Apple of His Eye

Can a granddaughter be the apple of the grandpa's eye?
If so, then Katrina is the apple of Pancho's eye.
Today we went to the mall after church and at this particular mall there are several escalators. Anyone knows that an almost-four-year old loves to ride up and down on the escalator.
Well, Pancho was more than happy to oblige this request from Katrina and after lunch they rode up and down and up and down more times than I could count.
DISCLAIMER:
Unfortunately the quality of the picture is not that great. I took about 10 pictures of them riding up and down but this is the best one. I can't wait to get back to using our Canon...

Predicador Panchito

Today Panchito preached at church.
He likes to think of it more as teaching, but teacher Panchito doesn 't have same ring as Preacher Panchito (Predicador Panchito).
He did an excellent job and I was so proud.
He taught on testing yourself to know if you are truly saved. He taught a similar series in our church last winter as a deacon.
I am sure your parents are so proud to see the man you have become, Panchito. I know that I am and I had little to do with it! I love you so much!

Feliz Cumpleanos, Samuel!

On Saturday we celebrated Samuel's birthday here in Venezuela. We didn't plan our trip around his birthday but it worked out well because we celebrated Katrina's first birthday here three years ago and it has turned into a fun tradition and a nice way for Panchito's family to be very involved in the first birthdays of our two children.
In Venezuela the first birthday is a huge celebration. So is the 15th (for girls!). Maybe we will have to come back to celebrate Katrina's 15th birthday here. So, because it is such a big deal, they go all out. Balloons, pinatas, made-to-order cake and jello. Jello is what they serve with the cake here because ice cream melts way too fast.
Normally when you order the cake you order the jello as well but this time I said that I could make the jello. I was going to make a layered jello but I found the recipe for this broken glass jello and had to try it. It turned out so cool (first collage, upper right picture).
The theme of the party was CARS. Fanny asked me months ago what type of theme we should have for Samuel. I really didn't have a preference but I knew that he liked wheels and doors and I could not think of any themes with doors so I said, "What about cars?" Well, that is all I needed to say and off she ran. They ordered the pinata and bought the decorations. Yesterday afternoon we blew up all the balloons and Francys tied them all together in these awesome arrangements, one for the entryway and one for above the cake table.

Katrina was more excited about the party than Samuel. He was basically oblivious to the fact that we were even having a party in his honor. In fact, he fell asleep as the first guests were arriving. He woke up though, about a half an hour later, and thoroughly enjoyed the party.
Francys and Fanny did a lot of work to make this a success. Not to mention Emelys, aka Abuela. Gracias, chicas!

When Samuel woke up Katrina had taken his birthday hat (the yellow one) and found him a different one. She insisted he wear it immediately. He was much more interested in playing with the computer (like father, like son, anyone?).
He greeted the guests, like a good birthday boy should (upper left picture) and waited for the breaking of the pinata. When that time came, however, he was more interested in moving around than hitting it. I struggled to hold him in place for these pictures!
Once the pinata broke open, however, that was a different story. Again he was oblivious to what he should be doing (his sister on the other hand was filling her bag to the top -- I had clued her in right before the pinata broke open. Venezuelan kids are born knowing what to do with a pinata, American kids are not!), but enjoyed sitting in the confetti and sucking on a wrapped sucker, his only prize from the pinata!
We sang Feliz Cumpleanos/Happy Birthday several times (here it is tradition to sing several versions of the song and because he speaks both Spanish and English they added Happy Birthday for him too!) and Katrina blew out the candle. Not once, but twice. She blew it out as soon as we finished singing and Francys lit it again for Samuel. She waited for him to try to blow for about 5 seconds and then she blew it out again. He didn't care though!
Everyone enjoyed the cake and we heard raving reviews about the jello, many asking for the recipe.

So here is the birthday boy (he turns one for real on the 19th). He is such a blessing in our lives and we don't know what we did without him. We went through quite a rigamorol to get him (three miscarriages and then extensive medical treatments before and after conception) but he is WAY more than worth it and we know that you agree. We are so thankful to God for blessing our lives nearly one year ago and cannot wait to see what God has in store for him in the years to come.

Una Tarde en la Piscina

On Friday afternoon we were invited to the club.

We swam and ate tequenos (middle picture on the bottom is Samuel enjoying his first tequeno!).

Katrina was cold (I know, I know. How can a girl from Wisconsin be cold in 95 degree weather at the pool? Who knows? But she was cold so she spent a majority of the time laying on the hot concrete).

Katrina took a picture of her abuelo and abuela. She is really becoming quite the photographer.

It was fun to live the high life for a while at the club.

Parque de Ninos

On Thursday evening the girls (Francys, Fanny and Veronica) were at church rehearsing for Sunday's praise and worship service, so we went to the store to get the things to fill the pinata and then we went to a mini theme park.
Both Katrina and Samuel had a great time. Samuel rode two different rides with his big sister and Katrina got to ride a few more than that.
Gracias, Abuelo y Abuela, por llevarnos alli. Nos gusto mucho.

Home Again

We are back in Puerto Ordaz. Here are some pictures from our trip home. Road trips in Venezuela are VERY different than in the States. The highways are mostly two-way and people drive absolutely crazy here. There is no such thing as lines to indicate passing, so people just pass whenever they want to, even if cars are coming (maybe I should say, especially when cars are coming). Needless to say, we are back home and happy to be here. The kids are getting ready to head home-home. Things are starting to wear on them and we can tell they are missing their normal routine (we are too, if we admit it). We have a few more days here in Puerto Ordaz. We leave here on Monday evening and spend the night in Caracas. Then on Tuesday morning we fly to Houston and we should be home-home in the early morning on Wednesday. We have had a great time but we are anxious to be home and share all our stories with you.

Here is a map of Venezuela for you to take a quick look at where we are and where we have been.

We flew into Caracas, the capital. Then we flew to Puerto Ordaz. Do you see it? It is called Ciudad Guayana. From there we went in car this past week to Cumana and then to a hotel in Barcelona and then back to Ciudad Guayana.

It doesn´t look like that far, but believe me, it is. It felt like we traveled all the way across the United States!

La Playa

We took a road trip to Cumana, the city where Panchito was born, on the coast. We left on Saturday and on Sunday we spent some time at the beach.
Both Katrina and Samuel really enjoyed the water and the sand. We did as well. I unfortunately ate something earlier in the day that didn't sit right with me and so I didn't feel that great.

Panchito and I decided to start dating in Cumana at the beach, so for us it was very nostalgic. We are so thankful for where the Lord has brought us since then. He has blessed us with a wonderful marriage and two beautiful children. We didn't ever dream of being back at the beach in Cumana with our two children exactly nine years later.

El Circo

We rang in the new year by going to the circus in Puerto Ordaz.
It was a GREAT show. We were all quite impressed.
Katrina enjoyed all the acts.
I have not said this before, but we brought our old camera on the trip because it is smaller and we would be less hurt if it was stolen (which is a definite possibility here) than our Canon. This being stated, we were unable to capture some of the acts, like the act with the dogs that Katrina really liked.
Her favorite part, though, was when Mickey Mouse made an appearance. Her face had the cutest look which of course we were unable to capture with the camera!
Thank you, Abuelo and Abuela, for taking us to our first circus experience.

Samuel and Doors

For some reason Samuel LOVES doors.
Opening and closing doors.
There is a little house here that the kids have enjoyed playing with and Samuel has spent a good part of each day opening and closing the door. The great thing about this door is that it is a half-door! Even better!

New Year's Eve Venezuelan Style

We spent New Year's Eve in Venezuela this year (we are still in Venezuela!) and here are some pictures of our celebration.
It is customary to have fireworks (fire crackers might be a better name) on Christmas and New Year's Eve and this year was no exception. Katrina enjoyed the sparklers and the little onions (I am not sure of the name we use but they are the things that you throw down on the ground and they snap). Samuel especially enjoyed Abuelo's reactions to the little onions (upper left photo -- Abuelo's reaction, middle lower photo -- Samuel's response).
We ate dinner at midnight on the dot. It was a long time to wait for the meal, but it was worth it: hallacas, pan de jamon, ensalada de pollo, tizana.
Our family went to bed shortly after the meal but the rest of the family stayed awake for a while, greeting the neighbors in the street (another custom at this time of the year).
Overall it was a fun celebration. It is neat to enjoy New Year's Eve outside. We are not used to that at all!