keep being good

 It was another busy weekend. I am determined to keep up on Brazil and keep taking pictures like our first month we were here. I know I will miss so much if I don't. Brazil has so many neat things.
We went to the feira this quick to check out some stuff there. We always like walking around.

 Stake Temple day. I absolutely adore these friends.

 

     This week is Easter and I can't help but express my appreciation for our older brother, Jesus Christ. C.S. Lewis gave great insight into our Savior's temptation and atoning experience: "No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is; after all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.

     That is why bad people in one sense know very little about badness. They've always lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means -- the only complete realist." 

    As I read about Jesus Christ and his experience in Gethsemane my heart hurts for all he had to suffer. If He could resist satan under those excusiating circumstances, how can I not resist him on a daily basis. I do not have to decend below all, I do not have to expeirience the pain He went through. Yes, we all have our trials. We all have our "gethsemane's" to endure but Christ desended below all. He truly understands it ALL. 

    For me- I will keep trying to be "good" so I can truly understand the "bad". I hope we can all take a little more time this week to think of our Savior and his atoning sacrifice for each of us.

We are alive

 It has almost been a month since I last posted. I just can't keep up with March. What have we learned in the past month living in Brazil...

Nursery rocks with Daws
Dawson loves his picture taken
We can watch the storms roll in from our balcony
Making our own furniture is MUCH cheaper and fits our needs MUCH better

I missed crafting. Getting all my craft supplies has been so much fun
Find joy in the simple things- like catching raindrops with your tongue
We love Brazil rain!
Why not sneak your heels to school....its always funner to be fancy

Brazil sunsets are the best
Brazil fruit is beautiful and delish
Presli is growing up too fast- yet so shy and probably overwhelmed by all the attention she gets from the boys at school (I witnessed firsthand at her school gathering)
Trains are great entertainment for Dawson

Presli has been perfecting her name writing skills 

Star fruit is actually shaped like a star- imagine that

Our first experience with a full roasted pig- thumbs up

Activity days is coming a long- my biggest weakness is STILL the language- please pray for me!

I was cleaning clothes for days after the ward camp out...but the memories were worth it

Roasted Chick Peas make a healthy snack- and you can flavor them any way you want

We are happy to have our toys

Sugar does not catch leprechauns

Neither do traps- they still make a mess and turn our milk and toilet water green

Girls nights are needed and so much fun
It is better to give than to store
Date nights by candlelight make it really hard to order- but the company is outstanding
Let them be little

Did I mention we love Brazil rain?
Super woman
Taking time for family is critical
Time together is my favorite

Curiosity gets the best of you sometimes
Top two pictures are Presli's hair cutting job (notice her bangs and taper on the sides)
My OCD couldn't handle it anymore

 

Brazil is Beautiful

Hair grows back- keep reminding me that

water=sky

It's funner to try new fruit

too much cute-ness
too much naughty-ness the joys of being two
Our sweet friends were sealed together forever in the Campinas Temple- so happy for them!

Our month in a nutshell. April will be here before we know it, Easter will come and go. I have been trying to study more about our Savior and His atoning sacrifice. One attribute that Jesus had was meekness, I always thought meekness was another meaning for humility. In the book Gethsemane, Andrew C. Skinner described it in a way that really hit home with me. "In Gethsemane Jesus also demonstrated perfect meekness, for in the end he took what was thrust upon him without blaming other people or circumstances. Meekness may be thought of as poise under pressure, patience in the face of provocation...." He also used President Brigham Young as an example, "President Brigham Young was tested in many ways and on many occasions, was once tried in a way that required him to "take it" - even from the one he so much adored and admired. Brigham "took it" because he was meek. Yet, surely, none of us sitting here would thing of Brigham Young as lacking in boldness or firmness! However, even President Young, in the closing and prestigious days of life, spent some time in courtrooms being unjustifiably abused. When he might have chosen to assert himself politically, he "took it" - meekly."
Meekness is not a weakness. It is an attribute I want to implement in my life more perfectly.

it's here

I have been going through our stuff all week. My emotions are so mixed and strange. Our container containing all of our home items arrived from the United States. Well, it has been in Brazil for many months, but our "stuff" has arrived at our house. It is seriously the strangest feeling. Almost like I had a relationship with all of this stuff that I haven't seen in a year....but we picked up where we left off. Our house is starting to feel more like our home.

I am not going to lie, it has been a really hard week. All of this stuff has made me quite homesick...there are so many good memories. I miss our simple American Falls life. The cold, the space, the country, the kid's phase of growing up, our friends, the easiness. I have been taking a box at a time....and I have gotten rid of the stuff we don't have room for. It is a good process...its a necessary step in our adventure here in Brazil, almost like a new beginning. I went through every single box we shipped and decided if we really needed it. 

"Accept what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be."

The morning the truck arrived. Ours and Bryce and Keisha's stuff were in the same container so it went to Bryce and Keisha's house and we shuttled it from theirs to our house. The kids were so anxious and excited. It was just like Christmas.

You can barely see the yellow semi truck driving through the streets to Bryce and Keisha's.

Little treasures during the whole process. I love my family and am so grateful for them. Devin is my rock...and is such a great dad.

I have a testimony that we go through things for a reason. It is all for our good. We just need to learn to take what is and build ourselves.

I started up my computer for the first time today. The most recent pictures dated March 4th. Here we are 1 year later. The kids have grown up so much in just this past year. Devin and I have been pushed in so many ways that have shaped us to who we are thus far in life. I don't want this post to appear as "poor me" that is far from why I am posting. I just want to be real and express my true feelings. I am grateful to have our experience in Brazil.

Here we are 1 yr ago. I am blessed.

tchau

i love u

The most beautiful things in life cannot be seen or touched, but are felt in the heart.

 

I have always been taught that "things" really don't matter, but it wasn't until we moved to Brazil that I have realized, things really don't matter.

 

We have almost hit our year mark when we packed all of our belongings except for clothing, favorite blankets, favorite toys, favorite kitchen items, and other odds and ends that we thought would get us through a couple months until our container of items arrived. Well, we are still living off of those items. We have accumulated a little more, but really we don't really shop here in Brazil, its just not that great. Long story short, I have learned to love living without so much "stuff". I am not going to lie, there are a few things I am really looking forward to like craft items, a few rugs and my kitchen-aid.

 

As a whole most people go without so much here in Brazil. We had it so good/easy in the United States. Making memories and building lasting relationships with family and friends....along with helping others along the way are most important.

 

Going along with our Valentine's shenanigans we made great memories and a lot of emotions were felt in the heart. Connor even told me "this is the best Valentine's Day Ever!" and that is what it's all about. It really is.

 

I made our traditional decorated Valentine's Dinner. Presli even made a valentine for each member of the family that turned into "I love you because...." with the whole family. I was perfect.

 

 

Devin Surprised me and had a sitter lined up and we escaped to the temple and lunch. Love him more than anything, and super grateful he is the one I get live this crazy life with.

 

We topped the weekend with both Devin and I speaking in church. I am grateful and so in love!

keep blogging...

       I knew there would come a day that I would be so very grateful that I blogged every detail of our life in Brazil. Well, today is that day. I have lost all my photos on my laptop...our firsts of Brazil, the World Cup, sites of Brazil, Disneyland Vaca, and sadly Christmas and Dawson's Second Birthday...which I didn't have time to blog. Oh, I am devastated to say the least. I am so grateful I have blogged....and gives me that motivation to get going again...and keep blogging every beautiful detail of Brazil.
       We had a wonderful Christmas vacation/extended January stay. Dev came back early and we stayed with family until my littlest sister had her first baby. It was hard, but I am grateful it all worked out.
        Here are just a few photos I saved from my phone and sister from our visit "home".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I so hope I can find just a few Christmas photos on Presli's camera phone that she carried everywhere...fingers crossed!! I sure hope our container of belongings get here soon so I can have my hard drive...and back everything up.