Christmas ISN'T Cancelled!

Runners-up for this week's blog title include:

• Return of the Ants - the warmer weather has the ants running back inside our home
• Pick a Temperature, Paraguay! - crazy fluctuations from hot to cool to hotter to windy.
• We Be Sick - yup, everyone got sick

Yes it's been a few days since our usual posting so we've got more ground to cover tonight so let's get to it!

The biggest news of last week came on Thursday before close of business at the Embassy. For months we've all been prepping for the United State's decision on the United Postal Union whether to remain in or get out. If we left the UPU that means our DPO would no longer exist and mail would essentially take 3-4 times longer to get to us and possibly be more expensive. So everyone at Post has been stocking up on their American goods. We personally have 3 boxes of Goldfish crackers, 6 boxes of Raisin Bran, infinite rolls of toilet paper and paper towels and 11 Family sized boxes of Cheezits because, Scott, just to name a few items. So Thursday we got the news we would remain in the UPU and there was a collective sigh of relief from all the families here. Our Amazon bill will definitely be cheaper in the coming months so there's another positive impact!

Our last large shipment before the announcement...

No more room for anything new!

One of our new favorite routines we've added this week has been family play time after dinner. It happened organically one evening; we were all in the living room and playing together. Then it just kept happening. Mackenzie usually dictates what we do and we all get involved. Finley usually just chases Mackenzie around the room and Mom and Dad participate as much as we have energy. It has really brought more love and peace into our home.

It was also National Daughter Day this week. Yes it's a thing. How did we get so lucky?

This whole past week Scott and Mackenzie were sick. Mackenzie stayed home from school everyday but Monday. Kiersten worked very hard not to become full blown sick but got a slight sore throat and a cough all the same. She was well enough to do things but still just a little bit miserable with no desire to do things. Finley eventually got sick by the end of the week so it was a pretty sad sight at our house. Luckily this week everyone is on the mend.

Framed these embroideries that K completed soon after our arrival 2 years ago.

A little bit of Autumn in this Spring season.

And Kiersten made French macarons for the first time. Success!

Scott's personal project this weekend was to work on the pool since it has been neglected for a few months and turned green and murky. After working for a few hours on Friday and Saturday, plus recovering from his cold, he was understandably wiped out but still managed to make the most delicious sliders to date. That man can grill!

The weather was hot enough on Tuesday to enjoy all this hard work.

On Sunday we officially said good-bye to our dear friends Brenda and Netza. After 2 years of working on the Temple it is ready to open and they are on to their next project, an apartment complex in San Jose, CA for 6 months and then on to the Temple site in Nicaragua for 3 years. We had them over for one last dinner, a traditional Sunday meal of meat, potatoes, rolls and gravy and an Apple Pie for dessert. We will miss them greatly.

Apple pie before the oven.

"An apple pie without some cheese is like a hug without a squeeze." Try it.

Here they are! The famous Brenda and Netza. We'll miss you!

This week has been back to life as usual. Scott's at work, Mackenzie's back to school, Finley's playing and Kiersten is running all over the place. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Time for some Halloween crafts!

And napping hard!

The Mackenzie Update:

• The only good thing about Mackenzie being sick was she drank more water than we've ever seen because she thought it would soothe her sore throat. Poor girl.
• When she's tired (or sick as we learned this week) she claims she can't hear us. She'll turn her head so her ear is closer to our mouth and say, "What? I can't hear you."
• She can recognize more letters now. M=Mackenzie letter, K=Mommy's letter, S=Daddy's letter and F=Finley's letter. She can successfully write M's and S's.

  

  Hard at work.

• A great Mackenzie moment this week that illustrates she's learning: She was next to her play kitchen and informed Kiersten, "Mommy, I draw on my kitchen but we only draw on paper." She had some baby wipes and cleaned it up by herself. Good girl!

  

  Her sense of fashion never ceases to amaze me.

• She believes that adults get littler/smaller/younger because she is getting bigger so obviously we must switch places at some point. She'll say things like, "We can do that once you're small and I am big!"
• One of her favorite things is to "watch and eat". Dinner and a movie. We only let her do it on the weekends.

  

  This week's feature: Storks! With the biggest kid's burger ever!

• Every once in a while she'll call Scott, "Papi". And they proceed to speak in Spanish. It's so sweet!

  

  Enjoying another ice cream treat for being good during passport pictures.

The Finley Report:

• 11 months old! And now it's October and her birthday is weeks away! This year! Where did it go??! She crawls as fast as lightning, plays well with others, babbles all the time, "reads" books, "shares" and recognizes our voices and her name. She is the happiest, cuddliest, smiliest baby. We love her so much!

  

  11 month photo shoot.

• She has an interesting fascination with the bathroom. She'll follow us right in, regardless of who is using the bathroom and try to pull up on the toilet to see inside. We all use it so it must be special, right?
  
• We think her official eye color is... BROWN! Not hazel. We have one mold of baby.
• She started to blow raspberries this week and thinks it's hilarious.
• She has also started to lean her head back and grin at someone. We think it's due to Mommy's reaction when she does something funny or cute, she'll throw her head back and laugh.
  
• On Sunday, for the first time, she pulled herself up to standing all by herself! And boy was she proud of that achievement. She also really enjoys "walking" with someone holding her hands. It's probably only a matter of weeks before she's running after Mackenzie.
• We forgot to mention but last Saturday when we went to get ice cream for Mackenzie's chore chart reward, Finley tried her first bite. So both girls both got ice cream just shy of their first birthdays. Seems fair. And she liked it.

  

  She also likes papas fritas (French fries).

Quirks of Paraguay:

• It's been months since we had this installment in the blog. There are many places that have security guards here. The usual Banks or car dealerships are a given but then there are random other locations. Clothing stores, some restaurants, businesses, private residences and my personal favorite, the grocery store. These poor guys sit or stand in or near a booth all day. What a boring job! And some of them, like at the Banks, have big guns. Oh Paraguay.

Well that about wraps it up for this week. Thanks for always reading and supporting. See you next time!