Christmas Eve, 2007

Once again it's a summer Christmas in Brazil. Here dad was doing a little decoration with the kids. Sarah really enjoyed it.



It was nearly 90 degrees today and we went hiking in the morning at this place the kids love. Here they all are.


Sweet sisters...



If you stopped and were quite you could actually hear these things eating the leaves. Note the bright color. As with most things in God's creation, animals with bright colors mean don't touch so we didn't.


At 13, Jesse is nearly six feet tall. We call this one a giant and his side-kick.

7 Oct - My how they've grown (plus Sarah's birthday)!

Hi everyone. Yes, I know I've failed to keep up with this since we got back from the States, sorry. Just wanted to let you see how big the kids are. Starting with...Jesse.

As you can see, he's almost as tall as me (he's 13), but check out his foot...

I just bought him a pair of size 13s. That is my (Brian's) foot in the foreground.

Here's Rachel, she's just about the same height as her mommy.


Here's the puppies... You can see our new toys in the background. We bought about two dozen dogdeballs and we have a great time pelting each other. There is much pegging going on. The balls don't sting (at least not for me).


Yesterday, 6 Oct, was Sarah's birthday. She turned 2. First we opened presents...


Then we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant. Grandma Sue, note the outfit Sarah is wearing. If fits great and she looks really cute in it.

Family picture

Here's us in front of the US Army Aviation Museum in Ft. Rucker, AL. All the kids enjoyed looking at the aircraft, but I think Sam-Sam had the best time. All I heard for the whole time we were there was, "Dad look at this cool airplane/helicopter."

Long time, no post. We're back!

Hi everybody. It's been a long time since we posted anything. For those who don't know I (Brian) was in the States doing the Army C-12 course from Apr to Jul, so we were not advertising that Shellye was home with the kids alone.
Jesse's school got over the first week of Jun and that's when Shellye and the kids got to her mom's house in Elba, AL a short distance from where I was flying.
Sarah took well to her Grandma and all the other new family she met. Shellye and I left the kids at Pearlie's and went on the Focus on the Family cruise from 7-14 July from Seattle to Alaska. My brother, Bruce flew in from Korea and our friends the Greens (with 12 kids) flew in from DC, so it was the three of us couples hanging out from the week. We had a great time and Focuse and great speakers. Here are some shots. First are some of the formal nights, this is me, Bruce and Howard Green.


Here's us:


Our stop in Juneau at some gardens and Mendenhall Glacier.




Here's us in Sitka, AK

Entering the bay where Hubbard Glacier is:

Passing in front of the glacier. Me and Shellye and me and my brother, Bruce.



The last port call was in Victoria, British Colombia

Don't call PETA on us. These gulls came in really close.

And finally some shots with some of the staff from Focus, us and the Daley's, he's the new President and runs day-to-day operations. Super sweet couple.

And us with the Dobsons.



Shellye and the kids will be back in Brazil on 5 Aug and we should have some more pictures to post.

Porto de Galinhas

Shellye and I did our first getaway together since we came back from China. We went to the northeast of Brazil to a beautiful place called Porto de Galinhas. It is in the state of Pernambuco about 30 miles south of the capital city of Recife. We had five days, four night without the kids who stayed at home with one of Jesse's teachers.

The first full day we were there, I tried my hand at surfing and got up on my feet on the second try. It didn't hurt that I was using a nine-foot longboard.


This guy was incredible weaving all kinds of different things with palm fronds. We bought three bowls (not the hat).


Here's a shot up the beach (north).


Here's down the beach (south). Right around where the sailboats are is where the main part of the little town is. There are several streets that are pedestrian only and plenty of yummy restaurants. We ate seafood everyday except the last when we opted for a nice steak.


Shellye had a lot of fun on the boogie board...


...and sitting around in a postcard setting.


This guy, whose name incidently is also Brian, was my surfing teacher. All surfer stereotypes apply to Brian; he was a lot of fun.


I got up each morning at six and surfed until seven when Shellye got up so we could have breakfast together. This is the last day. I did have visions of granduer, "Man picks up surfboard at 40, becomes World Champion within a year." It was kind of scary thinking, Hey I could sell all, move my family here, and surf everyday.


Reality was that the surf pounded me more than a few times an here are the results from the last day...a pocket full of seaweed.


Here's my one an only groupie having a cup of coffee, she got up early on the last day to watch her man.


We didn't want to leave. Here's us just before lunch on the last day.


All checked out and ready to go back to the airport.


Last picture. This was the name of the pousada (inn) where we stayed, Canto do Porto (corner of Porto). Click on this picture and note the little lizard-boy in the background on the wall to the right of Shellye. He popped up his little head for the picture. You can see more pictures of the pousada at their website www.pousadacantodoporto.com.br.

Sarah funnies!

Hi everybody! I've been lax at putting up pictures but we're going to do a couple of postings tonight. This one is about Sarah.
Sometimes Rachel and Hannah get tired of dressing their dolls and they need a live subject. Sarah usually handles these episodes patiently. Here she is with the Stewart Tartan outfit and as a little shepherd girl (with sequins). The big sisters really love spending time with Sarah and there is always much giggling.



Happy girl at the breakfast table.


We walked into the kichen one morning to this scene and had to take a picture. Guess she wanted Alpha-Bits and didn't want to wait for mom or dad.


Sam and Sarah in their Chinese oufits as we had some pictures made during Chinese New Year.


Sarah likes to play in the bathroom as we get ready. One of her favorite things is climbing into the bede where she watches daddy shave or mommy put on make-up.

4 Feb 07

Well, I haven't been keeping up with this as much as I should but here's what's been going on since Christmas. First we took four days and went down to a hot springs area called Rio Quente. Sarah had a great time. She already loves water like the rest of the kids. Here's mom with Sarah and Sam.


Jesse, Rachel and Hannah at night


Here's Sarah when she was a little hot and cranky but for the most part she had a great time.


Here's the whole family on the afternoon of the last day. We had a little bit of a challenge on the day we woke up to go home. Sam and Sarah started throwing up. So after the rest of us ate a quick breakfast we piled in the car for the ride home. Shellye had the unenviable task of sitting between the two for four+ hours holding bags.


Some friends from the Chinese Embassy came over to meet Sarah.


Look how happy Sarah is with her mommy!!


Here are all the sweet girls!


And here's a piece of really big news. Drum roll please...yesterday Sam learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. It took all of about twenty minutes. Now he loves to ride under his own power. Here's the pictures to prove it. Lest you think I taught him in the rain, the sequence went something like this. He learned in the afternoon in nice weather while mom was at the beauty salon, we had to go in to start supper when it started raining. When mom came home Sam had just gotten out of his shower, but we went out to the street to show mom his new skill. We bought this little red bike in 1997 when Jesse was turning three. We've now had four kids learn how to ride on it; it's a Crocodile Cruisin' from Wal-Mart. If that's not good advertising for Wal-Mart I don't know what is.