A Laser Show in Downtown Rochester

A warm night in June, downtown Rochester, High Falls District, this is the setting of the Laser Show.


Do they look alike?


The lasers and fireworks illuminated the entire gorge, while illustrating several popular American songs.


The high falls are illumated duing the entire show. 

Cheering for Brasil!!

It was contagious, everyone who came to our apartment during the World Cup cheered for Brasil!!!



We were so happy when they made it out of the Group Stage!!! 

Rochester Raging Rhinos Raged to a Tie!

The Raging Rhino needed a four-wheeler to rage around the field before the game started.

The action was minimal but the stadium was well designed to give everyone a seat close to the action. The game ended tied but it was a great experience to support our local professional soccer team, playing their first season in a soccer stadium instead of a baseball field.

Bro and Sis enjoying some time together and some sugar drink.

But they weren't the only ones enjoying a sugary drink!!
 

Tapestry Picnic Part II

Networking, games, fellowship and God. It was all so much fun.




But we had to end the fun at the park so that we could go to a major league soccer game in the city... 

Tapestry Fellowship Picnic!

After a week of moving, visiting colleges and parks, and generally relaxing and having fun with Ben, we all went to a park for a picnic with our church plant group. There was plenty of food and converations.


Ben often discovers his tongue when the camera is pointed in his direction. He was also very hungry.




We spent lots of the day getting to know everyone more and playing lots of games outdoors. What a celebration of God's creation and his Bride!!

It is a blessing to spend time with the church plants and fellowship with Christians and reach out to others. 

Ben's College Visits

Since Ben is coming of Age, it is time for him to undergo the preparation needed for him to prepare to go though the ultimate decision of his life. (This is the sense of importance the admissions guro instilled during our first college visit with Ben, a visit to Cornell). It is definitely an importnat decision but the Ivy League Universities definitely make it into a hugely labor intensive (labor is every sense of the word) and prolonged experience beginning in the preschool years. Ben was very calm during all of this talk. The day of the tour was very beautiful and the campus is kept in very perfect condition, making walks around campus quite enjoyable as long as you stay away from the HILLS!!


The statue of the founder of Cornell, who had a vision of founding a college where all could attend, regardless of income and other restrictions of education. That vision lasted for a while but then Cornell joined the Ivy League (I'm VerY expensive League) and had to increase their tuition to match the elite competition, increase their endowment and build lots of pretty buildings. (Is this what Houghton is trying to accomplish?) Anyway, we had fun walking around the pretty campus overlooking the fingerlakes. The bells in the tower can play any song and we heard some music from Les Miserables while we were walking. We had some fresh ice cream made on campus and headed out.

On our way home, we stopped at the Largest Waterfall this side of the Mississippi. It's a pretty gorge and the view is great from the top.

Other colleges Ben visited included University of Rochester, Robert's Wesleyan, and Houghton College. We are praying that he follows God and attends the college that God wants him to attend, whether it is Cornell, Rochester, Houghton or somewhere else. 

BEN ARRIVES!!!

Ben arrived on the 16th of June, the same day that we were finishing our move back to Rochester!! (YEAH for no more Long Commutes!!! Now we can commute by bicycle!!) We immediately took him to the Home of The World's Greatest Cheeseburger. Upon completing the World's Greatest Cheeseburger, we decided that whoever awarded this piece of meat such distinction must not have traveled too much outside of the restaurant. It is good but not as good as a burger in Brasil, where the beef is soooooo much better and more pure.

We thought he was a little exhausted so we took a closer look and his eyes definitely looked a little sleepy.

He perked up a little when we got a call from one of his best friends in the States who is now in Brasil.


We decided to have a little fun the next night when we were eating in our new apartment some deliscious salmon and rice. Notice the Brasilian flag stratigically hung in preparation for watching the world cup.

 

Graduation Party Numer ???

Karen was congratulated at our church for a job well done and completing her Masters. The pastor was attempting to congratulate her in Spanish and it got a pretty good laugh.


Everyone was asking Karen to give her speech in Spanish but she opted for English, for the sake of understanding.


The cake was beautiful and amazingly finished to fit two entire Bible verses. The verses for a great reminder to us during the huge transitions in our lives, moving, job searching, preparing for Brasil, and church planting. It is definitely encouraging and uplifting to know that God will direct our paths (as well as comforting to know that someone can direct our lives through the craziness!!). 

A Working Family Reunion

Following two days of sightseeing and conference attending in DC, we enjoyed some time with the Winey family in PA. It was a family reunion and workday, when we rescreened Brian's grandparent's screened porch.


The men worked on the screening and the women worked on Lunch... or spent some time catching up.



The newest addition to the family: Elizabeth Grace!!
 

Visiting DC

During our second day in DC, we found a delicious Peruvian restaurant in the Hispanic District of DC which served a delicious roasted chicken. We were the only ones in the restaurant speaking English, due to Brian's lack of Spanish.

We visited two of the Smithsonian Museums, the National Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. The minerals and gemstone were fascinating, specifically the diamonds of extrordinary size, the minerals with interesting shapes sizes and colors, and the exhibits of minerals and gems from Brasil.

The Natural History Museum also had a very interesting Earthquake exhibit, complete with a world map, detailing earthquake locations from the past two weeks (yellow circles, radius corresponds to magnitude) and the past five years (puple dots).

The Washington Monument was closed when we arrived so we couldn't take any pictures from the top observation deck, but they graciously allowed us to take all of the pictures we wanted from the bottom observation deck, aka, the ground.

And what is any trip without a beautiful picture of Karen, albeit, a very fatigued Karen who had walked several miles around DC that day.
 

From NY to PA to DC to PA to DC to PA to NY

We went to PA but only for a few hours because we had to go to DC to attain a visa for visiting Brasil. Since the embassy opens at 9 am and we wanted to avoid any line, we left PA at around 5 am and arrived just before it opened. The trip was wonderfully enjoyable, being a beautiful ealy summer morning, with little traffic, and a sunrise visible through the mist only seen in the early morning of the early summer. We arrived at the embassy to find no line and a very relaxed atmosphere, especially when compared to the Brasilian NYC consolate. The paperwork was completed in a few minutes and we were told that we had to return in one day to pick up the freshly minted visa and passport. As soon as the visa was taked care of, we drove a few blocks to the US Commission to UNESCO Annual Conference.

The politicians were out in force, including one Undersecretary of State and one Assistant secretary of State for international programs. Maybe someday we will understand the difference and responsibilities each has but for now they are simply people who work in the State Department, under the Sectretary of State. It was encouraging to see politicians addressing the needs of people around the world, specifically, illiteracy, water management and supply, healthcare, gender inequalities and more efficient models for resource distribution.

Since we had to be in Washington DC for two days, we decided to spend one day at the conference and the second day sightseeing around the city. First stop was the National Cathedral. Brian loves cathedrals, the architecture, art, and sense of worship embedded in the structure.




It is the one of the largest cathedrals in the world!!

Any visit to DC is incomplete without a stop at the Mall . The sky was a little hazy, preventing a clear view of the entire mall at once, but we were able to walk a good deal of the length and take pictures of many of the monuments and buildings.