What?!? You are staying in Paraguay?

I have decided to blog about my experience deciding to safe haven at post while my husband goes on an Unaccompanied Tour because I think many people in my life, both here in Paraguay and back home think I am crazy for making the decision to say put while my husband leaves for Afghanistan.  And when asked about it I can lay out the pro's and con's list but still few understand. My crap, I don't understand!

When we first started talking about doing an unaccompanied tour there didn't seem to be a doubt that we would move back home.  That decision became even more obvious when my sister added two babies to our family the summer after we moved here.  Why would we stay in a place so far away from home?  But when the time came for us to bid and make the decision and I really sat down and weighed our options the choice didn't seem as clear as it once had.  I can give you the shpel about financially it makes sense for us to stay here.  I can tell you that moving is my least favorite thing to do.  I can explain that moving is super hard on my kids and although being away from family is equally as hard, introducing them into a new school environment for a single year seems like cruel and unusual punishment.  I can tell you of the 12 extra months we will be living here 3 of them will probably be spent stateside. But what it came right down to was no matter how I laid it out, staying always felt like the right thing to do.  I feel like I can be a better mother to my children here where our lives will not be chaos (I hope.) I have prayed, I have visited the temple, and I have filled out every "decision maker" the state department puts out to help you decide. 

But then some issues came up with the school this year and I threw in the towel.  I decided that it was too much work living here (and it is a lot of work) and I didn't know if it was doing more harm that good.  So again (as I have several times in the last six months) sat down, looked at houses for rent in the area I want the kids to go to school back home, looked at timelines, and started working on the logistics of getting us moved back to the states.  And again I was sick to my stomach, I couldn't sleep and it felt like the world was resting on my shoulders.  I prayed and felt the overwhelming sensation that we needed to stay put. 

Some of you may not believe in the power of prayer, but I believe that not only can prayers be answered but if you listen carefully enough you will hear answers you didn't even ask for. 

I think that some family/friends believe my motives may be selfish.  All I can say is that I love living in Paraguay; but not as much as I love and miss my family.  Right now this is what I feel is best for us, and as much as it pains me to be so far away from family, friends and Cafe Rio it is where we need to be. 

If you are faced with making the decision of staying put or going home while your spouse serves on an unaccompanied tour, I do not envy you.  This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life, probably because our decision was so unexpected for all of us.  I hope our family will see fit to forgive me, maybe squish in a visit, but at the very least make the most of the time we will spend at home over the next year.

Potty Training - Post 1

I named this post Potty Training - Post 1 because I have a feeling I will have several posts to share.  I remind you I blog for my family who misses us dearly so if you have no desire to read potty stories, please don't feel obligated.

So a few weeks ago I bought Eli a new potty.  He likes it well enough.  He would carry it all over the house if I would let him.  And with the older kids I did allow it.  But that was when I was in control.  Now we have a nanny, and I can't explain to her why it is alright for him to carry it all over the house now, but when he actually starts using it, it MUST stay in the bathroom.  So for Eli, the potty stays in the bathroom. 

Anyway, we aren't really potty training as of yet.  Just letting him get used to it.  He sits on it every morning and if I'm going to be in the bathroom for an extended period of time.  But he has not really shown enough interest for me to put my heart and soul into it yet.  But this morning we NEARLY had a break through.  While he was sitting on the potty he felt the urge to pee.  So he promptly stood up and peed on the floor in front of his potty. 

Well...at least now he knows was pee-pee is. 

Turmoil in the Middle East, but Tranquility in Paraguay

So I got an email from my Dad today begging me to call my mother.  "We are concerned and your mom (and I love the wording here) is a nut case." 
I found this article and although it was not written by my mother, it very well could have been.
As I'm sure most of you know, the safety and security of our diplomats in the Middle East is cause for concern.  But please rest assured that thus far our family has been blessed with the tranquility of being surrounded by good people in a small and stable nation.  Even when there were questions several months ago by the ousting of Former President Lugo and the Embassy asked Mission personnel to stay clear of downtown and congregating crowds and protests, there was still relatively little violence throughout the country. 
So if you called my mom wondering if we are alright, thank you so much for your concern.  We are doing great!  Next time you are worried about us, feel free to give us a call.  We still have the same phone number we have had for 10 years.  -- If you have lost it, call my mom; I'm pretty sure she still has it. 
PLEASE NOTE!!!  You do not have to wait until there is tragedy in the world to call us.  We would love to hear from you anytime.  (Please just check the time zones we will soon be 4 hours ahead of mountain time.)
I would like to take this moment and thank my family who has been so supportive of our adventurous journey.  Sometimes it is easier not to say anything, to fail to acknowledge the sacrifice we have forced you to make.  I'm sorry, I know this is hard for you.  I know that it is times like these that the sacrifice seems amplified.  Others can't possibly know how you feel (well except possibly the mother that wrote that article, maybe you should facebook friend her), not even us.  I wish there was something I could say that would make the distance between us feel justified.  But there isn't, so please just know, I appreciate that you support our decision, I love that you worry, and I'm grateful that you visit. 

4th of July in Asuncion

     Sorry this post is not coming to you until 6 weeks after the 4th of July.  I can blame some of it on family fun, and getting ready for back to school; but some of it just boils down to being lazy.    

     So I think the best way to tell you about the party is just to show you how much fun we had.  This was our first 4th of July overseas as a family and I didn't know what to expect.  It was a lot of fun.  However the party for families actually occurred on June 30th.   

Friend Fun

Balloons

Food

Family Fun

Statue of Liberty

Egg Toss

Long lines for bouncy slides

Soccer (futbol)

Cheaters in the 3 legged race

Super Cute Babies

Dancing

Music

Cartoon Artists

Tug-o-war

Still got it!

Egg Toss

Prizes (we had 7 tickets and won 3 prizes!)

Uncle Sam

      



  




Best of All FAMILY!!!

 The following pictures are pictures from the actual 4th of July.  There was a more formal party at the Ambassador's residence later in the day that I do not have pictures of, but was a very nice event.  I was an interesting event as the change (ousting of the last president) of political power had just occurred (a week or so ago) here in Paraguay and the Embassy didn't know if they should expect the old administration, the new administration, some of each or none at all.  I'm going to say it was a success, although my Spanish leaves something to be desired so I could have missed something.  But I enjoyed myself and they had peanut butter cookies.  What else could a girl ask for?

Marines with the flag

Raising the flag



Star Spangled Banner

Ambassador speaking

FS BRU- Livin' in Asuncion

Well it is bidding season again and as usual excitement, anticipation, sweat, stress, excel spreadsheets the smell of burning the mid-night oil as tales mag, blogs and other Internet research is exhausted and a myriad of other things have begun to fill the air.  WHAT!?!!?  Bidding is not like that at your house???  Okay, I guess I just gave you a little in site as to what my husband has to live with every few years. 

I love that Jill has asked the FS blogging community to post the pro's and con's of living at their current post.  I would like to preface my comments by saying this is my first overseas post, so we really don't have anything to compare it to.  So my elation here (because many here as not as happy as I) might simply be because I don't know there is better out there. 

Pros

1.  Great fresh fruit and veggies most of the year.

2.  House hold help is cheap.  I know it might seem tacky to put this on my list of pro's, but I like having household help.  I like not dragging my kids to the grocery store with me.  I like that my bathroom is cleaned everyday and that I know my baby will probably not put a bug in his mouth because the floors are swept, mopped and vacuumed every day.  And honestly I like my maid, I think she is nice and she loves my kids.

3.  All in all it is pretty safe to live here.  Yes, we still have petty crimes here and there has even been reports of con artists posing as people from the embassy to steal televisions.  But there is very little violent crime (especially against Americans).  We still shouldn't walk after dark alone, or take public transportation, we should involve ourselves in political rallies or argue with drunk people about soccer.

4.  Activities.  There are many activities to participate in for a reasonable cost provided you can find the time.  Horseback riding, MMA, tennis, swimming (still looking for a team), golf, cooking, art, dance, music, singing and I'm sure many more. 

5.  Super awesome supportive community.  I don't know if it is because we are a small embassy, or because there are just really cool people here right now, or if it is just because I'm awesome so everyone wants to be my friend, but I love the people here.

6.  Can I add a 6???  The embassy works M-Th 7:30-5:30 & F 7:30-11:30  This is super awesome for everyone except DEA, military, and DS.  Those people generally end up working late anyway.  But for the rest of you out there it is great! 


Cons

1.  Getting home is not as easy or cheap as the rest of South America (although it should be getting better we will have a direct flight from here to Miami starting 3 times a week in November---provided you want to go to Miami).  It takes me about 24-27 hours to get to Utah. 

2.  Paraguay is NOT an exotic travel destination, and travel around South America is not super cheap.  There are some cheap flights to Buenos Aires, or Santiago ($200 RT.)  But as a whole it is like flying at home, watch for the deal and hope for the best.

3.  No one is singing the praises of the schools here.  Don't get me wrong we feel like our kids are getting an alright education, but it is what they would be getting from an average public school in the states.  I was hoping for more intimate classrooms, and more challenging course work.  (Also the school is 75% Paraguayan students and only 15-20% US --- I might put this in my pro's too, but many people have put it in their cons as far as learning for their child goes.)  I think it increases time in which your kids learn Spanish but slows other subjects down, especially in the lower grades.  However, there is an hour a week of "Guarani" that many people hire private tutors to go to the school to help make up for that difference. 

4.  Traffic, I hesitate to list this as a con; not because traffic doesn't suck as bad as it does in other places.  And really it might not even be the traffic but the totally insane way the traffic flow was laid out with all the one-way streets and lack of a left hand turns.  None-the-less it is something that drives me crazy here, but it is nothing compared to most other posts.

5.  There is no doctor on post.  There are several doctors and a couple of decent hospitals in the area.  However, we happen to be a mosquito magnets.  We had only been here about 3 weeks and my one year old got Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever, which a local doctor (with US credentials) diagnosed as a respiratory infection.  (We have not been back to see him!)  At the beginning of this year my 12 year old got the very typical strain of Dengue Fever.  So having a doctor at the embassy would be nice, but after a year here we have figured out the in's and out's of health care here. 


Hope this was helpful.  Happy hunting!  And my the odds be ever in your favor. 

Baking Bread with the Young Women

Since moving here we have been blessed with a wonderful ward.  A few months (okay 6) I was called to serve in the Young Women.  I was surprised because we really only had 2 active young women.  But I was happy to serve and work with the girls. 
Over the last few months we have had Emma turn 12 and a new Mission President who has a YW, but we have that still leaves our count at 4. 
This last Wednesday for our activity we told the girls we were going to bake bread as a service to the ward.  The plan was to have each girl make their own dough and I would make a loaf.  We would donate my loaf to the church and it would be used on Sunday for sacrament.  Well by the time we got started on Wednesday we had 9, yes count them NINE girls show up.  We had 3 less active girls and 2 visitors come to make bread with us. 
Needless to say I was scraping together enough bowls and spoons for each to make their own loaf of bread.  I did not get mine made.  But it is all good.  I made mine today, Saturday, so it will be fresh for tomorrow mornings service.  Now it we can just get all 9 of those girls to church on Sunday.

Were all my babies like this?

Last night at dinner Eli decided he was not going to eat his dinner.  He was not going to even try it.  We have had nights like this before.  I remember each of my kids going through a stage.  Emma decided at one point (I guess at about Eli's age) that she was not going to eat anything white.  That included milk, potatoes, bread, ice cream etc. 

Eli is currently refusing to eat anything except milk, yogurt, cookies, candy and fruit.  No veggies and no meat.  I'm super frustrated by this. 

• I have tried the "then that is all you will get until you eat" approach.  But honestly that just drives me crazy. 
• I have tried the "then I will blend it up with some yogurt and put it in a bottle" approach.  Sometimes and works and sometimes not. 
• But mostly we go with the "than eat what you want" approach because it is what make all of us happy.  I have never tried this approach. 

When Emma was in her phase we used food coloring, colored cups and just avoided potatoes and bread that really are not that nutritional anyway. 

Do you think I am going to ruin him if I just let him have what he wants?