Candy and Guarani

I recently noticed that there was some candy missing on our gingerbread house that we made. Here is Lilian after being asked what happened to it...

And, Thomas was showing us all up with his guarani skills today with our language helper. She was asking him if he wanted the noodles and bread so he could cook and where his money was if he wanted to buy it. Here's his response:

Nana & Pawpaw visit

It's been a long time since the last update, and we've been all over the country since then. In the middle of November, Justin's mom and dad were able to come visit for a week. We all had a great time visiting and were very refreshed to see the faces of family we love so much! For the first days of the visit, we hung around our place.

Lilian put on all her new dress up clothes and performed for us.

We played.

We walked around town.

We showed Nana & Pawpaw the Jesuit ruins in the area.

As you can tell, Thomas is an expert on the ruins and love to play tour guide.

The kids were introduced to smores.

We hung out around the hotel.

The kids were even able to get in some pool time.

Then, we headed up to Ciudad del Este to see the Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side. Of course we took the opportunity to see the best sights. Right now there are sunflowers everywhere.

And, of course you'll always see something picture-worthy on the highway.

While we were there, we went to the Itaipu Dam on the border of Paraguay and Brazil. It is the largest operating hydroelectric facility and supplies 90% of the electricity used by Paraguay and 19% of that used by Brazil. It’s basically HUGE.

After that, we did hit the free zoo attached to the dam, but didn’t get any pictures…bummer. The next day we went to Iguazu Falls.

We saw tons of wildlife: lizards, iguanas, a snake, kuati, a toucan,

and butterflies galore.

We were so blessed to be able to spend this time with Nana and Pawpaw. Thanks for coming to see us and we're looking forward to the next visit!

+ 1

We are adding one more to the Rayburn ranks. Allison is 8 weeks and feels so so. Please be in prayer for her and the baby.

Big Birthday Month

We've been pretty busy this month celebrating everyone's birthday. Thomas turned 1 on the 5th, then Lilian turned 3 on the 27th. We were able to have little parties for both of them. We did a luncheon for Thomas's party with a Costa Rican theme (being that he is Costa Rican, after all!). I made a traditional party dish from Costa Rica called Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken).

Of course the kids had a great time playing (in the wagon, especially--it was a very novel item for everyone!)

And, we can't forget the cake. I made a yellow cake with a whipped topping in the shape of a Costa Rican flag with a number one. (It was a lot of fun for me!) We used strawberries and mulberries to make the stripes and outlines.

(The number one was made of cake, too.)

Then, for Lilian's party, she's been telling me that she wanted a Pink Princess Party. So, we started her birthday off with pink princess oatmeal--only way to start the day!

For her party, we invited a few of her little friends over. They all started by making their own princess crowns.

Even Thomas tried to get in on the crown-making action!

Then we had finger foods and drinks. I was so proud of the nationals! We had raw veges with Ranch dip, fruit with a cream cheese dip, deviled eggs, and banana bread. They tried everything! The nationals here eat meat, starch, and foods made from corn meal--that's about it! So, they were great sports to try our spread. I realized how big of a stretch it was for everyone when I heard a few of the moms talking about how they had never had raw broccoli before...

And, for the princess party, we brought down the castle. They all took turns playing the evil witches and princesses. It was great fun to watch!

And, Thomas even found a little friend to play with. He kept trying to sit in her lap and play with her hair.

And, Lilian and I made ice cream cake rolls (with pink ice cream, of coarse)!

So, all in all, I think the kids had a blast! And, although I had a good time too, I'm glad now that I can rest a little!

Thomas Turns ONE!

As hard as it is to believe, Thomas was born a year ago today! In his short one year, he's already lived in 2 countries and 3 different houses and started learning 3 languages. He's been perfecting his walking for 2 1/2 months already and is on a mission to climb everything in the house. So, in honor of Thomas, we made this video to say Happy Birthday. (Don't worry--everything in this video was supervised, although I can't say that about the first few times I found him on top of things!)



Please pray for Thomas today on his birthday. He has had a fever and some sort of sinus problem for a day and a half. The fever broke last night, but he's having trouble sleeping. Pray he can get some rest and that he will continue to improve.

Tigers and Tererere

Although we are pretty far from home, we still remember to wear our purple and gold on gameday to support our tigers. (We're still waiting for our internet to be fast enough to at least watch a game or two.) But, even if we don't get to see one this season, we'll at least look the part!

The game face (Watch out! Justin's been working with her on her tackling!):

Also, we've started drinking our Terere more often since it has finally started to warm up. Here is Lilian drinking with us one day.

And, Thomas loves his terere too! So, when we won't share with him, he gets his sister's kitchen toys and pretends. Pretty odd sight for a little American/Costa Rican baby, but probably not too uncommon around here!

School Time

We recently searched our little town for a preschool for Lilian so that she could have more exposure to the language. However, they don't have anything here until kindergarden age. So, Lili and I started having school in the morning while Thomas was sleeping. We're learning our shapes, colors, number, and letters and working on our writing and coloring skills. We've only been at it for a few weeks, but it's amazing how much she is learning and retaining. Here, I told her to practice tracing her letters while I set up a letter game for her to play. I thought that she'd just scribble around, but she really traced them. I was so proud to see what resembled letters on her white board that I took a picture! (Thanks for the awesome whiteboard, Meme and PawPooh!)

She's so big!!

As for Thomas, he's running around and climbing anything he can. He loves dancing and being chased. Here is a little of our nightly entertainment.

More Steps

Lilian drug out some boxes from our move and started building a house. Well I (Justin) couldn't sit back and watch, so we have the masterpiece you see here. The kid's played in them for hours. Also, Thomas is taking on to this walking thing. I think the cold tile floors are encouraging him.

Thomas's First Steps

So, he finally did it! Thomas has been standing up on his own for quite some time now and he finally took his first real steps yesterday. (Now, lets see how long it takes him to really start walking!)

Trip Home

We made a trip home for a wedding. The kids had a great time and it was great to experience summer while we are in winter. The Crawfish was so good!!!