More pictures of Maira's birthday party

We did the limbo and a kind of bobbing for apples. I always thought the traditional bobbing for apples was pretty disgusting...dunking your face into a bucket of water that other people have been dunking their faces with their mouths wide open and spitting the water out of their mouths...yuck. So I saw this new kind of bobbing done at a church in Brisbin, PA and decided it would be a lot of fun to do at a party. The bonus was seeing a good number of kids eating their apples afterwards!

Maira turns 6 years old!

On March 27, Maira turned 6 years old! Here are some pictures from the party on Saturday. I'll post more later on the details, but I wanted to get these on the blog as soon as possible.

One more try...

Yep, we are trying the Brazilian school again. I know...I said I would NEVER do that again. I really had no intention of putting them in a Brazilian school, but I was not finding a tutor for them in Portuguese grammer so I started looking for other options again. My friend, Michawn, encouraged me to try Couto again. I had gone to talk to them in June of last year about the kids participating in only certain subjects, but the coordenator was not there and she never got back to me. Then I got busy with the Project, Candidacy week, and furlough so it just got dropped. I figured they weren't too interested in it anyway. I know the overall director of Couto (it is an elementary, middle, and high school) from various Asas events and so I emailed her and told her what I was looking for: Portuguese grammer, art, and some kind of physical activity. She had me come in to see her and then she took me over to talk to the elementary school coordenator. We talked over the options and we picked out two days that had most of the subjects that I wanted and also put him in a class with his bestest bud from church and another girl from church that he has known since birth. Maira has been bugging me about going to school too, and since her reading in English is pretty solid, I decided we could send her on the same days that I send Michael. Of course she was absolutely THRILLED! So they are going to school on Wed. and Thurs. mornings...7:15 - 12:10. On Thursdays Michael actually stays the whole day (until 5:30!)because his grade level does art, computer, and English on Thursday afternoons. He was pretty nervous the first day (Wed.), but it turned out pretty well. He complained about being bored because they did some subjects that were not on the schedule for that day so I had not purchased those books. I figure they are still getting the kinks worked out since it is still the first few weeks of school. Thursday he was really nervous about staying the entire day, but he really liked the afternoon and I don't think next week will be as hard for him. Maira talks NON-STOP when I pick her up from school...she just gets so energized from the whole experience! She is really loving it. We continue with homeschool and I'll have some heavier days for Michael to make up for Thursdays when there will be no time for homeschool. I had a really hard time leaving them there on Wed morning, but I feel very strongly about them getting the most out of living in Brazil at this time of their lives. Part of that includes understanding Portuguese grammar. Turns out Michael will also get in on some Math, Geography, essay writing, and volleyball. Maira's class is working on cursive already! My goal is to have the best of both worlds for the kids...homeschool with some enrichment in the Brazilian Christian school.

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.