Bianca goes to the zoo for the first time

Yesterday the girls and I headed all the way to Salt Lake to go to Hogle Zoo. It was Bianca's first time at the zoo! Obviously she was amazed by all the animals. I don't think I know any kid who loves animals more than she does. She literally makes me stop every time she sees someone with a puppy or kitty cat. I hope she keeps loving them as she grows, because it is the cutest thing!

Giovanna, the otter, Bianca and her otterly fabulous t-shirt! 

Also Hogle Zoo is offering free admission on the following days as part of their winter deal:

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Wednesday, January 31, 2017

Wednesday, February 28, 2017

Car seats

The girls need new car seats. Bianca has out grown her infant car seat, and Giovanna's car seat is expired. I checked everywhere and two new ones would cost me a lot of money. If you've been following my posts these last days, you know we cannot afford to spend over a $100 in car seats. 

That's when I decided to do some research, and I found out about Safe Kids, an organization dedicated to prevent children's injury through education and awareness programs. Fortunately they have a Safe Kids here in Utah, and it is led by the Utah Department of Health. 

Two weeks ago I participated in a car seat safety class. I learned about how to properly install the car seat, as well as little mistakes we all make on daily basis. It was very instructive, and because I watched this class I qualified for very affordable car seats. 

Today I had an appointment at the UDH to buy the car seats. The lady who helped us was great. She showed me how to properly install them, and gave me some tips about how to keep my girls as safe as possible. I am really happy, and the girls are very excited with their brand new car seats!

Find a Safe Kids in your state HERE!

Pula Pula

When you have bored kids at home, just take them to the bounce house. Every time my girls start to get grumpy and wild with each other, I say: Okay, let's go the pula pula. They already know what that means and rapidly get ready to go. There they play for at least two hours, and I can get some time to just sit down and relax.

Thanksgiving 2017

This is the sixth year we spend Thanksgiving with the Matute family. I am grateful for their friendship. We had a delicious feast, great company and some shopping.

Besides Christmas, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! It's sad that we don't get to celebrate it in Brazil. Thanksgiving is a tradition I want to keep no matter where we go.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving time! Now let's countdown for Christmas!!!

Bubble Bath

For most Americans bath time is just as normal as brushing their teeth. But if you go to Brazil, for example, you will realize that we don't have bath tub in the bathrooms. Although some people in Brazil do have bath tubs, it is more common to see showers, which means kids don't get to have a fun bubble bath.

We are constantly sharing our experiences with our girls, and telling them the difference between our country and their country. We believe it helps them not to only expand their knowledge but also feel grateful for what they have.

Because of Him- Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this Thanksgiving day I am thankful for Heavenly Father and His love for each one of us. After everything we've been through these past two years, I couldn't be more thankful for His love for our family and His tender mercies. The reason why we are still here in the U.S is because of Him. The reason why we still have a place to live, food to eat, and happy days to enjoy is because of Him. And I am thankful for that. 

Treasure

Today I found some pictures on my camera we took last December when my mom came for Christmas. Every time she comes she brings so much happiness and joy! I miss her a lot, and the kids miss her too. They love her nana.

 Giovanna is always asking when grandma is coming back and she always points out grandma is taking too long. Bianca loves talking to her nana on the computer. She already knows when my mom is calling.

Distance is a hard hard thing to deal with, but I feel grateful she can come every other year to see us! Next year she will be coming for Giovanna's baptism. And so is my sister!!!

Lights On

Yesterday we took the girls to see the Christmas lighting at the Orem City Center. I am trying to get the whole family into Christmas spirit, specially Bianca who still talks a lot about Halloween. 

Right after Thanksgiving we will be setting up our Christmas tree! I am so excited! Christmas is my favorite holiday!

Transition

It is been fun and fulfilling watching Giovanna grow. She is so smart, active and loving! Each milestone she achieves is reason for much joy, but I don't know why it has been hard for me to watch her grow and change lately. She's been changing a lot (the way she talks, acts, her interests, etc), and I feel I don't really know this new young lady. I guess I am not ready to lose my little girl just yet.

Last Saturday I took the girls to Monte L. Bean Museum. I love that place because there is a lot to see and it is close to home. The girls really like this museum. But on that particularly day I noticed a lack of interest on Giovanna who promptly replied "yes" when I asked if they wanted to go home.

For me it's very difficult to see her losing interest on things she used to love. Even her toys she got for her 7th birthday she wasn't that excited to open. It's been definitely a transition for her, and for me. But I am sure we will be fine. New interests will come, and with them a lot fun and reasons to be proud. 

P.S.: I also hate seeing Bianca grow. I feel I am losing my only baby! Aargh!

Story of our Life - Part VII

Story of our Life - Part I, II, III, IV, V and VI

When Ale started working for the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints back in 2011 we felt our prayers had been answered.

We still had to deal with some stress (like having to move twice within a year), but overall our life was peaceful and prosperous.

Between the years of 2011 and 2015 we were happy, living in a nice community, and expecting our second child.  But in mid-2015 we found out Ale had lost his job at church. Everything about it was frustrating- the timing, the way it happened, the reason why it happened... everything. I wrote about my pain and frustration here, here and here.

As I already have mentioned before, it is not easy to live legally in a foreign country. There are a lot of rules we have to follow, there are a lot of things we are not allowed to do, and so forth. 

Because Ale was an international student, he could only work party time, and from time to time he had to present a letter from his school - BYU at that time - to the Corporation of  the Presiding Bishop to prove he was currently enrolled in school.

The tricky part is that this letter had a due date to be presented to the Corporation. Unfortunately, BYU sent the letter past due date and Ale ended up losing his job. 

Ale talked to his superior and a lot of other people to explain all the misunderstanding between BYU and Corporation, that he really needed that job,  and that he had a little child and a pregnant wife, but it was all in vain. No one listened. No one helped.

Short after Bianca's birth, Ale met a family from his mission who lives in Alpine. He mentioned to them all the struggle we were going through, and the family decided to help us out. They offered us to go live in their basement for a while until Ale could stand on his own feet again.

The story will continue...

Prayer

Ale and I have been married for nine years. All these years we've been learning and growing with a variety of situations we have to face. We love our Lord and we trust Him. We pray, we read the scriptures, we fulfill our church callings, and we teach our children the path of rightness and virtue.

But I can't remember a day we knelt together as a couple and offered Heavenly Father a prayer. Although we believe in the power of prayer and we pray as a family and individually every day, we never actually prayed as a couple. 

Yesterday, we compromised ourselves to no matter what is going on in our lives, we will find a quiet place and we will kneel together in humble prayer. We will thank Heavenly Father for so many blessings He has given us, we will plead for His light and guidance, and we will keep our faith.

I am grateful for repentance and second chances. I know our Savior Jesus Christ died for us so we could repent from our wrong doings, and make things right. I know Heavenly Father loves each one of us and wants us to be happy. He wants us to love Him and trust Him because He knows what's best for us.

He's been wonderful to our family, and despite all trials we've been facing I can see His loving hands through small miracles happening daily in our lives.

I am also grateful for beautiful members of the church around the world who set example of faith and inspire me to be the best version of myself. We are not perfect, but we can be perfected in Christ.

Disney Descendants Piñata

Giovanna turned seven years old and to celebrate we threw a Disney Descendants birthday party for her. This was one of the hardest theme Giovanna has picked so far. They don't have a lot of things from Descendants out there. 

After looking for a while I found some plates, cups and napkins from the movie, but I still had to come up with a lot of ideas to decorate the party.

Another hard thing to find was a Descendants pinata. To be honest I just found one and it was $25, which I would have paid for if it wasn't a square shaped pinata. When I saw it I immediately thought: "I can do that". And so I did. And it cost me $2.

 To make this pinata I used one of the boxes we had in hand. You can use any box you have in hand too, just make sure to tape it really good and make a hole on the top to put the candies in later on. 

Like this:

Also make two little holes to attach the rope to hang the pinata in the tree. We didn't remember until the pinata was about ready, so we had to work our way through.

Once your box is all set, cut the crepe paper into long stripes, then roll it and lightly shred the edges to make a fringe.

Before gluing the fringes, I covered the box with a purple paper to match. I used construction paper, but you can use any kind you have.

Then starts gluing the strips, fringed edge down. Glue a second row above the first one, and so forth. Do the same thing on the sides, top and bottom of the box. 

Since I was planning on gluing a Descendants image on my pinata, I left my front with plain crepe paper. I just put four fringed strips around my picture to make it more festive.

For the image, I printed two high quality images I found over the internet, and cut them in half in a way the two images would match perfectly -- Hands down to my husband who did this part of the job. Then put the candies in, and you are all set!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Feel free to post a picture of your pinata, or leave a comment with any questions!

**Also check how I made princess Elena of Avalor pinata.

Costco with my kids

REALITY:

That is all I have to say.