Feliz Dia das Criancas

We forgot Maile's swimsuit so had to buy one and she looked so cute in this little bikini!
Maile loved her new present and loves to be "the payer"!
Lukey is 7 months and such a pleasant little boy. Nao da trabalho! Que bencao!
Minha princesa. Maile got all wound up when she put on this big hat.


The newest addition to the ranch are these paddle boats and a man-made lake. How fun! Reminds me of paddling around Hyland Lake.
I'm not much of an animal person- you should've seen me walk through this chicken pen to get to the backyard. Eeeek! I still have a hard time processing that I will probably be eating one of these chickens at an upcoming lunch. I thought chicken came from the freezer section! lol
Lee's family loves to sit around and chat while all the kids run wild. I would say I understand about 80% of the conversation cause when they get rattling off in their accent and all the northeastern words and inside jokes I really have to pay close attention. Eu sinto muito em casa com eles!

It is cute to see Maile with her cousins. There are 2 more this age!

Big sister decided to decorate little brother.
I decided to laugh instead of scream.

When I saw Maile she said quickly, "Desculpe, ta?!" (sorry, okay?!)
This was the horse ride at her school's field trip. Ye-ha!
We spent the day at this little ranch thing. It was fun.
All the "tias" loved Lucas in his sunga. :) (speed0)
So this was the swimming portion of the day- 30 kids in one little pool. :)
Oh now I remember- brazilians know how to do holidays! :) They celebrate for weeks before and take a few good days off when the holiday rolls around. Don't forget EVERYTHING closes in the city so be prepared. This weekend was "Dia das Criancas" or Day of Children. So yes- we went with Maile's school out to a sitio (farm) and spent the day. Too funny. My sister-in-law packed two huge bags just to spend the day and sure enough at noon all the brazilians started pulling out their chicken dinners, rice and beans and everything for almoco. (lunch). We played at the pool when horse back riding aka take a 3 minute stroll around the farm in a little cart behind a horse- but hey- we had fun! :) I guess that's what a lot of people do for fun around here is caravan out to a big ranch and spend the day in the sun.

We also spent a Saturday at Vo vo's ranch and had some yummy food and played there. Then on Sunday we headed to Joao Pessoa to enjoy some days on the beach. I tell ya- traveling with 2 kids is no easy task. I have to get up lots of energy these days to pack up the whole house and I only have 2 kids! How do people do it?!

When we got home the house was a total bomb and so much laundry to do- Lee brought over Mari (his second Mom that nannied him his whole life) and I just watching her whip this place into shape in awe. Brazilians really know how to clean! She had furniture moved out, carpets rolled up, poured soap all over the tile floor and scrubbed it with a broom, squeegeed it all away and then polished the floors with disinfectant. Wow! The place was sparkling! "Can you come to my house EVERY day Mari?!!" Having some help at home has been a definite plus.

Other than that our days here are pretty slow and full of stinky diapers, princess skits and dances, going on a walk in the afternoon, stinky diapers, working on Primary things, laundry, stinky diapers, and well...you get the idea. I was grateful for General Conference and the perspective I gained on putting family first and trying to create a home full of the Spirit to raise our kids. We miss everyone and in some ways I feel like I'm living two different lives but trying to take it day by day and be grateful for what we have. Ate Mais! Beijos.