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.