feeling blessed

camera is broken and i'm having the in-laws bring me back a new one so posts are most likely boring, wordy and random for the next little while. sorry.

avery has been napping for three hours.  i looked at the clock and realized that i hadn't really accomplished all that much during nap time.  now that i am finally sitting down to blog while she's still sleeping i'm sure that she'll be waking up within the next 5 minutes.  oh well.  i have to speak in church next sunday. in portuguese.  clearly i'll be reading my talk directly off of the paper and will most likely be slaughtering most of it being that i dont speak portuguese.  it will be good for me. i keep telling myself that. it is a good thing i have almost 2 weeks to prepare. i think i decided to talk on the influence parents have on children and the importance of teaching the while young, something along those lines.  april general conference was all about families and mothers, and since i became a mother a short 18 months ago, i constantly feel the overwhelming pressure and happiness that comes from being a mom.  it is the greatest blessing isn't it?

on a totally different subject...

this last saturday trae went to a city 2 hours away from here that was destroyed from all the rain we've been getting.  i'm glad that i didnt get to go because i'm sure i would have been a mess seeing how bad it really was.  i've been super thankful lately that i was raised in an area where i always felt safe.  idaho is obviously not going to be flooded anytime soon, and i'm quite sure there will never be tsunami. we've had our share of good thunderstorms but i never had to worry about much.  my dad is still  a little okay, a lot paranoid about us living here. (yep, she's awake.)  my heart breaks for these people who are now left with nothing.  after spending a life time buiding their lives in their little city they see it destroyed within a few day.  they have no food, no money, no shelter. its like the people we watch on CNN but never really know personally. but now i live right next to it and know people whose families have been affected.  there really wasnt much trae could do to help.  he tried to clean, but the damage will take months if not longer to reverse.  he handed out food that was delivered and was swarmed by people who he was sure hadn't eaten in days. trae said at one point there was about 20 feet of water in some areas. this picture shows a truck that had completly flipped over in the water and i now buried in mud that settled. he said there were cars all over that were just like that. 

everything that was once in the homes and churches and building are now covering the streets, destroyed.

is quite humbling actually. we really are so spoiled and take so many things for granted daily.  we probably will never have to go with out many things, especially the essentials, while most people here have only really enjoyed the essentials.  i sure have been counting my blessings a little more thoroughly lately.

well, right now i have a clean, cute naked baby running around the house.  i better go after the little girl.

whats been going on...

trae and i are holding down the fort by ourselves for a few weeks. we dropped the rest of the family off at the airport on monday and have been trying to keep ourselve busy.  i cant believe how quiet it is around here now that there aren't 6 other people running around. after living by ourselves for 3+ years, living with a large family has been quite the adjustment.  luckily trae works out of our home so i am i not entirely alone everyday.  oh how i wish i could be home visiting my family right now... but we are enjoying ourselves and making the very best out of this experience... good days and bad.

trae has been running into people from his mission a lot more often lately.  any big gathering of LDS brasilians and theres sure to be someone he knows in the crowd.  lucky for me i get to meet all these faboulous people trae fell in love with 4 years ago.  The other day we took one of the kids trae baptised out to dinner for his birthday. we had sushi. it was a first for me and although i wasnt completely won over by it, i'm sure sushi date night will make an appearance here and there. luckily we went to an all you can eat place so i got to try a variety. our waiter wouldnt really let us waste anything so we ended up having to eat our sea-weed wrapped rice, after picking all the good stuff out of the middle. nice and chewy.

cooking here is kindof a pain. the dang humidity gets to everything. my cookies are always too soft and doughy, or to floury because i try to fix the problem. the produce only lasts a day or two before rotting, which makes for frequent trips to the grocery store... only to find rotting veggies there as well.  most of our meals have what we call the ' brasilian off taste ' when comparing them to what they tasted like back home. oh the joys.  however, i am loving the fruits here.  we have fruit for every single mean and fresh squeezed juice whenever we want.  its fantastic really.

one things is for sure, these brasilians are so genuine.  i have fallen in love with them.  they have taken such good care of trae, ave and me. we live in an area that can be pretty sketchy sometimes and they are always looking out for us and letting us know places we should avoid and the best places to visit.  they are always trying to help me with my broken portuguese, even though i never really understand what they are saying.  i have a feeling that will be a battle i'll be fighting from now until we move back home.

anyways...thats whats going on here. hope you're having a great day wherever you are!!

Sao Joao (San Juan)

This is one of Brasil's most celebrated holidays.  its pretty big around here. apparently instead of just celebrating it on the actual day of the holiday, they celebrate all month long.  there are san juan parties every week.  we've been to one and it was almost more than we could handle. our cute maid, Rosie, let us borrow one of her daughters old san juan dresses, so we dressed ave up, painted on some freckles, and put her hair in some piggys, just like she told us to. all the dresses look pretty much just like this, i know, not very cute at all.  ave only thought she was the coolest thing since mac-and-cheese in that dress. i won't beg to differ.  but seriously, thank goodness this month is almost over, i've seen enough plaid dresses and shirts to last me the rest of my life.

enjoy some pictures of our little sao juao girl.. buck teeth and all

exhausted

looks like life in brasil has been rough on us.  we are worn out and sleepy.  couldn't be jet lag still could it?  we'll blame it on the heat for now and keep enjoying our little naps even if they look uncomfortable and awkward.

hope you have a great sunday and find time to squeeze in a little sunday-afternoon nap yourself. aren't those the very best?

we're pals

avery is such a momma girls. i wont lie that there have been multiple times when i wished she wasnt so completley attatched to me. but i was thinking about it today, as she layed her little head down on my shoulder and she started to pat and rub my back just like i always do to hers, that i wouldn't have it any other way. i love so much that we are best buds. i love that its me who gets to comfort her everytime she's sad, and i even love that its me who gets to get after her everytime she's acting up (which is way to often lately by-the-way) and that she is so quick to forgive me everytime i do. i mostly love that i get to spend all day with her. she and i are pretty good pals.

but i must admit... avery just switched from taking two naps a day to one really big one and it is the very best thing. i didnt realize how much i needed a little rejuvenation in the middle of the day to make it till bed time.

eye candy

if our family and friends from home are missing us as much as we miss them right now then maybe this will fill the void for a little while, because lets be honest...this is what they miss the very most (and we don't blame them.) she's developed quite the personality lately, which unfortunately came with an attitude to match it... but isn't she a looker.

enjoy the eye candy!

happy birthday pretty girl

i say it every single year, and this year is no different, but i am so blessed to have meag as my sister. i think being so far away from her this year has made me realize how grateful i really am for the last 24 years we've spent together. they've been fabulous. i miss being able to call her 13 times a day and text in-between that, but i hope you're having an amazing birthday 5,000 miles away from here. we'll celebrate in a few months.

happy 24th birthday pretty girl!

i love you!