Cooked Goose

That's what we felt like, anyways, as we fed the ducks at the duck pond with our friends.

I also felt like we owned our own daycare center, with 7 kiddos between the two mommies. Quite the parade!

Ah, the romance

I do love a good wedding.... congratulations, Raul & Charisse!

Game night

We had a houseful (and then some!) Saturday night for our game night/birthday bash. We celebrated Rob's and Elissa's birthdays, and had lots of fun playing games, and, of course, eating!

Devastating Loss

You may have seen on the news about the plane crash in Montana, with 14 confirmed dead, 7 of them children. Well, a family of four that we knew in Paradise, CA, was on that plane. Brent & Kristen Ching, and their 2 children were going for the last ski trip of the season. If you could pray for the Mautz & Ching families, I would appreciate it. May God give peace to them in this time of loss.

Guitar lessons

Our friend Kim and her kids Skylar & Brady came over for lunch today. After lunch, she and Filipe had an impromptu guitar lesson. Soon she can help us out with vespers!

Vespers

We have a group of people come over every Friday night to welcome the Sabbath together. This was our group this week--





If you're ever in the area on Friday night, stop by and join us for music, Bible study, food, and fellowship!

A little piece of sanity

If you're a mom, you probably know that place when you feel like you're only partly human. It could be because you get stuck in your "cave," surrounded by mounds of laundry, dirty dishes, and general filth. It could be because you usually eat moderately identifiable food that you've scavenged from the back of the fridge because you've given all the "good" leftovers (those that are less than 2 days old and likely not a carrier of salmonella poisoning) to the kids for lunch. Or it could be because your conversations throughout the day consist mainly of either yelling about the necessity of cleaning up toys that cut deeply into the foot when not noticed, or the value of not dumping five boxes of cereal on the floor, or trying to explain why mommy has to take "happy pills" (I love you, Excedrin) when we get out the instruments basket. Well, this mommy was getting to that place. The worst part about that part-human place is that the longer you're there, the further back you crawl into that dark, dank space.

Today, I broke free! If only for a couple of hours. We met some friends at a park we've never been at before, and everyone had a great time. The boys came home with scrapes all over their legs and big smiles. Sofia loves any opportunity to socialize. And this mom became a little human, getting to talk to another semi-human mommy for a while. So thank you, Carlson Fam, for hauling us out of our shell for a while!

Ambushed!

I hate figuring out what to make for dinner.

This is exactly what I was doing when I thought I heard a knock on the door. Surprise! My friend Jessy was standing out there. Now, Jessy is a friend we know from church (and college) who doesn't live next door. She lives like 30 minutes away. Not including rush-hour traffic. And Jessy is not a lady who is bored with her time. She's got 4 kids, ranging in age from 5 years to just over 1. So what was she doing in my neck of the woods? Apparently she's been keeping up with the illnesses my family is accumulating (probably because her family has had more than her share these past few weeks--you can't even imagine) and she understands how "interesting" life gets when everyone's sick. So she brought us food! Ready-for-the-oven casserole, fresh produce (need more vitamins!), and even fresh-baked bread! Ahhhhhh...... dinner!

The Ants Go Marching One By One.....

Hurrah! Hurrah!

This weekend Filipe went with some guys from church on a backpacking trip to Big Ben National Park, otherwise known as Barren Desert Wasteland. I enjoyed looking at his pictures, but I'm glad I wasn't there. They're probably glad I wasn't either.

They hiked,
they slept,

they ate,

they took many many pictures of the sunrise,

they encountered many lovely creatures of nature, such as this Mexican Jay:

And like this lovely furry fellow:

Yes, that would be a bear. A bear cub, I believe. One of four cubs. Oh, and don't forget the mama bear. Let's just say I'm glad to have my husband back, and he's not part of some bear's scat.

And they made it to the top. Looks like he's having fun, eh? Such a handsome fellow. Filipe's ready to plan for the next one!

Birthday Boy

This post is a little delayed, since Filipe's birthday was actually on Saturday. But hey, too bad. We had an open game night at our house (thanks, Pastor Baker) Saturday night. The food was provided by my MIL, the entertainment was provided by my husband (Birthday Boy), and the child care was provided by moi. Actually, I dig kids. I'm much more comfortable hanging out with those whose ages are in the single digits. I won't delve into the ramifications of that now. This blog is about the Birthday Boy.

In case anyone is interested, he turned the big 2-7.

Did I mention the party lasted until 1am? I think that's how long it lasted, anyways. I went to bed at midnight. What a party-pooper! My poor husband got stuck with a lousy hostess for a wife. But I have other skills that make up for it.

I'm really good at alphabetizing our files. That's my skill, so get your mind out of the gutter.

Anyways, here are a couple of shots from the party, so if you weren't there, you can cry that you missed out on all the crazy Adventist fun:

Like I said, food provided by my MIL Leila (she'll cater your event, too. Seriously. Her food--Brazilian--is awesome. She specialized in presentation--making it look good too. Oh, but she'll charge you, but I get it for free--ha!). She also did our wedding actually. Freakin' amazing, she is.

Why does everyone like to hang out in the kitchen? I probably should have mopped the floor.

I went all-out with the decorations.

Although Filipe's birthday speech was emotional and inspiring, my dad's ready for the ice cream (he really likes ice cream. Really.) Game time. I honestly think they woke up the entire neighborhood playing Pit, or Spoons, or whatever in the heck they were playing outside. I was expecting the cops to stop by any minute. Seriously.

This was my social scene--soymilk & cheerios with friend Jeffrey & my Sofia.

What party at the Fernandes house would be complete without an anatomy lesson of the heart? We really know how to party.

So there you have it. Maybe this will motivate you to be ready for it next year. Remember, April 26, 2009--Party Time at the Fernandes House. Rock on.