Letter to friends and family

This went out by personal email and Number One thinks it ought to be posted, so here it goes.

We arrived safely from a 27-hr trip which began in a chaotic airport of Rio, with a 5-hour stop in Atlanta where most flights were being cancelled and then landing in Omaha under light snow. The Pepino family greeted us in the airport and we had lunch at Taco Bell—the kids were ready for Tacos after 6 weeks in a country where no one has ever heard of tortillas. From then we drove on a very snowy stretch of interstate, juggling the enormous snow plows. Our neighbors and friends had watched our house for us: the cats were fed, the air was warm. There was milk and bread and fruit to eat. And a strange, white, beautiful landscape outside: our eyes had to get used to it.

We would like to thank wholeheartedly everyone who included our travel in their prayer intentions. Amidst delays and bad weather our airplanes miraculously took off and landed smoothly and safely.

Our stay with my parents was completely family-oriented. I was beingmost of the time a daughter and a sibling, and our children behaved help fully and with understanding. My parents live in a large house and many of my siblings visited with their families so our children became very well acquainted with the majority of their Brazilian cousins. My father's 80^th birthday party was beautifully and simply done at home, a sit-down dinner for 100 people. With the help of my mother's cook, we did not hire any outside help, and sisters and brothers worked together fitting every need under a ver reasonable budget. After dessert we had a presentation of brief words from the 11 children, and then 2 granddaughters offered their talent as gifts: Isabel played a piece on the piano and her cousin Elisa sang an Ave Maria—my father was delighted. The third part comprised of five very brief skits showing scenes of dad's life written by my musician-brother Eduardo and me. My sister Margot and baby brother Felipe were the two other actors and the four of us brought everyone to laughs and tears.

The time with family is so important—worth getting a loan to purchase tickets and even getting into an airplane. It's priceless, and essential. Our children have all gained so much knowledge about the other country to which they also belong. Our Claudia has become now almost fluent in Portuguese, studying for hours each day with her godmother—my youngest sister Marta, a History professor, who lives with my parents. By the time we left she was filling notebook pages with verbs conjugations. In fact, Claudia has chosen to remain in Brazil for another 3 months and she is very thankful she has decided to homeschool for her Senior year, making this possible. She is also thankful she had finished all college applications before the trip and that she had taken most of the books. We are sending to her the rest of what she needs.

Thanks everyone again, and let's hope Spring comes early!
Ana