Play Date. . .

Isabelle and Emma Jae

While we were in Porto Alegre a few weeks ago, we had a play date with Isabelle and her mom. They lived in Horizontina until July, when they moved to the city. It was a strange day, but very good. We met at a really nice park and the girls played for a few hours while Lucyene and I talked away. She knows some English and I know some Portuguese, so we didn't have a dull moment!! I love watching Emma play with other little girls, even ones who are two years older than her. She has such an admiration for them and I can just see the little wheels turning in her mind! Our play dates are few and far between here, so we are very thankful for the times we do have. The strange part about the day was that Lucyene and I connected because we are both foreigners at this point. She and her family recently moved to the city and they know very few people, certainly no one she could call and have a play date with. It felt odd to me, to be connecting with her, to know that I really understood her and she really understood me. We had lunch together at her home and the girls played for a few more hours. She drove us back to our hotel and Emma and I both took naps. I smiled before I fell asleep. I'm so thankful for the fun times we get to have. What used to be so normal (play dates with other moms) is not so normal here and I really do cherish the time when we have it. I'm pretty sure Emma loves it too!

Tears. . .

Emma's sad. I'm sad. Kevin's traveling again. We're missin' him.

A Night at the Fair. . .

Emma boldly walked up to the lady making balloons and stood next to her leg until the woman gave her a balloon. Then, with a big grin on her face, she looked at the woman and said, "Obrigada." (Thank you). She was pretty excited about her flower and puppy balloons.

Last Friday night we went to the fair in Horizontina. It wasn't really all that different from the fair in Ottumwa, except the carnies looked a little less carnie-like, and they were super nice, and not smoking. It felt clean. Emma rode her first ride that night. I almost cried. I remember my friend Autumn writing about her little girl growing up (along with a picture of her on a ride) and all those feelings came rushing at me as I watched my brave, not-so-little, two-year old climb into the front seat of the pink car. The only reason she's in the back seat in the pictures is because her mom thought it would be a better photo if I could see her face! After her ride, she climbed out and said, "Mommy, now I want to ride on the red one!" I wanted to let her ride every single car and take countless photos of this milestone. I didn't, but I wanted to.

We had to leave the rides at 8:30 because dinner was being served. We had tickets for a German dinner that was being held by some of the locals and we didn't want to be late. I'm not sure why. Nothing here EVER starts on time. No exception this time, but we were on time. We ate some purple deviled eggs, sour kraut, steamed potatoes, apple (apfel) strudel, and pork. Well, some people ate the pork. I'm still not a huge pork fan, so I didn't try it. I heard it was good though! We are amazed at the number of people here who speak fluent German. Many Germans migrated here and the evidence is everywhere. When we moved here, I expected to see dark-skinned people with dark hair. Instead, we see blond hair, blue-eyed Brazilians every day! We had a great time with the other ex-pats and also with our neighbors. We also decided we didn't really need to visit the fair again. Except for letting Emma ride the rides, nothing was different from the fairs we've known all our lives!

English Night at FISK. . .

Last week we (the Americans) were asked to speak to the English students of FISK. FISK is the English/Spanish school in Horizontina but they also give Portuguese classes to the few Americans who live here. Five of us talked about the United States and the differences between our countries. There were about fifty students in the room. We showed pictures of snow (which they don't have here), home projects (like hanging drywall), and pictures of our homes, while explaining the differences in how homes are built. The students seemed very young, but many of them have been learning English for several years. It was fun for us to share about out country. We realize what an advantage we have because we were born in the States. The students seemed hungry for any knowledge they could gain from us. Emma wore her American Flag dress and danced through the aisles as if the people there had come to see her!!

Our Back Yard(s). . .

This is where we spend much of our time in the mornings and late afternoons. It's definitely summer here now, which is a little odd for me, considering it's November and almost Thanksgiving! Emma is becoming a little fish and every day she asks to go "dip" her feet in the water. She can never just dip her feet in, though. Before it's all said and done, she's soaked! Even on the days we've thought it was chilly, Emma played in the water! We couldn't have asked for a better pool. Most homes here have pools, but we are so thankful for the type we have. Emma has her own little area (about a foot and a half deep) that she can play in. There are also steps leading into the pool, which some don't have. Kevin changed the fence so Emma can't climb over or under it, and we feel much safer with everything now. It's amazing to read some of my posts and journals from when we were living in the hotel. I wanted a different, bigger home, with a safer pool. Our home is perfect for us and the pool is so much safer than the one at the other home. The other one was 5 feet deep all the way around, so Emma could never enter unless we were totally in the water with her. It was safer at the time because it had a tall fence around it, but since Kevin changed the fence around ours, it's definitely better! I'm so thankful that God knows what we need and doesn't always give us what we want. For so many reasons, we are thankful for the home we live in now!! The desire to live in the other one never enters my mind!

The "upper yard" as I like to call it! Emma runs from wall to wall, pretending someone is chasing her. She's learning to kick the soccer ball (a necessary skill to learn in Brasil), and she loves her slide (thanks again Cindy)!! We had a lemon tree in one corner but the ripe fruit weighed the branches down so much that the trunk split. We cut it off and are hoping to have lemons again next year!

Pool and Churrascaria (where we grill). We actually haven't used this area yet, but we will this weekend, so hopefully I can explain the purpose of this area!

The GARAGE!! I'm sure this will be the nicest looking garage we'll ever have! The tiles are beautiful and it's always so clean in there!

My handy-dandy, amazing, engineering- and safety-minded husband built Emma a little bridge (or so she thinks) that connects to her pool. Actually, it's meant to cage her in and it's working! She loves that she has her own little pool and loves to tell us that our pool is the big one, as she points to it! Thanks to other ex-pats, we have a tote full of floaties and other fun water toys!

PS I hope this post makes all of you warm:) With love, Sandi.

Halloween. . . or Not. . .

Well, we did absolutely nothing for Halloween. Just thought I'd let you all know:) I had every intention of dressing Emma up in her princess costume and taking pictures, but I didn't do it! It was almost 100 degrees here and she ran around with just a pair of shorts on most of the day. We only have air-conditioning in our bedrooms, so the house was H-O-T!! Just the thought of making her wear that dress made me sweat, so I opted not to do it! Halloween is not really celebrated here, so we didn't miss much. The kids who take English classes had a small party and they learned a little more about the holiday. However, all the kids we saw had black makeup smeared down their faces and they were wearing black capes and black clothing and the girls were all witches!! No fairies, no Tiggers or Poohs, no cute little bunnies, or anything cute for that matter! It just seemed so dark. There are no pumpkins, no pumpkin patches, no falling leaves or piles of leaves, no pumpkin-spice lattes, no pumpkin-anything, and it's H-O-T, so it just didn't feel right to be celebrating. We played in the pool instead!! However, IF we had celebrated at all, Emma would have been a princess, and an awfully beautiful one at that!!

On a side-thought, it was around this time a year ago that we learned about this opportunity in Brazil. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to take Emma to the pumpkin patch last year. My mother-in-law was trying to encourage me and said, "That's OK. She can go to the pumpkin patch next year." And that's when and how we told Kevin's parents about Brazil. I looked at Kevin and then at Marcy and said, "I'm not sure if they have pumpkin patches in Brazil!" I think she almost fainted after that comment!! We are so very thankful for the support they've given us over the last year! Thank you thank you thank you!!