He's Our Guy

Yesterday was Joel's 7th birthday. He was counting the days until his big day and uber excited to open presents and receive phone and skype calls. And Carl and I were just in wonderment wondering where all the years went.....

It has been an awesome year for Joel. Each year he gets better than the year before. He's like an amazing painting, already in The Painters' mind, but as time goes on, we get to see more of the colourful brush strokes.

This year, Joel learned to read and he proved to be a bright student in his class
Joel lost another 3 teeth since his last birthday
Joel is learning about the concept of saving and tithing, and of course spending
Joel loves to make pancakes or any other breakfast item for his family
He's extremely thoughtful, asking if anyone else wants a snack when he's hungry
Joel is also extremely passionate and it can swing either way (but we love that about him, it inspires the rest of us to live a bit more on the sleeve of our jacket)
Joel learned to swim and is asking questions about water sports he could learn
He can fold and put away laundry, put away the dishes, and mow the lawn
He's 55lb and 4.5 ft
Joel is hoping to take piano lessons this year
He's very generous about giving hugs and kisses and regardless of how awkward, still loves to sit on his Mom's lap (which she hopes he never outgrows!)

We had trifle at potluck last night and on the weekend, we plan to have a little friends party for Joel. He wasn't hesitant at all about dunking his face into the trifle!

We love him so much. Happy Birthday, Mr. Minty. Can't wait for the blessings and adventure you'll bring this year.

You Know it February When.....

You haven't seen the sun in 2 weeks.
When it's not pouring, it's drizzling.
You're wearing shorts with a rain jacket.
Your clothesline is filled with wet shoes, with no hope of drying.
The humidity when it's not raining is 99%.
Everything leather has a greenish mold on it.
There's no Valentines day or good chocolate.
The light bulbs in your closets have been on constantly for the last 26 days.
Mold is growing in the laundry basket
The frizz on your kids hair is enormous, your own, a monstrosity
Capris is the pant of choice to wade through 18 inches of rain water

You haven't worn sunglasses since Brazil!

Last Days with Grandma and Grandpa

Once we came home from our excellent adventure in Brazil, we had just over a week with Carl's parents. They had vacationed in Western Bolivia and a bit in Peru and arrived home the same day we did. Of course, they had their share of adventures, how could it be travel in South America without any!?

On our last weekend, we went to the Botanical Gardens, out for Chinese and cone pizza, and had lovely birthday cake to celebrate Dad's, Kezia's and Joel's birthdays. The guys had a day trip to one of the colonies and we had a very special breakfast with Mom and Dad while the kids were in school. It was unbelievable how quickly the time went; how could 7 weeks just disappear?

We all appreciated more than words can express the time we got to spend with Mom and Dad Heppner. Each of the kids got to bond in their own special way. Kezia had a great time baking with her grandparents or doing gymnastics stunts outside. Joel was thrilled to play baseball and read and Asha loved having stories read to her and all the cuddles from Grandma and Grandpa.

Carl and I were so touched with all the help Mom and Dad gave while they were here. Mom sewed up a storm for one of the workers (and tackled other jobs that I was a bit hesitant to try!), Dad was always mowing the lawn and helped Carl with the concrete work. Carl told me afterwards that if Dad hadn't been here, he wouldn't have been able to do it. We also were blessed by Mom and Dad's encouragement. It hasn't always been easy serving here and they could see that we needed someone to come along side us for a while. And that's exactly what they did. They worked along side us, they played with us, they spoke words of encouragement and of course, they fed us lots of good home cooking.

We are really going to miss them. It'll be a while before we see them again, but we know that just like when they came to Fresno, precious memories and experiences have been made. Joel and Kezia still talk about the trip with Grandma and Grandpa Heppner to San Diego, and that was 2 years ago!

Our kids are attached to their grandparents, although there is physical distance, because of the quality time we had over the last 2 months. Thanks Mom and Dad for making the effort to come and entering into our daily lives. And for loving us so much.

School Days

The day after we arrived home from our trip, all three of our children started school. All of them were very excited about it.

Joel is in 1st grade and was thrilled with a new backpack and having classes where the big kids are. The word to describe his first day of school, "AWESOME". He is looking forward to reading more and writing in his new journals. He loves his teacher, who happens to be the mom of a good friend of Kezia's from gymnastics. We think this is going to be a great year for him.



Kezia started kindergarten and is happy about having one more year in the cozy pre-kinder and kinder courtyard. Her teacher seems very nice and was one of the assistants from last year. Kezia is really looking forward to doing more math and of course making more friends. Her description of class is "It's lovely". And we think she's right!



Asha started going to preschool this year. Although the first few days we parted with a few tears, the teachers assure me that within 5 minutes of me leaving she is fine (and within 15, so was I!). Asha loves colouring and playing in the little playground. It's a very sweet little preschool that she is in. A few times she has told me that Santa Claus wants her to come to school and not cry. ??? Then I remembered that there's still a Santa Claus sitting on top of the entrance, welcoming the kids in. Well, whatever works for her! After her afternoon nap, she gets on her backpack and announces that she's ready to go back to school. We're really proud of how she is adapting.
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Last Days and Thoughts

Our last few days in Brazil with Joao and Caroline were amazing and special. It was hard to say goodbye to them because we won't see them for another 18 months, but we made some very good memories with them.

The flight home was a bit delayed, but at least we weren't told it was bumped to the next day! We got home only an hour later than scheduled, and it was so nice to be back in my own bed. I did however feel a sense of sadness at having to end such a good experience.

There were a couple of things that made me a sad. First, not being close to our family, especially a growing nephew that is changing every week. But also, we experienced something in Brazil that we've never experience before (and no, not just that amazing gnocci and chocolate dessert!)

Every place that we've been to or lived, we have often times attracted attention. Before we had children, people looked at the "colourful" couple (and I have to admit too, I'd see a bi-racial couple and look a second time). Then once we had kids, people looked and smiled and stopped to talk. Especially if only one of us were out with the kids. People were naturally curious I guess, but sometimes the questions got a bit goofy. "Why does this one not have curly hair?", "This one doesn't have hair colour like either of you.", "That's interesting how your kids turned out, eh?"

Maybe we have gotten used to being looked and questioned, especially with children who don't look exactly like either parent or each other. But when we were in Brazil, it was different.

There is so much diversity there that none of us were given a second glance. There were so many "bi-racial" couples, all Brazilian, obviously with a broad family background, and that showed in the kids. In the same family, blue eyes, brown eyes, curly hair, black hair, blonde hair, freckles. No questions about our kids, no sir! We all looked typical Brazilian, from dark Kathy to pale Carl and our kidlets with everything in between.

It was like a break from, at times, exhausting and intrusive attention. It was like having a place that if we spoke nothing and walked confidently, people thought we were from there. Only when I spoke English people would ask, "Where did you learn your English?" and not "Where are you from?". I had to smile.

It's not like I don't like people looking at me or my family. And I'm fine with explaining to people our background, to a certain extent though. I know sometimes our kids get tired of being touched or having their hair played with, but I think they are okay with it most of the time. It's just after a while, when it's all you know, experiencing zero attention is a breath of fresh air.

I think for me, it felt like a place of belonging. Instead of being in Canada, my birthplace and home, being asked how I'm adjusting to the winters, or being in Bolivia, and being asked why I moved from Venezuela or Brazil, actually being in Brazil brought no questions at all. It just brought a short time of anonymity which resulted a brief sense of belonging.

The Beach

It was Tuesday when we packed up and drove the 3 hours to the Atlantic Ocean with Joao and Caroline and Lucas. The drive was beautiful and we were very excited to be going to the beach. The scenery kind of reminded me of the drive to San Fransisco, especially around Gilroy.

Basically our 5 days consisted of the following routine.

8:30 - Get up
9:00 - Eat Breakfast at the amazing buffet
9:30 - Leave for the Beach
11:30 - Snack like corn, panel, or ice cream
12:30 - Back to our room to shower and shake out powder sand from bathing suits
1:00 - Naps
3:00 - Head to the pool
5:00 - Play tennis or bocci ball
7:00 - Supper buffet, then at least three kinds of desserts
8:30 - Bed

And repeat.

On the last day, no one wanted to leave. We all had such a good time, bonding as a family and relaxing and spending special time with Joao, Caroline and Lucas.

Curitiba in a Blur

We arrived at the airport and hugs and kisses were exchanged with Auntie Caroline, Uncle Joao and Lucas. I can't tell you how good it was to see them. Joao and Caroline had made arrangements for us to stay at their friends' house, so we followed them to our new home away from home in our lil' rental car.

Once we arrived, Eduardo, Sheyla and Enrique were still gone, so we all napped and had showers before they came home. At 5:30 they arrived, and we introduced ourselves to the warmest, most hospitable people we have met in a long time. Sheyla spoke English, but Eduardo only knew catch phrases in English and told me if I wanted to make myself understood I could speak Spanish to him. He had such an easy going spirit to him that each time I talked to him, you couldn't help but smile.


For supper we were going to Joao's pastors house (where they were staying as well) to have dinner with all their church friends. Eduardo and Sheyla led the way to the home where we were warmly greeted by the pastoral couple, their daughter and her family, and another couple and their son.

We sat around visiting for a while, some spoke a bit of English, but those that didn't, I did my best in Spanish and listened really hard to the Portuguese. It wasn't that bad at all!

For the meal, well, it was AMAZING. Pastora Bett had made a stir fry with fancy rice, a salad, rolls and pickles and onions and olives on the side. Plus, there was crab that was being boiled outside. The women all gathered around the table with the small kids, prayed and ate while the men just sat outside eating crab. Some of us went outside afterwards to sample the crab. Carl told me that there was so much crab that he ate more than he has ever in his entire life!

After supper came the most amazing desserts and coffee. It is so true that Brazilians have amazing coffee. And of course the main ingredient in the desserts was sweetened condensed milk and chocolate. How could you go wrong?

I ate myself so full. Had I known what the following few days would look like I would have held off a bit.........

The next morning, we woke up early and headed to a feria of all kinds of arts, jewelry etc. It was downtown and by the time we got there, there were a ton of people. Hobson, Josana and their son Samuel met us there, plus Eduardo came too, plus Joao and Caroline. We walked through hoards of people to see all the artwork and I made a mental note of the things I would like to buy. Of course, we tasted some typical food but Joao warned us not to eat too much; we were going to a churrasqueria for lunch.



This was no typical churrasqueria that I was used to. This place was so nice and there was way more food than you could shake a stick at. There was a salad bar 15 feet long. Plus all the noodles, potatoes and rice dishes. Then there was the cheese bar, with rounds bigger than Asha. Then beside that was the sushi bar. My mouth was watering even before we sat down. Pastora Bett's daughter, Lillian, her husband Fabio and daughter Julia joined us for lunch.



As we were shown to our table, servers came around with huge lances of BBQ'd meat. Lamb, pork, beef, beef with bacon, with cheese, with sauce. Every 30 seconds, there was another choice to have cut off and placed on your plate. After a while, I just had to say no.

The visiting around the table was very nice. It was interesting to get to know Joao and Caroline's friends. Once we had stuffed ourselves with the meat and the salads and the pastas, came the desserts.

Remember how I told you the main ingredient yesterday was chocolate and sweetened condensed milk? And that I should have held off a bit in preparation for today?

They brought around fresh pasta (go with me here) stuffed with either banana or coconut paste (made with sweetened condensed milk of course) COVERED in milk chocolate and white chocolate. They had a big huge pot of each. And if you wanted something else, there was also deep friend gnocci that could swim in the bowl of chocolate, your choice of white or milk.

It was amazing. I can't say anymore.....

That afternoon, we went with Hobson and Josana and Joao and Caroline to a few different places around Curtiba. We saw the outdoor Opera House, a few neat parks, of course an ice cream parlor and their house. It was about 8:30 p.m. by the time we finished touring around the city and everyone was drowsy and still full from all the good food we ate.


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The next morning we had planned to go to Palmeira, a small town about an hour from Curtiba. This was the town where Carl had lived in '93 as a SALTer with MCC. We drove up to this town, which reminded me of small town Saskatchewan meets Italy. Carl remembered most of the buildings and navigated us to the daycare where he worked. As we pulled out, Carl said that not much had changed, and smiled.


We came to the office and the staff showed us around. The kids were so interested in who had come to visit. I was so amazed at how diverse the kids were. All colours of skin and hair and hair types. It was like walking on the set of Unite Colours of Benneton. All the kids yelled questions to us in Portuguese and then when we responded in Spanish or English, they looked puzzled, because they just assumed that we were Brazilian. The kids chased after our kids, wanting to have them say English words. For Joel and Asha, it was a bit overwhelming, but Kezia loved the attention. Joao played a bunch of games with the kids, herding them into teams. At least one of us was fluent in Portuguese!
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Afterwards, we went to a nice buffet place and had lunch. Next stop, Witmarsum Colony.

Carl wanted to drive through the colony because it was his regular route during his term. Plus, we had an IVEPer in 2002 live with us in Winnipeg that came from the Witmarsum colony. It was certainly interesting to see a Brazilian Mennonite Colony, which has some resemblance to the colonies in Bolivia, but not much.

Once we arrived back in Curitiba, we quickly went to a mall and bought some things (seriously, it was like St. Vital, only better and I could have stayed there all day....) before heading to Joao's Moms place for supper. We were very excited about being able to meet her and Joao's other Brazilian siblings.

We got to the supper and were embraced by Joao's mom, his sisters, his friend and his wife, a couple of teenage girls.....the house was full! The food was great and of course, we ate way too much, only to realize afterwards there was dessert. Can you guess the main ingredient? Sweetened condensed milk and chocolate; add a few grapes and you have a dessert that is unbelievable!

We visited around the table for a while, and then it was getting late and we needed to go. We exchanged kisses and hugs and gave blessings to the family and friends. It had been a long day and we had to pack up for our trip the next day.

Tomorrow, we head to the beach.