...a visit to the country!

 There is a single missionary gal who has been studying Guarani 

(the 2nd national language of Paraguay) about 2 hours away 

from the big city and we got to go visit her!  

The boys got a day off school, 

we were off to the country with our picnic lunch 

and we were all happy!

We left the heavy traffic and smells of the city and 

all breathed better as we began to pass farmland 

and sugar cane and cows (watching out for those that wandered 

onto the road).  The countryside of Paraguay is beautiful 

and the way of life so simple. 

We got to see our friend in her classroom and meet her classmates.

We got to see where she's been staying and meet her neighbors.

We ate together while watching sheep and chickens

and talked while our boys explored.  

We also got to hike up a mountain!

(I was not prepared for that - I wore a skirt and flip flops!).

The boys were in heaven!

And speaking of Heaven: while at the top we decided that 

Heaven was probably going to have mountains that we can climb 

and that if we fell we would either be able to fly or bounce!

  It was seriously amazing - these pictures are not giving the 

Lord nearly enough credit for how beautiful he made this area!

And one more thing...we got lost!  

My husband took our youngest son and went in one direction 

while our friend, my two older boys and I went off in another, 

walking in the general "down" direction. Well, what we 

found were little cliffs that were too steep to climb down!  

We kept trying different routes but none of them worked! 

Thankfully we were all together and 

I'm SO thankful that the Lord is with us where ever we go!  

I have to admit I was a bit frightened, thinking, "What kind of 

shelter can I make for us if we have to sleep out here?" 

and "Please don't let the boys slip and hit their head on a rock!" 

and "Why did I wear flip flops?"

In the meantime, my husband had easily found his way back 

and started yelling to us from the bottom.  We retraced our steps

back to where we had parted ways and followed his voice!

After we safely arrived, our middle son looked at me with, 

what seemed to be, frightened eyes, and said, 

"Mom, that was the best adventure ever!"