Lucy starts school

Lucy has recently started going to an all Portuguese speaking school. I have been attending with her for the last 5 days. However, today I stayed just for a little while and then left her. She cried a little as I left but then managed just fine. For anyone who really knows Lucy, this is a BIG step for her - especially given she doesn't speak Portuguese. We did teach her the most important words like water, bathroom, and more (for snack time!!). She attends 5 days a week from 8:30-11:30 am. (unfortunately they don't do pre-school just 2 or 3 days a week like they do in the states) The school is perfect for her given she doesn't speak the language. It's a very hands on type of learning. They do a lot of learning through play and don't spend lots of time at a desk. Lots of kids attend the school but there are only 5 other kids in her class. So, she gets lots of time with her teacher and her classmates are so kind to her. They are always holding her hand to walk to the next thing they are doing and are always calling for her to play with them. Lucy, of course, can't speak to them. So, a few days ago as she was leaving she said "chao" to everyone. They all looked in amazement and gave a big cheer. They were so happy to hear her speak Portuguese! It was cute. Here she is sporting the uniform she has to wear everyday. She loves it.

Go Tigers!!

Rio de Janeiro

We had a great time visiting Rio de Janeiro. We love all the national holidays Brazil has which gives Andy time off of work to go see some of Brazil. We flew out on Wed. morning and returned "home" on Saturday. It was the quickest flight any of us have ever been on - only 40 min.




Our first stop was to Sugar Loaf Mountain. We took a gondola to the first mountain (which is more like a giant hill) and then took another gondola to the next mountain. It was BEAUTIFUL on top of the mountains. Our pictures don't do it justice but here is a small taste of what we saw.


Once we were on Sugar Loaf Mt. there were beautiful trails to hike on. The kids especially liked climbing up this steep hill. It was so steep they have ropes to hold onto to help you up. I told Andy if he really wants me to have the baby before the end of the year he just needs to take me back to Rio and climb that hill a few times and that will definitely get our baby here for the tax break!


We also loved visiting the Cristo statue. Once again the view was amazing and the statue was huge. As you can see we weren't the only tourists that day. As it happens they were celebrating some anniversary of the statue so had a special ceremony going on while we were up there. It was neat to be part of what was going on but it was very crowded that day!!









We took a train up the mountain to get to the Cristo. The kids loved it! For the kids the trip was all about HOW we got to a destination not what we were there to see!

We enjoyed a couple of afternoons on at the beach. Ethan fits right in with all the other Brazilians wearing his speedo!



Here are Lucy and Ethan hanging out in the hotel after taking baths. At the end of the trip we asked them what their favorite thing was that we did. Lucy told us she liked the bus ride and the soda she drank at dinner! It just goes to show you don't need to spend lots of money on trips for kids. They are perfectly happy to just have a can of soda!

We also enjoyed going out to dinner with one of Andy's mission companions and his family.

Lucy's Birthday

Lucy was very excited about turning 4 this year. We weren't planning to have a birthday party for her given we just moved here but she asked if she could have some kids over for her birthday so we ended up throwing her a party. She had a great time!
Lucy chose to have a Dora cake for her birthday. Brazilians aren't use to cakes like this. So, it was kind of fun to serve them something they weren't use to.
We sang happy birthday to Lucy in both Portuguese and English - we did everything in both Portuguese and English that day!!


This is how we decorated the inside of the house. Nothing fancy but the kids loved all the balloons.

Instead of doing pinatas here they fill a giant balloon with tons of candy and confetti. Instead of hitting it with a stick as we would with a pinata an adult just pops the balloon while all the kids stand under the balloon and try to catch the candy.


Here are all of the kids that came to Lucy's party

Ethan is famous and Brazilian baby boy is revealed.

Funny Story! Andy might be dancing with Lucy 2 nights a week but I have to go swimming with Ethan 2 times a week. This wouldn't be such a bad thing but keep in mind I am almost 6 months pregnant and putting on a swimming suit is the last thing I really want to be doing. So, I went the first day and not only do I have to wear my ugly maternity swimming suit but the owner of the pool explains that we have to wear swimming caps. Ugh! So, you can imagine how beautiful I feel!! Ha! Anyway, during our first lesson the owner asks if he can take our picture. Of course I tell him yes (not like I could tell him no even if I wanted to given my great language skills!) To make a longer story short, I got a call a day later asking if they could use that picture to put in the Sunday newspaper. I about died! Anyway, it is a pretty funny story. So, in less than a month of living here we made it into the local newspaper! Ethan is enjoying his swimming lessons. He kind of has a mind of his own and is a bit stubborn at times but is really a great little swimmer.



For those who are interested (which are usually only the expecting parents) here is the first glimpse of our Brazilian baby. This is the first time we have ever had a 4-D ultra sound. It was pretty neat. Anyway, it is a boy and we are anxiously awaiting his arrival!

A Brazilian Vacation, Ballet, and a little Rio Claro fun

Hey, so we just got back from our first real Brazilian vacation. We weren't sure what to think when we first arrived, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. We drove about 2 hours to a little touristy town called Serra Negra in the mountains and stayed at a huge resort. (remember this is Brazil, not Disneyland... the term "resort" may not mean quite the same thing to you) We had a blast. We played at the "cidade das criancas" (kid city at the hotel), swam in the pools, ate a ton of food (Lucy decided she LOVES beans and rice-- a good thing to love in a country where beans and rice is served at every meal), visited the Cristo Redentor statue in the city, did a little shopping, and played around in some waterfalls.


Lucy has started taking Ballet classes. I should say that her Daddy has also started taking ballet classes, since I am right beside her practicing first position, twirls, plies (or whatever they're called) for the entire class. They haven't made me wear tights yet, but we'll see what happens at tomorrow's class. Ethan has started swimming class and so far the jury is out on what he thinks.


And finally, we've also had some time to explore Rio Claro. We found a really cool nature conservatory near our house.

Wow, we have a blog. PS We moved to Brazil

Ok, so here we are 2006 and we figured that it was time that we start a little blog about our family (after much prodding from friends and family--hat tip to Jon Bishopp). Heck it's 2006 and we just got our first cell phones, so we're not exactly pushing the technology envelope here.

Anyway, we've officially moved to Brazil!!! Our moving truck stuff hasn't made it here yet (ahhh customs), but we are all here and accounted for (and at least all of our luggage made it). This is us after our 18 hour excursion from St Joe to Rio Claro: We really love our condo... mostly we love the neighborhood that we live in. It is a walled in community with about 100 families. A lot of them have small kids and everyone just kind of lets their kids run around.



Amy says it kind of feels like the 50's, with all the houses the same: