Brazil

My parents are serving as mission president and wife in Brazil for 3 years.  

That means that they are responsible for supervising, leading, teaching, and helping

a group of about 200 missionaries.

They want their kids and grandkids each to come and visit them at least twice while they are there.  

We tried and tried to see if there was a way Dave would be able to come BOTH times with his busy residency schedule, however he will only be able to come to Brazil ONE time.  Because we wanted to make the most out of his one visit (especially since Dave served his mission in Brazil), we decided to wait until he could come for two weeks and not just one.  

That meant that he wasn't able to come this time.  

I guess we could have decided to only go to Brazil once instead of twice, but the rest of us still wanted to go and take advantage of every opportunity to be with my parents.  

So, we waited until Dave had a busy month and a week of nights, so he wouldn't miss us too much, and booked some flights:)

At first I was planning to take the kids by myself, but after talking to my sister who had already gone, I became more and more unsure that that would be possible.  In an act of divine intervention, my cousin Jared volunteered:)

If I couldn't have Dave there, Jared was definitely the best person for the job.  

Our count down

We were excited!

After many adventures that include, but are not limited to, almost missing our flight, and running across an airport 50 terminals long with 4 kids in tow, and hardly sleeping at all. 

We made it!

The kids were troopers, but some things are inevitable when traveling that long on an airplane with young children.

Again, Jared was the best!  We could NOT have made it with out him.

ALL MY SINGLE LADIES LISTEN UP: 

Jared is a catch!

If you can spend 14+ hours on airplanes and all day in an airport with 4 children under the age of 7 that are not your own, you are an absolute GEM.

Jared not only did that, but thrived at it, and my kids completely loved having him there.

He brought a bag full of well researched travel toys for kids and basically was an all-around life saver the whole trip.

He is one patient, kind, helpful, inspiring, fun-to-talk-to, positive guy!

They kids would follow him around and he played with them.

He even spent time with Landon teaching him how to play the piano, and taught Landon how to play "Praise to the Man"

Jared was incredibly fun and up for anything.  

I was so impressed! 

I could go on and on.

We are grateful for "uncle Jared"!

One of the first days we were there, we went to visit the mission office.

We couldn't wait to see the missionaries!

These young men and women pay their own way and spend two years of their life away from their families, serving, and helping people learn about and come closer to Christ. 

They do this because of their love for Him.

One of my greatest hopes is that my children will follow their example and want to serve a mission when they are old enough.   

They were so good to my kids and seemed to really enjoy having children in the mission office.

Oh, the havoc 4 kids can wreck on a mission office:)

The next day was my birthday.  

I was JUST happy to be in Brazil, but my parents spoiled me, and my Mom took me shopping.

Brazil has some of the best shopping I have ever seen, and I have done some shopping in my time:)

We shopped till we dropped!

(Paxton tagged along like a champ)

The rest of the kids went to a small zoo with my Dad and Jared.  

They also got ice cream, and didn't have to shop, so it was a win-win for everyone:)

My birthday dinner was fajuata 

Hopi Hari (a Brazilian amusement park) was good to us.

My parents LOVED spending time with the kids.

Oaklyn and my Mom have a special relationship.  She adores my Mom, and has told me on several occasions, "Gwamma is my best fwend"

We went to two different parks to view capybara.

Large rodents, the size of beavers that until this trip, we had only seen in a zoo.  

They were everywhere.

Out side of the parks you can buy fresh coconut milk.  

They cut the top of right in front of you.

They also sell sugar cane juice.

My kids enjoyed watching them grind up the sugar cane.

It was very sweet and delicious! 

So many fun things to see at the park.

More capyvera

We learned the Portuguesse word for chocolate very quickly:)

We made several stops at Sergels ice cream shop.

Oaklie always chose the "pink" ice cream.

We tried many new foods and loved the variety of fresh fruits.

A regular breakfast for me was acai bowls.

It was their winter there, so although most days were fairly warm, there weren't many warm enough to go swimming.

The kids were troopers and jumped in no matter the temperature.

Reading and relaxing by the pool was my favorite.

Naps in the hammock were a must!

My water babies.

The kids liked taking turns putting on grandma and Grandpa's name tag and sitting at the desk.

Landon has been studying the Book of Mormon since he was 5.  When he first started out, I helped him with a lot of the words, but for the past year and a half he has done it without being asked most of the time and is on track to finish the Book of Mormon by the time he turns 8.

It brings me the greatest joy to see him studying things out for himself, asking and learning.  

He was especially excited to study his scriptures with Grandma while we visited.

My Mom took this picture one Sunday morning while we were there.

Easton wanted to visit the temple in Campinas so badly.

I love this little guy and his desire for good.

His wish came true, and we all loved visiting this gorgeous temple and soaking up the spirit that is there.

"To members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the temple is the most sacred place on earth.  It is the house of the Lord" 

Thomas S. Monson

Elder Callister came to visit my parents mission while we were there.

It was a treat to listen to him and his wife speak and to meet them.

I didn't want to bother them to ask for a picture with them, so we got some with the missionaries.

We played games.

Oaklyn loves "things in a box" just like her Momma.

We went to a movie while we were there.

The subtitles were fun.

The zoo was beautiful!

They had a zip line that my kids loved.

Feeding the Tucan

"I do it myself" (Oaklyn Anne)

Monkey see, monkey do.

The driving is pretty crazy there and I never felt 100% safe on the roads, but on the way to the airport to go home, we saw many people selling their goods ON THE ROAD, standing on the dotted lines in the middle of the crazy traffic.

People just drive around them, but talk about taking your life in your hands!

We were all sad to go home but I was also excited to see Dave.

I missed him so much!

Seeing my parents and the wonderful culture of Brazil was simply the best.

I don't usually call trips with kids a vacation. 

They are always fun, but a lot of work too:)

This trip was the most relaxing one I have ever been on.

A true vacation.

We are planning our next visit!