Brazil: Day 2

Sunday, November 6th we drove to Guaratingueta.  We got lost on the way which made us late but that seemed to be the story everywhere we went during the trip!  When we finally made our way to the church Jason was amazed to see the beautiful new church building there!

When we got inside the church building we discovered that Relief Society and Priesthood meetings were first.  This meant that Jason dropped me off in a room with all the women.  As soon as he left I realized that it was all in Portuguese and there wasn't a single person in the room that spoke English!  The Sisters seemed shocked that I didn't speak Portuguese and tried very hard to communicate with me.  Some of them seemed to think if they kept repeating themselves that I would eventually understand what they were saying!  They kept getting louder and closer but no matter how many times they said it, it didn't mean a thing to me!  I was relieved when it was time for Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting so Jason could at least be there to translate for me!

Words really can't describe how happy Jason was to see the people he had worked with on his mission.  He truly loved these people and was so excited to see them again.  The highlight of the day was getting to see Juscelei and his family.  Jason baptized Juscelei when he was about 14 and he is now the bishop of the ward.  After church we spent a while visiting in the church building with the members.

Juscilei's family invited us over to their house after church for dinner. They fixed us an amazing Brazilian meal and treated us as if we were guests of honor.  They are such an amazing family and we felt privileged to spend the day with them in their home!  It was a fantastic experience for me to experience the culture in Brazil by being invited into the people's homes.  It really gave me a feel for what the Brazilians live like.  What a loving, fun and humble people the Brazilians are!  When it was time to go it was so hard to say goodbye!  They didn't want to let us go and we spent over an hour saying goodbye.



Brazil: Day 1

Jason and I left for Brazil on Friday November 4th.  After almost 24 hours of traveling we arrived in Sao Paulo Saturday morning.  This was Jason's first trip back to his mission that he served from 1994-1996.  We were greeted at the airport by Moises and his family.  Jason  baptized Moises on his mission.  They are a wonderful family and we were so warmly welcomed!

Natalia, Eliane, Pamela, Moises, and Jason

We were feeling pretty jet lagged but they took us to a feira (street market) near their home.  I got to try pastels (pastries filled with meat and cheese and fried) and a drink made from grinding up sugar cane.  We walked around the market and sampled all the wonderful fresh fruit.

Jason and Natalia picking out Mangoes-delicious!

Papaya

I loved all the different types of bananas.

Brazilians are such fun people.  These people saw me taking pictures of the meat market and wanted to pose for me.

Moises and Eliane drove us out to Sao Jose dos Campos where we were staying.  Tom and Debbie Hartman, some neighbors of ours in Ogden are living in Brazil for work and invited us to stay in their apartment.  They were wonderful hosts and made our stay so comfortable!

Tom and Debbie Hartman at their apartment in Sao Jose dos Campos.

 Trying to stay awake until bedtime, we decided to go to dinner at a Rodizio style pizzeria.  We met up with the Bruno family who Jason knew on his mission and now lives in the Hartman's ward.  The food was wonderful!  Brazilians really know how to make pizza!  And once we were done with our meal they brought around delicious dessert pizza!

The salad bar.

Waiters brought the different pizzas around to the tables.  We tried lots of wonderful kinds of pizza!

The ovens where they cooked the pizza.

In front of Golden with the Bruno family and the Hartmans.

Halloween

Here are a few pictures from Halloween.  As always it was lots of fun and way too much candy!

Family party with the cousins.

Andrew: Darth Maul, Kaitlyn: Ariel, Jared: Obewan Kanobi

Obiwan and Darth Maul in a light saber battle.

Cute Kids

Here are some new pictures we had taken of the kids.  They didn't want to cooperate with the photographer very well as you can see at the end!

I Love Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of year!  I'm not sure if that's because I was born in the fall, or because my two boys' birthdays are in the fall.  Maybe it's because of the cooler temperatures and beautiful colors.  Maybe it's because I know it's the start of a fun few months of holidays.  It's probably all of those things.  One day I went to Snowbasin for a trail run with my friends.  I commented that on such a beautiful day I feel like I live in the best place in the world!  The only thing not good about fall is that it doesn't last long enough!  I've been posting a lot lately because I'm trying to get caught up on everything before our trip.  Every time I get one post done it seems like there's another one waiting.  Here are some pictures of the spectacular fall we have been enjoying!

Jason, hiking with Jared and Kaitlyn at Snowbasin

All of us at Snowbasin.  Andrew biked with me while I ran the trails.

American Fork Canyon

More fantastic colors!

What an amazing picture of Mt. Timpanogos!

Jared and Andrew at the deer hunt with their cousins.

Last week Kaitlyn was so excited to have here first field trip in kindergarten.  I wasn't planning on going but she really wanted me to so of course I did.  She loved having me there and wanted to hold my hand and have me right next to her the whole time!  I wish I could just keep her this age forever!

Kaitlyn was thrilled to ride a school bus for her first time!

Class picture with Kaitlyn's teacher, Mr. Miehlke.

Breakfast with a Witch

My sister-in-law, Jana, invited Kaitlyn and me to a fun girls outing at Breakfast with a Witch at Gardner Village.  They had a cute program with lots of silly songs, dancing and jokes.  The girls liked getting the witches to sign their autograph sheet.   Here are some pictures!

Jana, Morgan, Kaitlyn, Mother Goose Witch, and Brooklyn

Jana, Morgan, Brooklyn, me and Kaitlyn

Morgan, Nancy and Kaitlyn in the fun witch hats Grandma bought.

Brooklyn and Kaitlyn with Mildew Rose.

Shopping at Gardner Village after breakfast.

More Construction Pictures

Our phone line has been cut.  The electrical line to the pump for the sprinklers was torn out.  The electrical line for the timer for the sprinklers was cut.  And the sprinkling system itself is a disaster with broken pipes all over the place.  You've got to love construction!  On the other hand things are really starting to take shape!  Concrete should be poured next week and I can't wait to see the finished project!

Almost ready for concrete forms!

Surprise!  Footings from our foundation that come out five feet from the house.  Nothing a lot more concrete and money can't fix!

French drain to hopefully get rid of our "swamp."