Feeding the Masses

The fishing season is upon us again and we welcomed it with a hearty pancake feed at the local Fire Station followed by our annual derby. As tradition dictates, the skies were cloudy and the fish were picky, biting everyone elses fishing lines. Nolan took his job very seriously, maybe too seriously, and despite all of his hard work, he walked away empty handed. Thankfully Ethan had a better day, he caught one little bass (which we return to the lake) and another trout (which fed the family). It was a bit of a miracle (the boys were not that hungry), but it fed all 5 of us.

Back to the Woods

Our boys are busy at work again. One of things they mentioned often that they missed when we were gone, was "our woods". So this past week, every free moment was spent outside. If any of you out there needs some staff fighting instruction, or just some plain old sticks, you know where to come.

Around here, we can always put sticks to a good use!

Time to Say Goodbye

What an awesome, blessed time did we have in Brazil!! But now it is time to go home! To our other home, that is. Brazil always felt like home to me, and now the boys feel the same way. They were able to experience and "live" life in Brazil, and now they leave a little piece of their heart there as well!

Querida mae, que tempo maravilhoso nos pudemos passar juntas! Como foi bom para os meninos poderem curtir a Oma ! Muito obrigada pela tua hospitalidade, paciencia e interminavel amor!

Te amamos muito!

As Promised

Here are a few pictures of our visit to Iguassu National Parks in Brazil and Argentina. No words needed!!

The Falls

"Poor Niaguara" is what first lady Eleanor Roosevelt said as she saw the Iguassu Falls. I have to agree with her. They are absolutely breathtaking!! I have seen them many times now, but it's always like the first time, I'm in such an awe! What I love about the Iguassu falls, is that there are no builduings, billboards or cassinos surrounding them. They are inside of a 185 thousand acre national park, on the Brazilian side, and another national park in Argentina. There are 275 falls to admire as you walk along trails in the woods! Now I say all this and I will not even show you any pictures. Not yet anyways. I can't download them in this computer so I'll have to wait until I get home in 5 days! Check back then, even though pictures can't do justice, I think they turned out all right!

Here goes an unedited entry of the boys journal:

The last part of the Macuco Safari was a boat ride that "wet" under the falls! At the dock it looked as if we were in for a calm ride down a sunny river. We set off and entered rapids, I saw a huge rapid and thought: "OH... NO", the front end was lift up and I couldn't feel it because I was in the back and said:"that was not so bad", and all of a sudden, SPLASH! We hit the river and water came on top of us! When we got under the falls we were already wet, we felt the awesome force of a water fall, but it was just a small one. Imagea big one, "don't pick me"!

By Nolan Buhler

Brazilian Experiences

LIFE IN THE PANTANAL

The Pantanal is the biggest wetland in the world with plains, jungles and grassy fields as well. The first thing we did when we arrived there was to go piranha fishing with six caymans waiting to gulp up our catch. I know it sounds a little bit crazy, but I was not scared of the caymans, it made my mom a little uneasy though! The piranhas that we did not feed to the caymans, we fed to a tuiuiu (jabiru stork), that the people from the pousada(resort) raised and named "Pedrinho", which means little Peter. Pedrinho was not very little, he was about as tall as Ethan, and was only 5 months old. Other things we did was paddle in a canoe, we saw over 50 caimans on the river. I got to hold a baby one! On our truck rides and hikes we saw howler monkeys, foot prints of a crab eating fox and of a ocelot (like a jaguar but smaller). We saw a agouti, yellow armadillo, South American coati (like a raccon but wit longer snout and tail), three types of deer(red brocket, brown brocket and pampas) and capibaras walking right by our door step. We also saw lots of birds, the most exciting ones were arara azul, toucan, three types of parakeets, rhea, lots of birds of prey, like Savannah and the Roadside hawks, king fisher with a fish in it's beak, and lots more. On our last evening we went on a long horse back ride, we rode into a saltwater lake with water buffalos and thousands of egreats resting on the trees that grow around the lake. When I grow up I want to be a "Pantaneiro", do wildlife reaserch and have my farm in the Pantanal. By Nolan

SURF'S UP

We went to Ilha do Mel, an ecological Island with mostly jungle, miles of beaches and two tiny villages, Encantadas and Brasilia. We went to the bigger village, Brasilia. The villagres are made up of mostly restaurants, pousadas and little shops. The sand trails are only big enough for walking and biking. There are no cars on the Island. We stayed at Grajagan Surf Resort and learned to surf. I prefered the long board, and my brothers chose the short board, though they were harder to stand up on. The hard part was getting up on your board. The workers of the resort were crazy with us, one even went out in the water to surf with us. One of the days we went to caves that fills with water when the tide comes up. We also biked on the beach to an old fort that was built in the 1700's, with most cannons still intact. It was used to defend Brazil's coast against Spain. It was an awesome experience being at Ilha do Mel.

By Christian

Savouring Family Time

Shawn is returning to Bellingham tomorrow. We are all very sad, but we will reunite soon as our time in Brazil is rapidly coming to an end as well. We enjoyed our family time immensily! Since we updated last, we have lived as "pantneiros" and learned to surf! We have caught piranhas with caymans lurking on the banks around us! We rode horses into lakes with water buffalos and hundreds of eagrets flying around! We have seen forts and climbed hills to reach old lighthouses. Today we enjoyed a tasty dinner of picanha (Brazilian meat prepared by my brother) and looked for hidden chocolate eggs. Our time has been blessed by God and we are thankfull for a great vacation!