VACATION HIGHLIGHTS

Finding (thanks to Jeff’s research) an awesome hotel to help break up the 22 hours of travel to Brazil.  It had a little for everyone – the pool, tennis courts, and pool tables were a hit.

Staying at the same “unsafe” waterpark as last year because our kids requested to go again.  Having a blast speeding down the concrete slides (have you ever heard of such a thing?) and Jeff ripping through 2 pairs of shorts – that’s how rough the slides were.  But they were exciting!

God providing a wonderful place for us to rent for the week with lots of space inside and out – a pool, soccer court, fishing ponds, hiking trails, and plenty of good hide-and-go-seeking hiding spots.

Seeing Micah discover a love for fishing…..digging for worms was an added bonus.  I loved seeing Micah and Jeff doing something just the two of them.

Relaxing at the beach, playing in the surf, digging in the sand. Julia calls the ocean “the pool”.

Laughing at Josiah who loved his first beach experience and though that being covered in sand was pretty cool.

Checking surfing off my bucket list. It was fun, exciting, challenging and tiring. Thankful my sweet husband and my brave daughter did it with me (and a patient instructor).

Spending time together over games and movies and meal times. 

Hearing the kids laugh and invent games while playing in the pool ever second we weren’t athe beach.  My kids love the water!

A beautiful hike.   

Taking our kids to a real waterpark our last day in Brazil.  Loved seeing them conquer fears and go down the biggest and fastest waterslides.

Stopping at a go-cart track on our way home.

Feeling incredible blessed for the finances to go on vacation.  I love that we love to be together and we always have fun (even when in the car for 13 hours at a time).  

CUZCO (the second) and GYPSIE

Ginny loved loved loved her first goat, Cuzco and was heartbroken when it was stolen.  After a couple months she said that she was ready to love another, so in November we let her pick one out and her daddy graciously bought her another Cuzco.

This month, Ginny announced that Cuzco was lonely.  She had been saving her allowance and was ready to invest in a friend for her goat.  I love that she spends her money on animals and not typical pre-teen things.

We paid a visit to our friend one afternoon and came back with Gypsie.

Ginny is fun to watch with her goats.  She loves them and they love her. 

 Looks like Julia takes after she big sister in that way too.

Julia loves spending time with the goats.

JANUARY things

Music practice.  Julia loves to sing.  She makes up the sweetest songs.

 Chillin’ in the pool is a daily event.  It has been so hot here without the relief of rain.

 Our friends Leti and Josh Berry came to visit.  Each year they come to Paraguay to visit Leti’s family and each year they make the journey from the capital out to our place.  We are always so blessed to have them for a few nights.

 We took a longish homeschooling break over the Christmas season and how, mid-January) we are back in full swing.  It’s nice to take a break and reflect on the past semester (what went well and what didn’t) and plan for the next.  I love planning (it’s the implementing part that gets me). 

Tyler is doing sit-ups.  Micah is holding Tyler’s feet down while working on his math.   Multi-tasking.  I like it.

Its corn season and we’ve been getting tons of corn from friends and patients.  We’ve also been getting a lot of watermelon.  In a 5 day span, I counted 7 watermelon that we received.

JOSIAH at 10 months (wow, time flies!)

He is crawling all over the place which means he is getting into everything on his level and pulling things down things that aren’t.  Pretty much daily he finds the terere horn and dumps it out.  The resulting mess is damp green yerba smeared all over his body and the floor.  The bathroom is his favorite place to crawl to and the biggest “no no”.  We put a lock on the outside of our bathroom door because it won’t stay closed without one but with so many of us going in and out often the door isn’t latched.  You can see the wheels turning in Josiah’s mind when he spies a partially opened door.  He begins crawling…slow at first and then faster and faster.  Then just as he reaches the threshold he stops, sits, and waits for someone to notice his bravery.  He smiles at those who are watching and enters the bathroom hoping to reach the toilet paper prize before being ushered out.  

Josiah loves to clap and oh, how he loves to clap at himself and his accomplishments

He’s pulling up to a stand on anything – stable or unstable.  This has resulted in many falls and a few forehead goose eggs.

His first tooth popped through and is slowly making its way down.  I haven’t noticed any extra fussiness sometimes accompanying teething.

And, the biggest milestone Josiah has reached this month is……sleeping!  At 10 months Josiah finally decided to sleep a few hours at a time during the night.  I don’t know what finally clicked in his brain, but I am so thankful he is only waking twice now to nurse in middle of the night.