Day of Rest

Today's my birthday...I'm taking a rest!

Another Video

A New Story 6

A New Story 5

As promised, an action shot, of me with Edson.

The caretaker told us not to take our water jugs down because there was water along the side. I saw a girl filling up her water bottle and went over to see if she was really drinking it. The water was crystal-clear. We all ended up drinking from it...and no one got sick. It was cold...like from the fridge.

While we were enjoying our first sights of Salto Cristal, we ran into a couple from the USA. Mitra and her boyfriend were there. They walked and hitched-hiked 15 km to get there. She was from Hawaii and he was from Tennessee. They were taking a vacation from their work in the Peace Corps.
The water in the feet picture was knee deep. Look how clear and clean it was...just beautiful!
The last picture is of Pastor Pedro's wife, Mary and her daughter, Marilin.

A New Story 4

Enjoy these memories with us!

A New Story 3

At this point, my only motivation was the sound of waterfalls "just around the corner". Yes, I could hear it but all I could see were the rocks, vines and plants all around. By now, we were soooo sorry we didn't listen to the ranger. Those bags of food were so heavy and who wanted to eat anyway!

We scraped our bottoms sliding under vines and down the huge boulders. I was thinking of my physically-fit sister who would have been able to jump down this path in no time. Cerro Yaguarón is a sinch compared to this! I made up a million sermons in my head while I wiggled my way down reminding myself that I will reach "paradise"!

Down at the bottom, things were looking better, but we still had to cross the creek and many more rocks to reach our destiny. On the way, I was slapped with a plant that instantly burned my skin just seconds before my friend warned me of it. (Now, after three days, it turned into poison ivy type blisters and itches especially at night.) The boys started coming back to get our bags...yes, they were hungry! They kept saying, "Mom, hurry, you've got to see this...Brandon is already jumping off the falls!"

I was hurrying so fast, but my legs were trembling. The rocks were all slippery because of the wetness. Huge spider webs with huge spiders were quietly stretched across the path. My poor-bare-feet were tired and sore...and finally...we were there! We FINALLY reached the falls!

A New Story 2

Well, I kept looking around for the mountain. I wondered where this waterfalls was going to be. All I saw was flat land...little did I know...WE WERE ON THE MOUNTAIN! So we picked up all our stuff; our change of clothes, food, sandwiches, fruit, cupcakes, towels and tereré and went walking. The ranger in charged looked at us kind of funny and said, "you can't take that down there. The waterfalls and swimming area is 80 meters down". Oscar and Pastor Pedro were out of sight with Edson and half of the food, so we said, oh well, let's take it.

This was going to be FUN!

It was hot out and I was already dreaming of that cristal-clear water that was clean enough to drink, probably. I took my trusty little crocs and a skirt so I could just slip off my skirt to go diving into this wonderful, cool water falls.

The path was getting worse and I was getting worried...how WOULD we get all this stuff down there? ...okay, 80m X 3ft. is...240 feet down...down a cliff! Where was Oscar? Where was Edson? Where were the kids?

I was looking down a cliff and all I saw were rocks, sticks, 'tarzan' vines, and roots. I had bags on my back, my slippery crocs and a skirt on.

Oh no! I wasn't sure this was going to work...

My wonderful outing just went down a cliff!

A New Story!!!

Wow!!

Do I ever have a new story for you!

Yesterday we had a day off of school, yeah, right, after the 2nd week just started. The Ministry of Education organized a teacher's meeting in different zones all over the country and so, since our teachers were at meetings all day, we decided to go on a family outing.

We usually go on an outing for my birthday since it is close to the holiday March 1st, so since March 1 is on a Sunday, we weren't going to be able to go...can't miss church, you know.

We decided to go to the city, La Colmena, a place where we heard about this amazing 42 meter falls with a huge natural pool at the bottom. The falls is called Salto Cristal.

We had little information on the place and it was way back into the "JUNGLES" of Paraguay. Here are some pictures of our 2 hour ride there. There are fields of sugar cane all the way there.

More about my story tomorrow or Monday!

Sorry...

Sorry, no blogging this week! I took pictures, though!

Jason's Video

Jason just showed me some computer tricks and this video from the third day of school was part of his computer classes. I thought you might like to see things from his perspective on a rainy day at school when things were very wet, there were just a few kids, and they were just having a fun day! Check it out!
Jason's video

First Parent/Teacher's Night at school. The parents were informed about this year's activities and the teachers of each grade or subject were presented. Not all of the teachers were able to be there. The church was packed!

Cute, Cute, Cute!!!

With the big brothers gone this was an excellent opportunity to practice.

Maybe I should send him to music school now?

Storms and Stuff

Some of my North American blogger friends posted pictures of their snow storms and I wanted to post some pictures of our thunder storms. Today it rained so hard we had some leaking problems at school and also at home.

The kids told me that many kids were not there today. Here in Paraguay, if the rain storm is so big, people stay home. The school kids would have had to cross a couple of "rivers" to get to school because there is no city drainage. Pastor Pedro told me that he felt his car floating with the current of the street water.

It rained all morning trying to cool off the heat and humidity we were experiencing.

My sky pictures are no where as good as another blogger friend's, but God's creative beauty can be seen EVERYWHERE...and His pictures are perfect!

School Starts Again...YEAH!

Vacation is over. Our early morning routine began yesterday along with new school clothes, new notebooks, hair cuts, etc.
It seems as if MY vacation has just begun, again. The kids are studying, distracted by someone else's disciplines and demands. Too tired to goof off or mess around at home, they sleep LONG siestas. The excitement of a new year and new friends makes them content, hungry and tired.
This is the first year Colegio Privado Adonai will have all the grades from Pre-school to 12th grade. Every year along the way has been filled with miracles. I wonder what this year will bring?
(By the way...I didn't go in yesterday to take pictures, but if you look hard, you will figure out when this picture was actually taken.)

A Bag Full of Blessings

Oscar went to pick up a friend the other day from Concepción. He brought this huge bag out of the car! Surprise. Fresh peanuts! Fresh out of the peanut patch...not even roasted! This has become Edson's weakness. He grabs as many as his two little hand-fulls can grab and sits quietly cracking and eating all day long. He loves peanuts!
Every time we have visitors we send some home with them and the bag seems to be still so full. We are thankful for Pastor Amancio who brought us this bag full of blessings.

Playing Around

Thunder Storms

Another week of Thunder Storms for Paraguay!
Tue Feb 3
Chance of thunder- showers
High 33°C (91°F) Low 26°C (78°F)
Wed Feb 4
Chance of thunder- showers
High 36°C (96°F) Low 27°C (80°F)
Thu Feb 5
Chance of thunder- showers
High 37°C (98°F) Low 27°C (80°F)
Fri Feb 6
Chance of thunder- showers
High 35°C (95°F) Low 27°C (80°F)
Sat Feb 7
Thunder- showers
High 33°C (91°F) Low 26°C (78°F)

Yesterday's sudden storm blew a tin roof off of a school in town and the roof fell on a young guy (20 yrs. old) waiting for a bus on the street killing him instantly. Many more in Asuncion are without electricity or roofs and there are trees fallen all over the streets. Thankfully, I was at home...with Edson.

All together again

We are a family again.

Brandon had two weeks of adventures in CIMA 2009, a 5 day camp then 10 days of evangelistic practice. He chose Northern Paraguay, an adventure along the Paraguay River. A group of 15 kids went to this area to evangelize, visit people, work with kids, do puppet shows, drama, mimes, etc.

Some of his stories...he ate capybara. A capybara is a large semi-aquatic rodent found in the family Hydrochoeridae. The rodents are native to tropical South America, although they have been exported around the world for display in zoos and as pets and feral herds can be found in some parts of Florida. In South America, the animals are sometimes regarded as pests, due to their tendency to destroy vegetable crops, and some people also hunt them for food. Allegedly, the meat is reminiscent of pork, with a pale white appearance when cooked. (More information at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-capybara.htm)

He also ate fish and crocodile and enjoyed every second of it. The mosquitos were fierce. One storm almost blew their tent away. He met a guy that we knew from the prison ministry (a prisoner), now working in that church ministry as a praise and worship leader. (Praise God!) They used the Bible Society's boat for the whole trip and dove of the boat into the river day and night!

He came back revived, excited, and wondering how he can save up for next year's trip in Argentina!

Oscar was in Chaco, Argentina for a Church camp and came home yesterday afternoon. He and Jason also came back with wonderful stories of their activities and refreshing week. After one night's campfire, many teens received Christ as their personal Savior. They came back excited to plan for our next Easter Camp.

Our evening was filled with conversation, pictures, and good family fellowship. (My "mother's heart" was glad we were all together again.)