Pass the rabbit.

Saturday was fun and busy!  I had a lovely walk after our daily oatmeal routine to walk a friend's dog and then wandered a bit around the neighborhood.  It doesn't take much to get your heart rate up when you can't avoid going up and down some pretty steep or long hills.  I spent the rest of the morning trying to make a Bolivian dish for lunch- potatoes covered in a milky peanut sauce so that we could have a "picnic" at the house where we were dog-sitting.  These friends didn't know we were going to crash, but we knew they wouldn't mind if we utilized their cable TV to watch some Olympics.  So, I packed up our lunch, the baby, the baby stuff (even for a short visit, I feel like we need so much stuff!), jackets, etc...and we drove to the other side of the neighborhood for a little outing.  We had just enough time to have a nice lunch, make some coffee, put the girls to bed in their borrowed beds and turn on the tube.  Olympics!  This is the first time we saw more than a few minutes at a time.  I particularly enjoyed watching the rubbery legs during women's speed walking (we saw Bolivia cross the line!) and the women's high jump.  After a couple hours, we packed up all our stuff again, went home, changed a diaper and packed back in the car to drive to Mallasa, about a mile from Mallasilla.  We arrived at Javier and Jimena's family home where a group was set up at tables under a shade outside.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely view of the surrounding Andes and enjoyable interactions with our friends and their extended families.

The menu of the day was a little bit of this:

Viscacha.

Some of this:

Bunny.

And some of this:

Duck.

What all that looks like fried.

There were some other Bolivian sides that I won't bother trying to describe.  I liked the viscacha best and Natty liked the duck.  These are church friends that are also neighbors and we've been wanting to reconnect with them since we came back.  It was a perfect day for it and I felt grateful that we have relationships with people that enjoy inviting us to their family events.  Natty was a bit shy with the other kids (she still isn't so keen on trying Spanish) and Jubilee was needing a nap- but there were no major meltdowns.  I realized how we need to do some more of that kind of thing to break our kids into Bolivian culture and start getting them used to being a bit more flexible and comfortable with people that are not like them.  I suppose if I look at myself honestly, it's Mom that often has a hard time getting outside of the routine.  Sigh.  We returned home to put the babes to bed and settle in for a nice movie to round out a great day.  I had some ideas for more family fun on Sunday, but I woke up feeling a bit queasy (could it be the bunnies?).  The Lord spared me during church, but by the afternoon and into the evening, the yucks returned and when I went to bed a few minutes before Natty, I was afraid a flu might be coming on.  I actually physically tense up when I think I might have to vomit and it makes me feel even worse.  After reassuring myself that I probably wasn't going to die and it was just a natural process of getting rid of whatever bad is in my system, I relaxed, fell asleep and felt mostly better by Monday.  This week is already flying by, like all the rest, and I am still trying to get into a better habit of putting aside time to really focus my heart on the Lord.  I've had some good, quick moments before the girls wake up in the morning.  But, I still find it hard when we are up several times a night with a fussy baby to get up early.  Natty has been obsessed with listening to and reading her Jesus Storybook Bible lately and I find that it is encouraging to both of us during the day.  Now, her songs and her pretend reading include phrases like, "Jesus died on the cross", "It was God's plan from the beginning",  "God is always with us", "God loves us", etc...  Today she informed me when she was being distracting while Jubilee was trying to nurse, "God made me loud, Mommy."  At least she's more interested in God...