Tuesday night (Sept. 4) we embarked on yet another adventure, maybe our last as a young couple without children, to Asunciόn, Paraguay. We left at 9pm and arrived in Asunciόn at 6pm the following day. Crossing the border was no problem, but interesting nonetheless since they did the paperwork by candlelight at 4:30am Wednesday morning. Fortunately, some menonites swapped seats with us so we had a window seat and a good view of the TV. There was no air conditioning on the bus (and I am 24 weeks pregnant)!
We were greeted by our friends Sarah and Forest Schell at the bus terminal upon our arrival. Charles and I met Sarah and Forest in Costa Rica at language school and almost immediately became close friends.
Sarah and Forest have two children, Caleb, 3 and Josiah, 7 months. It was fun to see how much Caleb had grown since we left Costa Rica in April '06. Sarah and Forest were good resources for all of our baby questions as well.We spent the first part of the week catching up and seeing different facets of their ministry. Charles was able to help Forest with a video of Pa
raguay and I met some of Sarah's English students.
raguay and I met some of Sarah's English students. Since we don't have some of America's fast food in Bolivia, we took advantage of McFlurry's from McDonalds and also dined at Pizza Hut - all locations with playgrounds to entertain Caleb.
W
e celebrated Charles and Forest' birthday Friday night at a nice restaurant and went to the movies while the kids were at home with a babysitter. Saturday we did the 3D ultrasound to find out we are expecting a GIRL! Later that evening, we went to a youth outreach event that Sarah an
d Forest planned at the (air conditioned) mall and looked around shops we don't have here. The youth did a scavenger hunt.
e celebrated Charles and Forest' birthday Friday night at a nice restaurant and went to the movies while the kids were at home with a babysitter. Saturday we did the 3D ultrasound to find out we are expecting a GIRL! Later that evening, we went to a youth outreach event that Sarah an
d Forest planned at the (air conditioned) mall and looked around shops we don't have here. The youth did a scavenger hunt.
On Sunday we attended their church and met several nationals that will be helping them with a church plant in the coming months. All of us ended up spending the aftern
oon in their big backyard - we miss the green grass.
Monday morning we went to Brasil with the Schells. The trip is about 5 hours. It was hot and a little crowded with the 4 adults, car seats, luggage, etc. but we were overly grateful for going in the Schell's car and not on a bus. We had a lot of laughs on the
way about similarities and differences between our countries, especially regarding the cops.We stayed in a hotel on the Paraguay side and crossed the Brasil border to go to Iguazu Falls Tuesday morning. The falls were beautiful - the biggest in the world and definitely worth seeing!
Also in Brasil, we shopped at BIG, Brasil's version of WAL-MART. It was fun to se
e American items we can't buy in Bolivia. We also ate typical B
rasilian food and overall enjoyed our stay.
e American items we can't buy in Bolivia. We also ate typical B
rasilian food and overall enjoyed our stay. Wednesday we visited Itaipu, a damn that has the potential to generate more electric power than any other damn in the world. Charles was very intrigued by the engineering and interworkings of such a sight.
Charles and I made it back to Asunciόn with a few hours to spare before getting on the bus back to Santa Cruz.
It was a great trip! Below are a few extra pictures we took throughout the week.
Atop Machu Picchu
An Ayore/SAM missionary meeting discussing 
Marci and Toni McCarver: Leaders of Orange Hill Team
Charles designed and built this for baptisms. It was used for the first time at the July conference. 
Above and below: July camp for kids 8-12 from 5 villages. The theme was putting on the full armor of God, Ephesians 6.
Hannah pregnant at 20 weeks (August 17)
With friends Melissa Hobbs and Betsy Blackwell 
Hannah with Rocio at 22 weeks (August 31)
Spending time with the Ayore women making empanadas
Charles in the Trooper lent to us by SAM for the duration of our term in Bolivia!
