3 Days

Luke is my hero. Hence the naked statue: that's Hercules. Luke is a very strong little man. He has his opinions, he has his ways and he has his quirks, but I love them all so so much. With Luke, you never quite know what you're going to get. Sometimes you open something a little crunchy and scary, but 9 times out of 10 he's a sweet little candy that just gets even sweeter when it explodes with tasty goo. Usually when I'm down, I just want a Luke Hug, cause there's really nothing quite like it in the world. 

4 Days

Sarah! What a girl. Loves to cook and bake... but mostly bake. And she loves to eat her master pieces, along with the rest of her family. Sarah, by choice, is simple and yet very beautiful. You might catch her dressing up in a fancy dress that royalty from Cesky Krumlov would wear. She's love sick for all the boys in her class... ok just one, but it's a secret.

5 Days

Emma is the fifth of seven and maybe somewhere in her she feels middle child syndrome but I hope that she knows that the truth is, we hear her. We love her! She knows all of the best ways to make herself heard and seen. Probably some of the funniest things I have ever heard a person say have come from Emma, in the most random of times. 

One thing is for sure though, she knows what she wants. She sees the goal and she just gets it done. She definitely has her own style, and always has. When she was little she was always the girliest of all of us. These days she just dyed her hair red. She plays the trumpet in school (which she chose), and I don't know how she's doing these days, but I remember her practicing all the time before; determined to play sound that trumpet triumphantly. She also loves sea food. A lot. Which is only and "Emma" thing to the rest of us Pinsents who mostly do not. That's probably the only thing I ever remember her choosing for her birthday dinner. The rest of us would make something ourselves or starve before Emma went without scallops on her birthday. 

The greatest thing about her though, is that she always catches you off guard. She'll surprise you at every turn, and I promise you that you will never be able to expect it or see it coming. But it's a real treat when it happens.

 

6 Days

Ben likes... you guessed it cars. Cars and bikes and girls. The kiss and ride sign is a legit sign at the train station here in Vienna. We even found a kiss and ride sign at a train station in Germany. So while we don't know what it exactly means it gave us a good laugh. To have seen Eric, is to have seen Ben. They are both incredibly handsomely rugged, simply dashing and very strong. 6 more days and Ben can again look into the mirror of his older bother.

7 Days = One Week

Victoria(15) is next in line in the Pinsent family. Basically any raw material she touches turns to something beautiful and creative. Ever since she was real small she has been able to draw amazing things. After getting bored of that, she has since moved on to mastering her voice and the piano (at the same time), sewing and the newest one is cake decorating. She is a master with fondant. I don't have a picture of that, but everything artsy and beautifully crafted reminds me a little bit of something Victoria has made or will some day get around to trying (and perfecting on the first try).

8 Days

Our land lord is Heber Ferraz-Leite; he's a renown brain surgeon. Logan's on track to follow in his foot steps. Logan's also a pretty good artist. He's also part of two choirs and some how got his name on the back of this Renault. The smoke in the choir picture is from the incense that they were burning during the church service.

9 Days

Rachel has just been accepted to the University of PEI. Congratulations! Hopefully her library is as attractive as this pretty red one (Salzburg, Asutria). It would make studying more appealing and maybe even help tear her from her phone. Today's advent expresses the balance between a social life (now on top) and school work.

But even with cell phone in hand she'll probably get the grades she needs while becoming the star player of the rugby team.

10 Days

Eric's oldest brother Jordan is married to Breanne. They have two kids: Verona(3) and Maximus(1). Verona shares her father's admiration for the Bugatti Veyron. Max is the man, a little man, but the Man -- chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, and the courage to conquer all evil. Breanne is a master pianist, and she can sing too!

Breanne, you should have been there. Ludovico Einaudi really tickled that ivory.

11 Days

There are so so many things we miss about home. Right up there with normal toilets, the English language and foods we recognize, are our families! We miss them each very much and hope they know how much we love them and think of them. Eric has 5 siblings (plus a wonderful sister-in-law, who for the purpose of this activity will count as one unit with her husband and their kids), and I have 6. These next 11 days we're here we will be thinking of each of them and antsy to get back to home so we can see them, talk with them or just know that they are close by. 

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Katherine's oldest brother is 19. His name is Haig. He always has really cool shoes, he grew a mustache for Movember, and he is as dashing and smooth as this man is.