Washington DC and Lake Anna

After the family reunion we headed to my mom and step-dad's house in Alexandria, VA. While in Alexandria we went to Washington DC to see some of the sights. Here are Michael and Maira at the Franklin D. Roosevelt monument.

One of the fountains at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Monument

We also went to the National Zoo...one of the favorite animals that we saw were the pandas! They were so beautiful!
Then we went to Lake Anna for some water fun!

VanBeveren Family Reunion

From Murfreesboro, TN we went to Pigeon Forge, TN for the VanBeveren reunion. A friend of Jim and Toni Lynn offered their home for us to use for the reunion. Toni Lynn told us that it was just a little cottage in the mountains and that she was pretty sure all 17 be able to find a place to sleep inside the house. Oh, and there was a pool nearby. Turns out that the "little cottage" was a huge log home with a pool! It was beautiful!

We had family talent show night. Here is Anna showing off her Irish dancing skills! She takes Irish dancing class every week...very cool!
Here is Danny playing the recorder...
Toni Lynn on the flute and Davey on the recorder...
Terri Lynn on the dulcimer and Becky on the autoharp...
Jessi, Jenni, and Julie doing a comic routine...
Nana (or Vovó) brought pictures to do a picture family tree with the grandchildren

We went to Cade's Cove and saw bears!!!!!
The original cabin from the first settler to live at Cade's cove in 1730
Another black bear!

An outdoor dulcimer show
The log home...wow!!!

Murfeesboro, TN

We were able to get a car from Missionary Motors for FREE, so we needed to get to Memphis. TN to pick it up. Steve flew to Memphis while the kids and I flew to Nashville. Steve met up with us in Nashville where we stayed with Steve's former flight instructor and his wife. Jim and Jan Bostrom had just moved into their house 3 days prior to our arrival, so it was really generous of them to put us up! They live in Murfreesboro and our favorite football player happens to be a student at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. Derek is the son of a long-time friend of Steve's, Gary Cardaci. We didn't let Derek know we would be in town, so we just went to the campus and waiting for him to walk out of the locker room after football practice. He was so shocked and blown away to see us that he had a hard time catching his breath for some time afterwards! It was GREAT!

Jim and Jan Bostrom



















Derek showing us the football field


































We got to watch their "closed" football practice since we
promised not to tell anyone about their plays!

Sarasota, FL

Our second stop was in Sarasota, FL after a 4 hour drive from Miami. My dad and step-mom live in Sarasota and we had a great time with them. We spent quite a bit of time just roaming the aisles of Wal-Mart! We also went to a really neat seafood restaurant that was delicious! The kid's favorite activity while there was the Wiz Kids museum, a hands-on museum full of neat stuff for kids to discover!





Dad opening the door to Philippi restaurant

















Aunt Sina and Uncle Joe came to see us while we were at Dad's
















The kids (and André!) at the Philippi restaurant


























Michael and Maira testing their relaxation skills. This computer detects your level of calmness and the calmest person uses his/her brain waves to move the ball to the other side. Can you guess who won?

Manaus...our first stop

Okay... time for some serious catching up! I'm stuck sitting/laying around these days due to a nasty virus that found my intestines, so here is my chance to get back to posting. I guess I'll just start at the beginning of our time here in the US. Our first stop was actually in Manaus where we stayed for 2 1/2 days. Michael's bestest friend in the whole wide world, Lucas, came down by bus with his mom and baby sister so that he could see Michael. It was a long bus ride, but that is what Lucas wanted for his birthday. Isn't that the sweetest thing???? Michael and Lucas were inseparable for those few days and we had a little surprise and belated birthday party for Lucas. We stayed with Márcio and Keila which as a huge treat as well for us! I miss having them in Anapolis! As you will see in the pictures, Mathias and Larissa are adorable and we had so much fun playing with them.

Michael and Lucas

Maira, Larissa, and Mathias

Manaus was awfully hot, so the kids spent a lot of time in this little pool!

Lucas's birthday party with all the Asas kiddos in Manaus

Keila told me that when she met Johnathan, he instantly reminded her of Michael...but in a grown-up version. So there they are and you can judge for yourself! Jonathan is a Moody Aviation student who spent a couple of weeks in Manaus for some field experience.

Formula 1

Formula 1 racing is a big deal here...something like Nascar in the US. Steve and Michael like to watch the F1 races when they can (the races are often on Sunday mornings during Sunday school) and Michael is quite the fan. They watched the time trials last Saturday morning and when it was done Michael had the idea of making his own F1 car. He thought about it all day and finally in the evening he called Steve upstairs to show him his car. His car consisted of the sofa with the cushions off and turned on end, pillows, the remote control of a car, a booster car seat, and a Thomas the Train tent. Steve really got into the spirit and they had a race. Steve and Maira were part of the crew following every part of Michael's performance through their computers and were in constant communication with Michael through microphones. Michael won the race (of course!) and he was awarded with his trophy (can of tennis balls). Maira couldn't be left out, so she got 2nd place. Then the tennis ball can also served as the bottle of champange that they shake up and spray on the crowd.

I've always loved...

horses. I never was around horses growing up, but I have always admired horses. In college I took a horseback riding class and I learned to ride in the English saddle and the Western saddle. It was so much fun...and I even fell off the horse one day because he decided to go right into a run before the trot. While I was working as a teacher in the area of special education, I learned a little about horseback riding therapy and I thought that would be perfect for me...horses and kids. That never did work out because God had other paths for me and I am totally okay with that. So imagine my surprise last weekend when a friend of ours tells me that he is giving me a horse. Just like that. We were talking about seeing the Lippizaners while in Florida and he said he had been meaning to tell me that he wanted to give me a horse. The horse was born in October of last year. Wow. It took a while to sink in and now I am trying to figure out what to do! We went to meet our colt today...he is brown with a white star on his forhead and black on his lower legs. He is quite handsome even though he is no special breed. He has not been around people yet, so he is very shy. I took carrots with me and the other 4 horses loved me for it. Our colt, however, was too shy to even come close enough to sniff the carrots. I was able to touch his hindquarters very quickly, but that was it. There is another colt with him that has been around people more and she kept nudging me, nibbling on my hand, and pulling on my shirt and jeans for more carrots. She just wouldn't accept the fact that they were all gone. So, I guess we need to make many more trips out to see our boy so he will get used to us. I also need to find someone who can break him when the time comes. And I need to read about horses! Here are some pictures of the newest member of our family...he doesn't have name yet, but we are working on it!

The girl colt is the one looking away from the camera.