October and November

September Here and Gone

What times we had this month! Sadly I can't load all the pictures I want to share but here are a few...

First day of school! Jamen started first grade this year and Jade is in preschool. 

Jonas does really well playing by himself while I teach other two but he also has times when he is included in the fun. He says "A" and "two", he is already trying to keep up. 

First day of school snack time of popcorn! 

Jamen went to the dentist for the first time 

Clean teeth! 

We went to our friends wedding this month, what a good time we had! 

A glowing bride!

Some other highlights from the month were my birthday which we celebrated with friends from our life group, I think it went well. We said good bye to a good friend headed back to the states but also welcomed a new friend here to PY. I had an evaluation this month to see how I am progressing in language and culture. We also got out of the city for day to see where the strawberries are grown and go hiking. There was also a pretty bad hail storm this month killing the last of the strawberries and destroying many houses. By us it fell in only dime size pieces but it was larger in the hardest hit areas outside the city. Its now Spring time here in PY and I am enjoying all the flowers in bloom around the city, they are beautiful! So, that was our September, one to remember!

August

We had few memorable life moments this month but mostly I feel like this month has been getting ready for next month or at least the middle week in September in which we have, a medical trip with our church, my evaluation, my birthday, a friend leaving for the states, starting a new home school year and a wedding! Its going to be a busy week that week. 

This month mostly consisted of me studying 35-42 hours a week, which has its challenges. After living here for 2 years I finally decided this month to get some house help. And I am so glad I did! Finally we have one day that is less busy and the help is great, its taken me a little while not to feel guilty for having help and wanting to help the house help. Its also a great time for me to learn and practice speaking more! 

So, other than study this month here is some of what we did or experienced....

The presidential place was opened up one weekend here after 150 years of being closed to the public. We didn't get to go in cause the thousands of people but we did enjoy the river view, watching the making of churros and kids liked the clown. 

Churros are made of a dough that is deep fried, it has a hole in the middle which is then filled with ducle de leche (sweetened condensed milk that has been caramelized).

This month was also very cold at times, enough to frost again and kill over 800 head of cattle in some places. So we bundled up. 

But it was also hot enough for shorts and drinking terere.

We also battled colds, I had pretty bad flu, we visited with friends, had small group and faced the reality of death and the hopelessness without Christ. Jon attended a vigil, we also visited a very sick friend and heard of a death in the village that our friends work in, very sad and yet very motivating to learn a language and culture so that there can be clear understanding. Keep praying we'll be faithful with our time with our friends and our family!

July Flys

This month flew by but I guess so do all the other months. I got a little carried away with pictures so hang with me, lots happened this month...

Jamen finished his first year of home school this month! Next year he will be going into first grade, he can't wait to start!

Jonas has become more of a helper these days, wanting to sweep, put things in the trash even if its not trash and he is slowly learning to play along side his older brother and sister.

We took the kids to the zoo, it was the first time for Jonas and I have to say he didn't like it as much as we thought. He mostly just liked the birds. Everything else was too big and scary for him, he freaked out when the lions came rushing out of the cage into the open area.

Here is a happy face.

We all loved watching the hippo eat and the monkey hanging by his tail.

Jon climbed this big tree at the zoo, the kids wanted to tag along.

A nice picture of the three kids...

Enjoying their first cotton candy!

July was also cold. Place outside the city hit 22F for at least three nights in a row. People died of the cold, there was frost and ice. Its still amazes me how it can be so hot in the summer and yet get so cold. We bundled up and drank lots of mate, a hot drink here. 

Jade also started her dance class this month. We were in the right place at the right time and she got a 5 month scholarship at a dance school. It took a little to get use to but now she can't stop smiling while she is there, she loves it!

At the end of July, friendship day is celebrated here and Jade and I attended a tea for the ladies in the church. It was fun to do something together and another great learning time for me.

June

As you may have heard, yes, Jon went to Mexico for a few days end of May and beginning of June. It was a great time for him and good time of relaxing and growth for me....let me share...

Day three of Daddy being gone and I found a kitten, all alone in the street, pretty much half starved. We were already having mice problems so its seemed like a good idea to me. 

It was a great idea! I bathed it several times and since it was starving it didn't have the strength to fight back, it actually purred. It starting eating and every time we got near it it started to purr and just wanted to play with the kids. The kids named it Mitten and it was highlight of every waking moment. I was so glad for a distraction and it was a great way to enjoy the sunny weather! 

Before Jon left, he recorded several books so that the kids could listen to them, that was a fun surprise for the kids.  

About 4 days into our 12 days all three kids got very sick. Here are Jamen and Jade breathing in hot steam with eucalyptus, lavender and peppermint oil. Jonas got the worse of it. I was so worried I finally took him to the doctor. I get all teary eyed when I think about it cause I had to call on the help of my friends. They were there for me in a second, it was great to know I had friends who dropped everything to run me and three sick kids all over the city to the hospital, to the doctor, to the pharmacy. It turns out Jonas just had a really bad cold, the worse part lasted 3 days and in two weeks he was fine.

Jonas has been changing by leaps and bound this month, he learned to use a spoon but really on while eating pea soup. 

He learned if you get on the bike you get pushed...boy does he love that!

We got a birthday package, Jamen and Jonas had birthdays in April

Jade had some busy days that she fell asleep while reading the bed time story. 

Jamen made a life size drawing of himself with his new necklace and all 

Jon brought back Krispy Kreme doughnuts! 

Jade loves to carry the baby Mittens 

Jonas learned to use the rocking chair ...

to smile for the camera... 

to eat chocolate chip cookies and he got his first hair cut! 

This month was busy! 

It also had some very emotional time for me as well. I enjoyed a great 12-15 day break of language study and came to realize just how exhausting it is to do it all...to study, to home school, be a wife, a mom, a house keeper and a good friend all within the framework of a different culture. But in this I have come to realize more and more that it is God who gives strength, it is the body of Christ that works together and that "one of God's most effective means in the process of growth is failure" "Failure where self is concerned in our Christian life and service, is allowed and often engineered by God in order to turn us completely from ourselves to His Source for our life-Christ Jesus, who never fails"  - Miles J. Stanford in his book The Complete Green Letters. So in my moments of feeling down and like I have failed the Lord showed me that "yes, you have been wrong in your thinking and here is how I am growing you". Not a pain free process but a necessary one! I am already enjoying look back on the hard times to see what I have learned and to see the Lord prove himself faithful through it all!

Forget May Not

The months just seem to fly, here are this months highlights...

The three kids! Jonas is very close to walking these days. He is also getting better at his sign language. He says, "please", "more", "all finished", "milk", "drink" and is working at putting two together, so far its been, "more milk" and "more please". The baby sign language goes a long way, it sure is nice that he can communicate with more than just whining to get what he wants. Jamen and Jade are pretending more and more, they are so fun to watch.

This month we attended our very first 15th birthday. To read more click this link http://blogs.ntm.org/jon-quast/

It was fun to get dressed up and go out, even if we were learning the whole time.

The cake and goodies!

Singing happy birthday!

Jonas loves to eat!

We went to a friends birthday this month!

I also have learned to make homemade yeast bread, its minimal work, cheap and yummy (according to Jon and the kids, this bread is not gluten free). I also learned a trick. Wrapping the bread in a damp cloth after taking it out of the pan softens the crust so its easy to cut and its not crumbly!