happy thanksgiving

its been so different celebrating American holidays in a country that doesn't celebrate them with you.  its a little bit sad to be honest. this Thanksgiving has been especially different.  We still dont have a kitchen and eat out for nearly every meal so what we were going to do for thanksgiving dinner had us all down in the dumps a little.  Thankfully that wonderful little american school pulled through for us.. again, just like for halloween.  They put on a fabulous feast, nothing like what i'm used to but i cant complain. turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and a few salads.  the only things they were critically missing were: gravy, homemade rolls and pies.  for our thanksgiving dinner tonight we went out for pizza, and its a good thing it was tasty, or else.



when trae and i sat down to write our list of what were thankful for this year we came up with so many things that we probably would have overlooked had we still lived in the US. most importantly we are grateful for our wonderful families, the gospel of Jesus Christ, our healthy and happy daughter, eachother, and the United States (although thats just barely skimming the top of our thankful lists).

please enjoy a piece of pie (or two or three) for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

i love this face

how many different faces can you make in about 30 seconds?

thankful today

In the last general conference President Monson said, “Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel Gods love.” I’ve been trying a little harder to focus on my many blessings. It really is amazing how much we have to be thankful for, especially during this time of year. Heres a short list of a what i'm thankful for today.


i miss the changing colors of the trees
but
i love that the tree outside our front window is flowering right now.

i miss wearing fall clothes
but
I’m thankful that i can still wear shorts and a t-shirt every single day

i miss putting up fall decorations
but
i love that i don’t have to worry about a house to decorate

i hate that I don’t get to see my family more often
but
i love the family that i get to spend everyday with

i miss feeling really cold (thats a stretch)
but
i thankful that it is sunny here everyday

i hate that I can’t fluently communicate with others
but
i love that I have the opportunity to learn a new language

I hate the trim I just got that turned into a 5 inch haircut
but
I love that I no longer have any split ends

I really hate that we still have to eat out every day
but
I love that we always have full bellies

I’m a firm believer that happiness is a choice. My situations might not be exactly how I’d like them to be, but there is always something to be thankful for and reasons to be happy. Our experiences in Brasil have taught us how to be thankful for so many things that we took for granted before.

What are you thankful for today?

daddy's girl

there's almost nothing better than watching your husband be a dad.  its like i fall in love all over again and realize yet another reason why i married this guy.  i`ve loved this since the day she was born but it is getting even better watching them together now that she actually plays back. 

i hope that she`ll be a daddy`s girl when she grows up.

pumpkins

my pumpkin:

avery`s pumpkin:

trae`s pumpkin:

i know which one is my favorite.

this time of year

It feels like the perfect fall day her in brasil,  but I have a feeling that wont happen too often considering its nearly summer here. I surely have been enjoying the rain and overcast skies- which seem to last approximately 1 hour a day. No copmplaining here though, we’ll take what we can get, even if our fall only lasts a few hours a day.

I’ve been a little homesick lately (okay, that’s a lie, I’m always a little bit homesick). Not because I miss my small Idaho town and my family, which I do of course, but because its getting to be that time of year where nearly everything you do revolves around family and traditions and because fall is my most favorite season. we are however, looking forward to starting some more of our own family tradtions. Its halloween time now. not a choice favorite, but it means fall is here. We were never big halloweeners at the webb home but we sure enjoyed ourselves a good dose of trick or treating. We used to hit every house possible in the way-too-spread-out streets of raft river with more kids than should be allowed to be pile one car and ended up with more candy than our little tummies knew what to do with.  We'd then go home and barter and trade our remaining candies and then eat as much as we could before mom got ahold of us.

 Now, i'm still not a big halloween fan, but i want my little girl to have those same kind of memories as i now have... although i doubt any traditions made at this age will stick- since her rapidly growing brain cant remember what she ate for breakfast, let alone what she dressed up as for halloween this year.



Thankfully, Brasil celebrates halloween, so we were allowed to have a little bit of fun. Its different and there is certainly no trick or treating going on around here, far too dangerous for those types of activities, but the American school where the Jones kids go, threw a halloween party for their families. Ave dressed up in her over-priced (man i miss my sewing machine and local DI) minnie mouse costume and we were off to her first ever halloween extravaganza.  i dont think she had a clue what was going on but she loved to twirl in her minnie skirt, wanted to kiss the witches and thought that anyone with a mask on was a 'funny guy.'  She was pretty solemn and wouldn't crack a smile or look at the camera if her young life depended on it but she was cute in her littel costume nonetheless.

have a happy halloween!!

right now

 i don't know what got more paint, the paper, the table, or the girl. either way it kept her busy for over an hour and has now become a daily activity.  i loved watching her be so focused on one thing.  usually, she begins an activity until her eye catches her books or a toy and then were off to the next adventure.  i love watching her be creative and learning to do new things.  that little mind of hers has been in overdrive lately.  she suprises me everyday with the things she comes up with.

  i have lists in almost every notebook in the house and every spare paper i find about the new things she says or does.  instead of wasting more paper i'll jot down a few things that i've been loving about her right now:

she sings her abc's with a little guidance

counts like this- 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 10 11 12.  usually its just a jumble of those but yesterday it was that exact sequence

knows the colors- green, blue, pink, yellow and sometimes orange.

sings the cutest versions of twinkle twinkle and the wheels on the bus

goes poop in the potty 85% of the time

speaks using the cutest, simplest sentances like- "where papa go, huh?'' or "watch movie on dvd player."

what would my life be like with out this little fireball. well, right now, i dont have a kitchen to cook in, or a sewing machine to be creative with, or even bathrooms to clean. i feel quite unproductive most days and wish i had 'things' to keep me more busy. but then i stop and think about it, and the one 'thing' i have in my life that keeps me busy all day is the greatest blessing in my life, and how awesome is it that she gets my (mostly) undivided attention all. day. long.

her ability to find joy in the simplest things helps me remember what is most important to me. so right now, i'm going to enjoy this stage of our lives, (and enjoy not having a house to clean while i'm at it).