Thank goodness its still Summer!

Well it's been a short week since our last post but with schools closed and church cancelled, we are left with more time on our hands so here's an update!

The girls completed the first 15 day school closure week by playing, having a small play date, and swimming. We swam in our pool, a friend's house and at the Embassy.

Post swim popcorn with friends.

Post swim and play car nap.

Chilling with Mommy with all the necklaces. Hello Mr. T!

Oh and baking. Lots of baking. To date we've made S'mores Stuffed Cookies (for a baby shower), Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (for members of our community to boost moral), a Brownie Pie (for Pi Day, 3.14) and homemade doughnuts (just for fun because I've never made doughnuts before)! What?!

S'mores Stuffed Cookies

Gooey marshmallow!

Oatmeal Raisin

Brownie Pie basically made by our Assistant Baker Mackenzie.

Pie and ice cream. No better combination.

The doughnuts! We've got: maple bacon glazed, plain glazed, cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar.

Scott was kept VERY busy at work. Lots of things happening. We've also officially canceled/postponed our trip to Peru. We are now hoping for late May (Memorial Day timeframe) but haven't gotten that far in the planning. This also means Scott's family is no longer coming for their visit this month. Smart decision really but still sad.

Friday evening Kiersten attended a very small, very last minute baby shower for a woman here at Post. Then that same night we had a little game night with another couple. It was very fun and hope to be able to do it again soon. Saturday was kind of normal. K&M went to the grocery store where we got our temperature taken upon entry and all the baggers and cashiers wore masks and gloves. We even went to the "big" Embassy pool in the afternoon. 

Sunday was a very quiet day. With church canceled, we had a 15 minute lesson about Jacob, service and building spiritual strength at home. Then we played most of the day and in the evening hosted our Pinochle group. Only 5 of us so we are continuing to follow the Embassy's directive of 'gathering in small groups'.

Our CLO brought everyone flowers to help boost moral.
She got a good deal because of a cancelled Quinceañera!

Monday was very busy. Kiersten was able to cancel our flight to Peru and help cancel Scott's parent's flights as well. Scott had a mountain of work to keep him busy as well. And Finley and Mackenzie ran around all day.

This didn't stop Kiersten from making more cookies!
No Bakes!

Our Hungarian dinner of Paprikas Csirke (Chicken Paprikas).

Madar tej (bird milk) for dessert. Boiled meringue floating on a rich custard.

Everything was a big hit.

The Mackenzie Update:

• She is developing into quite the little artist. She can very clearly illustrate a family picture and Rapunzel. These are just some of her favorite subjects.
  
• She has been "writing" little notes and giving them to us or leaving them around the house. It's just squiggles but she tells us what they say like, "Welcome home, Mommy" or "Thank you for coming".
  
• One of her new favorite activities is pretending she's a cat.
• After watching Mommy straighten her hair one day, she asked if she could have hers done. 

  

  Such a different look!

The Finley Report:

• Finley is a big fan of the pool and swimming. She is not a fan, however, of her floaty which makes life harder for Mom and Dad. She'd prefer to be held and then dive out of their arms, head first into the water at random intervals. Never mind that she can't swim! We've got ourselves another fish.
• Finley loves books. So much so that she often rips them. 

  

  Farewell baby sign language book.

• She is really into popcorn. Honestly we all are and have been making it more and more.

  

  What cuties!

• Her new favorite play area is where we store our extra water bottles. She likes to bang on the empty ones and hear the sound and try to push the full ones which she can't.

  

  Daddy blocked her in and she didn't seem to mind. (Mackenzie also just gave her an 'MmM' as called them.)

All things considered, we are doing well. The Embassy is taking measures to keep all of us safe and happy down here. We're practicing social distancing and employees are either teleworking or doing swing shifts to reduce office mates. We feel pretty good about things given the number of coronavirus cases here are still in single digits. We are sending love and prayers to all our loved ones around the world and hope things will settle soon.