A Dino-Mite Party!

Our little James turned 4 on September 29 and to celebrate we had a party at the local play center in our mall. In typical Brazilian fashion, it just wouldn't be a party without the balloon arch. Special thanks to Nana for buying all the dinosaur decor.....I couldn't find anything dino here! The sweet table guarded by dinosaurs.....chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and chocolate covered marshmallows.
"Hey Toofers, having fun?"

This amazing cake was made by my friend Debora. Would you believe it weighed more than 7 kilos? (1 kilo=2.4 lbs) This massive cake was a 4 layer vanilla cake with strawberry and white chocolate filling. Insane right?

There's No Place Like the Park

Saturday, I took the kids to the zoo and afterwards for a picnic in the park. The kids had a blast playing in a different park with new "playthings". It's nice to switch it up a bit......I found myself using the zip line and climbing through some of the obstacles. Now that Lilah is walking, I let her down in the sand to play and venture about........Que alegria! (What happiness!) She loved it!! James played with this for a long time. I tried to get Lilah on it, but she would have none of it.
I put Lilah on the bench to take some photos of her but she flipped over to her tummy and slid off before I even stepped back ..................this girl wanted to play! "No time for photos Mommy."


"Yeah, I think I can do this too."

I just loved this furry chicken we saw at the zoo.....isn't he cute?This monkey was BEGGING for food..............Too bad the "Do Not Feed" sign was not a little lower....it would have made a great picture! James has the Camera smile down pat.
"Having fun baby girl?"

Isn't this sweet?

The Zoo in Sao Jose

I took the kids to our local zoo yesterday where they enjoyed the monkeys, ferrets, toucans, and ostriches. (It's a small zoo but the kids enjoyed it nonetheless.) The farm animals were a highlight, minus the turkey.....he gave the children a mini scare. I just asked James what he thought of that turkey and he said, "That turkey was not funny....not happy."

Eating 101

Open up mouth, here it comes....
Almost there.........

Yahoo! Success!

James and Lilah cruisin'

A sweet smile for mama!

"Over here baby......look at the camera!"

L & J on the Bike

We're Still Kickin'

I am sorry to say that I have been a horrible Blogger these past few months..........not only in posting but also in reading those of my friends. What happened you ask? Trip to the states, Lilah's birthday party, various viruses passing their way through the family, a husband that has been traveling a lot and then I got addicted to Facebook. I was sucked in through finding several friends that I haven't seen or talked to in years. It's been fun but I am ready to get back to my first love. So hang on, I have lots of catching up to do in the weeks to come. Root for me!

I Heart Lilah....

It's hard to believe that our little Lilah turned one on July 24th. Where has this year gone?! We waited for Rick to come home from Africa to have her big celebration. First birthdays in Brazil are HUGE! (More for the adults, than the birthday girl if you ask me). This is one of the only photos I have of Lilah looking at the camera with a big smile....of course, it had to be during the prayer!We used the big room downstairs to host the party. I really enjoyed making all the heart center pieces and the hanging fabric flags....it had been a while since I have been able to sit down at the sewing machine and be creative. It felt great!Our friend and neighbor Debora made the most delicious cake....strawberry white chocolate! The crowd was wanting seconds and thirds........we had to beat them away with a broom stick. Okay, not really but it was that good. She also made these darling cupcakes........did I tell you she is a professional chef? How lucky am I?!Chocolate covered marshmallows and Oreos were a hit along with the chocolate-chip cookie cakes.......are you getting hungry yet??
Lilah and Gianna will likely grow up together here in Brazil.........they both have American mothers and Brazilian fathers and are only two months apart.
This is not something typical here....................an American grill. ( You were thinking the fellow in the heart apron, right?) Rick and I found this here in an import store with a greatly reduced price, so we snatched it up. I made Hawaiian chicken kebabs and Felipe happily grilled them for us. He had so much fun playing with this grill that when the kebabs were all gone, he ran upstairs and grabbed a box of hamburger patties to grill. Brazilians have only seen these grills in the movies and Felipe was dying to try a hamburger made on one of these things! By the way, I made these aprons as presents for all the helpers....12 in all! I could not have done an event like this without their help. Thank you dear friends!

The birthday girl showing off a great smile and those red shoes.......there's no place like home, there's no place like home!
Another shot of the cake table.The kids are lining up underneath Brazil's version of the pinata! It's filled with candy and ready for an adult to pop it with something sharp, in this case......a used kebab stick.

And the candy rains down.......the children scramble."Hey buddy, what did you get?"

Lilah getting caught red-handed trying to sneak a cupcake.

Mommy and her girl......."Rockin' red" a friend said.

Although it appears to be clawing, Lilah was attempting to give a kiss to her friend Sofia.

We didn't see James most of the party. He spent his time on the veranda kicking the soccer ball with his friends.


Here is Debora the cake maker I told you about earlier. I like this photo of the two of them.After the party, we sat down and uploaded our photos and were shocked to find this one. Rick had wondered why the candle had gone out during the singing of the happy birthday song.....he quickly re-lit it for Lilah to blow out. We later discovered that this rascal sneaked in between us and blew out the candle!Lilah opened her gifts upstairs later that night.............I'm not sure why Brazilians don't open gifts at parties. Hmm..............
Lilah's loot! Overall, it was a fun time visiting with friends (our Brazilian family). We wanted to give thanks to the Lord and celebrate the one year of life he has given our baby girl. To HIM be the glory!

Trip to the States

We got home last week after spending 3 wonderful (quick) weeks in the states. We enjoyed spending time with family and friends, a wedding, a pool party, visiting two of our churches, a July 4th firework show, a zoo and so much more!
It's always hard for me to find time to do email and keep up with my blog in the States. So I'm sorry for the delay. Now, that the kiddos are back in a routine and our lives are getting back to normal, it's time to post some photos..... Tiago, our manager at Fiel, came to the states with us. He and Ricky had the opportunity to visit a Pastor in Michigan. The day we arrived in Miami, Tiago casually informed us that it was his birthday. So later that night.......my parents took us all to Carrabas. What a treat!!James was so excited to ride his Jeep again. It was all he would talk about in the weeks leading up to our trip. So my parents made sure that the battery was charged and ready to go when he got here. Just two days after we arrived, my mom, the kids and I went to Nashville for my college friend's wedding. My sister flew it to meet us and we made a short weekend out of it. Here is mom and Lilah at the Nashville Zoo. James insisted on taking a photo on top of the Lion's head at the zoo. He gave the camera the biggest smile.
I had the opportunity to meet up with some college friends at the famous Pancake Pantry. I hadn't seen these girls in 7 years! I was happy that they finally got to meet my kiddos too.
After breakfast, we drove over to the hospital to see Ginny and baby Scarlett who safely arrived the day before. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of her as the nurse carried her off as soon as we got there. :(My sister Carol is the fun-loving auntie to Lilah and James. We said our goodbyes at the airport and Carol headed home to Raleigh, and mom, the kids and I flew on to Florida.We got home around 11pm and the kids were zonked out in the car seats. They didn't even budge when I slid their pajamas on and gentle put them in bed.