Vinte Cinco de Março

We took the kids to the downtown shopping area which is an experience in and of itself. We took this picture of Nick and Mitch just before walking down the street into the sea of bodies. Lunch at the Mercado Municipal. Great lunch but muitas pessoas!!! Everyone got new sunglasses and much needed umbrellas. We also purchased an illegal copy of Twilight for $2, which made Jessica very happy!

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

Christmas PJ's????

Pitching In

We drove to see some of the Christmas lights in the city.  They also do fireworks in the city on Christmas Eve.  Brazilians LOVE fireworks!  We hear them going off almost everyday.

Nick got the surround sound working for us!  Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve Day by the Pool

The guys are picking jabuticaba fruit from a tree in our yard.  It grows right out of the bark.

This was a new experience for us!  The kids commented all day, "It doesn't FEEL like Christmas."  First year with sunburns on Christmas Eve.

Mission - Break Nick out of Airport Jail!

December 22nd:

We spent 10 1/2 hours at the São Paulo airport trying to pick up Nick.  The Brazilian Consulate in Houston had messed up our visas when we first came and they had to be sent back. Nick's didn't get corrected because he wasn't here, but he still had a valid visa (we thought).  Even though the mistake was theirs, they were telling us that Nick's visa was now invalid, and they were going to send him to Houston, Miami or Buenos Aires, Argentina to get a new visa which, first of all, would have cost us at least $4,000 because Mike would have gone with him, and second, because it was so close to Christmas, it never would have been done in time for them to get back before Dec. 24th.  So after lots of prayers and some help from our Bishop (an immigration attorney), our friends at the US Consulate, and paying a $400 fine, we were able to get Nick out and bring him home.  It was a terrible "Brazil Moment" kind of day that thankfully ended happily!  Since, we have heard from several friends that the same sort of thing happened to them with their kids.  I think they just want the fines paid, which Mike asked if we could pay in the first 5 minutes he spoke to authorities in the morning, but he was looked at like he had really offended them.  So, 10 hours later, what do we end up doing?  Paying a stupid fine!  Gotta love Brazil!

Last Day of School!

Elise with her candle creation!

The last day of school before Christmas Break it rained really hard.  Elise and Mitchell are standing with our driver José.  

Mission Call to Lisbon, Portugal!

We all sat at the computer watching Nick open his mission call last night!  There were family on Skype, grandparents on the phone, and friends all there for support.  It was so much fun to hear him read aloud where he would be serving.  Family & friends made guesses as to where they thought he would go, but none of us guessed Portugal.  We all toasted Nick with Guaraná & water.  

We are excited that even though it will be a different accent etc. we will be able to speak the same language.  We are also thrilled that Nick will be here for Christmas in 2 more days.  We've missed him a ton and can't wait to give him a big hug!

Singing Carols with the Missionaries

We have had 4 very dedicated American missionaries (Needham, Beckstead, Gunn, & Guzman) in our ward and the other ward that meets in our building for several months.  We seem to have at least 2 FHE discussions in our home each month with either new members or investigators.  Last week we sang carols with new members after Elder Needham gave a lesson on the Atonement and this week we had Pres. & Sis. Jackson's family and the AP's, Elder Jones and Elder Lopes.  Elder Lopes (from Recife) gave a beautiful lesson on the life of Christ.  It has been a great blessing to share our home in this way, because we have the opportunity to bear testimony often and be reminded of the great blessings of the gospel.  The gospel brings the light of Christ into people's lives and there is a physical and spiritual change that you can see happening before your eyes.  

This week the 4 Elders were transferred to other areas.  We know they will be blessed for their sacrifice.

Flower Market

Some of the fruits of my labor!

This week 4 friends and I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and drove across town to the wholesale flower market.  You have to go that early or you get stuck in traffic for hours.  I had been told that it was worth it and it was but you have to really need something to get up that early!  We were going because Trisha needed plants for her house and for Christmas presents.  I ended up buying 6 dozen roses and 2 bunches of filler flowers for a total of $11.00USD!  I was very pleased.  Then I got them home and realized they were covered in thorns and I had to de-thorn every flower.  My fingers took a beating but it was still fun and now I have roses in every room.  Jessica made an arrangement for her room and it turned out great!  I sent a bouquet to the office for Mike's secretary also.  Next time, I think I'll go with lilies though, no thorns!

Mom, you would have loved this place!

Mission Count Down

We received news from Pres. Walker that Nick's mission papers were submitted Tuesday, December 9th.  We have 2 or 3 weeks to wait for his call which means it should come in the mail Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve!  Can't wait!  We're excited for you Nick!!

The call is going to Vicki's address.  They will be in Utah, so we are working out having a friend pick up the mail and read it to us over Skype.  What would we do without friends and family?

Maid Troubles

Ok, I've been catching up on pictures and I'll continue to do so but I really want to start recording our everyday life here in Brazil so we have a record of it.  It won't all be happy; it's a huge adjustment living here, and it can be very challenging, but I will try to keep it balanced.

I'll start with today.  At 7:15am my maid came and Mike and I sat down with her and told her we were letting her go and giving her 1 month extra pay.  It was a hard decision, and I don't think anyone wants to fire someone right before Christmas, but it had gradually been getting worse and we felt she was taking advantage.  Our efforts to rein it in seemed to be going nowhere.  So when she came to me on Monday asking us to buy her a house, after only working for us for 4 1/2 months, it was the last straw.   Well no - the last straw was when she told me she couldn't work the next day because she had her 10th dentist appointment in 4 months.  

It's hard having someone in your home constantly who has a bigger, louder, more opinionated personality than you do.  So I felt like I had my home back this morning when everyone left.  I took all of the laundry to my room, turned on the portable air conditioner, turned my ipod to my old workout mix and started to tackle the mountain of ironing that was left because all of the clothes get hung out to dry.  The first song was "I Want to Break Free", perfect.  It cheered me up!  But ironing is a hot task in the humidity even with the little air conditioner, so, 2 shirts later I was feeling a little less cheery.  The next song to come on was "Mission Impossible".  I just sat down and started laughing.  Last night I had told one of my Brazilian friends what was going on and she said Brazilian's have a saying about maids, "It's bad with them, but worse without them."  We shall see....

Nick & Ethan at Thanksgiving

We are counting the days 'til Nick arrives for Christmas!!!  12 days

Halloween

Marine Corps Ball

We attended the Marine Corps Ball with friends.  We feel very blessed to be Americans, maybe more so now than ever.  It was an inspiring evening and we were glad to show our support for the Marines.  Eu sou Americana!!!

Road Show

November 29th  

The youth had a Brazilian version of a road show.  They had to act out a children's story and ours had a Halloween theme with good witches and bad witches.  It was all in Portuguese and lines had to be memorized.  They did a great job and it was a lot of fun and a lot of work!  I have to admit, I stressed out a little over costumes, props and the halloween tree I was in charge of making.  There is no catch all store like Target down the street to run to.  On the contrary, I had to go to a place called Vinte Cinco de Março (March 25) which is downtown and several streets of markets that are crowded, dirty and a little scary.  Maybe I'll brave taking my camera next time and post a picture.

Halloween Party!

We had a Halloween Party at our house with the youth from our ward.  They had fun looking at the pictures of our Daniels Park Ward in Colorado.  Elise and Mila trick-or-treated in the neighborhood and we all watched Iron Man.

New to World of Blogging

Hello Friends & Family!  I've been meaning to get this blog up and running for months now.  We've been without consistent internet access for several months which has hindered the process.  We are all SO HAPPY to be able to communicate now and catch up on the news we've been missing.  I was inspired this week by reading my friend Marilee's great blog.  It was so nice to read details about her life, you know the kind she would have told me at lunch, if I was there.  And to see pictures of everyone.  So, thanks Mar for the inspiration!  When I started this blog, I had the title "Isn't Life Grand" which reminded me of something my Grandmother used to say. However, she lived within a 45 mile radius of where she was born her entire life and I'm sure could not have imagined doing what I am doing now.  After moving to Brazil, I think "Wild Life" is a better title!

I hope you enjoy reading about our lives in Sao Paulo as much as I enjoying reading about your lives in the land of milk & honey!  Oh, and peanut butter!