The journey is the reward!




The Journey is the reward!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Annual Richardson FHE Easter egg coloring and Bashing contest

Easter Egg Coloring Fun
R babe was thoroughly enjoying himself.









The boys creations. I am not sure what happened to J's






































Don't know what to do with all of those colored easter eggs?

Well here is the perfect solution.


Egg Bashing


Line up across from each other. Roll and hit your eggs together.

It is quite amazing, but really, only one will break.

The last one standing wins.










M and Regina were the last ones standing.

M was so close too owning the title of The Egg Bashing winner of 2011 but

Regina got lucky and won.


Maybe next year.






We had a great time and are still amazed

at all Presidente Richardson and Sister Richardson do.

What a wonderful family and a fun tradition.

We were so glad to spend the night with the Richardsons, Thomas' and Regina.























Little Buddies

These two little guys have become great little friends.

They attend the same school and we live in the same complex. Lucky for us his mom doesn't have a car so we drive him home everyday and at least once a week we end up having lunch with them and spend time at the park or the pool. Friends are few and far between here so they have brightened up many a afternoon. His mom is so very kind and she is always thinking of us.

We are so thankful for wonderful people in our lives.


We will miss them!






This is one way to trim a tree.

I think it is a long bamboo shoot with a sharp blade tied to the end.



R babe searching for bugs.










Toblerone

This poor kid got his mother's sweet tooth, or maybe it is his father's.

Either way he is doomed. Who can resist a big hunk of Toblerone anyway.

The other kids started yelling at me to take it away before he ate it all.





















Tuesday, April 19, 2011

the two of us, U2 and 90,000 people

Our first date since we moved to Brazil and it was sweet! What a fun experience. Not only did we get to see U2 but we also experienced a crowd of 90,000 people. We decided to skip dinner and go straight to the stadium. Not knowing what to expect with a crowd that big. Sao Paulo really could use a Larry H. Miller. All they had to snack on were chips and some scary pre-packaged sandwiches. We had a few bags of Doritos and some Del Valle juice for dinner. We sat for about 3 hours people watching when finally the opening act came out. A band called Muse. The first few songs were good but then they started screaming and it all went down hill from there. I was ready for some U2. They did not disappoint. Between the crowd and U2 it was an amazing experience!


We only live a few miles from the stadium and since we couldn't find a taxi we ended up walking most of the way home. We came home to a quite house and great news that the kids were wonderful for our babysitters, Steph and Mckay. We really had a great time.



Going into the stadium
A view from the top



The official stadium of the Sao Paulo soccer team.



































A taste of what 90,000 people looks like











Sunday, April 17, 2011

This weekend

I really do love the weekends. I think I mostly love Friday nights. Yes, I still have to make dinner but it has it's perks. Like....I don't feel guilty if I decide to let the kids watch a few hours of T.V. instead of taking them outside to play. I am not rushing around making dinner, getting homework done and trying to entertain M and R babe all at the same time. Then trying to get the kids to get there chores done so we can wake-up to a clean house the next day. It is all so exhausting. Friday nights it all goes out the window. There is no limits on TV or playtime. Who cares if the house looks as if we have been robbed. There is always Saturday. Highlights of the weekend: -We went to the movie Rio, even better we saw it in English. -Visited Embu, found some treasures and ate roasted cashews and caramelized coconut. yummy. -Loved spending time with little Harps while Steph and Mckay went to dinner. -Loved that she took a bottle. -Went to Stake Conference. It was all in Porkyguese (as M would call it) so we left during the rest hymn and watched some talks from General conference. -Loved having the Thomas' over for the day. I am not quite sure how we got so lucky to have met them, but we did, and WE LOVE THEM! Thanks for taking a chance and moving to Brazil. What would we do without you! -Had Eric over for dinner (someone visiting from Westech) and he brought us goodies from the U.S. via Ralph and Sharon. They are so good to us. -Last but not least we continue to countdown the visit of Grandma and Grandpa and Tiff. We can't wait to get our hands on them and see them. YEAH! C reminds me every hour it is only 2 more day! All in all a great weekend.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Botanical Gardens


The kids had a day off from school and I wanted to take them somewhere fun. I knew the traffic was something we would just have to deal with. We went prepared with snacks a full tank of gas and the GPS. We picked up Steph and Harps and we were off. After a grueling 3 hours in the car we made it and had a great time.




I love when he falls he walks over to get his hands dusted off.



Keeping an eye on the three legged lizard.

We chased that poor thing for a good 5-10 min.

















The 5 of us and little Harps.


Sweet Girl!







I love M's monster face.

He has been pulling this face for the past few years of his life and he is only 4.

Never gets old.








M acting as a obstacle protecting R babe from the water.