1 inch in 3 weeks!

Sometimes I look at him and wonder where my little boy went!

Then there's times when I still see the little boy in there.

I don't know who's loosing more teeth right now Jay or Gwen.

He is wearing a size 10 shoe and he no longer fits under my chin when I hug him!!

The Rainy Season

Our branch building is under construction again so we have been meeting with our old branch on Sundays for the past 4 weeks. It has been nice seeing old friends.

But it has also made us remember how difficult it was to get to church during the rainy season.

This is the street right in front of our old branch building. The good thing is this water is still fresh because it rained only the night before but in a few days it will be a murky blackish color.

This is at the corner where we turn to get to our building.

This is the front of our building with the youth going to the side building for Sunday School. We have been here before when the water goes all the way to the door.

Nathan Hale in Angola

The past couple of weeks Gwen's class has been studying all kinds of different books. Since I help out in her class with reading anyway I thought it would be fun to take along some of my nephew Nate's books that he has written and illustrated. They looked at his blog,

I read them one of his stories and showed them his other books that he has illustrated.

They had some questions they wanted to ask him:

1. How long do you write until you know it's going to be a good story?

2. When were you born?

3. Do your books come in other languages?

4. Have you ever received an award?

5. Where do you get your ideas?

6. How do you send it to your publisher?

7. What do you enjoy more writing or illustrating?

8. How long does it take you to write/draw a book?

Last year when Gwen's class was studying animals I took along Nate's book Yellowbelly and Plum.

Then the kids all made their version of Plum out of bread dough.
It is so fun sharing Nate's talents with Angola!

It's hot, hot, HOT

I really hate to rub it in, when I see that America is still in the middle of winter in most places. So here is a warm blog for you my New Yorker sister maybe it will warm you up.
Don't be fooled by the overcast sky it still is hot!

We had some friends from the branch over for a BBQ and swim. Here are the men before they fired up the grill. The guy on the left is married to the girl on the left in the photo below. He's our branch president and has perfect english. They have 2 sons 7 and 11 and a baby on the way arriving in July.

Lucia is a doll (I visit teach her and also teach her piano), she speaks as much english as I speak Portuguese actually I think she speaks better because we mostly speak in english, the lady in the middle is the mother of the gal on the right and she is married to the man in the picture above with the baby, they also have 2 other sons 8 and 12 (sad for us they are now in another branch here). They all are from Portugal and their husbands are from here.

(the pool is like bath tub water)
The boys loved swimming except the one of course that is wearing a cast. This is the second time he has broken his arm in 4 months.

This is little Samuel isn't he gorgeous, he is such a happy baby we all just eat him up.

Sweet Sixteen

She was a very pleasant happy baby, and wouldn't you know she is still that way for the most part.

Daddy took her out for a drive in Texas, she is showing good signs of being able to get a drivers lisence hopefully this summer.

We celebrated her birthday with the young women from our branch. The cake above was made by a lady on the compound, we trade services, I make her rolls she makes the birthday cakes.

The 2 girls right next to Maren were also celebrating their 16th birthdays.

The Process

I thought I would share with you the process that we go through about every 6 months when we head back to Angola. We spend 2 days of solid shopping.

We get a 2 bedroom or adjoining rooms at the hotel bottom floor to get everything ready. As soon as we get there we call and arrange a seat less minivan to deliver us to the airport in a couple of days.

1. Go to Lowes to get 10-12 heavy duty black plastic containers

2. pick up the ice chest from Academy the ones with wheels preferably (we got 7 this time 5 for meat 2 for produce and cheese)

3. Take ice chest to the butcher we use so he can put the ice chest in the freezer to get them extra cold. Give him our list of meats.

4. Shop Walmart first for all the none perishables, cereal, crackers, pasta's, etc. Then proceed to the perishables- tortillas, cheeses,

5. Go back to the hotel and unload and start to distribute by weight into each bin.

6. Do this process again for almost a solid 2 days with trips to the mall in between to buy shoes and clothing.

7. The night before we pick up the frozen meat and buy dry ice to top them up overnight. We duct tape them closed. (I'm not sure why because airport security always opens them up!)

8. We weigh and zip tie the bins and tape more zip ties to the top because security opens them to.

9. Call and confirm that we will be picked up by our shuttle service.

We had 25 items to be checked in. Not to bad this time.

25 years and counting

True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well being for ones companion. -Gordon B. Hinckley
25 years have flown by. We have really had more adventures then we had set out to have. I'm so grateful to have my best friend and better half with me all the way. He believes in me more then I believe in myself. (Don't tell John, but I think I got the better end of the deal!) PS-kids you have 25 years to plan a big shindig for our 50th! We expect lots of grandchildren to put on a very long talent show.