All I Want for Christmas. . .

This is the last picture of Emma with her baby smile. I know, she's not a baby and hasn't been for a very long time. Those are her baby teeth, though, and knowing that one would soon be gone made me a little sad. I love, love, love this little girl's smile.

Unfortunately, at her last dentist appointment, we discovered a nasty little pimple in her mouth. The dentist said it was an infection in the tooth and that the tooth needed to come out in the next month or so. Well, I gave her two months and she wiggled and wiggled that little tooth, but it was not going to come out. So, last Thursday I took her in and she had it yanked. We've discovered that she is an excellent patient when her mom isn't in the room. I was so sad not to be with her, but she really was brave and so happy to be back there with the hygienist and dentist. I didn't hear a peep. She even had to have an injection in her gums to numb the area!! Within a day, the little pimple had almost completely drained and the swelling had gone down. I've heard the infections can spread if not addressed, so I'm glad we had the tooth pulled.

Here's my big girl, looking all grown up and toothless. We've laughed so many times when certain words come out of her mouth. I'm still trying to get used to her new speech. Apparently, the whole deal was much more nerve-wracking for me than for her. I was so nervous and she acted like she was just going for a walk in the park! I'm so thankful it all went well and that she's enjoying the new window in her mouth. I was so proud of her that I told her we'd take her to Target to get a prize of some sort. I was expecting her to pick something really big and expensive and I was willing to pay for it! Well, bless her heart, she picked out a little princess ball for $2.99!!! Love that girl!

Leaves. . .

We only raked leaves once this fall. By "we" I mean, Kevin. Emma played around in the leaves. Adri tried to eat them. It was chilly outside and we didn't stay out long, but at least we captured a few fun fall photos.

Emma helped Kevin haul the leaves to the creek. She loves being outside with him. Well, she loves being anywhere with him. Her new favorite place to go is Lowe's. Yes, Lowe's. It used to be Menard's, but it was too far of a drive, so Lowe's is the new hot spot.

Filling Shoeboxes. . .

For the last few years, we have packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. We were able to do it online for the past three years. This year was so exciting and fun. Our church provided the shoeboxes and we went to Target to pick out the goodies for the box. We really want Emma to know how good it feels to give to other people. She chose most of the gifts and helped with the packing. If she could, I think she'd fly across the world to see the faces of the boys and girls who will open these boxes! She had so much fun and we loved helping her give to others. If you haven't already done so, this is such a great way to love others and give to kids who might not otherwise have a Christmas gift!!

Today is Her Day. . .

Today is my mom's birthday. She would have been 75 years old today. It's been eight and a half years since I last held her hand. Since I felt her cheek against mine. Since I said goodbye to her. Time has eased the pain of losing her but some days I long for her more intensely than ever before. It seems the questions I have keep piling up and I would love nothing more than to just sit with her on a comfy couch and hear all she would have to share. One day, I believe I'll get to do that with her. I believe I'll see her again in Heaven. Some days I can't even grasp that. I can't even fathom what Heaven will be like. I long for it. I long for that Place where there will be no more pain, no more tears, and I'll see Jesus face to face. I imagine my mom just sitting in His presence. After all those years of raising babies and loving her family, she's sitting comfortably at the feet of the One who created her. He created her so beautifully, on this day so many years ago. I am thankful. What a great mom.

Our Little Pumpkin. . .

This is how the photo shoot started. . .

Then it got better and she was a happy little lady for a while:)

Hmmm. . .what's down there??

We had so much fun. . . until the end. It didn't start out too well because I kind of had to shimmy Adri's legs into the square holes. It would have been wise to cut them larger, but I didn't, so I jiggled her tiny legs through the holes. Once she was in, it wasn't too bad and she seemed to be having a jolly time in there. After taking a few pictures, I decided she probably needed a bath. I tried to lift her gently out of the pumpkin and her legs were stuck. I pulled and jiggled and and pushed and she started crying. Like huge tears rolling down her face type of crying! I couldn't get her legs out! Finally, I told Emma to run get me a sharp knife and bring it to me. I didn't even discipline her for running towards me with the knife in her hand! I had to cut out the section between the square holes to get Adri's legs out. Seconds later, she was calm and smiling again. I guess it was worth it for the cute pictures!!

Trick-or-Treat!!!!

Our little ballerina. . .

. . . and the cutest cow ever!!

It was a chilly evening for trick-or-treating, but Emma didn't feel the cold. Nope. Not even through those paper-thin leggings! She was ecstatic for her time going door-to-door. She was too young to remember dressing up as a baby. Everything was new. The night before Halloween, we snuggled in her bed and she asked me how to trick-or-treat. We talked about ringing the doorbell, taking the candy, saying thank you, and so on. There were times last night that were comical. At every door, she would gently set her bucket down, ring the doorbell, and then politely say "trick-or-treat". After she was given the candy, she would just stand there awkwardly. For the first several houses, we had to remind her to say thank you and then to leave. Toward the end of the first street, we met up with some neighbors who have little girls. The moms stayed home while the dads took the girls out. Emma and the girls had fun running around and Kevin and I got to know the dads a little bit. We laughed a lot and I decided we'll have to spend time with those families more often! I think we're really going to like our neighborhood!!

When we got home, Emma set her buckets down and began playing with a puzzle a neighbor had given her earlier in the day. I looked at Kevin and said, "What kid gets a whole bucket of candy and then comes home and plays with a puzzle??" Our kid, apparently! I had to pull her away from her puzzle and show her what I used to do as a kid. We dumped out all the candy and just enjoyed the sight of it all. Then, without me prompting her at all, she said, "OK!! Now I'm going to organize it all!" That's exactly what I used to do! Love that girl!! Because we don't usually keep candy in our house, Emma didn't recognize most of the goodies. Snickers, Reece's, 3 Musketeers, SweetTarts, Twix. None of them. Sometimes I think she's sheltered! I'm really OK that she doesn't know what every kind of candy is. I guess she does know what brigadeiros are, which are the most important candy/dessert in all of Brazil!! I had a small Twix last night, but I'm not really eating sugar, so nothing else was tempting. At the rate Emma eats candy, we'll still have this stash come next Halloween! That, or Kevin is going to have a few cavities!!

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. I don't like the bad stuff associated with it (now that I'm an adult), but I love seeing all the fun little costumes. Really, though, it has more to do with the holiday overshadowing my birthday. It falls two days before Halloween, so I always felt like people were more excited about dressing up and then seemed to forget my birthday. I'm over it, but I think that's why I've never been a huge fan. So, I'm putting Emma to bed last night and her eyes were just sparkling as she said, "Mommy, this was the best day of my life. I love Halloween!!" I think she just loved being able to dress up as a ballerina and dance the afternoon away, but today, she's already talking about what she's going to be next year! Funny.

First Ex-Pat Crew. . .

Last week I got an email from Silvia (far right) saying she was in the Quad Cities, so we had to meet up. These three women were part of the first ex-patriate crew in Horizontina. Barbara (far left) and Stan came about two weeks after we did. Then Holly married Aaron, who was already there, and she came about a month after us. Then Silvia and Harald came a few months later. Silvia is German, but she moved to Brazil from the U.S. Finally, after two years in Horizontina, they moved back to Germany. It was great to get together with these women. It's been over two years since we were all together and we had a fun lunch at Panera while catching up. Surprisingly, Emma remembered the girls and had fun talking their ears off.

First Jack-O-Lantern. . .

I think it's the first pumpkin I've carved in 15 years! Kevin roasted the seeds and he and Emma ate them all. It'll have to be a new tradition for us! I can't believe how excited Emma was to see the innards of a pumpkin!

Wiebe Fun. . .

The only thing that could have made this weekend any sweeter was to have the Kanes here, too. The Wiebes were here for three nights in the middle of October and I loved every second of it. At one point, I was here with all five kids by myself. We went for a walk and I saw many people staring at me. The oldest is 8. Then 6, 5, 4, and 8 months. They all have fair skin and strawberry blond or red hair. They very well could have been siblings! They played so well together that I didn't really see Emma during their stay!!

I love that God has woven our lives together and continues to do so, even though we've both lived in another country for the past several years. North America, South American, Asia. . . what's next?? We're just thankful for the ability to keep in touch and love each other on this journey.

It's pretty exciting to have a child old enough to be the photographer! Here we are, Kevin and me with Diane and Chris! Love the Wiebes!!!

Friends (probably for life)

Mal-Pal. . .

I was so happy to have Julie come visit me about a month ago! These little girls have known each other since birth. Five years passes quickly!! We loved having Mallory and Brady here for a few hours one Saturday afternoon. Emma was inspired by Mallory's awesome throwing and has been practicing ever since! Having them here made me miss Ottumwa, or the Ottumwa people, I should say:)

Randomness. . .

I now have this fancy, schmancy phone that can take pictures. It's awfully convenient for when I don't want to lug my bigger camera around. The resolution is about the same, although my camera focuses much better. Anyway, here are a few random pics I had on my phone!!

Before the weather was too cold, we went on many walks to Field Sike Park. I love that it's a five-minute walk out our front door. Emma either rides her scooter or runs. Both girls love the swings. I think Adri would swing all day if she could! 

Out on one of our walks. . .

Science - One day we went out to get the mail. Down the street was a bird of some sort. As we got closer, we realized he had a black squirrel in his claws and was picking away at its insides. I ran back in to get my camera and we got within three feet of him. It's a red-tailed hawk eating his breakfast. I decided that was our science for the day! We looked up pictures and facts about the hawks and then Emma colored a picture of one. Love it!

Getting ready for lunch. . .

Big girls standing up. She's now standing by herself for up to ten seconds at a time.

Here's another science thing. . . I went out to our back yard one afternoon and about jumped in the creek when I saw this guy in my path. I called Emma and Kevin out and we played with him for a bit. He coiled a few times and went to strike Kevin. He wasn't poisonous, but I'm not a huge fan of snakes either way. He finally slithered off into the creek and we haven't seen him, or any others, since.

At the end of September, we went to a farm birthday party for a 3-year old Brazilian boy. All the women in the picture, except me, are Brazilians. There's an incredibly large group of them living here, some with Deere, some with other companies. They sure know how to decorate and throw a good party. It was totally Brazilian in the sense that everything was over the top! We love that part of their culture, but we're thankful it's not a requirement for all parties here!

Yet another science day. . . we went down to the Mississippi River one morning for a walk and Emma found a crawdad carcass. It was awesome, I have to say. We brought it home and kept it for Kevin to see. After toting it around in a plastic bag for the afternoon, it finally fell apart.

Matching girls (except one has a lot of hair and the other has pretty much none!)

Speaking of the Mississippi. . . here she is!! This is the I-74 bridge that Kevin crosses every day to go to work. We live in Iowa on the north side of the bridge. Kevin works in Illinois on the south side of the bridge.

One evening after church, we went walking along the river. There's a great paved path that goes for miles. We only walked about half a mile of it before it started getting dark. Next summer we'll have to get down there more often!

One afternoon Kevin and Emma were out in the back yard. Kevin thought he saw Frodo's ring in the creek so he went searching for his precious. He took Emma on his back, but sadly, it was not a gold ring, but a piece of trash. Maybe next time!!

One of my favorite moments in the past few weeks was the one below. We were in WalMart one evening running some quick errands. As we were walking down one aisle, we heard, "Oi, Kevin. Tudo bem?" Portuguese is music to my ears. Lisandro is one of the Brazilians we met while living in Horizontina. Well over a year ago, Emma and I came to the U.S. for a visit. Kevin met us later. I was three months pregnant and couldn't carry Emma's carseat plus everything else I had. Lisandro happened to be on the same bus, same first flight, and same international flight as me! He was awesome and helped me get through the airports. He shared his French fries with Emma and they became friends. Such a nice guy! He was visiting the U.S. for work and happened to be in Wally World that evening with two other Brazilians. We chatted for a few minutes and then took a quick picture. Fun chance meeting!

That's all for now!!