Christmas 2016

Guess who came to celebrate Christmas with us this year? Vovo Zete!!!

It is always so exciting when my mom comes! It is hard not to have her around more often. We miss her presence, her hugs, and the way she takes care of us. When she is here my mug of hot cocoa is always ready when I wake up and so are the kids meals when they wake up from their naps.
My mom is so special! She is beautiful, loving, and caring.

Around Christmas time I usually miss my family even more. So when my mom said she was coming I started jumping up and down! This year she sewed these cute Christmas pajamas for all of us!

Every year we have a special dinner on Christmas eve. We take family pictures, we build gingerbread house, and stay up late watching Christmas movies. When it's bedtime the girls leave cookies and milk for Santa and his reindeers.

 Then on Christmas day we run to the tree to see if Santa stopped by and left some presents, which usually happens because every year we try our best to be good.

This year the girls got this beautiful house the whole family helped make. It goes over the table, so the girls can bring their toys and kitchen stuff and play house. It has windows on the sides and a typical Brazilian varal to hang clothes. It is the most darling thing ever!

Christmas Presentation 2016

Today we watched Giovanna's Christmas Presentation. As I have mentioned before she is currently enrolled in Spanish Immersion, so they sang a song in English and Spanish.

It was soooooo cute!

Mom is in town

My sweet mother has finally arrived! We surprised her at the airport with balloons and cards Giovanna wrote for her. It is always such a happy moment every time my mom comes!

She arrived around lunch time and I already knew where she wanted to eat. Last time she came I prepared a special salad for her but later she confessed she wanted Taco Bell. So this time before heading home we stopped at Taco Bell to get a XXL stuffed burrito.

Then we opened the suitcases to find lots and lots of presents for each one of us. Bianca got vovo's socks and wore them for the rest of the day. Silly girl!

Last day of a long journey

Since 2009 we have worked hard to make this moment happen. We worked hard to keep you in school, to keep you focused, to keep you on going, and on you went.

So many obstacles along the way and we overcame them all. 

Lack of money to pay for tuition and bills- you got a job.

People making you lose your job and be almost kicked out of school- you kept studying.

Being fired for no reason after being an exceptional employee for over four years- you got help.

People making our lives harder than already is- you pressed forward.

Then you made calls,

Scheduled appointments,

Filled out forms,

Studied,

Studied,

Studied,

And you did it.

We are proud of you, big daddy!

And we love you forever.

Lu, Giovi, and Bianca

Moana

Our family was so excited to watch the new Disney movie Moana. Everything Disney started having a different meaning to me after I had children. But I've always enjoyed their movies. I love the motion, the colors, and the songs.

Moana didn't disappoint. It is a super cute movie and we can't wait to be able to watch it again on the TV. My favorite scenes are the one Moana talks to her grandma after she passes away and she comes back as a spiritual manta ray and the last scene when Moana fights Te Fiti.

Bianca was a good baby during the movie. I had to breastfeed her a few times when she would start wanting to cry, but overall she behaved really well.

Thanksgiving 2016

On this Thanksgiving day we are grateful for our family, our health, our home, for this country, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are also thankful for homemade chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. After Halloween I cook our pumpkins and I puree them for pumpkin cookies. They always turn out so delicious!

Today we drove to Lehi to spend our traditional Thanksgiving feast with the Matute Family. We are so grateful for them! I brought them some of our delicious homemade chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. I knew they would love it!

The food was delicious and we had a wonderful time together as always.

Ale and I after Thanksgiving feast:

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tracy Aviary

Today I packed some snacks and I drove the girls to Salt Lake to see the birds at Tracy Aviary. It was a long drive from Orem but I needed to get out of the house and just have a fun day with my girls. It wasn't so cold in Salt Lake and the sun helped keeping us warm.

First we watched the bird show. Bianca and Giovanna loved when the birds started flying right above their heads. Then we explored the rest of the aviary. It was fun!

Happy Birthday Giovi!

Today our Giovanna turns six!

We love her so much!  She is loving, patient, understanding, caring, she has a big heart, and she is the sweetest girl!

We always throw a birthday party for her sometime in October, but we always do a little extra something on her actual birth day. Sometimes I like to do a Halloween something for her because she was born close to Halloween.

This year we prepared a Halloween dinner. We invited some close friends to join us and sing happy birthday to her (again).