Happy First Birthday Caleb!

For Caleb's first birthday we had a Luau, or at least a Luau Lima style. He slept through much of it, but he loves to be the center of attention so when he made his entrance, it was nothing short of grand. We now know that Caleb loves kalua pig, chicken long rice, and especially chocolate frosting. He loves his presents, of which there were oodles, and he was a fabulous guest of honor. We can't believe that Caleb has been with us for an entire year. We are so lucky and happy to be Caleb's parents.

Me and My Rody

Uncle Loren and Auntie Tomoko sent Rody to Caleb for his birthday -- apparently, he is all the rage in Japan (Rody is supposed to be a horse, but we think he looks like a llama, maybe we have llamas on the brain?). Some of these pictures are a little blurry, but that is because the subject was pretty excited and I think the blurriness helps convey his delight!

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy

We tried some delectable new recipes this holiday season and I want you all to benefit from these finds.

Baked French Toast with Apples and Caramel Sauce (courtesy of our new friends Ryan and Heather and AllRecipes)
The consistency of the finished recipe will be similar to bread pudding. A glass baking pan will help prevent the toast from sticking. Makes 18 pieces (12 servings). This recipe must refrigerate overnight, so work that into your planning and prep time.

Ingredients
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread sliced
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/3 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
6 apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. white sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
1) Cut bread into 1 1/2 inch thick slices and place in a lightly greased 9 X 13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, beat eggs with 1 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup white sugar, and 1 Tbsp. vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread slices.

2) Arrange apple slices on top of bread. Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 Tbsp. white sugar over apples. Cover and refrigerate overnight (yes, it takes awhile, but it is absolutely worth it!).

3) After mixture has refrigerated overnight, preheat overn to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C.

4) Bake toast in preheated oven until golden brown, about 1 hour.

5) While toast is baking, prepare caramel sauce by combining 1/2 cup white sugar, flour and melted margarine in a small sauce pan. Stir in brown sugar, 1/2 cup skim milk and 2 tsp. vanilla. Cook until thick, stirring often.

Serve French toast hot with warm sauce...you will love it!

Sausage Stuffing (we got this recipe from one of the church missionaries serving here in Lima - this is his Mom's recipe, and I know it is good, because despite the fact that many of the ingredients were unavailable here, it still was delicious!)

Ingredients
1 lb. pork sausage
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup butter, melted
16 oz. bag/box seasoned stuffing breadcrumbs
2-3 cup chicken or turkey broth
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1-2 cup water
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions
In large skillet brown sausage. Add onion and celery and saute until onion is translucent. Stir in melted butter and broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Spread breadcrumbs in 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle with poultry seasoning and cayenne pepper. Pour broth mixture over breadcrumbs. Mixture should be moist, but not wet. If necessary, add water to achieve moist consistency. Bake at 350 degress for 30 minutes or until brown.

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients
3 cups cooked Sweet Potatoes/Yams mashed
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 stick butter
½ cup milk
Beat all together

Topping Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans halved or coarsely chopped
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
Mix well

Place the sweet potato mixture into a cooking dish. If you like a thin layer of sweet potatoes do a large dish, if you like a lot of the Sweey Potato taste do a smaller dish. I doubled this recipe and put it in a 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle the topping over mixture and cook at 350 for 25 minutes. Enjoy, you will be a believer in Sweet Potatoes after this, we had this for Thanksgiving and Christmas and licked to dish!

And finally, in response to our experience with the Panettone, my sister told me that Rachael Ray makes bread pudding with leftover Panettone, interesting. In spite of the fact that bread pudding is one of my absolute favorite things, I resisted the urge to buy still more Panettone and make this recipe. Sounds delicious though, if a little involved. Please note, once upon a time I made bread pudding using leftover brownies and hamburger buns -- it was scrumptious. My point being that if you find yourself with an abundance of Panettone (or just about any bread or cake like product) in the future and you are not a fan of nog homemade or otherwise, know that any bread pudding recipe will work and wow your guests and loved ones alike.

Eggnog-Panettone Bread Pudding

Ingredients
1 loaf Panettone, available in Italian specialty stores, cut in half (enough for about 5 cups, diced)
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1/4 cup rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Vegetable cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
Place a tea-kettle of water on to boil for a water bath. With a serrated knife, remove the side crusts from the half piece of the Panettone. Cut into 3/4 to 1-inch dice. You should have 5 cups. Reserve the cubed Panettone in a large mixing bowl.

For the eggnog custard, in another bowl thoroughly whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, half and half, rum, vanilla extract, and a healthy grating of fresh nutmeg. Pour this over the bread cubes.

Spray a 12 hole muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray. Ladle the bread/eggnog mixture gently and evenly into the muffin tins. The big cubes sticking up look nice. Place the filled muffin tin in a tall sided cookie sheet or roasting pan. Transfer to the preheated oven and carefully pour the hot water from kettle onto sheet pan, creating a water bath for the muffin tin to sit in.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes until the tops are nicely browned, and a toothpick comes clean from the center.

Bread pudding may be served warm or cold. Vanilla Ice cream or whipped cream would be great accompaniments.

Alternately place the muffin tin in a roasting pan on the stove. Pour in up to 1-inch of boiling water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes. The puddings will puff and a toothpick will come out clean from the center. The tops won't brown with this method. Perhaps a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar at serving time would be nice.

Happy Eating!

Hi, I'm Here For My Panetone

Since Peruvians don't celebrate Thanksgiving (or Halloween really), around mid-October Christmas was definitely in the air in Lima. Decorations went up in stores and offices, Christmas trees and other paraphernalia went on sale, Christmas themed commercials hit the airwaves and the phenomenon that is the Panetone slowly started to creep into our periphery. The Panetone is a not as tasty incarnation of the fruit cake...I know what you're thinking, "not quite a good as a fruit cake! how is this possible?" Okay, I know some of you out there like fruit cake (admittedly, I had some this year for the first time in a long time and it was definitely better than I remember), but I am using the fruit cake reference to demonstrate where on the scale of delicious desserts the Panetone falls, i.e. near the bottom. The Panetone is about 10 inches tall, 10 inches across and usually weighs 1 kilo (2.2 lbs.). It is not as dense as a fruit cake and comes in several varieties, chocolate chip, almond, orange flavored, but the most common has pieces of red and green candied fruit and raisins. The first time I remember being really aware of the Panetone was while watching a commercial about a little boy who helps his mother slice the family Panetone. He insists they slice it into 9 pieces. She looks around the room and takes a mental count of everyone present (8 people) and confused by his request asks him why nine? He starts counting all the people who need a piece (I remember the commercial vividly partially because we saw it many, many times and partially because I have mastered my numbers in Spanish so I could follow along). He counts the 8 people in the room and then points to the "watchiman" standing outside the window as the ninth. She smiles, happy music plays, the end. Let me digress here and take some space to dicuss the watchiman.

A watchiman (and yes, that is the correct spelling in English and Spanish) is a person, usually male, who is something like a security guard. I say 'something like', because many standard in need of security places like apartment buildings, banks, stores, embassies etc. have actual security guards. The watchiman is something entirely different and they are everywhere, literally. For example, you decide to go to a restaurant or a bakery or a mercado or a deserted beach or basically anywhere, you pull into the parking lot and out of nowhere appears a person often with a brightly colored rag in hand to guide you into the parking lot (because it might be your first time) and to, as you get out of the car, point, with the first two fingers on his hand first to his eyes and then to your car, a gesture which means, I'm sure, "don't worry, should the hoodlums that we both know are everywhere in this city decide to break into your car tonight, I will be here to protect it, after all, I am the watchiman!" Secure in the knowledge that you are safely in the hands of the watchiman, you go on about your business. And, all the watchiman asks in response for this samaritanesque service is one nuevo sol (roughly 32 cents), really not a bad trade. We have a watchiman on our block as well, his name is Alberto and he is employed by the neighborhood to, well, watch. He is always out there, on the corner, looking not so fierce, but apparently fierce enough to keep danger at bay.

Now that we have dispensed with one Peruvian phenomenon, let us return to the story of the Panetone. A couple of weeks after we started seeing the watchiman Panetone commerical, we got our weekly newsletter from the Embassy containing a section dedicated to bonuses for household staff. Our regular followers will recall that we have a maid, and we have since added a gardener, Julio, who comes once a week to tend our rather small yard. So, with them in mind we carefully read the section on what to do about Christmas bonuses and discovered the following. By law (why it can still be called a bonus since it is legally mandated I don't know, but then, this is a country where it is illegal not to vote, so sometimes we just don't ask questions), maids must receive half of one month's pay as a Christmas bonus and the same again in July. However, if the maid has not worked for you for at least a year, you don't have to give them anything. The same applies to vacation time. They get all holidays off, but they cannot take time off until they have been employed for a year. We opted to give a bonus in spite of the law. After the laws about bonuses were explained, there was a final sentence which said, "Panetones should be given to maids, gardeners, drivers, nannies, etc." So, foolish person that I am, I thought, we have a maid and a gardener, we'll buy two Panetones and that will be that. Off I went to the store to purchase our two Panetones not at all prepared for the over 20 varieties available for purchase. This 3 block from the house errand took me nearly an hour as I stood in the grocery store staring at the different colored boxes wondering which were good or bad, which they would be happy with and which would be the source of an anecdote about the crazy foreign Senora, why some cost 20 soles and others 70 soles and on and on and on. I finally decided on a red one and a blue one (I am of course referring to the color of the boxes, I felt very much like I do when I make my picks for March Madness -- everyone knows that red and blue uniformed teams always fare better than pansy green or yellow ones!). I came home, gave the gardener his Panetone and put the maid's away until Christmas, mission accomplished...or not! The next day, the maid informed me that the bottled water delivery men had come to bring new water and on their way out asked where their Panetones were? What, the water guys? That wasn't in the newsletter! The following day she informed me that the neighborhood watchiman stopped by and said, "Hi, I'm here for my Panetone." I can only imagine her embarrassment having to explain to these men that we didn't have any Panettones for them and that, being the crazy Americans that we are, this was unlikely to change. So, I asked her, would others be by? Would there be more instances of "Hi, I'm here for my Panetone?" I could tell she didn't know what to say, but after some coaxing she finally admitted that yes, the street sweeper would be expecting one and the garbagemen, and potentially the mailman and really we should just go buy a case of them because that was how it was done and Christmas was just a few days away. A case of Panetones?!?!? But, what choice did we have, I mean, "Hi, I'm here for my Panetone", a statement like that was either unbelievably brazen or utterly commonplace and it was becoming increasingly clear that it was the latter and that we were the brazen ones. So we dutifully went to the store (3 days before Christmas, something we try never to do) and bought a case of Panetones. We stood in line to check out surrounded by other shoppers confidently and wisely stocking up on Panetones. We looked around the store mesmerized by the towers, the walls, the rows of Panetones. We took pictures of the mountains of Panetones (the pictures really cannot convey the volume of Panetones on display, every aisle had Panetones on the ends, in the middle, on the top stretching up to the ceiling, it was astonishing!). We stared open-mounthed at the people loading their carts with multiple cases, that's right CASES of these things. And slowly but surely we watched as thousands of Panetones all over the city were purchased and distributed to maids, car washers, teachers, party hosts, gardeners, nannies, friends, neighbors and the ubiquitous watchiman. Hi, I'm here for my Panetone indeed.

Baby's First Christmas

Here are a few of our favorite memories from Caleb's first Christmas:
(By the way, we're trying a new picture format, for larger views, click on the individual pictures)

~ Two visits to and one visit from Santa Claus

~ Eating the most expensive Ham we've ever bought (no such thing as honey-baked ham in Peru, or for that matter, the lesser cousins of the honey-baked), but worth every penny (See the ham?)

~ Being able to talk to friends and family in Utah, Japan, Washington, DC, Singapore, California, Georgia, Mexico

~ Panettone (look for a future post dedicated to this insanity)

~ Caleb turning around in circles too excited to take in all the toys and books on Christmas morning (Someone was very nice this year!)

~ Celebrating Christmas with good friends and being grateful for a roof over our heads, food in our tummies and love in our hearts

~ Caroling in English and Spanish

~ The rockinghorse under the tree that we (Santa) bought in Amish country -- sitting under the Christmas tree with a red ribbon around its neck was so Norman Rockwell we're a little embarassed










~ The Peruvian market where we bought our Christmas tree -- sorry we don't have a picture of this, it would not have been wise to take a camera there

~ Santa bringing sour candy (none to be had in Peru and some of us are addicted!), pop-tarts, reese's peanut butter cup cereal, spaghettiOs and A&W Root Beer (we're so American)

~ Our new advent calendar, it took us three years to find and we love it


~ And last, but certainly not least, Christmas night in the emergency room -- after weeks of putting everything in sight in his mouth, Caleb finally managed to swallow a coin, after several scary minutes, 3 X-Rays and an endoscopy, the 5 centavo piece was removed.

Even without the hospital visit, this would have been a memorable Christmas, but now it is one we'll never forget!

Merry Christmas from Peru

Dear Ones,

We would not have thought it possible that life could change so much in just 12 months. This time last year, we were living happily in Washington, DC, surrounded by our good friends, frequenting our favorite restaurants, visiting our favorite sites in and around DC and enjoying a lovely Christmas with each other, 4 couples and their children. How times have changed! This year we are still living happily, but in Lima, Peru, surrounded by many new acquaintances, establishing new favorite eateries and sometimes wishing for our old favorites, becoming familiar with this city of 12 million people, and enjoying Christmas with a new couple, their children, several LDS missionaries and, most surprisingly of all, our child.

Caleb was born in January, weighing in at 7 lbs. 6 oz and with a height of 20 inches. We have enjoyed every moment (even the sleepless ones) with Caleb since he joined our family. He is a very mellow and generally happy child. He sleeps through the night, usually 10 - 11 hours, drinks from a cup and has graduated to “grown-up” food. We have been asked time and again what we did or are doing to produce such a happy child. All we can say is that he came the way he is and we are extremely grateful. We have taken more pictures of Caleb in the last 10 months than either of us had taken previously...ever. As you parents can attest, nearly everything he does is new and amazing and definitely worthy of recording. He is crawling now and into absolutely everything he shouldn't be. Despite the mountains of toys we own (he is the first grandchild on both sides so this is to be expected) his favorite things to play with are remote controls, cell phones, outlets, plugs and all manner of cords, ribbons and shoelaces. We do not anticipate that he will be an only child forever, but for now the sun rises and sets in him and we are most decidedly in love.

Choosing the ornament for the advent calendar

After one failed attempt and a second year-long application process, in April of this year we learned that Kenny had been offered a job with the United States Department of State in the Foreign Service. He was only too happy to leave his job with EDS and accept the position. He was immediately plunged into a series of training courses culminating in his (our) being assigned to Lima, Peru, in September. He then began a refresher course in Spanish, having learned the language while serving an LDS mission in Mexico several years before.

We prepared for our move to Peru by:
1) Attending several seminars on life overseas and life in the Foreign Service
2) Quitting our jobs - After 5 years, Linsey was sad to leave her colleagues at Greenberg Traurig, but thrilled with the prospect of being a full-time mom
3) Scouring the Internet and travel books for as much information on
Peru as possible
4) Making what seemed like a thousand lists of things to buy and get rid of and put in storage and sell (mainly our car, we were very sad to leave it behind, and very grateful to our friends Matt and Cassidy for handling the details)
5) Making plans to visit Utah to spend time with grandparents before we took the only grandchild 3000 miles away and to attend Linsey's brother Lyman's wedding (to Kelli, what a great addition to the family)
6) Sending cases of diapers, formula and myriad other baby and, remarkably, a few non-baby things to ourselves in Peru
7) Taking a family picture with Linsey's family -- the whole family was together for the first time in 4 years, an event worth commemorating
8) Being released from our Church callings (Kenny as 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric and Linsey as Relief Society President) -- Kenny has since been called as Young Men's President in our ward in Lima and Linsey, for the first time in a very long time, is without a calling (once her Spanish improves, we are certain this will change)
9) Making final visits to sites and restaurants (clearly we are obsessed with food) in DC that have special meaning for us
10) Saying goodbye to our life and our friends in DC -- we were especially sad to leave George and Teresa (our landlords and Caleb's godparents) whom we dearly love, but happy that a job with the Foreign Service will mean many future opportunities to visit Washington, DC

He knows the tree is off limits but he just can't resist the lights

We have been in Lima now for just over 3 months. It is a massive city, typical of most large cities, with many lovely parts and many not so lovely. There is a lot of petty crime here, but so far we have managed to avoid this. We live in a part of town called San Isidro that is known as the business district of Lima. True to form, there are many businesses here, but also many quiet and safe neighborhoods with parks, corner cafes, schools, churches, and most importantly, because most neighborhoods are lacking them, sidewalks. Lima is known for its fabulous and cheap food and we can verify that the reputation is well deserved. In particular, not surprisingly, the ceviche is spectacular.

Kenny works in the Political section at the Embassy and finds his work both challenging and fulfilling. Linsey is adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom and loves spending time with Caleb. She is taking Spanish lessons and Kenny says improving daily. We are looking forward to our first Christmas with Caleb and are loving the fact that our house in Lima has a fireplace and thus a mantel where we can hang our stockings...with care, of course.

I love Christmas!

As we come to close of 2006, we find ourselves in a much different place in our lives than we expected, but are happy and thriving. We are very grateful for the blessings of health and security that we enjoy. We have wonderful and supportive family and friends and especially a loving Heavenly Father. We miss you all and invite you to come visit us here in Peru or anywhere else we happen to be. Know that you are always in our hearts and in our prayers and certainly now as we celebrate Christmas.

May God bless each of you.

Love,
Kenny, Linsey and Caleb

Up the Stairs...'er Stair

Today I learned to climb stairs. Okay, so it was actually one stair, but I've only been crawling for a month now, so one stair is a pretty big deal.


The object of conquest...




...and, we're up...


...first leg,


and now the other...


the stair has been conquered!!


Triumphant pose for the camera (and, yes, that is the bidet I am using for support, but no one ever said glory was always glamorous)!

To Market, To Market

Recently we needed to purchase a few Christmas presents and some things for the house. We had special ordered a couple of things for Christmas and when we went to pick them up passed by a mercado (market). These mercados are everywhere in Peru and all over Lima. There are both indoor and outdoor and are characterized by row upon row of various stalls selling just about anything imaginable. There are a couple of massives mercados in Central Lima that we have visited a few times, but there are a lot of safety concerns with these places so we don't go all that often, at least not with Caleb -- he's too much of a distraction and an easy target since he kind of sticks out. This market however, was much smaller and seemed completely manageable.

Our shopping list was as follows:

Something to put the toilet paper in in the guest bathroom
Something decorative for the other guest bathroom
Something for Mom
dish drain
pitcher
can opener (ours rusted on the boat from Miami)
garbage bags (you can only buy them in packages of 10 so we buy these often)
stocking stuffers for Caleb
iron
ironing board

Not surprisingly, we found everything on our list at this mercado. They are like Peruvian Wal-Marts, one stop shopping for all your holiday and everyday needs. We choose not to purchase the iron there in case it didn't work and we needed to return it, but otherwise got everything else. In addition, we could have bought fruit, vegetables, meat, shoes, clothes, candy (both pre-packaged and in bulk), nuts, grains, spices, plastic and styrofoam containers in every conceivable shape and size, electronics, pirated DVDs (at this point, I really have no idea where to buy non-pirated DVDs -- not having a Best Buy here has really curbed our acquisition of movies), toys, jewelry, personal care products etc. And, despite being chastised up and down every aisle for not dressing Caleb warmly enough (notice below he is not wearing shoes, or socks, or a hat, or a coat, or a snowsuit -- we actually saw babies in this market wearing snowsuits) it was a very successful outing.

Notice the potatoes, there were probably over 20 varieties available

Next time we'll have to buy one of those tuxedos for Caleb

Not All Baby Boys Look Good in Blue

December 8th was a Peruvian, actually Catholic, holiday - The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception -- established in 1476 and consecrated in 1942 as a Roman Catholic dogma which asserts that Mary was preserved by God from the stain of original sin at the time of her own conception (thank you wikipedia). Being in the foreign service means we get to celebrate all American and all local holidays, so Kenny had the day off and we decided to venture into the Central Highlands of Peru.

Upon a recommendation from friends we made reservations at a working farm in a place called Tarma, about 4 to 5 hours by car from Lima. To get to Tarma we would be driving up, high, really high, into the mountains and then down the other side. Tarma sits at about 10,000 feet (Lima is at sea level) and the summit we would reach on our trip was nearly 14,500 feet (passing through the town of Cerro de Pasco (14,212 feet) a town of about 30,000 and the world's highest town of its size). Needless to say, we were going to be VERY high.

Earlier this year Kenny took a trip to Quito, Ecuador, (altitude 9,252 feet) and had to take medication to counteract the effects of the altitude. At one point during his trip, he decided to take a "walk" up a glacier and at nearly 13,000 feet ran out of energy and oxygen and had to turn back. As for me, in high school I took a planetary science course through the University of Hawaii which included a trip to the telescopes on the top of Mauna Kea (13,796 feet above sea level -- just for interest's sake, some argue that Mauna Kea is in fact the world's tallest mountain because it rises 33,000 feet from the ocean floor and Everest's height is 29,000 feet) and I can recall feeling light-headed and having trouble breathing. With these experiences in mind and knowing that we would be bringing Caleb on this trek we started doing some research on babies and high altitude. Frankly, there is not much available. We discovered that up to 12,000 feet most "experts" agree that babies should be just fine. And above that, we wondered? Well, the general consensus is that is depends on the baby. Everything we read said to watch the baby closely, look for signs of lethargy, discomfort and trauma and should they appear act swiftly and get your baby to the nearest emergency room if improvement is not immediate. Armed with this information and with our friend Kristy along for the adventure, we began our trip -- we never reached Tarma. Somewhere around 13,500 feet Caleb started to cry. He was pulling at his ears (I'm sure they were/or weren't popping) and waving his hands about and demonstrating obvious signs of pain. Shortly thereafter he stopped crying, his eyes lost focus and his skin took on a decidedly blue cast. We immediately pulled over turned around and raced down the mountain as quickly as possible. The road to Tarma is a two lane almost highway that climbs quickly and steeply up the Andes mountains. It is one of only a handful of roads carved into these spectacular and enormous mountains and is heavily used by large semi trucks and tour buses. Our progress up the mountain had been slow and plodding and our progress down was impeded as well. We spent several very quiet, very nervous moments in the car after we turned around watching Caleb closely. Thankfully, Caleb's recovery was immediate and total. The pictures below were taken after we returned to Lima at a delightful Pizza place very near our house -- it was the longest and scariest trip we've ever made for pizza.

Caleb and Kenny with our friend Kristy

The brick ovens, the pizza was delicious

Safe and sound!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad...Santa?

Santa Claus came to the Ambassador's residence to have pictures taken and to find out what the children wanted for Christmas. Santa was Canadian and caucasian (as you can see in the pictures). We also have plans to take Caleb to see Santa at Jockey Plaza (a very large mall in Lima where they have constructed Santa's village complete with workshop and elves quarters), but we are told that as you get closer to Christmas Jockey Plaza becomes so busy that it is almost scary, so we'll see. Santa Claus at Jockey Plaza is Peruvian and Latin and we think it would be great for Caleb to have pictures with Santa as he changes ethnicity depending upon the locale.

As you can see from the pictures Caleb was not exactly thrilled to meet Santa. Both of these shots were captured just before his quizzical look turned to a frown and he started to cry. We aren't sure if it was Santa he was actually afraid of, or the speaker that was just out of the picture to the left which started loudly playing some Christmas carol while Caleb was sitting with Santa, or the 20 or so people yelling at him to look at the camera and smile. Regardless of the cause, meeting Santa was not the most fun he has ever had, but we're sure one day he'll be grateful we dragged him there.

Notice the short sleeves...it will probably be 80 degrees in Lima on Christmas Day.

It's True, Her Hips Don't Lie

Last night we went to the Shakira concert to celebrate Kenny's 30th birthday and, apparently, unbeknowst to me, to fulfil a decade long dream. Apparently, while Kenny was on his mission in Mexico, Shakira, who is from Columbia, came out with one of her early albums and quickly catapulted to stardom and fame in South America. Despite limited access to television and other forms of media, Kenny couldn't help but be caught up in the swirl of Shakira worship even while toiling in the vineyard. Thus began his dreams of seeing Shakira live in concert. And, though I was unaware of the dream, I was aware of his need to be Shakira's champion in light of what he believes to be the systematic perpetration of heinous falsehoods by music producers, promoters, consumers etc. in America with regard to her talent and her place in the music world. Despite the fact that she is often marketed as an ingenue and frequently lumped into the same category as Britney or Jessica or others of that ilk, Kenny is always quick to point out that "she is actually talented," "she writes all her own lyrics and music," "she didn't want to record in English until she could speak the language well enough to write her own stuff," "she is not run of the mill" etc. etc. etc. And, last night, I have to say, that in spite of the fact that I'm not certain of the meaning of most of her songs, and though I am not a total convert to the way she sings (she has Celine Dion's power, Mariah Carey's range, and sounds a bit like the lead singer of the Cranberries), the woman really is very talented. She has clearly had years of dance and in particular her belly dancing prowess is phenomenal. Her songs are varied and musically interesting and despite her penchant for doing a 21st century version of the robocop several times during the evening, she puts on a great show.

I'm a Big Boy Now

Hey everyone, look at all the things I can do...


Sit in the bath tub by myself;


Call my friends;


Fly;


Pose for the camera;


Drink from a water bottle;


Reach the mobile in my crib;


Give kisses;


And most importantly, I can CRAWL, watch out Mom!

Thanksgiving Lima Style

Things we're thankful for:

1) Health (all of us, especially Caleb are in very good health)

2) Our house in Lima -- so nice to have more than 2 rooms, a roof over our heads, and a bedroom just for Caleb

3) Aurora -- she washed ALL the Thanksgiving dishes, I have never been more grateful for her!

4) Our faith

5) Our families

6) Our talents

7) Living abroad with the State Department as a safety net -- it is much easier to be overseas when you don't have to re-invent the wheel every time we need something

and, in that vein 8) Being able to receive things through the diplomatic pouch -- dealing with the Peruvian mail system is less than pleasant -- you cannot send mail from your home here!

9) The usual food to eat, clothes to wear, money to spend -- real luxuries and really obvious in this third world country

10) Insurance (car, health, dental etc.)

11) The Internet -- our lifeline in so many ways

12) Skype -- couldn't live without it

13) 12 place settings that match - though we ended up with 13 guests for Thanksgiving (14 if you count Caleb)

14) The opportunities living in Lima has and will bring

15) All of you dear friends -- we are particularly mindful of how much we appreciate our friends as we work to make knew ones

Happy Thanksgiving!


Caleb's first Thanksgiving - that's turkey and a roll on his high chair tray


Thanksgiving with the Missionaries, Erika, Paul, Kristy, Paola and Emily

Happy Halloween Little Bald Pumpkin

Something we discovered when we took Caleb to Buenos Aires earlier this year was that Latins LOVE, LOVE, LOVE babies, especially little gringo babies. And, Caleb with his fair skin, light hair, and very blue eyes tends to stand out among Latins, especially in Peru where the post-war European influence isn't as prevalent as it is in Argentina. Everywhere we go (literally everywhere, church, the grocery store -- it takes twice as long to buy groceries, the hardware store, any sidewalk or cafe or, well you get the idea) people stop, or rather stop us, to admire and go a little nuts over Caleb, often taking him from our arms or the stroller -- and of course we have tried to teach our child not be a mama's boy so he happily goes to every perfect stranger who extends their hands toward him -- we're going to have to work on that! Consequently, the words I know best in Spanish are (as you are reading these, think about Peruvian men, women and children saying these things as if there were describing the most delicious food they had ever tasted): muneco (little doll); que lindo (so cute); que prescioso (so precious); sus ojos son muy azul (his eyes are so blue); que bonito (so beautiful); and my personal favorite...ahh peloncito (little bald one). And while these are lovely words, they are not as helpful at the market or the drugstore as you might think, well, in fact they are just as helpful as you might think, i.e. not!

Since this was Caleb's first Halloween (note, you will see many posts from here on out talking about "firsts" for Caleb - he is nine months old, that's the way it is), I wanted to be sure that we celebrated it properly with a cute costume, lots of pictures and plenty of candy. Okay, so even though he did the trick-or-treating (sort of), the candy was really for the grown-ups and we couldn't let it go to waste. Obviously we have to savor access to his candy now before he is old enough to understand why people are giving it to him and that it really does taste better than the pureed sweet potatoes and peas that he is used to having for "dessert" and then refuses to share with Mommy and Daddy ever again.

Our Table

The Embassy in Peru, and I suspect everywhere else in the world, has an annual Halloween party to which all children of all employees are invited. The theme for our party in Lima was a Halloween carnival and several announcements were sent in advance about each section being responsible for a table and a game at the carnival. Thinking this would be a good way to meet some people and get involved, I mentioned to Kenny that I would be happy to help with his section's game. Next thing I know, his boss is thanking me for handling the game and all the accompanying details...hm... Despite limited resources and time (thank goodness for Oriental Trading Company) we put together a fairly decent Halloween themed bean bag toss (no shortage of beans on this continent) complete with sparkly orange bean bags and lots of candy to distribute to the trick-or-treaters. I had purchased Caleb's Halloween costume (a pumpkin of course -- isn't is required that every baby dress as a pumpkin for their first Halloween?) before we left for Peru and packed it in our things so we would have it even if (read since) our slow boat stuff didn't arrive in time. And while he did not enjoy Mommy shouting hooray each time we had a winner at the bean bag toss, he looked terrific, collected a fair amount of candy and compliments and had, I think, an extremely successful Halloween experience. Now to my list of already useful Spanish words I have added: calabasito -- little pumpkin. Happy Halloween Little Bald Pumpkin!

The Little Bald Pumpkin

The Pumpkin and Daddy