Towards the end of the school year Madison was able to participate in the school play,

A Midsummer's Night Dream

Wow, those lines had to be tricky to learn

During one of the performances our Portuguese tutor was sitting behind me

At intermission I asked her what she thought of the play

(She was born and raised in Brasilia)

She confessed that she only understood about 20% of what was being said

I thought to myself, that's how I feel everyday talking to anyone in Portuguese

But those teens had their lines down and spoke with emotion and excitement

Great job M!

Festa Junina

Festa Junina (Portuguese pronunciation: , June Festival), also known as festa de São João for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist, are the annual Brazilian celebrations historically related to European Midsummer that take place in the beginning of the Brazilian winter.

Giddy up cowgirls

   

This was my little girls first time have cotton candy

After a few bites G was happy to move onto something else

J was consumed by the sugar coma and thought it was the best thing in the world

Wow...I had no idea what to expect when the kids starting talking about Festa Junina

The school put on a event complete with dancing, carnival games, and Brazilia snacks

Jo kept telling me that she needed to be in cowgirl attire and have freckles painted on her cheeks

When we walked into the event the girls were certainly in nicer attire than what I think cowgirls wear

Colors galore, glitter, matching cowgirl boots, they were snazzy

Rob remembers this time of year from years back while serving a mission for our church in the Northern part of Brasil.  There would be nightly parties on and off for the whole month of June.

Fireworks would light up the sky and streets, corn would be served in all different ways

Jo's 2nd grade class performing their dance number

We'll be better prepared for next years event!

Circle of Life

I have the privilege of being the leader for the teenage girls in our congregation

Maybe my church leaders didn't think I got enough girl drama at home!

Happens that the first week I start working with the youth they are in practice mode for a 15 minute production of the Lion King

It's a joy to watch these kids speaking, singing and acting in English and Portuguese, somehow they figure it all out 

Madison perfecting some face paint on little

The complete cast

Home

A few weeks ago Rob was traveling for work and was in the "homeland"

Florida to be exact

Last time he was there all my kids were begging for was a Chipotle burrito

He didn't bring them, I requested we give ourselves food poising

This most recent trip he picked up new lunch boxes for school and had somewhere to stow a few carnitas burritos

My kids were thrilled to have a little taste of what they had remembered

I'll stick with the Brasilian beans and rice please

Time for Birthday

  

It's fun having teens in the house

This past month we added another to the bunch

How has my little A turned 13??

She was lucky enough to get to go to school on her big day

The family woke up early to make her a special breakfast and watch her open her gifts before the bus pulled up to our gate

R, I and the little stopped by the school at lunch time and took her to El Paso, a restaurant not far from the school that has a Mexician lunch buffet.  Complete with real sour cream, guacamole, tortilla chips and lots of other Mexician goodies that you don't usually see around town

We capped the evening off with her favorite dinner "Café Rio" and S made a delicious Resse's Peanut Butter Cake.

Happy Birthday Doddle Bop