Happy New Year sweet family

Hi

Enzo and Maria made a movie for their secret santa pen pals, Minami and Gwyn. They made a list of some of their favorite things to do and we turned it into a movie. The mail service was on strike so a card was not going to reach  Minami and Gwyn. I sent the movie to Minami and Gwyn yesterday but decided to put it on the blog as well, so you can see what our typical day looks like these days. We wish Minami and Gwyn were here to play with us and we wish you were here too.
Merry Christmas everyone.

How to Best Spend a Wisconsin Winter

Hi Everyone!  We've had an awesome two weeks in Hawaii.  We're looking forward to another 4 more! The kids love the beach, shave ice, and hanging with the cousins.  Jesse is fulfilling his quota of projects at both Pam's and Adam's.  He's also working on a conference presentation and a textbook.  I've finally decided to apply to grad school.  Due Friday.  Nothing like a deadline to get the blood flowing.  Not to mention all the Christmas projects.  Speaking of which, I only took 5 photos of the reunion this summer. Ooops.  If any of you could send me photos of my family, kids, husband from Utah, that would be great!  I need them by Friday.  More deadlines, I know.  Love you all.  Wish you were here with us!

Christmas card

I thought I'd post Mariah's address in case anyone wants to send her a Christmas card:

Sister Mariah Hunt

Aichi ken, Okaza kishi

Tatsumi higashi 3-5-5

sky hills 4A

444-0878

Japan

oi

It's so weird that it's December but it feels like June.  The town is buzzing with end of the school year parties. Enzo's last day is on Friday which means he did Kindergarten in 3 months. hahaha. It's so great being this age when school doesn't really matter.

We've been enjoying hanging out with one of my best-friends from high school, Thais, and her husband Ale and little daughter Sofia. Thais lives in Italy now so I don't get to see her very often. Last time I saw her was when she was doing a Yoga Teacher Training in Santa Barbara. She's super sweet, always has been, and it was so great having her near by. They spent Thanksgiving with us, which was fun and then the past two weekends we went and hung out with them.

Sofia turned two on Sunday. Maria and Sofia became total buddies, it was really cute. 

Sofia even let Maria blow out the candles on her cake, and Enzo too. She's a very nice 2 year old :)

Like most, actually all, of my friends from High School Thais is a gazzilionair. Her mom rented a mansion in this resort for 15 days. There was a pool in the backyard and Maria and Enzo never wanted to leave. We also went to the Resort's pools which were equally fun.

I wish I had taken pictures of the rental because it was seriously cool. It had a short banana tree inside the dining room, that was planted on the ground not in a pot, and the fun part was that it had bananas, so you could be having dinner and then reach out and grab a one. 

Enzo is getting so big. When we went out to eat he dressed himself. I told him he would be too hot in his long sleeve shirt and then he told me "I know but it looks stylish" and then asked me to help him roll up his sleeves. He's so funny. Of course this is because Christian and I are super stylish people. Either that or Iris is having an influence on him.

Next week my mom arrives with my uncle and then my cousin comes for 2 weeks. Gabriel is back and he and his dad are planning a trip out here too. Then in February we're expecting one of my former students, Juliana to come for a couple of months. We're looking forward to the summer heat and our visitors.

P.S my uncle Jesse and aunt Sonia got to visit with Pammy and crew and as always they loved it. Thanks Pammy! They even sent me some cute pictures of pregnant Kaity. I'm excited for 2012 and our new family additions. Keep us updated on what is going on with you.

More Thanksgiving

after dinner walk

Hilltop view

local bougainvillea

Cedar with Kai and Christina

Tricia and Dave heading home

Martinez Walk

local pomegranates

nearby home

local charm

with Musi

angel trumpets

looking back

Thanksgiving at S & S (Steve & Shelley's)

"It's all good"

Mimi made rolls, cranberry jello salad and yams with apples

We talked her out of making pies and there were definitely more than enough

sisters and cousins
Vanessa, Tricia and Rainbow

the growing g's

serious prep

christina's salad with pomegranates
(we did have bunkerville pomegranate salad too)

siblings and christina

pammy has inspired me to take up the guitar again

suzelle and her famous kale salad
(vanessa's corn loaves were also very popular)

Happy December from Utah!

On the day after Thanksgiving, we had to go up to Salt Lake, so it was the perfect chance to see the lights at Temple Square. Bo loved all the Christmas lights and didn't seem to mind the cold at all. He would not sit in his stroller though, so the little prince got carried the whole time. He's been very particular lately. He says "my do it" for just about everything that he wants to do all by himself with no help. It makes everything take a lot longer and some things nearly impossible. He throws fits about changing his clothes, changing his diaper, or putting shoes on. We've tried potty training, but he is very resistant. Right now, he is running around naked and refuses to put any clothes on. I try to let me have his independence as much as possible, but do have to force him to do some things. Several times I have let him go outside without shoes in freezing temperatures. After a few minutes, he asks to put shoes on.

Right now, he's running around the living room with a blanket around his neck like a cape, saying "I a Super Why Nakey."

In pregnancy news, I'm 28 weeks and feeling great, besides being incredibly tired from about 4 pm on (especially on the days when Bo takes no nap or a short nap). We talk a lot about "baby brother" and Bo uses his doctor kit to listen to the baby's heart and give me "shocks" (shots) in the belly.

We miss you all! Everyday we think about how much it would be if we all lived closer!

Love you,

Sienna, Tony, and Bo

Hi

Oi

Hi family. Hi friends.

I've been trying to take more pictures of my surroundings. It's part of my exercise to focus less on myself. I've been pretty self absorbed this couple of weeks. We almost got a baby and then we didn't and then we did again. Same baby. He's 3 weeks old. I spent an afternoon with him, and of couse fell in love. The mom decided to give the baby to her second cousin, which I felt was a good decision and was at peace. Then the cousin gave the baby back to the mom after a week. The cousin's husband never wanted the baby to begin with. Now the mom wants us to take the baby and of couse we want to so bad.

We spoke with a lawyer here and the whole process in Brazil will take about 6 months - 1 year. We were so stoked. Then we decided to talk to some lawyers in the U.S. I have to say it's mighty convenient to have friends who are lawyers and so generous with their time. David Bennion has been a huge help, so has another friend. Anyway, U.S law requires us to either do it through an adoption agency in the U.S which is not going to happen because we would of had to start the process while we were there and also because it costs more money than we'll probably ever have. The second option is to stay in Brazil. If we have custody over the child for 2 years than we can start the immigration process, similar to what we did when we got married and when my mom came to the U.S, so realistically 3 years at least. I understand why these policies are in effect and I think it's a good thing, but it's hard to accept that we won't be able to adopt this child that we want so much. Of couse I should have figured all this stuff out before I got so involved with the baby and the birth mom. I know, I'm dumb. I just thought it would of been easier since I'm Brazilian and never thought it would of been a problem bringing the child back to the U.S. If the child was biologically our own it would be no problem at all, just some paper work but that's it. Sad. Sad. Sad.

So yeah, I've been pretty sad lately.

But on a good note

• We've been getting amazing weather. I feel so blessed that we live so close to the ocean, that we can play on the beach every single day. The kids are having so much fun here.
• In less than a month Enzo will have his Summer break. It's kind of fun to have 2 Summer vacations in one year. It's always fun being in Summer vacation mode. 
• One of my best friends from High School, who now lives in Italy, rented a house in Itacare for 15 days. She has a 2 year old daughter as well. She arrives today. Fun!
• In less than a month my mom arrives. I can't wait.
• The kitty is adorable and no longer scared to play with the kids. 
• Christian's research is going well. We're amazed at how everyone makes time to talk to everyone else. It's so refreshing, and definitely a good/easy place to do fieldwork.
• I just got hired by the website Inhabitots. This week I start writing for them. I'm really excited. 
• We're really excited about our trip around South America. Christian has been planning like crazy. Right now we're thinking about buying a car but if you want to join us we'll get a van instead. We leave in September of 2012 from Itacare and then drive around South America for 3 1/2 months. We'd love to have you along for the ride.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. 

We sure wish we could be in Martines or Hawaii with everyone else. 

Mikolyski Update

Lucas showing off his gorgeous eyes and grin.

Kadin loves playing with his Playdoh tubs more than the actual stuff inside. And he just learned how to use the mouse--gonna be a computer geek just like his dad!

Here's a video of them playing. Nothing really interesting so don't feel like you have to watch it, but for those of you that want to see how they interact now, here you go! I love that they can play together somewhat now.




We miss you all and wish it were easier to keep in touch across so many miles, but thank goodness for this blog, right?
Love, Robin, Scott, Kadin and Lucas

Professor Fashion

So, every once in a while I feel like I shouldn't be wearing my beat up Vans to work in and like I should try to look a little more professorial. Of course, since I shop exclusively second hand, this can be a bit challenging. Anyway, so I googled professor fashion, how to dress like a professor, etc, and ran into some various blogs, advice forums, and this. The professor or hobo quiz. Check it out.

I got 8 out of 10.

Happy Birthday Little Sister

oi

Hi from Itacare,
here are some things that's been going on. Christian and I are making a website for the canoe association so that they don't have to use the travel agencies to book trips for them. The peak tourist season is approaching, we're expecting our quiet beach town to not be so quiet pretty soon. Yesterday we got to go on a canoe ride up the river. It was  so way cool.

Enzo asks to go surfing daily. Yesterday his aunt Iris bought him a very cool present, his very own board.

Every time he's on a flat surface he practices getting up on a board.

In other news, we got a kitty cat!

I'm not an animal person at all but I kind of fell in love with this little kitty. Christian likes cats, and the kids were super excited so everyone was happy to welcome Cacau to our home.

He's just a month old and super freaked out by the kids specially Maria.

This is how she poses for every single picture. I can see why kitty is scared.

Kitty likes to hide under the stove so Maria has been hanging out by the stove a lot today.

The kids were so excited about the kitty they woke up and forgot to get Chris and I out of bed. They went straight to find kitty and Chris and I got to sleep in. I don't know how long the excitement will last but so far so good.

How are things with you?

Our Family in Huntington Beach

We were all together before Mariah left, so I forced everyone to take a picture! I'm so glad! There are more, but I'm in a hurry, so we will post them another time.
Liz

Happy 2nd Birthday Sienna Rose!!!

Church

We made it to church today. It takes us an hour and a half to get to church. I know, I've said this already like a million times and whatever it's not THAT long. And really spending $100+ reais (about $60 dollars) each time we go is not THAT much. But for some reason I like to be whinny about it, maybe it's because we have to leave the house at 7:00am to get there in time. I don't like leaving the house to go anywhere at 7:00am, heck I don't even like to be awake at 7:00am. Oh and no matter what we're always late. Today Maria had to pee so we had to pull over on the side of the road so she could pee. It was her first experience peeing on the side of the road and it took forever.

Then there's the whole other issue that church is just hard, even if you live next door to a chapel there's no way around the fact that Sacrament meeting with little kids is the opposite of spiritual.

Our ward has no nursery and our primary has a total of 8 kids and for some reason it feels like there are 100 kids. They're not the most behaved. So I stay with Enzo and Maria because they're kind of freaked out by the other kids. There's never toilet paper in the bathroom. The children's hymn books are falling apart, literally falling apart. It seems like our chapel has been forgotten and left to rot. It's in a really sad state. Maybe we should spend an extra $60 and go there on a Saturday and clean it up. I should definitely at least bring some toilet paper on Sunday.

But I did get to go to Sunday School today, Iris stayed with the kids in Primary, and the sister who taught the class did a really good job. And when we we walked in Maria clapped her hands and said "friends" and knew exactly where primary was.

So I decided I need to be better attitude. Seriously, what the heck?! If I can't be positive about the most important thing in my life then it's going to be hard to be positive about anything else.

The primary president/teacher/music person tries really hard. I appreciate her effort. Today I told her I could help. I was reluctant to offer any help because, well no good reason other than doing nothing is so much easier.  But Christian already reserved the car for every other Sunday until the end of the year so I told her we were coming to church every other Sunday and if she wanted me to I could teach a lesson or something like that. So after church she came to me and asked is I could teach the kids the songs for the primary program. I'm just as surprised as you are that we're having a primary program, but I guess we are. It's in December. She wants me to teach the kids the songs. She's a convert, mostly everyone in our ward is, and she only knows about 3 songs that are in the Children's hymn book, the same 3 songs that are in the church hymn book, so it's hard for her to teach them the songs.

So basically this whole long post is me asking you for help because I have no idea how to even approach this. Have you ever heard me sing? It's bad. How do I teach these kids the songs they need to learn for the primary program?

My baby is turning into a little girl

I don't have any pictures of cute kids in costumes but I do have pictures of a cute girl who hates wearing clothes and loves wearing earrings. 

The hippies who sell jewelry love her and love making her pretty things.

we have a bike, and some other little updates

Hi family (and friends),
just thought I'd give you a little update on our life here in Itacare. We bought a bike and we love it. All of the streets are cobble stone so it's not super comfy but oh well, at least now Enzo gets to school much faster. I love that we're walking distance to everything and love it even more now that we're a quick bike ride away to everything. Except for church. Arghhh, I hate that church is so far away. All I can say is that I've never appreciated the priesthood as much as I do now. Christian does a good job at blessing the sacrament and passing it out to us on Sundays. He also does a good job at making sure we're all spiritual enough. We wear our Sunday best, though lately we haven't been wearing any shoes to our Sunday home church.

I kind of look pregnant in the picture above though I can assure you I am not. As far as the adoption thing is concerned we're still just trying to learn more about the whole process. basically we're just asking a bunch of questions.

Speaking of babies, Baby Maria is a big girl now. She's saying all sorts of things, it's pretty funny. She's not feeling great these days because she's been sick with a stomach bug, the same one I had last week where I thought I was going to die.

Enzo loves school and he also loves not leaving the house. Last Saturday we went on a hike and he was complaining the whole time because all he wants to do is stay home. When he's home he wants to work on his workbooks, read books, or do math flash cards. I'm not really sure what to make of it. He misses his friend Junie a lot. He also misses Gio and Zeke. He always talks about Gio and Zeke. last week I made snickerdoodles and he really wanted me to save some for them. I was finally able to convince him that it was going to be impossible to save them snickerdoodles. Then I told him the story of how Kaity made the first snickerdoodles that I had ever had and besides Kaity is the queen of sickerdoodles, I'm sure Gio and Zeke get wonderful snickerdoodles from their mom. Then Enzo was sad and wanted wonderful snickerdoodles from Kaity.

In other news Enzo has another loose tooth which is always exciting.

Maria also really wants a loose tooth.

My mom is coming to visit us for a month, so is my uncle, and so is a bunch of other people. Yay! I haven't spent Christmas in Brazil since I met Christian, who showed me that Christmas in Hawaii is way better. We don't have any real traditions and my family doesn't do gifts. I'm not really sure how Christmassy our Christmas will look like but regardless I'm still excited to have my mom visit us for a month.

That's it for now.
Beijos
Da