Our Story
In 2020, Genova was in a Graduate program in the city of São Paulo but found herself and her daughter Gema (today 10 years old) locked away in a small apartment during the pandemic. At the same time Michael was teaching English in the south of France in a similarly restricted environment.
In early 2021 they both made their way to Serra Grande in the state of Bahia in Brazil - a small and quiet beach town that felt very much like another world, a refuge from all the madness of that time.
They met in April 2021 and fell in love very early on. They spoke about starting a family even from those early days, and grew closer while living in the idyllic tropical paradise for the next 2 1/2 years.
After the untimely death of Genova’s father, Fernando, Genova’s mother Maria Elena was invited to move to Bahia to be closer to her daughter and granddaughter. Since February 2023, the Hoffman-Alvarado residence has become a 3-generation home and Maria has been a consistent source of wisdom and loving care ever since.
In October 2023, the family moved to the ceramics capital of Brazil - Cunha, in the state of São Paulo (Genova is a celebrated ceramics artist who has exhibited her work all throughout Brazil and in Venezuela, her home country). They added another family member around Christmas time, Krishna, a Blue Merle Border Collie.​
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On January 1st - Michael’s birthday - Genova announced she was pregnant, to everyone’s delight, especially for Gema who had been asking for a baby brother or sister since Genova and Michael first met.