Thank you so much for reading our blog. It was a fun first experience to document a vacation in this way! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Well, we're back in sunny, cold Camarillo, CA. Fofi our cat is ecstatic we are home and showed it by meowing outside our bedroom door off and on throughout the night! After a long late afternoon nap, I woke the kids up from a hard sleep, they watched Little Einsteins (their favorite show that they've missed for a month!), had a quick dinner and then to bed at 7:45. Lily [View Full Entry]

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With some sadness, we leave Brazil tonight to head back to the good ol' USA. We are looking forward to being in our own beds, the kids being back in their rooms, and taking a break from rice and beans (Amy is at least). We will miss the times of fellowship with the relatives, the tasty churrascu (a meat lover's dream), being spoiled by Aunt Marlene, and seeing new places in Brazil. Please pray for us as we leave at 7:30 tonight (1:30 p.m. CA time) and depart after a layover from Sao Paulo at midnight. [View Full Entry]

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Uel's biological father's mother came for a visit and to meet her great grandkids. She hasn't changed since we saw her 6 years ago! It was nice to spend an afternoon catching up and watching her interact with our kids. [View Full Entry]

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On our last trip to Brazil, I discovered pao de queijo (cheese bread shaped in a little ball). Uel's Aunt Marisa is famous for her recipe so I eagerly asked to learn from her and she happily obliged. So the bread is definitely not new to me, but making it is. I just hope I can get the ingredients in the USA to make them myself! [View Full Entry]

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We are heading to Caldas Novas today. We'll be travelling by car since it's about a 4 hour drive. Uel and I went there on our last trip. It's a vacation destination for Brazilians since there is a huge water park there. They have many natural spring pools, waterslides, water aerobics classes, saunas, etc. We won't have internet access there so we'll update you when we return on Friday. Have a happy new year!!! [View Full Entry]

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In downtown Brasilia, they have a display of religious and secular booths. We especially enjoyed the nativity scene with the big star! The Christmas tree that cost several million dollars and continuously changes its design for about an hour was amazing! It was a fun time with the kids and our relatives. [View Full Entry]

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Since I was the first one of the adults to bed, it wasn't too painful when Daniel jumped into bed with us at 7:30 a.m.. I couldn't hold off having them open their gifts from one of their aunts. They were gleeful over their presents. Once again, we had a big churrascu lunch late this afternoon and had fun playing "Uno" with the cousins. Uel's mom went crazy arranging photos of the cousins, the aunts (sisters), etc. With such a big family, it's important to document the rare times that they are all together! Feliz Natal! [View Full Entry]

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The custom in Brazil is to stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve, eat a HUGE meal and then exchange presents. So we put the kids to bed at their usual 8 p.m. bedtime and headed over to the family's home next door for the evening. Unfortunately, some people's tradition is also to set off fireworks and play loud music on Christmas eve, so the kids woke up freaked out around 12:30 a.m. so Amy cut her evening short and entrusted Uel with the gift exchange while she got them settled again and went to bed. He did a great job [View Full Entry]

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We really enjoyed our time at the resort. Uel and I enjoyed the nice gym, all-you-can-eat restaurants (international, Japanese, and Italian), pool time with the kids, and dancing by the pool under the stars. The beach was beautiful and Amy enjoyed several vigorous long walks with friend, Karen who was there with her family as well. Water aerobics and volleyball in the pool were also a good way to balance out all the great food she consumed! The one downside was the laundry tab we had to pick up at the end. Don't ask Uel about it - he's still bitter [View Full Entry]

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We rented a car for the morning (the driver was also our tour guide) to check out the city of Salvador. After a few days at the all inclusive beach resort "Stella Mares" we were ready to venture out beyond the pool and beach! The tour guide showed us the best and worst of Salvador. It was humbling to see how the majority of people live day to day. The contrast between the poverty and the rich areas was stark. We walked along numerous cobbled streets in the city and meandered our way up to a famous church, which was closed...on [View Full Entry]

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