We have been adopted by a preocious little dachsund we call "Salsicha" which means "hotdog" in Portuguese. He does have a family, as he wears an old belt cut into a collar around his neck. It's obvious though that he is not too fond of them, as he stays with us for weeks on end. He's absolutley, positively certain that we are his, and that we and our house are his responsiblity to protect and love. He's a heartbreaker, and even our cockapoo, Theodore has taken to him.

We also have come into the good fortune of being owners of 3 baby Argentine Black & White Tegus (lizards). I haven't had much interest in reptiles or amphibians since I was in grade school, but these little guys have stolen my heart right along with my girls'. At this time they are only about 5 inches long, but should grow to be about 4 feet long. They are already so docile and friendly. When the girls put them down on the floor, they head right for them and run into their hands or onto their laps...it's the cutest thing.

Pool days with "crazy" daddy

Sunflower in our garden

Every step of life seems so bittersweet. The bitterness in the sweetest of moments is the painful knowing that the moment is passing by all too quickly. I have these bittersweet pains daily. I already miss who the girls were at every single age--0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...at every age they are there own special individual person, who I will never hold again--those chubby baby arms, the sleepy toddler nights with a nose pressed squarely against mine, breathing deeply while enjoying the flux of her own hot breath against my face...in truth she is using the feel of her own breath reverbearting off my face as a baramoter to see if I am still lying there or not...such determinaton to keep me snuggling with her all night long. They now put that determantion into other areas. And, during these precious days of discovery, books, friends, questions about God, I know I'm going to miss them here at this stage with just as much of an ache in my heart, as I do all of the years past.

The girls are dealing with similar aches as I have about their growing up. They are now fully immersed in their lives here, and are loving it, while at the same time they have deep feelings of homesickness. They have fears of leaving here in June...of leaving their friends (above in the pics you can see the "friends are forever club" they made under our stairs), the house, the neighborhood, the snack shack down the street, the language they have come to love. And, yet, they are excited to go back home to their friends, the house, the neighborhood, and the English language that they miss hearing (unfortunatley there is no snack shack down the street in Carbon Cliff). Beautifully bittersweet--this is life.

Our local Snowman

If I Had My Child to Raise Again


If I had my child to raise all over again...I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.

I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.

I’d take more hikes and fly more kites...

I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play...

I’d ignore the stares and stare at more stars...

I’d do more hugging and less tugging...

I’d see the oak in the acorn more often...

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more...

I’d abandon my love of power, …in favor of the power of love...


I stole this from our friends, Dr. Arthur and Dr. Becky's, Chiropractic Newletter--

Thank you guys!

Typical city

Baby coconut

A happy New Year to you all! We have made it safely back to Horizontina from our visit to Florianapolis in the state of Santa Catarina. We spent 9 days being beach bums...we have had our fill of sand, and salt water and are ready to tackle a new school year, and Andrew is ready to move forward at work--we are on the downward trend now--only 6 months till we move back home! We did not take many pictures of our vacation as it is not safe to walk around with a camera. I did manage to take some shots from the car of some of the scenery! The girls' favorite part of the trip was sledding and boarding down the sand dunes. I have to admit this was my absolute most favorite part too!!! I don't have any pics of the gorgeous steep hills, but Makaela and I braved a very fun, very steep one together--so steep, that right before we went down she said, "We're not going to die are we?" The ride down was crazy fast and fun, but it's not the ride down that killed us-it was the long walk up!