Ana Paula is a classmate of Callie’s and they get along really well even though there isn’t a lot of conversation. So yesterday, Ana Paula, her parents, and baby brother, came to camp for the morning to swim and play. It’s times like these I wish I knew Spanish better!

Didn’t know these guys lived here too! After doing some research, I’m pretty sure these guys would only feel like a really bad bee sting for adults but the kids are much smaller, so pray we keep our house scorpion-free!

Well, the weather sure feels like it! We had a great Christmas together. Our family celebrated the morning as just the four of us then had other missionary friends over for the rest of the day. And Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a dip in the pool! Thanks to technology we were able to Skype with our family and even be there via video for Christmas morning at Audrey’s parents, which was great.

    Callie’s school had an end of the year performance and most of the children were dressed as American Indians. Her class theme was the hatchet, so we made a hatchet that she used to”chop” a paper mâché log. The kids wandered around the stadium randomly then were cued to find a log and start chopping. She was so cute with her french braids and Indian feather!

    We met our friends while attending Rio Grande Bible Institute. They are from one of the churches started by our mission board in Chile and are studying in order to work in a church or bible institute in South America. Last Christmas they were able to visit us in New Jersey and this Christmas they went home for a family wedding. On their way they stopped in Uruguay for a visit. It was great to see friends again and a good opportunity for them to see Uruguay since we are secretly praying God gives them a church here! They are seeking the Lord if Uruguay is where they will be ministering after they graduate next December.

    Since we still have not gotten Bruno’s birth certificate from South Africa, we had to take a trip over the bridge to Argentina to renew our visitors visa for another 3 months. Instead of turning the car around as soon as we got through customs, we went to the closest little town and got a few groceries (the tax is MUCH less there) therefore somethings are a lot cheaper. So, it was pretty much uneventful except that Callie got sick at the border on the way back. 

Before we left the States, since I’ve cut my hair for years, I bought a new buzzer. I was so excited, my friend has had that same one for like 10 years and has to cut 6 haircuts quite often with no problems or maintenance. That’s what I needed, something I wouldn’t have to worry about for the long haul. Well, a couple nights ago I went to use it for the first time and when I turned it on it was so loud it hurt to put near your head. I spent an hour taking it apart to then realize there seemed to be nothing wrong with it, except, that it was in a million pieces. I put it all back together and had a crazy thought… Could it be related to the 50/60hz? How could I try it? I pulled the car close to the house started the engine and connected a cable to the battery to plug in a converter to get a 110v 60hz outlet to an extension cord which ran power into the house in order for the buzzer to work smoothly… What a process!

I thought school would be great because we would have sometime with one less kid. Ummm I mean, she would be learning the language and making friends, but I didn’t think about the fact that I would have to be doing homework too… Callie did great! We were coloring the matching vegetables and learning their Spanish names. Fun times. On Monday’s her class goes to a farm where they learn about, well farm stuff. (ie. planting, watering, caring for animals) She is very excited about that. Up until now Audrey has stayed with her in the class the whole time. Tomorrow we will be trying her alone, she has been adjusting well, so we’ll see how she does. The teachers are super friendly and seem to have a great curriculum. One day they focus on mathematics, another on spelling, they have a linguistics teacher come in one day, a music teacher another. In October their class is actually coming and renting our camp for a sleepover. Yes, the school does sleepover retreats with 3 year olds…