Los Padres in Bolivia (Part 2)

Baby feeding time!

 After our week of relaxation it was back to business as usual! During our week away Tia Techy's mother passed away. It was a mercy for her mother, as she was suffering very much and was ready to be with the Lord, but it was a sad time for Tia Techy. Tia took four days off work. It was a blessing to have Mama and Daddy with us during this time, as they both were a BIG help with all the extra work that a family of 10, with five children 3 and under, has! Mother self appointed herself to keeping our bathrooms clean... a full time job!

Diaper Duty with Grams!

The kids soaked up the extra attention from the grandparents and generally got very spoiled! Grams was able to have several painting sessions with the older children, as well!

Bedtime stories!

Painting with Grams!

And More Painting with Grams!

Hard at work

Chillin' with Grampa

The second Sunday of their visit we were able to go to church together. We did our best to translate, but the speaker happened to be from Argentina and is the hardest for us to understand because of his accent! It was nice to be able to introduce my parents to our friends there, who made them feel welcome despite the language barrier!

Ready for Church

Mama and Daddy in the "Yellow Peril"

My father who is an excellent driver and loves to drive, got in some driving time here in Bolivia. He seemed to have no trouble adjusting to the crazy driving here, even getting in on running a few red lights and such!! He did rename our car the "Yellow Peril" instead of the "Happy Mobile". I think it had to do with some of the rides he took jammed in the back with all of us. It was difficult for me to sit across from him and see him grimace every time we hit a pothole or swerved! Over all he was a good sport!

At the Tienda with Grams

The children had fun showing Grampa and Grams around our neighborhood. They went with them to the various "tiendas" a lot. Grampa especially enjoyed running out with them to buy eggs, milk, or any other things we needed pronto!

Rudi stayed home with the little kids so that my parents and Emily, Myles, and Clancy and I, could go with Tia Techy, Javier, and Tia's sister to a Futbol game (Soccer). I think we were the only Gringos there, but we whooped it up in English! Mother is an absolute riot to watch a game with. Wilsterman, Cochabamba's team, controlled the ball the whole game, but the game ended in a tie 1-1. It was the first soccer game I had ever been to, at that level of playing and it was a lot of fun.There was a lot of drama during the game. The Santa Cruz team was always whining about something... poor fellows!

Several times a little black dog came out onto the field while they were playing. We were wondering if it was the mascot for the team. It was pretty funny to watch the players take it all in stride, as if it happened all the time!

 At some points police carrying shields came out onto the field to "protect" the referees (or are referees for Basketball? I think my lack of sports watching is showing here!).

"Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks!"

At the end of the game everyone threw the styrofoam pads, that you sat on to make the cement bleachers not so hard, into the air. I caught just a few in the air in this picture! It was a fun night!
To be continued......