ramblings..again

although ave looks like shes ready to attack/ weird creeper (which is how most of her pictures turn out), she and i are happy to be back.  trae and i have made a resolution to make the next six months even more enjoyable than the first six.

our pathetic attempt at a self-portrait

we arrived back on thursays. jet lag and all.  thankfully we are slowly catching back up, thanks to late mornings,  laid back schedules, and frequent naps.  we are loving this new apartment.  its nice to have it to ourselves for a little while, but it will be nice to have family back in town soon.  it is so much homier (word?) than our previous residence and it actually has room for us to live in, not that i'm complaining about our other home, i'm just much more comfortable here, so is ave.  i'm embarrassed to admit, but i cooked my first meal in over 4 months on friday, not that i had another option before.  i made tacos. figured i would ease myself back into the process slowly, and they were great. 

avery finally started feeling better a few days before we flew back.  poor girl was miserable for too long.  turns out it was some internal bacteria infection from raw food or drink, but there was definitely something else accompanying it, either tonsillitis or a sinus infection or something.  she started to fever a little again today so i'm praying shes not coming down with something again.  

also, traes brother matt came home the day before we left.  it kinda stinks that we only got to spend a few hours with him.  we were so sad to miss the homecoming today and spend more time with all of trae's family.  guess we can only hope that he'll come visit before life gets too crazy for him.  

 proof that she really is sweet and innocent

about time....

talk about a blogging break.  one month later and hopefully i am finally getting back to it.  its about time for us to pack our bags once again and head home. we had a fabulous christmas in brasil, a different new years on the air plane, a very relaxing birthday party for our not-so-little 2 year old (where did the time go?), and we've had a great, relaxing time in idaho.  ave has been sick for the majority of the time and we still don't have a clue what she's come down with, so we have really been taking it easy.  there were lots of friends that i wanted to visit but i didnt dare bring ave around anyone for about 2 weeks (and counting) of the time we've been home. she's had a high fever for over a week and a half, diarrhea for longer than that, and a cold on top of that.  we had some tests run yesterday so hopefully we get some answers before we head back home or it goes away. we have about 4 days til we leave and i am praying for a big snow fall.  i just want to bundle up and go out and play.  i didnt realize i would get so used to the hot weather in brasil and forget about how cold it gets here, but oh my, its been freezing lately.  ave begs me 13 times a day to go outside to swing and slide and jump on the tramp and play in the snow and more often than not i've turned her down, i hope she gets feeling better and it warms up just a little so we can go play.

 i cant even explain how much i enjoy being with my family, although i'm sure most of you share the same feelings.  it feel so lucky to have four sisters that are seriously my best friends, who let me borrow their closet full of clothes while i've been home and make me laugh all the time, and parents who naturally became the greatest grandparents the day ave was born and continue to be amazing parents.  we really have had the best time with them.  enjoy the marathon of pictures from 2 days of our trip home (pretty much i'm a pathetic picture taker)