Home for the Holidays

We began our trip home in secret.  For weeks we had been planning to surprise my mother by just showing up on her doorstep.  It took some effort on every one's part.  I called my sister and let her know when we were coming and asked her if she could find away to keep mom home when we were arriving.  I called and let my dad know, because he had to make sure the house was grandchild ready (i.e.  no Christmas presents visible).   And then I left the planning up the the kids.  They talked for weeks about what they would say and how surprised my mother would be.  It was a blast!  I don't love the surprise thing, but my kids got such a kick out of it. 

Two days after we arrived we celebrated Isaac's birthday.  Yes it was a bit late, but he really wanted to have a celebration with the family.  So he asked my mom and sister to hold off on sending his birthday gifts to him and we celebrated there. 

On the 23rd we got visit from the fat man in red.  This has become tradition at my mother's house.  Every year we are home (and now probably every year because my sister has two little ones) Mr. and Mrs. Clause come to the Nielsen house.  This is such a wonderful tradition and something my kids will remember for always.  This guy is the real deal.  He talks to them about the good things they have accomplished in the year, and things they still need to work on.  He brings a message about our Savior and poses for as many pictures as we want. 

Christmas 2011

 We were so pleased that Trisha's In-laws could join us for the Cash and Dacen's first meet and greet with Santa. 

Emma as beautiful as ever, sucking up for good gifts.

Isaac doing the smile only he can do.

Ummm, yep that is pretty much what Eli thought of the big guy.

 We spent Christmas Eve with the Stewart/Gentrys eating a wonderful dinner my mother-in-law cooked, enjoying the company of family we only get to see once in a while and watching the kids play games with their grandparents.  It was a wonderful time to build memories with them.  We learned that night that my in-laws are putting in mission papers this summer so it will likely be 3 years before we get to see them again.  It was bitter sweet news.  But we know they are going to make the most wonderful missionaries.  There is nothing more important to them than building the Kingdom of God.  I so wish I had pictures of this day, but we were so busy catching up the camera never made it out of the bag.

Christmas morning traditional crepe breakfast.

Okay I know it is cheesy, but I thought I was so funny giving my brother in law a calf hoof bottle opener for Christmas.  Yes, we do use EVERY part of the cow here in Paraguay. Looks like he didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did. 

The most exciting gift was opened Christmas morning.  Everyone in the family received a bathtub toy boat.  It took about 5 minutes but Emma finally got that we were going on a cruise.  Yep, that is right.  Santa brought us a 7 night cruise to the Virgin Islands.  We had a blast. (Pictures to come.) 

 

On the 31^st Isaac was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a wonderful day.  We had family from all over come to share in the day with us.  Although it would have different for Isaac to be baptized in Paraguay, I was glad we waited so he could have that day with family. 

 Later that evening we all went to temple square to enjoy the beautiful lights.  My kids love doing this and it will be missed next year. 

Moursey and Lowell

The Hunsakers

The best family picture we could get.  Someday we will all smile at the same time.

The best parents a kid could ask for.

 



Emma sings for ASA!

So Emma is involved in the drama club at school.  There was a program at Halloween where they did the play Hansel and Gretel.  It was cute but simple.  We went to school for this weeks program expecting the same type of program.  The play was a little better and more put together.  At one part in the play it looks as though the 3rd graders are going to sing but my daughter just stays up there.  I was a bit embarrassed for her at first because she clearly seemed to be in the wrong place.  But much to our surprise Emma sang a solo for the school.  She had not told my hubby, nor I that she was doing this.

When I asked her after why she hadn't told us she said, "I did!  Last night." 

My replay was, "No last night you told me you were nervous. That is all."  She was shocked that I didn't gather from that sentence that she was singing a solo.

We are so proud of her!  She is growing up so much everyday right in front of my eyes.


 

My Kids Speak in Church

I want to start by apologizing to my family. My kids gave these talks in Sacrament Meeting several weeks ago and it has taken me time to get them put together.

I would also like to apologize to any typos or errors. Yes, I noticed them but I honestly could not figure out how to go back and delete after I had moved on to the next slide. I could have figured it out had I been given enough time, but I figured you would rather see them sooner than later.

Lastly, I would like to apologize to all of you Spanish speakers out there. I am sure my translation leaves something to be desired, but you get the idea.

I am so proud of my kids for their courage to get up and do this. It was several weeks of practice and hard work but in the end they were confident and willing to step out of their comfort zone. Emma has become so confident in her Spanish that last week she stood and shared her testimony without any preparation. I have wonderful kids and I thank God everyday for them.

Halloween in Paraguay

I know it has been nearly 2 months since I posted, but honestly I don't have that much to post about.  Life here is pretty dull, but we like it that way.  We are spending a ton of time together as a family and getting to know the other families here. 

Shawn has kept super busy with his church calling.  Our bishop has a very sick baby girl that will be in the hospital for several months.  As you can imagine he is consumed with taking care of his family and has left much of the church business up to my hubby and the other counselor.

About a month ago I learned that the maid we loved so much had been stealing from us.  So my month has been filled with trying to find someone new.  I feel blessed that a family with the embassy had a maid but not a house, so I borrowed their maid for the last 5 weeks until we could find a new one.  I think we have a winner, but only time will tell.

Other than that the kids are doing really well in school and their Spanish amazes me every day.  Isaac just said to me this morning, "Mom when we got here I didn't know any Spanish and now I am learning it muy rapido."  He makes me smile.  What is even more amazing is to hear the kids talk to only Spanish speakers.  I stand in awe. 

On the 27th the kids and I headed to the embassy to decorate my hubby's office.  It was fun to just spend time with the kids making memories.  We hung ribbons, balloons, ghosts, spiders and spider webs.  We put our pumpkins out and added a few things to make it feel like home.  I would post a pic, but no cameras are allowed in that part of the embassy.  But here are pics of the kids' pumpkins.  This is the best we could find here, and the kids got a kick out of them.

There is no doubt our Halloween was not Halloween in the states.  But between the school and the Embassy it was still wonderful.  On the 28th Isaac dressed up as 3 different characters.  He started the day off as a zombie for a musical performance his class did for the school, then changed into his favorite book character, Jengo Fett (because that is what we had) and then finished the day as Harry Potter.  Now I know you are wondering why he couldn't be Harry Potter for his favorite book character.  The answer, because his mother is very mean and would not let him go as a character in a book he has not read.  So Star Wars it was. 

Zombie

Jengo Fett

The evening of the 28th we headed back to the school for a parade of costumes, trick or treating (just Isaac), dinner and games.  It turned out to be a fun night, after we found Isaac.  There was a time there that we couldn't find him, but he was so smart and went to the bus stop and waited for us to find him.  Isaac played games with his best friend Max, Emma ran off with her friends and Shawn waited for the "fun" to be over so we could go home and he could go to bed.  He spent the next 4 days in bed.  

The American School -- Decorated

Harry Potter, Hermione,
and Nearly Headless Sir Nicholas

On Monday we met after school at the embassy and made the rounds to all the offices collecting candy. The kids decided to go with a Harry Potter themed Halloween so Isaac was Harry, Emma was Hermione and Eli was Nearly Headless Sir Nicholas (how could I resist with that crazy head of hair he has?) The kids had a blast.  There were a couple of haunted houses and some great costumes.  We started in the Ambassadors office where we found the Ambassador on the floor covered in "blood," and a dull kitchen knife lying next to him.  It was funny!  He is new and it was a great introduction for the kids.  We finished at the Ambassadors house with pizza, cookie decorating and chatting with friends.  All in all it was a wonderful time.

Eli, BEGGING for more pizza

And there you have it.  Hope you had a wonderful Halloween.  And with the holidays coming up I would guess it won't be another 2 months before I post again. 

Church Calling --- the what?

On Sunday we arrived at church (late as usual-- but to be fair it starts at 8:30) and headed to our classes. While Shawn was in Priesthood and I was in Primary we were summoned by one of the counselors in the Stake Presidency.

 This is what we hear: "Buenos Dias, something something hasta mañana mummble, somthing importante que something, somthing something something servir something parte something, something fuerte something."

 I look at my sweet husband and he looks at me and I say, "I didn't get any of that did you?"

 "NOPE"

 The man repeats again what he wants and at the end I look at my husband and say, "I think they are calling you to be the first counselor in the bishopric."

My sweet husband feeling overwhelmed by the HUGE language barrier says, "When do you need to know?"

"Sometime before sacrament."

With about an hour to come to terms with this new calling we sat, talked, prayed and cried. Okay I cried. And now I will sit by myself during church, kiss my Tuesday nights good bye and probably have to stop cursing. But I will pray for strength... and the gift of tongues and enjoy the service.

Why don't we have "Children's Day"?

Until now the answer to that question was always what my parent's told me, "Everyday is Children's Day." But now that we are embracing the Paraguayan culture we have learned that today August 16th is Children's Day in Paraguay.

Why you ask? The story is actually quite tragic. We are remembering the infamous Battle of Acosta Ñu. In 1869 the war had already taken its toll on Paraguay the dictator Francisco Lopez needed younger and younger recruits for the his army, this particular battalion was made up of 3,500 children ages six to fifteen. Although the war was essentially over the Brazilian government wanted Lopez captured and on August 16th, 20,000 thousand men from Brazil's army obliterated the small Paraguayan battalion made up of mostly children.

So today we honor their memory (and pray our children will never be forced to take up arms to defend our country at such a young age) by celebrating the innocence of being a kid.

So Happy Children's Day to you!

MADE IN THE USA! (Or as close as we can get.)

Shawn's birthday was not too long ago and it is tradition that he eat pie for his birthday (So he is not forced to share a cake with his daughter who has a birthday 2 days later.) We looked high and low for a pie this year and could not find one. So instead of a pie we bought a very different cake from a very pricey bakery around here. Shawn and I really liked the cake, it was very moist (almost like it had been dipped in milk) and a little bit tart as it was a lime cake. The kids however hated it and it took some begging and pleading just to get Isaac to take a bite, afterwards he assured me he was going to "throw up in [his] mouth."

So it is tradition in our house to have dessert on Sunday nights. Last night I whipped up a lemon cake (thanks to Betty Crocker) and orange frosting. As you might expect from my unadventurous 7 year old he did not want to eat it. To which Emma said, "Isaac it is homemade with powder right from the U.S."

Yes, that is how I homemake almost everything with powder right from the US.