***I just need to mention that most of my scrapping supplies are from www.Scrapgirls.com.  This time I also used some from another site that requires that I note it on each page when I used something from them.  So you will see that on some of the pages.

June 6 (DAY 9)

Paderia e Praia

Two words today.  Both start with “P” but they mean completely different things.  One is Paderia, or bread shop.  The other is Praia, or beach.  I had my first good night of sleep last night (thanks to the knockout medicine) and we woke up refreshed with the Sunrise.  It was so beautiful rising over the water with a range of mountains in the corner.  The sky over the Praia was a bright orange and red.  The first thing on Brayden’s mind this morning was that he wanted to go to the beach.  We told him we would go to the beach sometime during the day, but first we needed breakfast. 

We drove downtown looking for a place to eat.  We parked near a McDonalds because Brayden really wanted something familiar.  They were not open for breakfast so we decided to see what else we could find.  We noticed a sign for Project TAMAR in 600 meters which is a Sea Turtle Rescue place where Matt wanted to go.  We decided to walk in that direction and see if we could find a place for breakfast on the way.  We arrived at Project TAMAR without finding a breakfast place.  Matt asked for a place to eat breakfast and was given directions to the neighborhood Paderia.  Each neighborhood has a Paderia where everyone buys their roll and drink for breakfast.  We went in search of the Paderia and found this quaint little shop with the sweetest little lady that ran around making sure we had everything we needed.  She wanted to talk with all of us even though we couldn’t understand a word she was saying other than “quatro” or “4” which I knew meant 4 boys because everyone we run into has something to say about our “quatro”.  Everyone liked the simple breakfast of just a mini french bread-type roll and some juice.  It was “suco de uva” or grape juice but it was the best grape juice I have ever tasted.  Oh, I wish I could bring some of this stuff back with me.  Now I know why Matt was always searching out Brazilian shops in various places we would go.  This food is so unique and delicious. 

After the Paderia we took a long walk around the neighborhood and saw a variety of areas.  From paved roads and well-manicured houses with garage doors and a dog guarding every yard to dirt roads and old houses and dogs roaming the streets.  We made it back to the Project TAMAR and had fun seeing a variety of turtles and learning how they care for turtles in the wild.  It was a cute little place.  They based the entrance fee on height, which was advantageous for our family…I wish more places did that!

After Project Tamar, we needed to find a place for lunch.  We walked back to where our car was parked at the McDonalds and went inside.  We found that the Dollar Menu items were equivalent to about $6 in U.S. money.  We quickly decided we didn’t want to eat McDonalds when it was cheap, let alone when it is overpriced.  We found a place called “Divino Tempero”, Divine Seasonings, with a Brazilian Buffet where you could put as much on a plate as you could fit for R$4.50, which works out to about $2 in U.S. dollars.  It was a great lunch and cheap. 

We again gave the kids a choice about going to the Aquarium or the beach and they chose the “Praia”.  They all love the beach here.  The water feels so good and they love jumping the waves.  Or as Brayden calls it- stomping the waves.  We were driving to the beach and on our way there passed another beach.  Brayden was really worried because he could see the beach and we weren’t going to it.  “There’s the beach Daddy - Let’s go to the beach daddy – It’s right there, can’t you see it?”  Then we passed it completely to go to a beach that someone recommended was better for kids.   When we couldn’t see the beach anymore Brayden could hardly stand it.  “Daddy!  We passed it.  It was back there.  Daddy!”  He was sure relieved when we finally arrived at another Praia.  Good thing or daddy would have been in big trouble.  We love the Praia.

June 7 (DAY 10)

Amizade

Friendship.  Today felt like we were surrounded by amigos, friends.  It was a day with feelings of “amor”, or love, that cannot be described.  We spent the morning preparing for McKay’s baptism to make sure that it would be a memorable day for him.  As I prayed about how we could make this day special and not seem like just part of the vacation, I felt that I should put together a presentation for after the baptism with pictures of McKay and our family.  As I put together the presentation, I was trying to think of scriptures or songs that I could use that would tie the theme of the pictures and the baptism together.  I had several scriptures go through my mind and I kept coming back to the song, “Families Can Be Together Forever.”  I decided to use just a few pictures with only McKay in it and use a lot of pictures of the whole family together.  Since it was very last minute, it was only pictures that Matt had on his computer already so there was a lot from our trip but it turned out nicely.  I put the words from the song in both English and Portuguese on each page.  I wanted to put the presentation to music from the computer but because we don’t have Wi-Fi at our condo, I could not get a song and decided to have our family sing the song along with the presentation. 

The baptism was at 1:30 at the chapel.  Because it is a rented building, they have to put together a font outside and fill it with water from the hose…translation….cold water!  I was really appreciative of all the efforts they were going through for our family for just this one baptism of someone they didn’t even know.  Although they never indicated anything of the sort, I felt like we were infringing on their day and taking them away from their own activities.  It was making me feel a little bad about making them go through all this for us.  For their part, they were very friendly and happy and willing to do anything for us. 

We took some pictures and then began the baptism.  I got to play the piano on a broken down keyboard.  It was somewhat difficult.  We sang “I am a Child of God.”  McKay chose this song because all the kids know the first verse in Portuguese from Matt singing it to them at nights and we have been practicing.  The Branch President was very impressed with the fact that they all sang in Portuguese and praised them for it.  Tyson gave a talk on baptism and then McKay was baptized.  He was shivering in the cold but glowing and smiling from ear to ear.  It was a beautiful experience outside in the fresh air and sunshine.  It felt so right.

After they got dressed, we sang “Families Can Be Together Forever” as a family with the picture presentation.  As we stood at the front of the chapel with our family singing together and the pictures of our family flashing across the computer screen, I had the most amazing feeling come over me.  Up until that point, I had been feeling selfish for bringing McKay to Brazil to be baptized.  But in that moment, something told me that we were not here for McKay.  We were here for those that were watching the baptism.  I felt that they needed to see our family living the gospel and it would give them strength.  It was not for us that we had come all this way, it was for them.  There were two missionaries at the baptism, the branch president’s family, and one other sister.   As I looked into each of their eyes, I knew that what I had just felt was true.  With that overwhelming feeling, I knew that Heavenly Father loved them enough to bring us there.  It was incredible to realize how much Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us and he will go to great lengths to bless our lives. 

After the song, I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  In my talk I planned to share 3 stories about how I have been comforted, warned, and guided by the Holy Ghost.  As I gave the talk I decided to shorten it and leave some of the stories out.  Then I had that same feeling, “No, share them.  They need to learn from your testimony.”  So, I left the stories in and made sure I used really simple words that could be translated.  There was a sweet feeling in the room.  Then McKay received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  With the windows open, at that moment the street outside became the loudest it had been for the entire baptism.  It was as if Satan was doing everything he could to keep McKay from feeling that power of the Holy Ghost that he was receiving.  There was loud honking and a microphone blaring and a dog barking and I don’t know what else but it was so loud!  Yet, the spirit remained steady and strong in that small chapel.  I mentioned it after in the car and Tyson agreed.  He said that it was really loud out there but somehow it made it easier to feel the spirit.  He was so right.  All those things going on outside made it so that you could feel it even stronger inside.

For the closing song, McKay chose to sing “Choose the Right.”  Although small in numbers, the music filled the room and rocked that noisy street.  I could feel the strength of those words sharing the gospel in a powerful way.  It sounded so cool hearing the words in Portuguese and playing the same tune and knowing the message that was being sung out.  

After the baptism, one of the sisters thanked Matt for coming.  She told him that it was just what she needed in her life right now.  She was grateful for the chance to see what a gospel-centered family looked like.  She said that it motivated her in her own life.  What an amazing confirmation of what I had just felt. 

The Branch President then asked Matt if he would like to visit a member that had been here when he served here.  Of course, Matt jumped at it.  We followed them there and Matt was so excited to see this family.  They have faced some challenges and Matt felt that they were strengthened by our visit.  It was so good for the chance to rekindle the “amizade” (friendship) that had been built years ago.  Matt was able to help give a blessing to the man who had served as the branch president while he was a missionary.  He has colon cancer and just got back yesterday from his surgery.  He had to be woken up to see us, but he was so glad to share memories.

We went out for ice cream at a Sorveteria.  It is similar to Baskin Robbins with several flavors to choose from and then you put toppings on top.  We had a lot of fun choosing from all the cool flavors and then enjoyed sharing with each other, everyone wanting each other to taste how good their choice was.  I know I say this about everything, but it was sooooo yummy.  Then we went out on the marketplace and found souvenirs for each of the kids.  Shirts for everyone, a water bottle for Brayden, a soccer ball for McKay, and hats for Tyson and Cutler.  It was so fun helping everyone find something that fit them and just having fun together.  For dinner we ate some of the tastiest sandwiches you could imagine.  One was called Misto Quente.  It is just ham and cheese but I swear it was not just ham and cheese.  Brayden gave it two thumbs up ;-).  The other was chicken and a fried egg and lettuce and tomato on a delicious bun.  This food is to die for!  We had such a good afternoon and evening just hanging out as a family.  The best kind of Amizade.

June 8 (DAY 11)

Sorriso

Smile!  Today was a day to smile and just pretend I knew what was going on!  Church was a district conference for the area (like a stake conference).  It was actually a broadcast from Utah to 50 stakes & districts in Brazil.  Matt was excited to go to Caragua and have the chance to talk to members in that area and try and find out about some people he baptized there.  We started by meeting the Ubatuba branch president and his wife and daughter.  They rented a 15 passenger van to take several members to the conference that wouldn’t be able to go otherwise.  They are so dedicated.  The branch president speaks some English because he lived in Utah for a few years.  He taught his wife to say Good Morning and she was so excited to say it to us.  I thought it was so sweet that she learned something to say to us.  It made me Sorriso. 

We followed the van to the conference and went into the building.  We were immediately surrounded by everyone as we went through the hallway and had to stop and say hi to everyone.  What a relief it was to run into the district president who spoke English.  It was nice to have a conversation with someone and actually be able to respond with more than the common greeting words.  I have those down and can make the casual greeting.  But then I get into trouble because that is when they think I speak Portuguese and they start going fast.  And that is when I Sorriso.  What else can I do?  If I try to say, “Nao falo Portuguese,” they don’t seem to understand.  We went to the meeting.  Matt tried to write some of what was being said on his phone and I would read it as he wrote.  Otherwise, I spent the two hours keeping the boys entertained.  A stake conference in English is long enough for four boys…add a different language into the equation and it is quite a challenging situation.  Considering the situation, I think they did pretty good.  There were two missionaries sitting behind us and I don’t think they got too much out of the meeting!  One of them played the dot game with McKay and the other played with Brayden.  One of the Elders is from Colorado and the other is from Switzerland.  He was born in Brazil and moved to Switzerland when he was 12.  He also has lived in London and Italy.  Quite the diversified background.  It was fun to chat with the missionaries after the meeting since they spoke English.   Apparently the meeting was quite good.  Sorriso.

After the meeting the Ubatuba branch met at the van and the branch president’s wife passed out sandwiches (bread with cheese in between the two slices) wrapped in aluminum foil to everyone and made sure we joined them.  The boys scarfed them up.  I think they would have eaten anything at that moment.  She is an amazing lady to go to all that effort for all the members- and us.  How can you help but Sorriso???

Matt found out that a couple he baptized had been active for 13 or 14 years and then about 4 years ago they just quit coming to church.  No one knows why.  He wanted to stop by and visit them.  He had taught this couple the gospel when a member of their family had died and they had a lot of questions about life after death.  They embraced the gospel and the wife even learned to read by reading the Book of Mormon because she wanted to be able to read it to know if it was true.  They had such strong testimonies and it made Matt sad to hear they had gone inactive.  We tried to find their address by using the GPS and it didn’t take us to the right place.  So Matt stopped literally every person he saw and asked them where the road was.  Everyone told him where to go and none of it was right.  Finally, we found the place and they were so excited and invited all of us in.  We spent the next couple hours there and Matt was able to have a great conversation with them.  One of their grandsons was there and told Matt that his parents and all his siblings are active and go to church but nobody knows why their grandparents don’t go anymore.  He wishes they would.  It was heartening to hear that although the grandparents are not active, there are members of the family that are still benefitting from the baptism. 

Tyson, Cutler, and McKay played a soccer game with a couple of the grandsons, Matheus and Leonardo.  It was so much fun to watch.  When McKay runs a lot he turns bright red.  They were all so intrigued and kept stopping him to look at his face.  They started to get worried about him.  McKay is a player that doesn’t give up easily and just keeps going after the ball.  They said that he is good enough that he should keep practicing and try out for the Brasil soccer team.  Funny one.  The boys they were playing were quite good.  The ball was just a little foam ball that looked like a chewed up dog’s toy.  But they don’t care.  All they care about is having something to play futebol with.  You can see that they have a passion about the game.  After a few minutes of playing, they made our boys take off their shoes because they were playing barefooted.  After the soccer game they spent another 20 minutes or so playing tag.  All the kids really had a good time playing.  I just did my best to try and keep up the Sorriso and interact with different people in different ways.  There were some little girls that kept coming up to me and talking with me and trying to get me to understand what they wanted.  I just couldn’t!  Everytime I would say that I don’t speak Portuguese they would just keep talking.  Sorriso.  We finally broke away but they made us commit to join them for dinner tomorrow.  We are already committed for dinner somewhere else so Matt is going to have to work that out.  Not enough time.

We came home and Matt made us a delicious dinner of rice and beans and chicken.  He really did a good job.  Then the branch president’s family and another couple came over.  They brought a large box of chocolate for each of the kids (of course that made them sorriso).  They brought homemade wheat bread for me (because the kids told them that I cook healthy food) and they brought treats for us all to share.  The other couple is from the Amazon area and they brought some ice cream that is made from a fruit of the Amazon.  It was not to my liking.  They brought two different kinds of juices and some homemade cake.  Wow!  These people are so giving.  They want to share their culture and friendship with us.  They stayed for two hours and just talked.  Perma-sorriso.  My way of saying perma-grin.  The branch president’s wife tried so hard to talk with me.  So many times she would say something to me and I would just shake my head.  So she would repeat it two or three times to try and get me to understand.  Shake my head.  So she would add some hand actions and repeat it.  Shake my head and shrug my shoulders.  I try but I can’t get enough of the words.  So she finally will ask her husband to translate.  He translates and then is back into another conversation.  So we just smile at each other.  Sorriso.

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June 9 (DAY 12)

Que Legal!

How cool!  The world is such a beautiful place and I feel so blessed to have been able to see this part of it.  It is so different than anything I have ever seen.  Today, we drove up to the state of Rio de Janeiro to a small city called Paraty.  It was such a beautiful drive.  We were going up a mountain and there was jungle and forest and huge drop offs into the ocean.  An amazing view.  We arrived in Paraty and had to drive on cobblestone roads made of varying sizes of rocks.  It was very, very bumpy.  We drove to the harbor and got out and there was a guy there that offered to take us out on his boat to a beach on an island.  The ride there was magnificent and it was fun to get out and play on the beach and in the water.  Then on the way back he took us past some private houses along some private beaches and islands.  They were absolutely amazing.  Some of them even had helipads.  It was a fun boat ride.  We were out for two hours and it was a beautiful day and we had the ocean and beach almost entirely to ourselves.  Legal.

I had been worried about coming in the winter.  I didn’t think we were going to like the weather very much but it has been so warm and nice and because it is the off-season we haven’t had all the people to contend with.  We have pretty much had everything to ourselves.  The Brazilians think it is cold and that we are here at the wrong time, but we think it is great weather.  In fact on Sunday it was so hot we could hardly stand it.

After the boat ride, we got in the car and headed back toward Ubatuba with a stop at a “Cachoeira de Escada“, or stairstep waterfall, on the way back.  Another amazing site.  The kids had a great time hiking around and playing in the water.  It was really fun and beautiful.  At the entrance of the waterfall was a little shack with a pastelaria.  They had Pasteis which the kids love and Misto Quenche and I jumped at the chance to have this yummy sandwich one more time.  Mmmmm.  It was so cool sitting at the bottom of this beautiful waterfall and enjoying the simple meal for a very cheap price.  That is not something that happens in the US.  The beautiful places are surrounded by expensive restaurants, not a simple shack. 

We arrived back in Ubatuba and stopped by the family that had invited us for dinner tonight.  Matt explained to them that he really wanted to share the night with them, but that a family that he had baptized in Caragua had also invited us to dinner and they had gone inactive and he felt that it was a good opportunity to spend some time with them and give them a desire to return to the gospel.  I was so touched by their animated response.  They told him that it was much more important for us to go spend time with them if there was any chance of bringing someone back into the church.  They did not even hesitate in telling him to go and have dinner with another family that needed it more and they did it very excitedly.  They did not express any disappointment.  It showed the strength of their faith in just that simple act. Que Legal!

While we were downtown, we went to the spot of the Tropic of Capricorn and took a picture of us standing on both sides of it.  Pretty fun for the boys.  Then we walked out on a pier to a small lighthouse which was here when Matt served in the area.  So much of the area has changed that it was nice for Matt to have this one landmark still existing and we had to make sure and take a few minutes to go out and visit it.  You could feel the nostalgia that he was feeling out on that little pier. 

We returned to the condo to quickly change and freshen up and headed out to Caragua.  Another night of me not really understanding what was going on, but a wonderful night of good feelings and friendship.  The kids played more soccer and tag and some hide and seek and we ate a delicious meal of chicken and potatoes cooked in a sauce and some rice and beans.  Our kids have never really eaten much chicken on the bones so that was a little different for them but they did pretty good at it when they overcame the original wonder.  Brayden only ate the rice and beans.  He was very leary of the chicken.  The kids played and played and Matt had a great time interacting and having some great conversations.  He was able to talk about the gospel one-on-one with several of the family members and thinks he was able to ignite some interest in a few of them to go back.  It was a very good night. 

Brayden latched onto one of the grandsons named Matheus.  When they played soccer, he let Brayden pick up the ball with his hands and run to the goal.  He protected him over and over from anyone else stopping him.  Brayden would run to the goal and throw it in and then run back to Matheus and give him a big hug.  Then McKay and Cutler would start kicking it back toward the other goal and when they would get close, Matheus would grab the ball and hand it to Brayden and protect him and block him from anyone stopping him from running it over to the goal.  Then he would again run back to Matheus and give him a big hug.  This happened over and over and Brayden thought Matheus was the awesomest person on the planet at that moment.  Then they played tag and Matheus held him and ran with him the entire time.  Then they played hide-and-seek and Matheus would hide in some fun places with him.  They had a grand time together running back to the safe spot.  When they were “it” together, they would hold their faces together while Brayden counted.  They were so adorable playing together.  When the other boys were it, the older girls would hold their phones up and video them “counting”.  They thought it was so cute to listen to over and over and they were trying to imitate the counting.  It was quite hilarious. 

Finally, at around ten o’clock, I had to call it quits.  We were an hour from Ubatuba and had a long day ahead of us.  Everyone was immediately so sad.  Mateus begged for us to stay a little longer.  They played together for a few more minutes and then we really had to go.  Brayden begged Mateus to come in the car with us.  He was so sad to have to leave him.  It was absolutely cute.  One little boy, Leo, had gotten in the car with us and they made him get out.  As we were all in the car getting ready to leave, Mateus opened the trunk to say one last goodbye to Brayden through the back and Leo was hiding in the trunk!!!   I don’t know how he got in there without anyone knowing- or what he planned to do.  It was sad to have to leave.  Mateus had given us a cute treasure box that his mom had made for us.  It was really neat.  We gave them a little soccer ball and we all signed it.  They were so excited to have it.  It has been a great experience to meet all these people and feel their love.  It is going to be sad to leave this great place.

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 June 10 (DAY 13)

Até logo

See you later!  Today I woke up to a heavy rain outside.  It was very depressing weather and added to my already heavy heart.  It made me want to cry to be leaving this country and the neat people I have met and wonder if I will ever see them again.  They touched my heart in so many ways.

I cannot believe that it rained…poured…for our last day!  Shows us how lucky we were to have such perfect weather the entire time we were here.  I had packed rain coats and an umbrella and we never used them.  The drive back to Sao Paulo was long and slow.  First because of rain, and then because of traffic.  What should have been less than a 3 hour drive turned into 4 ½ hours.  Also, we spent the last of our Brazilian money yesterday mistakenly thinking we should use it up.  Bad idea.  We ran into 3 toll booths.  We had to use all the kids’ coins they had been saving to take with them.  And on the third toll, we were 30 cents short.  Aye yai yai.  Not good.  She was going to give us a ticket but at the last moment she had sympathy and decided to just let us go.  Phew.  I think her heart was softened by a source that was not us.

We went to Antonio and Missiany’s house for lunch.  Another great meal.  One meal Matt has talked a lot about is called, “Feijoda.”  It is rice and beans but with a whole new flavor and with a variety of meats.  We hadn’t been able to try it because Matt said you have to be careful.  You never know what meat (or part of the pig’s body) is in the Feijoada.  Matt was so excited to have it at their house.  It was bursting with flavor.  How can that be possible with rice and beans?  I don’t know but it is sure delicious.  I had been disappointed that we had not been able to try one of Matt’s favorite meals and it turns out that they made it possible on our last day. 

Although our flight did not leave until 10:55 pm, we left their house at about 4:30.  The GPS said the original arrival time was 5:09 but we didn’t arrive at the rental car place until after 7 and then still had to get from there to the airport.   Sitting in traffic is not something I relish.  It would drive me crazy to live in a place like this.

We got through immigration and security without any problems and so we had time to spare.  I would rather have time to spare that cut it close!  We were able to get some cash and change it into coins to replace the ones we “borrowed” from the kids.  It feels good to be headed home.  Yet, at the same time it is so sad to leave.  Life is such an oxymoron.  That is why it is not goodbye…but see you later.  Até logo.

June 11 (DAY 14)

Casa

We are home.  When we touched ground at the airport in Sao Paulo two weeks ago, my stomach dropped and my head asked myself what we had done.  I began to wonder what I was thinking bringing four young boys into this unknown country.  Why had I done this?  I was sick with worry and regret.  And now I am so thankful for the opportunity we had to see and experience all that we have in the last two weeks.  Even though we were able to see some amazing places, I think that the people we met had more or an impact on our lives.  I will never be the same.  We are back home safely and ready for a good night’s sleep.  On to the next journey….