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!!