Sahara and Tirza's big Festa

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saturday we had Sahara and Tirza's big party! It was a blast! Crazy fun with over 30 kiddos, 2 languages and paint. :) We started at 3:00pm and the last kids didn't leave until about 7:00pm... we were having so much fun we just couldn't stop! We opened presents, had cake, played outside, painted toilet paper rolls to make High School Musical microphones and had an amazing face painter, thanks Carolina!

I can't believe that my big girl is 9 years old, it doesn't seem possible. She has changed so much in just the last year. She wanted a big kid party, HSM and asked for earrings and books and clothes for her birthday. Her favorite part of the party was that one of Tirza's friends has a new baby brother that she got to hold!

And I really can't believe that my baby is 4 years old, she really isn't a baby anymore. She was very serious about the party. Her theme was Cinderella so she woke up and put her Cinderella dress and her crown on, the girl knows how to party! She played good with her sweet little friends and really enjoyed the party.

Bria had a lot of fun too. She ended up having 3 friends there that all had siblings either Sahara or Tirza's age, so she had a blast playing with her friends. They loved the painting and spent about an hour painting:)

The birthday isn't quite over...we are gonna use the money Great Grandma & Grandpa E. sent them to go to a HUGE kids place on Thursday, the girls don't even know yet. Shhh, it's a surprise!

And the Birthdays Begin...

We are about to start our big birthday weekend/week. Sahara's birthday is Saturday and Tirza's Monday. We are going to have a big festa on Saturday with all our friends. But the party really began last month when Umma visited. And don't feel bad for Bria being the only little girl without a birthday this week...she does just fine!

Check out her new scooter...

Sahara and Mark got patins! (roller-blades) They both had them on their birthday wish list so they have had LOTS of fun riding! And yes, I did make Mark get the helmet. I know it makes him look special but after he wiped out (or nearly wiped out as he would say) in the store I felt it was necessary:)

Tirza could not have been more excited to finally get her own leapster. She played the other girl's leapsters before so to have her very own, wow big girl!

The girls in Marbella

We went into the town of Marbella for dinner one night, it was a really cute little town with lots of shops and cafes to walk around and look in. The girls had so much fun playing together, no matter where we were at:)
Dancing in the Street

Sophie has changed so much since last year, she is such a big girl now... a 1st grader. Her and Bria had SO much fun together! They played nonstop until the dropped into bed each night.

Friends!

This is in front of the restaurant we ate at, we got to try some tapas and paella. The waiter told the girls if they ate good and only if they ate good he had a surprise for them. They totally cleared their plates!

Tirza loved Mari and wanted her picture taken with Mari alone:) if you know Tirza and how hard it can be to get a picture of her sometimes... you know how much she loves Mari!

It was such a fun trip and I still can't believe that we got to hang out with Mari and the family in Spain, how crazy is that!?!

We miss you Mari and Sophie, next time in Portugal, right?! :)

Playing in the Mediterranean

So sweet, all 4 girls wading in the Sea. It was a cool day and the water was freezing but that didn't stop them.
Jumping the waves! I love that I caught Sophie and Bria in the middle of a jump.

This is where the dads were while the girls were in the water, building a sand castle, for the girls of course! They were serious and built quite the castle... they even decorated it with shells and sea glass... gotta keep their princesses happy:)

Cracks me up that the Mark and Stu are working so hard on the sand castles and the girls are off playing something else.

Espana with MARI

Yeah! We got to see Mari and Sophie and Stu and Mari's Mom... in Spain... just hanging out on the Mediterranean Sea!
All the girls having a BLAST playing together!

After a great dinner, complete with Tango dancers... we all took a little stroll down the beach. On one side you could see where Gibraltar and Africa are and when we turned around to walk back the moon was just amazing. Huge, red and rising so quickly it was like we could see it moving, just beautiful!

It was so fun for us to have a little mini vacation, get to visit Spain and we got to do it all with Mari and the family. Everything has been so new for the past year... new friends, new language...new life... it was really fun to be with someone who knows all the history.

Thank you Mari, for letting us crash your vacation!

Wrapping up Letha's trip

Well I think it is time to wrap up Letha's visit... it was a wonderful visit! We got to show Letha where we live, where the girls go to school, our favorite spots to visit and we went to several new places with her. And, most importantly, we had a couple good visits to the beach!

Mark's highlight of the trip was that Letha enjoyed drinking cafes almost as much as Mark does. He made a point to make sure she got to try all the different brands here in Lisbon.

Sorry Letha that we got you hooked on something you can't get in America... or maybe we aren't sorry cause now you have to come back to get some! :)We helped Uncle Buck celebrate his birthday with a great Indian food dinner. Thanks Kara and David for the mixes they were SO good!!! We also made our own chicken curry and surprised ourselves by how good it turned out, it didn't hurt that we had yummy mangos to go with it!

Oh, and I had to show you the fun puzzle that we (read Letha and I) did while she was here.

Thank you Letha for coming to see us!

You should also go here http://www.lethadiane.blogspot.com to read Letha's post about the doors of Portugal, I love it!

The castle on the hill

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Some random pics I didn't think you should miss:)

Bria and Auntie Letha just having some fun together.
Bria posing at the beach with Letha's sunglasses on so she didn't have to squint:)

Sahara and Auntie Letha at the beach... on our way down to the sand to play with new sand toys that Letha brought. We have been making some awesome sand castles with the new toys!

Tirza and Auntie Letha playing in Tirzy's room. A couple afternoons a week we pick up Tirza after lunch and so while Letha was here she took full advantage of being the only kid home. She had Letha playing princesses and babies and ponies, so cute!

My very favorite picture of Letha's whole trip, taken BY Tirza. so sweet! Did I mention how much the girls loved playing with Letha!?!

Letha at the Boca, I just thought it was a beautiful shot of the coast and Letha.

Happy Birthday Mark- yes VERY late:)

May 27th was Mark's birthday and we had a fun day of celebration! I had a brownie mix that my sister sent from India and I badly misjudged the measurements... so the brownies were interesting. But we added a little ice cream and enjoyed the celebration:)
During the day we, while the girls were at school, we visited the Tile Museum. Mark and I have been wanted to visit for awhile and just haven't had a free day. The tiles above are a huge panorama of Lisboa before the 1755 earthquake that destroyed a huge part of the city.

Letha and I are standing in front of a tile set that depicts Creation through Christ's Resurrection. If you know what a story cloth is this was just like that only done on tiles, it really is beautiful.

Mark found Letha a new boyfriend:)

It was a great museum with beautiful tiles and pottery. We all enjoyed the morning and ended it off in a great cafe for coffee and pastries!

And, of course, spent the afternoon and evening celebrating with Mark.

Letha, An Afternoon in Belem

Letha found a new treat in Portugal... cafe!
This is at our very favorite little pastry shop... the only place you can get pasteis de Belem. Yummm so good, if you have had them you know what I mean. You will have to ask Mom and Letha how they would describe them, we just say they are delicious!
This is a picture Letha took of a marina near the huge Discoveries Monument. I love all the sail boats and the sign. It has been so fun to show Letha around and see Lisboa through new eyes again... a good opportunity for us to remember how far we have come with learning language and culture.
The April 25th bridge and Cristo Rei tower are behind Letha, and amazing view!

The Torre de Belem

Just think this is a cute picture :)

Letha, Sahara and Bria at the entrance door to the Torre.

We also went into the Central Cultural de Belem, it has a huge art exhibit that is suppose to have some art by famous painters so we thought it would be a neat experience. Well the regular exhibits weren't there and the temporary ones were...well... unique. Like a light show of huge rats running around on the floor- the girls were entertained but I think we may have missed the artist intent. Oh well, we are guessing this huge empty frame was meant to make you think, we just laughed:)

Letha and I also went into the Monastery and there happened to be a Mass going on while we were there. It was actually my time to see a live Mass here in Portugal and although I was struck by the beauty of the building and the mysticism of the ceremony. I was also deeply saddened by the very same things... it was so rote and ceremonious that it lacked any connection or feeling. They prayed and spoke of Jesus love and sacrifice but then in the same prayer they prayed to the Saints and asked their blessing and help. I was struck that although the Truth is almost there, it isn't there at all because it has been changed and masked by other, unimportant things... things that aren't Christ alone!

It stirred me, deep in my heart, to pray pray pray that people will seak, that they will pick up a Bible and search for Truth, real truth.

Queluz

This is at the Queluz palace, just on the outskirts of the city. It isn't very far from where we live but we hadn't been there yet. It was well worth the trip. The palace itself had very decorated rooms, like the one above, lots of pictures of the kings, queens, princes and princesses that had lived there, painting, pottery... but the most beautiful part is the gardens.
This is walking up to a bridge that goes across a tiled canal that the royals used to ride like boats in for fun. Although they don't have it full of water anymore you can see the amazing tiles inside and out of the canal.

I just love the Portuguese tile art, it is unique and beautiful!

On the canal looking back toward the palace. It was just one of those places where you can just imagine a little of what it must have been like back in the day.

Don't we just look like we could SO be the King and Queen!?!

I love this section depicting the ships heading out to sea. You can see the old typical Portuguese ship.

It was a beautiful palace, huge and with lots of statues and decorative work on the outside of the building. And do you see those black ominous clouds overhead? They stay back long enough to let us have a fun, relaxing walk through the extensive gardens.

A view looking back at the palace from the gardens.