~Our Valentine's Days~

I was feeling quite S.A.D. last night, for the internet company…canceled until NEXT Tuesday. This is 2nd internet company we have tried and this is the 3rd week that we’ve been Rescheduled! 
So, I was sort of “Having a Little Talk With Jesus” to help my heart be happy.
A few minutes later our friend Leo called and came by with the few boxes of dishes and stuff we left here when we lived here last time. And then before he left he loaned us his plug-in internet for right now!  
His visit was like a hug from Jesus to my heart! =)
After he left, it was like Christmas! Our family unpacked our boxes and enjoyed seeing our treasures we hadn’t seen in 2 years.
And Thank the Lord and Leo…we can use this internet for now!!!! =)

An Explanation! This internet is slower, so I’ll probably have to shrink all of my pics. No more double clicking them to bring them up bigger. =( Sorry!
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We had a very special Valentine’s weekend. On Thursday night we invited Uncle Charlie and Aunt Yoli over for a simple Valentine’s meal to sort of say THANK YOU for alllll they have done for us. =)
I was so SICK with this pregnancy before we left Cinci that I didn't feel like bringing anything extra..but I knew that Valentine's was just around the corner, so I did buy some paper plates, napkins, and a couple little "Love" signs from Target's $1.00 aisle.~

~On the day of our dinner I got enough energy to take Elijah and Mary with me and we walked several blocks to the material store and bought some red ribbon to tie bows around our silverware to add another fun touch to our table.  (I was so HAPPY to find the pink place mats here in this house! =)~

~And my Dear Moma gave us each ziplock bags of candy the day we flew.  When we got here we put the candy that didn't get eaten in the 'fridge.  It made for a fun "confetti" to put down the table.~

~The only problem, is that the package of plates I bought in the States only had 8 plates in it!!!  That meant that one of our kids would not have a colorful fun plate!  I was SAD for them, but didn't know what to do.  =(
There is a fun party store RIGHT in front of our house, but February is vacation month here in Argentina and they have been CLOSED for weeks!  When Noah asked me that morning what THEIR table was going to have on it, I told him about my LACK of one plate and asked him to PRAY that that store would open TODAY!  
A few minutes later, we looked out and THEY WERE OPEN!  So, I quickly got ready and went to go across the street.  When I opened our door, there stood this man telling me he was our neighbor and that he owned the party store and another shop nearby.  He talked for a few minutes to Phillip and I and then I asked him if his store was opened.  He said that NO his store wasn't opened...that the men were remodeling it during this month!!  =(
But, when I showed him my paper napkin with hearts on it and told him that I just needed a few plates to match this napkin, he took me inside the store with stuff sitting EVERYWHERE, and let me buy what I needed!  I thought that was SWEET of God to care about the kids having a fun table too! =)
~The kids table.  It's like this house has 2 dinning rooms.  This is where we always eat as a family.  This is a room between the kitchen and the formal dinning room.
The formal dinning room is where we adults ate.~

~Since I had a HARD time finding a cake stand here last time, I brought this metal one with me.  I purchased it several months back at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.  We cut some of Kimberly's yummy brownies into heart shapes, and then I broke off toothpicks to "attach" the real cherries to the top of each brownie.~

~I just had to leave the 2 cherry stems together.  They represent Phillip and I and our 18 1/2 years of Marriage bliss.  I never DREAMED what all adventure my life with him would bring!  But, I've held on tightly to God and to Phillip...and we have had quite the fun ride!  =)~

~My flowers Phillip bought me. The white ones smell pretty.~

~Since I’m just now starting to cook again, I just made a simple meal.  I made my lasagna, my French bread, iced tea and lemonade/orangeade, and a Cesear salad.  The ingredients that each country carries are so different, so I always wonder how my first lasagna will turn out, but Jesus helped it and it turned out yummy. =) ~

~In this picture that Kimberly took you can see my little big baby bump!  I can't believe I'm only 13 weeks along.  Help...I'm afraid I'm going to be an elephant by the time 39 weeks arrives.  =)
(I'm being VERY careful with my diet and sugar/carb intake and as you know we are WALKING our legs off here...so that exercise is good for baby and I!)~

~We had a very enjoyable night with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Yoli.~

~Uncle Charlie had been asking/teasing little Mary to kiss him on his cheek (it’s very common here to greet each other with a kiss on the cheek.)  Mary wouldn’t give him one for several days.  Finally U. Charlie asked Mary if he bought her 2 ice creams if she would give him a kiss THEN.  She agreed that if he bought her T.W.O. ice creams she would give him a kiss on his cheek. 
Silly Little Mary!

One day last week U. Charlie stopped by our house and Mary surprised us all by giving him a kiss without him even asking.  He told her for that kiss he'd buy her T.H.R.E.E. ice creams!!!
So, when they came for dinner, they had their arms full of boxes of yummy ice creams…for not just Mary, but for our whole family.  I'm afraid they are going to spoil our kids and us! =D~

~Kimberly made brownies for our Valentine's dinner with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Yoli...which we served with fresh peach slices, vanilla ice cream and my homemade chocolate syrup.~

On Valentine’s day (Friday) our family went out to eat/ As you may recall each February Phillip takes our family to an ethnic restaurant…to Thank Jesus for giving us the privilege of being missionaries and Phillip uses this time to remind us of our responsibility as well!   

Even though we've been missionaries since 2004...the idea to "celebrate" only occurred to Phillip to celebrate God's calling on our lives...3 years ago.  

This time we chose to eat outside…and believe it or not, a cool wind came up (there’s nearly always a breeze here in Buenos Aires due to the Plata River nearby) and the younger kids and I nearly froze to death!  But, it was a fun memorable night together!

 ~Here's the girls with their drinks.  Kimberly, Sarah, and Noah got grapefruit juice and Elijah and Mary got orange juice. Phillip and I got carbonated water (in the green bottles.)

GRAPEFRUIT JUICE is VERY popular here.  It's on nearly every menu and they even sell a Soft drink made out of it. ~

 ~All of us.  We chose a restaurant kitty corner from our last apt. we lived in.  It was fun to be back where we had spent 5 months, but we are more happy where we are living now! ~

 ~I'm wearing Phillip's jacket, to help me survive being outside.
And Sarah is snuggling a FREEZING Elijah and is using her cloth napkin to cover him up. =)

 ~Then we walked several blocks to catch our bus...and rode the bus for 45 mins. back home.  Little Mary and Elijah fell sound asleep.~

 ~My Valentine and I...and our sweet little baby.~