January – Living Life with Mirko and Natalia..!

The first week of January we stayed super busy.  Shane had school all week as well as a class afterwards on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Of course he also had to work on homework which kept him busy but he joined in on as much of the fun as he could. 

On Monday morning I had to run various errands for work.  Of course my job didn't start until the following day after all the paperwork was completed.  When I got home Cory was over for a visit… he brought breakfast with him since we hadn't had time to go shopping yet.   Afterwards, I took Natalia and Mirko shopping with me at various stores; for food, gifts, and souvenirs. '

Enjoying bacon and mate with Cory... 

Since I had to go to work on Tuesday, Matthew was on his own as translator until 2:15 in the afternoon when I got home.   They took full advantage of the day and went out shopping in the morning and then over to visit with Bev.  Mirko was excited to be able to see Bev again as they had spent a day in Seattle last year.  Of course, it was nice for Natalia to also meet her and spend the afternoon with her.  That evening Mirko made some milenesa for us which was delicious.  Shane of course loved it as it was his first time eating it… I have been craving it for some time.

Shane eating milanesa for the first time... 

Natalia and Mirko of course enjoyed it too... 

Wednesday was the perfect day for them to go to Seattle since after work I had to wait around for a couple hours and then go to a new employee orientation.  I am bummed I wasn’t able to go with them to Seattle on the ferry but they had a great time without me.  Some of their highlights were going to the first Starbucks for coffee, going back to Pikes Place and antique malls, and eating at the Crab Pot.  They loved the table full of seafood and vegetables while Matthew had to eat something else.  

Taking the ferry to Seattle... Matthew went as the tour guide..!

Enjoying the ferry and the view... 

Starbucks Coffee..!

A table full of Seafood... 

After eating as much as they could...  YUM 

 Unfortunately, on Thursday Matthew ended up with kidney stones which put a damper on their plans to go shopping for souvenirs during the day time.  I felt bad for Natalia and Mirko being stuck at home all day but they made the best of things and went for a walk for a couple hours.  They felt really bad that there was nothing they could do to help Matthew like they were able to when he got kidney stones in Argentina.  We decided to just have a relaxing evening at home that night since I was tired after working all week.

On Friday, Cory once again came over to visit Mirko and Natalia which gave them something to do while I worked.  Of course, we decided to change our plans and stay in town for the weekend since we didn't want to leave Matthew home alone while he was in so much pain.  Instead, we did things close to the house so we would be close by if he needed us.  One of the activities that Natalia wanted to do was to go bowling so on Friday afternoon we decided to go.  We only had time for one game since they were closing early but we had a blast.  It came down to the last frame but I was able to pull into the lead and barely win the game.  That evening Natalia taught Matthew how to make empanadas and Mirko supplemented it with an asado.  

Shane did really well... he almost won me..!

Mirko contemplating his next move... 

Natalia ready to bowl... 

Watching all the pins fall down..!

Way to Go..!

Enjoying bowling.... 

Shane enjoying the time together.. 

Happy to win... Sad my shoes broke..!

Matthew frying the empanadas... 

Mirko enjoying them of course..!

Saturday morning we were able to relax for awhile and drink mate in the morning.  The only plans I had for the day was to watch the Seahawks game.   Originally we were going to watch it at home but my friend Carol invited us over to her place to watch.  It was a great game and a lot of fun for them to being to talk in Spanish with Carol and her husband.  After the football game we once again decided to go bowling since we had so much fun the day before.  Mirko won both the games but we had fun cheering one another on throughout the day.  That evening we decided to have another asado and watch a movie since it was something we could do with Matthew.  

Drinking mate and visiting with Natalia... 

Thanks for the new mate Vicky..!

On Sunday, Mirko and Natalia packed up their belongings since they were going to Florida for a week to visit with one of her friends and tour another state.  That evening I drove them over to my parents where they were going to stay the night before Karen drove them to the airport on Monday.  On the way over we stopped by some stores to look for more gifts.  After eating dinner, I headed home to get ready for another week at work.  It was sad to see them go but I was glad that at least I had one more weekend with them before they flew home to Argentina.