Brazil: Part 2 of 3

Next stop was in Rio de Janeiro. Our first day was spent just hanging out at the beach and finding our way around the town. Both of Rio's famous beaches were near our hotel and the first day we went to check out Copacabana (pictured below). After spending some time in the tropical sun we went in seach of some grub and went to an italian resaurant recommended by the tour company which was alright. Mostly it was cool beacuse it was right on the boardwalk directly across from the beach.



The next morning it was up bright and early for a full day city tour. The tour took us around the nicer neighborhoods of Ipanema and some of the historic areas from the colonial period which were interesting. There was one street where there were period buildings from Brittan, France, Germany, and Portugal. There was also quite a heated debate on the tour bus when the tour guide pointed out the school for the deaf and dumb and one of the people on the tour tried to tell him that it was deaf and mute since the people are not "dumb"; it was never resolved as the guide quickly found something else to talk about. The bus then dropped us off at the train that took us up to see the famous statue of Christ which is built on teh highest point in Rio. The artist that designed it found he did not have the know how to complete his plan so he went to Paris to study sculpture for several years before returing to construct the statue.



On the way down there was a Samba band to entertain us.



Our last stop of the day was sugar loaf hill which offered some better views of the harbor. When the Portuguese arrived at the harbor they figured there must have been a river flowing into it and since it was January 1st when they arrived they named it "River of January" I'm sure they were surprised to find there was no river at all but the name stuck. We rode the cable cars up to the top and took in the amazing vistas


There were lots of these "monkeys" called saguis that are something more like a cross between a squirrel and monkey. Anyways, they were cool looking and were all over the place.



The view from Sugar Loaf hill


The next day we took a tour of the Tijuca Rain Forest in the morning and below is a picture from one of the stops. One of the best parts of the tour was a species of tree that grow hollow in the middle and usually has a colony of ants living inside so when the guide hit it with a stick the ants had swarmed out and were all over the place in a few seconds.


On our last day we just hung out at the beach and (fortunately for you) did not take any pictures. Although we did get a good deal on a couple of beach chairs and drank coconut water straight from a whole chilled coconut.

Brazil: Part 1 of 3

Our first stop in Brazil was Belo Horizante, where Matt served his mission. I've decided to just give a few highlights of each of the three places we visited to keep the length under control. The best part about our trip to Belo was meeting some people from Matt's mission. His friend Vinicious showed us around the city for 2 days. We had a great time with him and really would have been lost on our own. He doesn't speak English, so Matt got back into Portuguese immersion style and did a lot of tranlating between the 3 of us. Vinicious was so friendly and accomadating, it was great for me to meet him and for Matt to see him again after 6 years. He promised to come visit us when he gets rich :)


My favorite part of this leg of the trip was meeting a family in La Fayette (a city 2 hours away from Belo Horizante) that Matt baptized. He baptized the 2 sisters in the family, Ana Paula and Barbara. I don't think Matt had heard from them in a while. When he emailed them to tell them we were coming, he found out that a younger brother and their mom had joined the church too. The brother served a mission in another area of Brazil. Both of the sisters are engaged and we know at least one of them is getting married in the temple. Barbara is in the district Relief Society presidency and Ana Paula is in the ward Primary presidency. They took us up to a new chapel that was built about 3 years ago. It was beautiful and looked a lot like a chapel in the States. When Matt was there they met in someone's house, so this was quite the upgrade.
As we sat in this family's living room talking to them, I kept thinking of this scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants, 18:15, "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"
Like many returned missionaries, Matt had been feeling a little depressed that a lot of the people he baptized were now inactive. It was so amazing to go and see how the gospel has changed these people's lives. It started with just 2 young women who were baptized and stayed active, and now look where they are. I can't even describe how great the experience was.

Babysitting

I just starting babysitting my friend's 2 boys every Friday while she works as a dental hygienist. I've done it for 2 weeks now and really like it. Rachel loves Mikey and JT and is very entertained when they come over to play. I wouldn't want to babysit every day, but once a week is perfect (and the money is nice too, of course!). JT is 3 years old and very well behaved for his age. Toddlers are not my favorite age group, but he is a really good boy (he still has his moments, but what 3 year old doesn't?). He calls me Sister Ratto, which I think is the cutest thing ever. And Rachel is Baby Rachel. Mikey is 16 months and so easy going. He fusses for about 30 seconds after his mom leaves and then starts playing with toys, only stopping to eat or nap. Since they come over to my house all the toys are new for them, so they are very easily entertained. I'm really happy Julie lets me watch her cute kids, it is a nice addition to our week.

JT and me enjoying some reading time.

Mikey chews on a cloth "diapee" when he gets distressed. Kind of funny.

JT and Rachel enjoying her muscial birthday card. It plays the chicken dance when you open it.

10 things that make me happy

So the 3 of us have been sick for the past week (that doesn't make me happy, this is the introduction). Have you ever noticed that when you are sick all the little problems in life seem like huge, insurmountable tasks that make you doomed to failure? And you realize on a logical level that you should just THINK ABOUT THAT PROBLEM LATER, but on an emotional level you can't help but stress about it? And really nothing bad is going to happen if you put life on hold for a few days and work on getting better, but you just can't seem to relax?
Maybe you don't do that, but I sure do. It drives Matt crazy :). So this post is dedicated to my incredibly blessed life: I'm focusing on the positive for 20 minutes and then I'm going to bed early!

10- (although these are not necessarily in order of importance)- We have indoor plumbing. That seems silly, but I go to the bathroom a lot now that I've had a baby and I think at least once a day about how different life would be without toilets and showers. And dishwashers! And washers and dryers! I love toilets, I really do. What an invention.

9- Rachel is starting to walk and is incredibly proud of herself when she takes a few steps.

8- I have such a great immediate/extended family, and because I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I get to be with them FOREVER if I keep my part of the covenants I made in the temple. That is hands down my favorite thing about the gospel. Who wouldn't want an eternity with Matt and the cutest toddler in the world?

7- This summer has not been nearly as hot as last summer. Not by a long shot.

6- Matt and I are going to Brazil in 2 WEEKS!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

5- I have agency. That is my second favorite aspect of the gospel (are we allowed to pick favorite doctrine?). And I live in a country that lets me exercise that agency.

4- Matt has a good job with a reasonable commute and makes enough money to provide for all of our needs and most of our wants. He enjoys his job for the most part and very rarely has to work more than 40 hours a week.

3- Matt never trivializes my job at home with Rachel. He is very supportive and has never made me feel like "just" a stay at home mom. Plus he does way more than his fair share of the parenting/housework.

2- Chocolate. What do people who don't love chocolate do with their lives?

1- Rachel loves to snuggle and read with me after her naps. I can't even begin to describe how happy it makes me when she lets me cuddle her and read to her. At 6:15 this morning I curled up on the futon in her room and groggily stumbled through a book while holding her and her stuffed doggy so tight. Even in my half asleep this-is-way-too-early-to-be-up state I realized that these will be memories I'll think of for the rest of my life. I try to enjoy every single reading session we have, even if I'm tired or sick. I have a terrible memory, so my childhood is a bit hazy for me, but I do remember reading and baking cookies with my mom. A lot of reading and a lot of cookies! So far I'm 2 for 2 with Rachel :) I figure if I've got those things covered the rest of life with work itself out.

Matt and Rachel in January or February. She loves her daddy.

Outdoor Fun and Roxie's Arrival

This is pretty much my new favorite picture of Rachel. We go outside at least twice a day because it calms her down when she starts to get grumpy. She loves pointing at things and climbing the stairs. We usually wait outside for Matt to come home every evening. She gets so excited when I start pointing and saying "where's Daddy?". She says "Dada" now and means it. Sometimes she says mama, but not as often. Is that the cutest smile you've ever seen, or what???

Even though my face looks like I've been through hours of labor, she's not mine! Sara and Brandon had their little baby Roxie on August 6th at 7:00 pm. Sara is one of my best friends out here and I was so excited to go see her and Roxie at the hospital. I wish I had better pictures, but this is it for now. She is way cuter already, these pics were taken late that night when she was just a few hours old. I'm not sure why I look so scary...

Sara and Roxie

Rachel Turns One!

Rachel is officially a toddler! Today is her birthday, but we had her party on Sunday. I made this banner all by myself (I copied the idea from another blog, though)! It turned out so cute and she even pointed at it several times. I figured she wouldn't even acknowledge it's presence :) It is probably one of the more successful craft projects I've ever completed.

She always falls asleep on the way home from church because she misses her afternoon nap. This is her waking up groggy and grumpy because it is 5:30 at night. Some cake will cheer her up!

She got so excited about her first present (a book from aunt Jen) that it was hard to convince her to open the rest. We finally had to distract her with wrapping paper and hide her new books so that we could open more presents! Babies are so easily pleased sometimes.

Even though it doesn't look like much, these little cakes took Matt and I a long time to do! He was such a good sport about helping. We had a hard time getting the frosting right, but I think we've got it down for next time.


Trying to hold her sippy cup with her slippery, cake covered hands.

What a festive family! It was a fun party. Some of our friends came, which was nice since we don't have any family out here. I was so excited to have Rachel's party and our friends were really great to humor us and ooh and ahh over how cute she is. They're the best!

A Day in the Life...

Over the past year, I've received a few inquires about what I do all day. I am now going to answer that question:
*Disclaimer- This is a "good day" schedule. I definitely have quite a few days where I only get off the couch to feed or change Rachel. We're working on that.

6:00- Rachel is up and ready to play!

7:00- Breakfast, hang out with Matt before he leaves at 7:30 (he gets up with her every other day, in which case I sleep until 7:00)

7:30-9:00- Play in the family room, go for a walk

9:00-10:30- Rachel takes a nap. I try and clean for about 45 minutes (remember, this is a good day schedule), then I shower and check my email, facebook, etc. The internet can suck you in, chew you up, and spit you out if you let it! Has anyone else noticed that? This is also my scripture reading time.

10:30-1:30- We have a snack, play for a while, have lunch, and play some more. The cutest thing she does right now is snuggle with me after her nap. I hold her on my lap and read or sing to her while she holds her baby doll and gives it "kisses". She will sit there for probably 15 minutes without getting antsy. It is so cute!
She is usually in the best mood right after her nap, so that is when I try and let her play on her own while I do other things (after snuggle time, of course). The only problem is that she likes to be in the same room as me ALL THE TIME. If I am sitting on the couch she will happily play with her toys by herself, but she crawls right along behind me if I head into another area of the apartment.
Sometimes during this time we walk to the mall and play in the kids' area. We also go out to lunch with my friend once a week or so.

1:45-3:15- Rachel naps again. I usually watch TV, read, or scrapbook. I also try and get dinner started during her nap.

3:30-5:30- We have a snack and play some more. About 3 times a week we go swimming, either just the 2 of us or with some of my friends. We love the pool! From 4:30-6:30 is by far Rachel's least favorite time of day, so it is nice to fill it up with pool time. Not quite sure what we'll do this winter...

5:30-6:00- Have dinner and wait for Matt to come home. Sometimes we watch the Food Network to help preserve my sanity.

6:30- Daddy comes home!!!!! He and I have dinner.

7:00-7:30- Rachel goes to bed. Matt and I usually watch a movie or read. I occasionally work on scrapbooking, but I'm in the market for an additional hobby if anyone has any ideas...

10:00-10:30- I go to bed and fall asleep in about 3 seconds. Matt sometimes stays up playing computer games for a half hour.

There you have it! This was a long and detailed post, sorry if I lost a few of you along the way.