleasant and we decided to go out to eat since the next day was a holiday. But the car wouldn't start so we took Scott's yellow car out. Turns out it was the battery. We ate shawarma and ice cream and came home with very tired girls.

A bit blurry but we all got in the frame.

El Payaso... the clown. Delicious.

Wednesday was May 1 and Paraguay's Labor Day so no school or work. We went to Nu Guazu in the morning to run and play at the park. But then the car wouldn't start again so we flagged down some police for a jump. Back home we prepped for the Welcome Party we put together for the Lows which was being held at their home. They have a terrifically large yard and all the kids ran around for the whole 3 hours. It was a great fun.

Daddy ran a 5K pushing the baby. Mom and Mackenzie played then went running to find them.
We all came back for a fruit salad picnic.

Arrgh!

A small part of the large yard with a happy Mackenzie.

Thursday Scott arranged to get the car battery replaced so our main car works again. Good thing too because on Friday Kiersten took the wife and daughter of the Lows to the doctor in the morning. That evening after the girls had gone to bed, we had our neighbors over for a Harry Potter game night. It was our first time playing with 5 players which added a new level of intrigue since its a 4 player game.

6 month check up and immunizations.

Such a happy girl!

Can't play Harry Potter without a British dessert; pumpkin pasties.

Saturday morning Scott wasn't feeling his best so Kiersten took the girls to Parque de la Salud. It threatened rain but none fell and made the weather Fall-like. And we were the only kids at the park. Then a grocery store run and Kiersten's biggest Spanish fail to date. She ordered, "Cuarto kilo" of beef (quarter kilo = .5 pound) but the clerk, clarifying, asked, "Cuatro kilo" and Kiersten said yes. He picked up a slab of meat, weighed it and asked if she wanted it cut. He went over and started slicing... and slicing. Then he grabbed the second slab and started slicing. Its at this point that it dawns on Kiersten that he thought she ordered "cuatro kilo" or four kilos! Learning the mistake too late, she decided to just own it and accept the 8 pound bag of steak. It only cost $30 so in the end we'll have many meals out of this error.

Not a sole.

The rest of Saturday we stayed home, sat out back enjoying the weather and when the rain did eventually fall, we ordered a pizza and put the kids to bed.

Church started at 9am the next morning instead of 8am for some reason that we must have missed the previous week. Luckily someone texted us Saturday night about the change. We prefer 9am church to 8am. And in honor of Cinco de Mayo we had breakfast burritos after church and later that day steak fajitas with some of our steak stock. We chatted with family and relaxed. We are happy choir is OVER.

Mackenzie with one of her Nursery Leaders, Kathia Yegros. Yes, she is eating a chocolate cookie.

The Mackenzie Update:

• When she carries something big (pillow, boxes, bags, etc.) and she has to use two hands she says, "Mira (look)! I really strong!" We love strong girls!
• When she doesn't want to do something she claims, "I a baby". and curls up so we have to carry or pick her up.
• She's got some friends at preschool: TC (Tiziana) and Bella.
• She's becoming obsessed with birthday parties. She hasn't been to many but she's starting to learn about the appeal. She'll scribble something on a paper and say, "It's for my birthday party." or she'll announce, "Fin-y's birthday is right now and mine is in 2 hours." We don't quite get it.

  

  She also loves making "funny faces" with the Instagram filters.

• Her negotiation skills are gaining traction. We'll tell her we're leaving in 2 minutes and she'll counter with, "3 minutes." Don't know where she learned that.
• At the park on Saturday she started to pump her legs in the swing and did a decent job swinging by herself.

The Finley Report:

• She got her 6 month immunizations on Friday. She's tall and skinny. Just over 14 pounds (25%) and 26.5 inches (75%).
• When she nurses or eats a bottle she starts to grab your face. Sometimes it's sweet but when its night we just want her to go to sleep. She also grabs for your face when you play with her and that is really adorable.

  

  "Oh hey. Just readin' a book."

• Forgot to update a few things last week with the 6 month mark. Size 2 diapers and still in 3-6 month clothing.

  

  Wook at dis witto face!

• All her solid foods to date: pears, carrots, bananas.
• And lastly, she's basically sitting! She leans really far over her legs but she can sit straight up with legs wide apart for a few seconds before slumping over her legs.

  

  This only lasted for a few seconds before she fell over.

Just a few short weeks before we're wheels up for Utah. Can you tell we're excited?! See you next week!