Finishing February

Short little February sure went fast!
But, lest we forget, these activities completed our month...

We had this great adventure planned last week for our Monday P-Day but the rain prevented it. Not to be deterred, we had our picnic upstairs in our apartment building. A good time was had by all.

Ward members Nephi and Elizangela Martin (Miguel and Ester) invited us to Sunday dinner.

Birthdays are always so special.😏

Anyway, mine was celebrated with wonderful friends.

But wait, there's more! We celebrated again in FHE. Happy Birthday Presidente and me!

We welcomed Elder and Sister (Luiz and Shirley) Kulchetscki to our missionary circle. They are from Ponta Grossa, Brazil - by way of Canada. 

What better way to welcome them to the "family" than with homemade strawberry ice cream?!

(After our Friday date-night to Subway)

Puzzle update 

 2 more have been completed.

Last Sunday it was dinner with Daniele (our temple secretary and her family). 

Little Helena and Ester don't think that Linda is a real name. They think Camila is a much more Brazilian name for me.😃 Who knew?!

This week's FHE was with the Marques and Rezende families.

And, lastly...Pastel night at the Freides.

Sister Freide made them all - chicken and cheese, meat, egg, and palm, banana, and Romeo & Juliet (which is guava paste and cheese). All were very delicious!

My dear friend Kathy Rees passed away on the 18th. She fought a valiant fight, but, in the end, the cancer won. She leaves behind Scott, 10 wonderful children and 40+ grandchildren. 

till we meet again, dear friend...

Odds & Ends

Some things just don't deserve their own post. They're not that "news worthy" but they are "memory worthy" to me, anyway.

So, today, things I want to remember from the last few weeks.

 All the rain caused a lot of damage to some of the streets in Curitiba. This is what happened to the street/sidewalk on the jungle side of the temple block. (That one hole goes all the way to China!)

The city is now in the process of fixing the problems. 

There's never a dull moment when waiting for the street light to change. Red lights bring out the talent! They just don't have this kind of stuff in Utah!

The youth had a "Noite de Hambúrguer" event to earn money for youth conference. For a mere R$20 we were served a hamburger, drink and a dessert of our choice. They weren't bad. 

We later invited the Freides to go to Maderos for "the world's best hamburger." They had to admit that Madero's burgers were truly superior to the ones from Barigui Ward. 😋

We had dinner with the Rasera family and friends on Sunday. Good friends. Good food. 

On Monday we made our last trip to the Federal Building to renew our IDs. We are now "legal" for our final months in Brazil.

Kansas City may have their Cow Parade but here in Curitiba we have the Capi Parade.

Ya gotta love the GIANT insect display at the Palladium Mall. (The fly is in honor of Wayne.)

We got a new missionary couple last week - Vicente and Margereth Camargo from Ponta Grosse. 

Bem Vinda!

Carnival is being celebrated throughout Brazil today through Wednesday. After that, it's back to school for the kids in public schools. (The private schools generally use the September-June calendar with a break for Carnival.) 

This is also the week for Youth Conference throughout the Church in Brazil. It keeps the youth away from the not-so-good influences that result from 24/7 parties, parades, and general permissiveness of Carnival.

Our faithful red onibus. Our temple tube. Our mangy dog at the terminal.

And - last but not least - we finished another puzzle. Mona was really a challenge! But we persevered and - wallah! - success!!!