Witch City

One of my best memories from the Au Pair program is the trip I took with other Au pairs to Salem- the New England famous Witch City- to celebrate Halloween. The city has a perfect haunted atmosphere, and people go all out on their costumes (and personification). It is so much fun!

There was even a Ghostbusters parade. I love Ghostbuster!!! First time I watched it I was six years old. (Have you watched the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot?)

 Plus, I had never eaten so many sweets in my entire life.

It was my first time celebrating Halloween since we didn't have it in Brazil back then. I never knew we could get so many treats in one night. For free. lol

Gotta love Halloween.

Warm days

These last few days were so warm I felt like jumping in our pool (which will open this Memorial Day. Hooray!). Bianca's been playing outside every day.

Buuuuut, today we woke up to find gray sky, cold and possibly rain.

Welcome to Utah I guess?

Easter 2019

Our Easter was beautiful. We talked about Jesus and our appreciation for His atonement, we ate delicious food and treats, and opened a couple of surprises. I love celebrating special holidays with my family. 

For dinner we had tilapia fish with shrimp and tomatoes seasoned with garlic, soy sauce and cilantro. Giovanna wrote our names on place cards and picked where everyone should sit.

 We also did our classic egg hunt and Easter scavenger hunt. This year we went with a super cute Christ-centered Easter morning scavenger hunt idea I got from here.

Then to close the night I shared a message about the true meaning of Easter. I showed my family a video and discussed about everything Jesus Christ went through so we could leave with Heavenly Father again. We talked about even though the Easter story can be very sad (and it is!) we have reasons to rejoice because our Savior is risen, and He delivered us from being forever separated from our Heavenly Father.

I am so grateful for my family, for the gospel in my life, and for the knowledge I have of who I am, what's my purpose here on earth, and where I am returning to if I just keep my promise to do my very best to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and keep my convenants.

I am grateful for being able to teach my children they have a loving Heavenly Father Who is constantly watching over them and cheering for them on their journey back to His presence.

He loves us and He never leaves us unattended. We can always trust Him and on His promises.

I hope you had a lovely Easter time. May Heavenly Father always bless you.

Vaquinha comes to school

Today "vaquinha" from Chick Fil A came to visit Bianca and her friends at school. A couple of weeks ago the parents were invited to come over to school and read books with the kids, and also enjoy a visit from Chick Fil A's cow.

When I got there Bianca was so excited to show me "vaquinha" from Chick Fil A. She even brought her own vaquinha (the one she sleeps with and carries everywhere she goes) to show. Imagine her happiness when the Chick Fil A cow held her vaquinha...

The picture says it all.

I am so grateful for being able to actively participate in my children's school life. It melts my heart every time I show up for something and they come running to me with a big smile.

Bianca's first field trip

Today my baby girl participated on her first field trip (and of course I volunteered to go too). The school took them to the City Center Park and to the Orem Public Library. There was a mini school bus ready to take them. It was really cute!

The weather was really pleasant and the children had a good time at the park. After playing in the park they headed to the public library to explored and watch a story time. Then we headed back to park and we had a yummy lunch the school had prepared for us.

Bianca loved everything about this field trip, but if you ask her what was her favorite part she will say it was riding the school bus. For some reason my children LOVE school buses!

Dominic is three

Happy birthday to Dominic who turned three this weekend!

The Matute family celebrated Dom Dom's special day with a fun PJ Masks party. Giovanna had a blast playing with her friends and running around. Unfortunately, Bianca couldn't do the same because of her sprained foot, but she was happy just by eating pizza and the huge bag of candies Kelly gave her from the pinata. Then when she'd get tired of seating she would just crawl.

Thank you Dom Dom for inviting us. We loved your PJ Masks party, and we love you!

Happy Birthday!

Fall

Guess who fell from the inclined parallel bars this weekend and sprained the foot?

We were at the park closed to our home when I heard a cry. It was Bianca and she had fallen from an about 6 foot long inclined parallel bar in the playground. 

When we took her in to see the doctor on the next day we found out she had sprained her right foot. It turns out we have to wait to see if the sprain improves or worsen. For now Bianca can't put her foot down or walk because it hurts, so we've been carrying her around.

If it doesn't improve on the next couple of weeks we will have to take her in again.

Let's party!

Family Safari Day at Utah Valley University.

Animals show, build-your-own stuffed animal, balloons, face painting, food, and much more.

Have I mentioned I love UVU?

Unicorn Festival at Outlets at Traverse Mountain.

Unicorn?? We are in!!!

Have a good weekend you all!

San Francisco

After my oath ceremony Ale and I changed our clothes and headed to Fisherman's Wharf to have lunch. We ate at the Fishermen's Grotto and we ordered crab sandwich and some fried sea food. It was really good!

 Then we visited some already known places and some new ones. The temperature was low and the day was windy and c.o.l.d!

Buuuuuut we couldn't miss (again) Ghirardelli Square. We ran our way there and had a delicious milkshake. 

Then we said our goodbyes at the Pier 39.

I love you San Francisco. I'll miss you!

**And look what we found in San Francisco:

Too bad Ale doesn't like milk.