Friends

Last month we went to Chaco, Argentina to visit some friends. They invited Oscar to a Youth Retreat. Argentina had a holiday weekend, but we didn't. I let the kids skip school on Monday. I can't believe I did that...we NEVER skip school. Anyway, we had a great weekend. Now, our kids are friends with our friends kids. Isn't that cool?

1. Edson and Mildren

2. Gaby and Brian

3. Gaby, Brian, Brandon

4. Brian and Brandon

A little bit of everything...

A little bit of everything...
August 22 is Paraguay's Folklore Day. We celebrated it at school on Friday the 27th. School was decorated in every way to celebrate Paraguay's music, dance, and typical foods. Oscar dressed for the occasion! My boys did too, but they did not want their picture taken.
Oscar's family is here from San Pedro. He has been taking Maria, his niece, back and forth to doctors and here and there for different tests that they are asking for.
Pastor Amancio was here on Monday night (from Concepción) for some eye doctor tests and glasses.
Warm weather, buds and tiny fruits on the trees, flowers...it's almost spring! Too bad there are so many fires, fields burning, it makes everything hazy and smoky.
Last night at our women's small group meeting, we talked about God: his greatness, his wonders, his miracles. Instead of focusing on our problems, we read Psalm 145 and spent some time praising God for all his blessings on us and our families. Check it out. Say a prayer of thanks and praise.
Psalm 145 (New Living Translation)
1 I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.
4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.
5. I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.
6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.
7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.
10 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power.
12 They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.
14 The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
15 The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it.
16 When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever.

San Pedro Adventure...

So, on one of the coldest and rainiest week ends of the whole year we went to San Pedro to celebrate two nieces 15th birthdays. The guys butchered the cow while the ladies prepared for the massive cooking! I was kneading 25 lbs. of flour/bread. Oscar was chopping wood for brick oven. Then...we started cutting and cutting.

Every once in a while we had to take a break beside the fire, just to warm our hands up a bit and drink some máte together.

Even the kids made a fire for them to sit around...and pop popcorn over the flames! When they weren't by the fire, they were all huddled together watching a movie...

Ok...three posts in one day is ENOUGH!

Keeping Warm

These are some of the ways we are keeping warm here in Paraguay...wood burning stoves and máte!

News and Stuff

This morning we woke up to 47ºF! It's winter in Paraguay! It's supposed to be up to 65º this afternoon, but Saturday and Sunday, back down in the low 40º’s. I guess we'll be making more vorí-vorí.
My kids are can't feel the cold! They are excited about marching in a Parade on Friday. Brandon is in the drum section and there has been practice twice a day. One student's dad is from the military and sent a military trainer to our school to practice with the kids this week. June 12th is Chaco Armistice. Almost all of the schools/towns have a parade either May 14th for Independence Day or June 12th for "Paz de Chaco" Day. Our town, (Lambaré) usually has the parade on June 5th commemorating Lambaré’s (48th) anniversary. So, our parade is June 4th. There will be about 50 schools represented.
I’m just thinking…it’ll be cold and rainy that day!
Brandon just got back from an evangelistic trip to San Pedro. A group of about 20 went to do different activities (visiting, inviting, kid’s bible hours, setting up the sound system, etc.) this past weekend. Brandon adapts so well to different cultural experiences and enjoys every minute of the adventure.
Gaby is still lead singer and guitar player at school (and sometimes at church) and is dreaming of being a soccer player for Tacuari. He was supposed to go last Thursday, but when the riots broke out in town, we decided to wait.
Oscar’s doing fine, but battling a dry cough. For some strange reason I have been so nostalgic lately…it’s probably the cool weather…I have been missing everyone and everything. I just blame it all on the thyroids!
So, that’s the news and stuff for today.

I thought I'd stick a flower in to brighten up this cold day. I found this flower growing out of an old stump in San Pedro on our last visit and loved it.

Mother's Day Tea

Brandon's grade had a fundraiser - a Mother's Day Tea. It was really nice. Organized by them! They had some kids from their grade do special numbers. Sophia sang a song in English and in Spanish. Brandon and his friend, Gabriel were the MC's. I made little chipas for the occasion. (Brandon told me the night before that all moms from their grade had to donate something.) I met some new moms from school and it was really a fun activity! The backround decoration is for Independance day...May 15th.

The next day, Gaby's grade had a food fair and I was busy making 8 cakes and 50 cupcakes for that. We raised 1,400,000.000...guaranies! (Translates to: about $300) They are raising money for their end-of-the-year Iguazu Falls trip.

See, I really WAS busy the past couple of weeks!

Juan and Rossana

Backing up a bit, Oscar's nephew got married on March

27th at the Quinta. It was a beautiful wedding.

Edson, of course, was trying to enjoy himself.

Argentina 9 - Asado 2

Look at the ribs in this picture...One big ASADO!

What's happening here...

I was thinking that my blog would be kind of dull with no picture, but anyway, I couldn't find the one I wanted...so I am just checking in to say...
Edson is growing up so fast. He is starting to say sentences, get into stuff a lot more, and has a little bit of a cold. Gaby is enjoying his own cell phone privilege. Brandon is saving up money for his Field Trip next week. There are stories of "good deals" in Ciudad del Este.
Oscar and I are busy with...the end of school activities as well as the plans for next year's schedule at Adonai.

Partying San Pedro Way

This weekend we were in San Pedro for my mother-in-law's memorial-birthday gathering. The family made it a point to invite as many of her friends possible. We had a HUGE cook-out. There was spaghetti, Paraguayan cornbread, chipa, mandioca and asado all cooked with an open fire and in this huge brick oven. The slow-cooked asado was super-delicious. They call it asado a la estaca...barbecued beef on roasted poles or sticks cooked over firewood - a very Paraguayan-style barbecue. It has more of a smoked taste after it's cooked.

We had a wonderful, family time.

Still Remembering

These are old pictures, but it reminds us of the bond that Edson and Abuela had. When he was a baby he would sit still for an hour listening to Abuela pray in Guarani. I wonder how much he understood? Edson was her last grandson and she called him her "tesoro"...treasure. What fun times we had with Abuela...Gracias, Señor!

One Year Ago...

This picture was taken one year ago on my mother-in-law's birthday, October 7th, 2008.
Just a few days ago we were planning this year's birthday reunion. (Last year there were more than 70, including: brothers, sisters, grandkids and great-grandkids.)
We decided to meet on her birthday, anyway, this year for a memorial reunion and family time.
Thanks for your beautiful comments on the earlier blog and your prayers for our family.

Oscar's Mom, Sergia Acuña

Some of you may have already been informed, if so, sorry for the repeated details...
This past weekend we rushed to San Pedro (a four hour drive) after hearing that my mother-in-law, Sergia Acuña, was hospitalized. She was visiting her son, Friday evening, and after arriving back home, crumpled over, barely breathing. Oscar went right away that night, the kids and I went in the morning. The doctors put her on oxygen the whole night and she slowly recovered her skin color and seemed alert. When we got there, Saturday morning, she recognized all of us and even asked Edson to sing to her his song. We were with her most of the day, and the other brothers and sisters (ten of the eleven were there) were also arriving and taking turns by her side at the hospital. She died at 11 pm after a prayer. She repeated “Gracias, Señor, Gracias, Señor” and “fell asleep”.
In Paraguay things happen fast. The burial has to be within 24 hours. Oscar and his brothers started working on the paperwork and otherdetails…at midnight! Calling hours or viewing is usually at the person’s own home, and the death is announced on the local radio. As soon as the body is taken home, people start coming to be with the family. She was buried at 4 pm on Sunday.
Please pray especially for Oscar and the rest of his brothers and sisters. Only four are Christians, even though most of them have gone to church most of their lives. It’s a hard time for all of us to go through, but we are thankful that she went in peace with her Savior.
She became a Christian 18 years ago. Four years earlier she sent Oscar from her home because he "changed religions". After seeing Oscar's radical changes and faith, she also desired the happiness and peace that she saw in him. The Lord transformed her her life, full of bitterness and resentment from being abandoned by her husband after the last baby was born, and the Holy Spirit started helping her understand the way of salvation and new life in Christ. She didn’t know how to read, but enjoyed a prayer ministry with all of herbrothers and sisters in the Lord and many of her neighbors. She couldn’t read the Word to her neighbors, but showed them Christ’s love through good works and a strong faith. She would walk for miles just to visit a good friend and say a prayer with them. Everyone could see Christ shining in her transformed life.She will be greatly missed by all of us!
Thanks for your constant prayers...in times like these we need them the most!

Lily, Maci, and Oscar

My sister called last night. It reminded us of Oscar's visit to her house in July/August. Here are some cute pictures.

This is what my kids do...

11 Days

Wow! It's been 11 days since I posted last! Before you ask...I will tell you that I have been VERY BUSY! I have had several roles here, SUPER MOM (doing all the jobs that moms do all the time, plus helping the 10th graders with a spaghetti meal, plus, dealing with a 2 1/2 year old, plus getting everyone up at 5:15 am...), SUPER DAD (doing all the jobs that the dad or husbands do...well, my husband, anyway, really does a lot!), SUPER TEACHER (doing double shifts with meetings, etc. at school since Oscar wasn't here, plus...going through some very difficult decisions at school!), SUPER HOSTESS (fixing meals for about 15 people every day for a whole month trying to prepare a variety of American and Paraguayan foods), SUPER FAN (standing on the sidelines at soccer and volley ball games screaming for the "Adonai" winning team...in the cold and the rain).

Well, today, my adrenaline is low. Oscar's back. Things are getting back to normal. I have been soooo busy the past month that today I don't even feel like cooking.

I'm resting up today and maybe tomorrow. I have a lot coming up this weekend...a couple more soccer and volley ball games, a women's meeting, a youth activity, another spaghetti fund raiser...I'm thankful that Oscar is back to help split the responsabilities!

I'll get back into the blogging routine, again, soon!

Skype

Last night Oscar and i were talking on Skype. We seemed so near and clear. We could have been just rooms apart...but no, it was miles and miles! The saddest part of the conversation was when Edson picked up on his dad's voice and came running to the computer. He looked all around, saw Oscar's image on the video screen and said "Upa, papá, upa! (Hold me, daddy, hold me!) Awww, I don't know who was more nostalgic...Oscar or Edson.

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls...Always beautiful! Two weeks ago my kids went with a group from Canada and this past week I went with my friends from Tremont, IL and my niece...Laurel. My boys told us that it was a waste of time...there were only trickles of water. Hmmm, some trickles! I don't think that these falls could ever be "just trickles".

I have, maybe, thousands of pictures of these falls, but every time I go, I find another beautiful sight that makes one more beautiful picture.

A New Printer...Old Memories

We just recently got a new printer. The other eight-year old one had been fixed several times, and the copies just started coming out blacker and blacker and with splotches everywhere. The boys complained. I complained. Finally, we decided to get a new one. Yeah! The new one came with a scanner! (Also, something I have always dreamed of.) And, this was my first project! Check it out! Hahaha…