Many adventures

This will be my last post on our trip to the country side. I couldn't end this little mini-series without posting about our many adventures. From fishing, to riding horses, to hiking, to swimming in the most unlikely places, there was a ton of joyful memories made!

Birds

My aunts uncles have birds - lots of birds! We got to feed, play with, and talk to them. This one even went swimming with the boys (opps!)

"Pesca e Pague" (Fish and Pay) 

My parents took us on an outing to fish. Unfortunately, we got caught with a ton of rain. 

But that didn't keep us from having fun! 

Stuck under cover, but everyone's smiling! 

Our "view"! 

What did we do with our "Christmas in Eden" goods? Made homemade Guava Jelly! Yumm! 

Random findings in my Grandmothers neighborhood! 

"Exercising" with Vovo and Mema!

Water fun with Vovo and Mema (and Daddy)!!

On the Farm!

One of my aunts lives on a farm. This was a big highlight. Beautiful scenery! Awesome place to hike. Not to mention the animals and more water to enjoy! 

This deserves a pause for the background story. Before traveling to see my family, Austin was CONVINCED he was going to get to ride on TOP of a horse. I assured him that we'd see horses, but was not sure if he'd get to ride on  one. When seeing the horses at my aunts house, he saw this as his perfect opportunity. The man caring for the horses had told the boys that he would set up the carriage for them to ride. Upon getting back to my aunt's home, Austin promptly told me that he wasn't going to ride on the carriage, but rather, he was going to get ON TOP of the horse. When the time came, I pulled the boys aside and told them that we were not going to ask for anything more than what was offered to us. I explained that we were going to be thankful for whatever the man allowed them to do. They both shook their heads and repeated, "We aren't going to ask for anything. We are going to be thankful!" Now - the picture you see of the boys  leaning up against the fence... after our little talk the boys ran to the fence and watched the man caring for the horse. Austin says (as loud as he could), "DO YOU THINK HE'S GONNA OFFER FOR US TO RIDE ON TOP OF THE HORSE?!?" I'll let the rest of the pictures tell the story!

And they were really worn out by the end of it all. But please note, we didn't put Jonathan to sleep on the hard tile floor. That was their choice. They feel asleep like this as Austin loved on his bro! This goes down as one of my all time favorite mommy moments (and yes, we did put Jonathan back on the matters)

A Day in Taiuva

Another one of my Aunts lives in a neighboring city. 

We got to spend the day there. What sweet sweet memories! 

Yup, just in the side of the street for any curious kiddo to climb on!

2nd cousins having a wrestling match! Not sure who had more fun!

TRACTORS!

The beauty of small town life, is you see something you want to do, all you have to do is ask. 

Chances are you'll be granted a fun opportunity! 

Owl Sightings! 

Grand Finale - New Years on the farm!

We spent the 31st and 1st back on the farm. Most of the family came to celebrate either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day with us. It was the perfect way to end an incredibly memorable trip! 

Preparing with my cousins! Loved everything I learned in the kitchen with my aunts and cousins :) 

Hiking to the 100 year old Fig tree!

Last Sunset of 2012!

And a Rainbow! How appropriate to saw hello close out 2012 and bring in 2013 with a reminder of God's promises.
 He never fails!

Happy New Year!

Adventures don't have to end just because you have to go to sleep! This was the new years mask. Jonathan was convinced he was Batman! Oh this kid brings so much richness to our lives! 

There's no words to describe the significance of this trip! Thanks for bearing with the pictures, the stories, and the unending posts. I am well aware that this opportunity is very rare. I am also keenly in tune with the fact that the boys are only 2 and 3 years old. Chances that their little memories will retain any of these adventures are slim to none. However, it's so important to me that they know all their roots. They are privileged little men who have a rich heritage. Hopefully these posts will tell them the stories when they no longer tell it themselves. For now, they still talk about all my family and these many adventures. In hearing them recount the stories, the trip continues to bring us joy!

Love from the Family

Continuing on the "Christmas in Eden" post, our time with my family was incredibly sweet. It was wild to take the boys into far into the country side of Brazil to a tiny little town. I was reminded of the many times I did this as a child. There was something incredibly special about taking them back and showing them part of their heritage. The reality is their little world is so far removed from what they experienced. But it's part of who my mom was, so it's part of me. Because it's part of me, it's part of them. I think my parents stories are amazing. I believe the effort and courage my parents had to leave their humble beginnings, move to the big city, establish a life, then choose to leave that to go to America "the land of opportunity" is awe-inspiring. I am so very proud of who my parents are and the effort they applied in giving me the life I have. Now as a mom, I understand that sort of determination for your family. So to take my little family back to the roots, was nothing short of fabulous! Unfortunately, we never did get a big group picture and I am sure we missed some family members. But I'll introduce you to a few:

Meet my Grandma - Luzia

My mom (right) with her sister Selma (left) - that's right, she's blond with blue eyes. Many of my family members look more like Aaron than like me :) 

Mom (far right) with her brother Alemao, wife Sandra, and daughter Pamela (missing my other cousin Junior)

My Aunt Bernadete with her brother Nene and his wife Fatima (left to right)

Me and my cousin Dayana - everyone says we look like sisters!

Me and the boys with my cousins (who are sisters) Dayana (left) and Daniela (right)

Boys with Drausio (Daniela's husband- pictured above)

My aunt Zilda with my cousin Andre
Zilda lives with my grandmother. Andre is one of 4 boys. I only got a picture of him :/

My cousin Leticia with her son Matheus (Leticia is Selma's daughter - pictured above with my mom)

Me and my cousin Rosemarie

Jonathan having a blast with my 2nd cousin Igor 

Left-Leah (cousin's wife, Igor's mom) Right - Rosemarie (cousin)

Ruberlie my cousin (married to Leah, father to Igor. Also has another son whom I didn't get his picture!)

My cousin Roselie (Rosemarie's and Ruberlie's sister) with her son Gabriel

Stefane (my cousin's Rosemarie's daughter)

Boys with Tayla (my cousin's Rosemarie other daughter)

My aunt Bernadete, her husband Penguin, and two daughters

Me and a few of my girl cousins :) 

Last but not least, us at the breakfast table with my mom, dad, and Grandmother - or "Bisa" as the boys called her (meaning great-grandmother)

What's most amazing in all of this is the incredible love we received. It's wild that they had not seen Aaron or me in 6 years. They had not met the boys. Yet the love the shared with us was beyond abundant. They gathered us with open arms as if we were a part of their day to day. They delighted in playing with the boys. They hungered to spend time with Aaron and I. We invaded their homes, their lives, and their time. In turn, they blessed us with overflowing love!

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Christmas in Eden

There's so much to blog about in regard to our last couple weeks. We returned last week from the countryside where my mom's family lives. My mom is one of 10 children, who all have children, who many have children. My family is huge! The last time we had been to see them was in 2005 right before Aaron and I left Brazil. The last time I remember spending the Holidays with them was when I was 4 or 5.  Our time there was emotionally loaded. Being reunited after so long was incredibly sweet. No one measured the time we spent away. All of my family, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc loved us without counting the cost of us leaving again. It's overwhelming. My heart was moved. I will go there in a post soon, but for now, we'll keep it light! Here's a snip it of our Christmas day.

I said Thanksgiving was exotic. It paled in comparison to our Christmas day exotic! Most of the day was laid back without much activity. We had a Christmas dinner the night of the 24th with all of the family gathered (more on that later). So Christmas day was pretty low key. In the afternoon, my uncle "Tio (uncle) Alemao" took us to go picking raspberries. Yes, we found a few raspberries, but we found so much more. Throughout our time, I kept thinking, "This seems like what the Garden Eden must have been like!" Journey with me through our adventure!

Incredible scenery outside my Grandmother's town

First stop - Raspberry picking with Mema's help

Look what we found!

From the tree to our mouths!

Mangos!

Pumpkin!

Jack Fruit (you can't tell but the yellow fruit hanging from the bottom of the tree are bigger than my head)!

Paprika Tree - that's right! It comes from a tree. News to me!

Paprika - a closer look

Paprika - apparently these little seeds are ground up and that's how we get paprika

Guava orchard!

After getting the owners permission, we were told to help ourselves to the guava!

We collected guava by the bags full!

Dad in front of one of the guava trees.

Jonathan and Tio Alemao (or as the boys called him Tio Limao - limao means lemon!)

Look at all that guava!

Of course we were taste testing along the way :) 

Final Stop - Tamarindos 

Look at the size of these things!

YUM!

Free as a bird! 

We weren't even 10 minutes from my grandmothers house and these were all of the things we found. My mind raced as I pictured the Garden of Eden. We felt like we were in paradise as we had access to so much right there off the trees. What a precious Christmas Day among family enjoying the wonders of God's creation! Simply unforgettable!

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