...friends who share their marshmallows!

Did you have a S'more this summer?

 Around here marshmallows and 

graham crackers are a rare commodity.  

There is one store that sells a bag of marshmallows 

for about $10.00.  It's a bit pricey! 

Well, our friends just got back from the USA and 

they happened to pack their leftover S'more ingredients!

And the crazy things is...they shared it with us!

They were SUPER YUMMY!

It's so cute how God throws in extra "little" good 

things just to show His love!

outside creatures.

OK - honestly I'm not a big fan of bugs and such but I 

love how they intrigue our boys!
They get so excited when they find them,
they spend time watching and learning,
and they take pictures! If you looked on the boys' camera,
here is what you would find:

They love to try to catch the little lizards that run around

on the outside walls.

Our dog didn't like this super huge worm/caterpillar 

thing and killed it later in the day.  The boys watched
the whole process - they didn't let the dog lick them for a while!

I saved the best for last:
this "cute", "little" tarantula was in our driveway!

...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!"

palm trees!

I know I've shown you these palm trees already but

I just can't get over them!  I LOVE seeing them every day!

They make the neatest sound when the wind blows through 

its leaves - so calming!

These trees are in our neighbor's yard but sometimes

the branches fall in our yard.  Below our boys are 

helping you understand how large each branch is!!

I can't help but love these little boys God gave us!

I love it when they come up with creative ideas

and I love their laughter.

Below you can see two creative ways they have used 

the huge palm branches - I'm sorry you can't hear

the laughter that went along with it!

(A slippery slide.)

(A race track.)

a cozy Saturday afternoon!

 My kitchen was filled with the smell of Sopa Paraguaya

baking in the oven for tomorrow's lunch guests.

 Our porch was filled with boys and legos

and happy Spanish chattering.

 One bed was filled with our sick little boy, 

getting some healing rest.

I guess the only thing that wasn't filled was the 

gas tank for the oven.  It, of course, ran out right 

in the middle of the Sopa Paraguaya baking!  

But my husband, filled with joy at the opportunity 

to serve :), ran and got more!

all the kids who came to Vacation Bible School!

 During Easter week, our church decided to have a 4-day Vacation Bible School.  The main purpose was to invite the children back to Sunday school each week to learn more about what the Bible has to say about God (most are not from Christian homes)! 

 My husband and I were teachers for the 3-5 year olds, which was a lot of fun!  Our youngest son was in our class!  I'm not so sure these little guys understood the Bible stories about Jesus but we hope they felt Jesus loving them through us!

  Snack time circle

Ladies of the church serving the snack

I didn't get any pictures of our other boys because I couldn't find the camera after the 1st day - what a bummer!  But they really enjoyed their classes, snacks and game time!

I think the kids, as well as the adults, really enjoyed those 4 days! 

We're hoping that the relationships built will lure them back so they can learn about the Way, the Truth and the Life!

John 14:6

chipa!

Easter is the most celebrated holiday here.  

The week before Easter is known as Holy Week.  

No stores are open on Good Friday, 

not even the grocery store!  

One very old Easter tradition here is to make chipa the Wednesday or Thursday before Easter.   Many "city Paraguayans" will take a trip to the country to visit their family and make chipa together! 

This has become one of our new traditions also!  We do our best to make good chipa though we don't have a big brick oven in the back yard to give it that Paraguayan flavor!

Mix in a blender:

1 cup milk

1 cup oil

4 eggs

100 grams of Paraguayan cheese

(this year our's came straight from the farm!)

1 1/2 tsp salt

100 grams corn flour

15 grams anise

Pour mixture into a bowl.  

Add 800 grams mandioca (aka yucca) flour

and start to mix/knead by hand.

Form into little loaves or wreathes.  

It is a PY tradition to let the kids make fun shapes!

Below is a little loaf.

Make light, diagonal slices along the top.

With the oven at the highest setting (ours goes to 

about 450 degrees), cook each side for 7-8 minutes.

Enjoy!

how far the Lord has brought us!

Here's what the situation was this past Sunday.....
My husband and I had just finished teaching our 0-5 year old Sunday School class.  We were ready to walk downstairs to the Worship Service when my friend walked in our classroom.  She was supposed to lead Kid's Church but announced to us, "I have to lead the singing time in the Worship Service and I have no one to stay with the kids!"
OK.... 
3 years ago we wouldn't have understood what she was saying.
2 years ago she wouldn't have hinted to US that she needed help.
1 year ago we wouldn't have been ready to jump in and sub.
But yesterday...
because of all the Lord has taught us, we were able to help!

We didn't have a lesson, of course, but we lead some songs, played some Bible trivia, and had a good time getting to know them better!
The Lord has brought us so far!!!!  Thank You, Father!!!!

Follow this link to see a video of a game the church kids played while we were with them.  (Sorry, the video is a little bouncy.)
https://vimeo.com/62117703

the marriage of a young couple from our church!

 Here they are!  The sweet bride with her groom!

We were honored when they asked our littlest guy to 

be in their wedding!  They've always been so friendly

to him when we sit close to them at church, 

and he is friendly in return!  So, that's how they built 

a little relationship with each other!

And here he is...all dressed up!

He was as cute as cute can be in his little suit!

.

 

 There was no rehearsal, which made me a bit nervous!

But he did a fine job walking down the aisle with

the other kids!  We were very proud of him!!!

The Lord created marriage to be a beautiful picture of
Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:22-33) 

We pray that this marriage will be one that shines here in Paraguay,
where infidelity, broken marriages and fatherless children are the norm.