Snow Pictures

Hello, and Merry Christmas!

Here is a slideshow of some pictures we took of the recent snowstorm that hit our area. [Slideshow Link]

I (Karl) got to work Monday and Tuesday, but not without chains on the car. I was given some just last week that I was told would work... they did not, so I ended up buying new ones. Though I did end up using the free ones to get the forklift at work unstuck.

We are trying to find a way to update more often, but the computer (or the writer... or both) are often being used for other things.

Kylie's First Snow

Here is a forty second clip of Kylie in the snow. Enjoy!

Another Update On My Mother's Health

One year 19 days ago I posted about my mother's health. The gist of the story was that she was doing well considering her approximately 14 year battle with the disease. (I may be a little off on the date, but it is close.) She has had a hard battle with pain, though, this year. Some of the side-effects of a medicine that rebuilds bone which was depleted by all the chemotherapy she has gone through caused a very painful condition in her jaw.

This time the news is not so good. Recent scans have revealed a cancer spot just above her tailbone.

The doctors are right on top of this, they are treating her with radiation once each day for the next ten business days.

Pray for her.

[I will write, possibly as soon as tomorrow, about our new apartment and my new job. Sorry it has been so long since we sent out an update; we have been sort of busy. :) ]

Announcment: A Party

It has been a summer of huge adjustments, ups and downs—and sometimes sideways. Writing has taken a back-seat to other priorities, which is why it has taken so long for an update.

But today I am not writing an update:

Karl and Nádya's Reception

We got married a little over three years ago, on the 27th of August, 2005. Since it was in Brazil our friends and family here in the States could not come, so we are holding a reception in honor of the occasion.

We would love it if you could come to our reception on the 11th of October at 6:00 PM in Vancouver Washington. We sent out invitations a couple of weeks ago, so if you got one and have not done your RSVP then now is your chance. If you did not receive an invitation, then here is your chance (I have heard that some people nearly mistook them for junk-mail, so if you misplaced or round-filed it you are not alone!).

In either case, you may click here for our page with all the details, directions, RSVP instructions, and gift registries.

If you just want to RSVP at the moment, here is the link to do that: RSVP to Karl and Nádya's Reception.

Oh, and if you bring a digital camera or video camera to the event you can share your photos with everyone else here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

PS: I started a new job this week that I really like, and look forward to working there for some time to come. More to come on that in another post.

Our First Two Months In the USA

Much has happened in the last two months. So much, that I have had a hard time getting to the computer on a regular basis to update. This post should catch you all up a little—at least as far as the photos that are available.

Not all the photos are titled or tagged as well as I would like, but there are so many that it would be a monumental task to do all that, then you would never see them.

The first set of photos is a slideshow that Nádya took most of the pictures. It is from her first few days here in Vancouver, Washington (the Vancouver in the USA, and the older of the two Vancouvers). Click here for the slideshow.

From Dinner at Nathan and Melissa's

One of the first things we did was have dinner as a family a night or two after we landed. Kylie was, of course, the star of the show. :) See link under the picture for more pictures from that night.

From In Idaho With Karl's Parents

We then drove to Idaho with my parents to spend some time with them, and see some of my extended family. This is where we discovered that Kylie had an ear infection in each ear, and that we were done with traveling for a good long while. (Well, done in the sense that we did not want to travel any more for a while. We still had some driving to do.) [slideshow]

From Beach Trip

We then took a family trip to Pacific City on the Oregon Coast with my parents, brothers, and their wives. It was a fun time to spend together just being a family. [slideshow]

From Mother's Day

We spent Nádya's first mother's day with Ryan's wife's (Amy) family. It was nice to have a place that sort of felt like family to go (it ended up feeling very much like we were at home there by the end of the day.). [slideshow]

The next big event was Nádya's sister's wedding. We did not think we could afford to go, so had written it off. However, a very generous person in Patrick's family was kind enough to pay our airfares there and back, so we took to the sky once again.

From Silver Springs

We were able to spend the week before the wedding with Nyna and Patrick (and his family). While there we did some tourist things, and the coolest was Silver Springs. One of Patrick's brothers works there, so we got free admission, but it would have been worth the price. That was a really fun day, and we got some beautiful pictures. [slideshow]

From Patrick and Nyna's Wedding

Nyna and Patrick's wedding was beautiful, and it was great to be there. Our photos of the event even turned out pretty well. [slideshow]

Some Statistics

I am not sure how accurate some of these numbers are, but we have traveled a lot the last month or so.

• Fly from Teresina (THE) to Portland (PDX): 8200 miles. (Our route took us through Brasilia, São Paulo, Miami, and Dallas/Fort Worth.)
• Drive from Portland to Weiser, Idaho and back to visit family in Idaho: 800 miles.
• Drive to Pacific City, Oregon for a weekend of family togetherness (and back): 200 miles.
• Fly to Tampa Bay, Florida, drive to Ocala, and back to Portland for Patrick and Nyna's wedding: 5400 miles.

That adds to a grand total of 14,600 miles (23,500 Km) per person for the three of us in a period of five weeks—not including travel within the various cities.

We are doing well, and getting adjusted to life here. It isn't without some bumps and the odd bruise, but we are doing well.

In fact, I start work on Tuesday. It is a manufacturing job, and it looks like a good opportunity to get our feet on the ground financially speaking.

There are more updates and photos to come now that we have stopped traveling so much.