Edson’s Favorite Pastime

Edson is EXTREMELY ACTIVE. It is amazing how fast and energetic he is. We can sometimes distract him in his high chair with a bread stick or cracker, but in a short while he is squirming and his cries tell us he is done sitting. He’s up and down on all the kitchen chairs, sneaks up the stairs, checks for an open bathroom door, or pulls down anything within reach. After a couple of hours of this non-stop activity, we are often strained or just exhausted; running around after him.
We finally discovered a way to totally calm him…for hours. Mind you, it is in the 100ºs and very humid. We slip on one of those “little swimmer” pull-ups and give him the hose. We turn it on a little bit and he sits there and wets himself. He waters the floor, his legs, and his head. He puts his finger in the end and gets sprayed in the face. He drinks water from it and puts his other hand through it. He makes a fountain out of it and watches it…and watches it…and he is still, sitting or kneeling.
We enjoy the peace and quiet and pull out some terere to drink. Finally, we can talk without jumping up and down or going after him.
When we say…Let’s go! It’s battle time. He will NOT let go! He loves the hose! Neighbors may think there is something wrong when we try to pry the hose out of his hand. He grips the hose harder than ever and it becomes a fight with loud screams and cries of discontentment.
His lips are blue with cold. His fingers are all wrinkly. We dry him off, hide the hose, and…we’ll wait till tomorrow.

This is for Martha!

Milanesas - fried
(Chicken Fried Steak)

2 lb. beef (round steak, loin)
Salt, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, oregano, lemon juice or vinegar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Flour
Bread crumbs
Oil

Cut the meat in thin slices and pound each side. Season. Beat the eggs and add the milk. Dip the meat first in the flour, then the egg mixture, and then in the bread crumbs. Heat enough oil in a frying pan to cover the meat. Fry until brown, turn and brown the other side.

Milanesas - baked
(Chicken Fried Steak)

2 lb. beef (round steak, loin)
Salt, pepper
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Garlic and oregano
Bread crumbs
Oil
Cut the meat in thin slices and pound each side. Season with salt and pepper. Beat the eggs and add the milk, garlic and oregano. Dip the meat first in the egg mixture, and then in the bread crumbs. Place on a large oiled tray and bake at 350 F. Turn milanesas half way through. Bake until browned.

Milanesas Napolitana
After baking the milanesas, add pizza sauce and cheese. Return to oven until cheese is browned.

Recipes on HIGH demand from those who “Went to Paraguay and Lived to Tell About It”…

Three treats!

Empanadas al Horno…Oven Empanadas
You can use any kind of filling…ground or shredded turkey, chicken or beef with sautéed onions, peppers and garlic. You can add olives or hard boiled eggs to the filling. In Argentina they even put in raisins. Sometimes we make pizza fillings (ham, cheese, hard-boiled egg, tomato, oregano), cabbage ones (sautéed cabbage, onions, carrots, chicken pieces), or scrabbled egg and cheese empanadas.
Here's the recipe for the dough.
2 Cups Flour
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
Mix all together. Knead well. Cut up into little balls. Roll out with a rolling pin. Fill the dough with desired filling and seal with a fork. Bake till golden brown. Have fun.
P.S. These can be made in advance and frozen. Hungry teenagers will pop them in the microwave...whenever!

Chipas (Cheese Bread)
16 ounces Mandioca starch - 3 1/2 cups
Salt
anise seeds (optional - a very Paraguayan treat)
1/2 cup Sunflower seed oil
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, large
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1-3/4 cups Mild cheddar, grated
Bring milk and oil to a boil in a small saucepan. Add to the mandioca starch. Mix and allow to cool a little. Incorporate the eggs, one at a time. Add the cheese and blend well. The dough may be very sticky. Place a little oil on the hands and round dough into balls. Divide into pieces the size of a walnut or small plum. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake at 375ºF until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Alfajores (Sugar cookies with Carmel filling)
This recipe is a favorite…an original…from my Aunt Kath who lived in Argentina about 20 years. (Maybe I’ll hear back from her if it isn’t correct!) It is one of the best we ever tried. Everything is measured in grams, here and in the recipe, so I am not sure about the exact cup measurements. Try these out!
2 cups margarine (400 grams)
1 ½ cups of sugar (300 grams)
6 yolks
2 tablespoons vanilla, “dulce de leche” liquor or rum
3 cups corn starch (600 grams)
2 cups flour (400 grams)

Mix the margarine and sugar. Add yolks and flavouring. Stir in cornstarch and flour. Roll out. Cut out with a round cookie cutter. Bake until LIGHTLY browned. Cool. Cover one cookie bottom with dulce de leche (carmel jelly) and stick another bottom cookie together to make a sandwich. Roll in shredded coconut.

Ben, Ellen and I are working on a Paraguayan Cookbook that we want to promote for this year's camps. Let me know what you liked when you were here and we'll add it to the cookbook.

Visitors!

(Written Friday night before the crew came home...)
We have been blessed with US visitors! Rod, Melissa, Brian, and Renee Koch, and Joel Shurance and Erik Steidl came on the 18th to work on the new building project. Both groups started off their stay in Paraguay with problems in flights and lost luggage. One of the bags finally arrived and there is no news of the other one.
Our ladies group at church did an amazing job of cooking lunches for the workers and sharing a taste of Paraguay with the “Americanos”. Through hot, humid weather and sun burns they prepared the foundation, dug a sewer hole and painted the classrooms…THANKS TEAM! So much was accomplished in such a short time. We are expecting another team at the end of January.
For some it was the first, hot Christmas Eve they ever experienced. Brian and my kids (I think the dad’s, too) loved the firecrackers. At 12 o’clock midnight there is an exploding sound of “Christmas” here in Paraguay. The neat thing is that neighbors will go around house to house greeting each other and wishing them a Merry Christmas. Plates of food are shared with others and there seems to be an abundance of provisions, love, and happiness.
Tuesday, Christmas Day, was spent climbing up Cerro Yaguarón. The cool breeze was definitely on the top! Christmas day registered 85% humidity! We were tired, hot, and sweaty, but were grateful for God’s beautiful creation and the beauty of Paraguay’s countryside. I haven’t climbed it since 2004 when Liz and Joe Bocka were here. I am still VERY SORE from the climb. (I got lucky, Oscar carried Edson the whole way!) Ben, Vivi, Joel, Eric, and Jason came for the afternoon. As always…our family loved the time spent with visitors.
Thursday proved to be a good day to rest since it rained…more like, poured…all morning long. While we were waiting at school the drain pipes filled up and started flooding the classrooms. This doesn’t always happen. Thursday’s rain was just too much. The afternoon was spent sight seeing and buying souvenirs. Some people found some interesting things, a machete, a parrot, and…
Today they were all off to see the Iguazu Falls. I GOT to stay home this time. That is why I am trying to catch up on writing! It is a 4 hour drive there and back but I’m sure they will think it’s worth it. Edson is catching up on his sleep and Brandon is at home catching up on organizing his bedroom.
Tomorrow, Saturday, will be a half a day of work. Sunday, the Koch’s will take off, and Monday, Joel and Eric will be on their way. It seems like time went so fast! We were very busy, we stayed up late, we got up early, we cooked a lot, we all jumped into two cars every where we went. We have been having a wonderful time and have been BLESSED by their work and time. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” 1 Thessalonians 1: 2, 3.
The Paraguay Mission and Colegio Privado Adonai are grateful for this group.

Family "brag" letter...

Someone recently mentioned how she disliked Christmas family letters because they're only about Parents bragging about their kids. I told her that I actually liked them and like bragging about my kids, too. So, here's Our Family's Brag Letter.
P.S. I also sent it out as an email to some of you...

End of the Year Caballero News
So many things happened this past year. Here are some of the family's
highlights:
1. Edson got chicken pox at 8 months during Warm Beach Camp. (Now he
doesn't need the vaccination!) A couple more people from camp got lucky! We took him to the doctor this week and he mentioned that he preferred that the child gets the disease instead of getting vaccinated! He is fascinated with cell phones and his first word is most definitely "hola" after seeing so many people hold stuff up to their ear and say "hola". Well, one day he tried holding up his cell phone to his ear, but this time it wasn't a cell phone (remote control, calculator, walkie-talkie, brush, what ever looks that size and has buttons) it was a sucker! Yes, we had a sticky, sticky mess! He turned one on November 15th and started walking 15 days later.
2. Gabriel played the guitar for his Praise and Worship team at school
this past year. They went through many struggles, but he is also getting many experiences. They visited a science lab in the National University. He came home and said.mom, they had such nice equipment and such a sophisticated laboratory that I couldn't believe I was in Paraguay! He still loves drawing, soccer or any sports with a ball. He turned 13 on November 6th.
3. Brandon turned 15 this year and took a growth spurt in maturity. He
is as big as a man and has begun to think and act like a man. He's gone through many learning experiences and is starting to realize that it is really his Heavenly Father who is pulling him through. Brandon loves music, computers, and (which teen doesn't love) Play station! He's been picking up the bass guitar and working on some of his favorite songs.
4. We went to the states this past July and my kids impressed me with
their outgoingness. They found friends at each of the AC camps and brought back pictures, email addresses and stories of their adventures there. Their best memories were of the bike ride out to MidWest camp, dipping into the chocolate fountain, ordering "their own" pizza from Eastern camp, playing soccer, the Pavkov reunion (mostly the pool). The worst memories.Brandon's muscle pull, carrying luggage all across the country and trying to remember to pack it again, and Edson's chicken pox.
5. Oscar and I are kept busy with church and school work. This past
year I stayed at home with Edson and missed teaching! I loved being at home, but I missed the smiles and hugs from the students. Next year I want to ease back into some classes once a week while Oscar can stay with Edson at home.
Oscar continues with the prison ministry once a month, does a bible study every Tuesday at church, works at school from 7am till 3:30pm, does running around for others, and loves to take his "rest time" fixing up the yard.
6. We spent a wonderful year with an unforgettable missionary, Ellen
Sabo. She was a friend, a sister, a teacher and eager to serve the Lord through serving others. She was active at school and church and in our family. Her excitement will be remembered forever. We spent many family adventures together and we'll miss her BIGTIME!
We have been through pain, disappointment, loss of loved ones, and other trials, but we have also been blessed and have seen miracles. Yes, the Lord has been good to us.
All praise and thanks to our Savior! "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. AMEN. (Revelation 7:12)
Thanks for your prayers,
Oscar, Karen, Brandon, Gabriel, and Edson

Blogging, snail-mail, computers…cooking

I haven’t been doing snail-mail for a while. Here, in Paraguay, we have to go all the way into town to mail a letter or get cards out of our post office box. Oscar goes once or maybe twice a week, depending on his time or errands. Last year I wrote out about 15 Christmas cards and had them nicely in a pile for my mom to take back after her visit here…well, they still are not mailed and they are still sitting nicely at the bottom of a pile.
It’s just as much work for me to find time to write updates and blogs. When I am on the computer…no one is happy…all of a sudden they all NEEDED to use it or me…all at the same time. My kids are off school and are bored. I need to organize their time, too. Edson wanders around and around the house and we always have to keep an eye on him. Mini problems here and there in school or church need to be solved. So, when all this overwhelms me, I just go to the kitchen and cook! Cooking seems to be a distracting hobby that, of course, HAS TO BE DONE. Once again, I put off writing, and cooking seems to satisfy everyone.
I made a rule, the other day, that I get the computer when Edson sleeps! At least I have time to think and not run around checking where he might be. He is right on the other side of the wall from the computer room...sound asleep. At last, I have peace enough to write. Some very loud music is coming from downstairs. Sometimes a door bangs. Oscar is also taking a “SIESTA”. Everyone is full from lunch.
No Christmas cards this year, just blogging, updating, and Christmas cooking.

School news…

We finished another year at Colegio Privado Adonai, five years of struggles, five years of victories, five years of pain, five years of growth, five years of decisions, five years of faith. We thank God for His faithfulness! Without Him as our General Director and Supervisor, we could not have gotten this far!
Things that happened this year…we had two big fund raisers, Missions week and Folklore Day. We had a clothes and food drive for the neighboring AC church of Sajonia. We painted and cleaned the UAA, a sports center two blocks from school that loans us its grounds to us for retreats, Olympics, and practices. The middle school and high school kids went on two different outings. We received gifts from the Banco Central de Paraguay. Four computers were donated by friends from the states. The best student from 9th grade was baptized in November…the first of our students! Plans for 11th grade have been finalized and accepted by the “Ministerio de Educacion”. Plans for a new building were drawn up and started. Report cards were handed out; grades turned it to the “Ministerio de Educacion”. The teachers cleaned out their rooms. Good-bye 2007!
Things to look forward to…the 2008 school year calendar is printed out. New teachers are checking out books and writing up lessons. Vivi (Ben’s wife) will be our morning principal and vice-principal for the afternoon classes. We get to wear JEANS next year instead of a uniform…even the teachers! One of our (lady) teachers will also be working in the area of counselling (especially for girls) along with our pastor. We will have clubs…sports, English, art, music and poetry. (Should I include that I MIGHT take on some classes…I just need to figure out what to do with Edson.)
The construction project is underway. We bought cement, bricks and other materials and will be picking up the first crew today (from Ohio and New York). We are excited to see things in progress and are grateful that the Lord is answering our prayers.
So…we are counting on you! Please pray for us, visit us, write to us, or COME HELP US!
Love,
Oscar and Karen