Tropical Storm Nadine

After the last hurricane came and went with no excitement, we didn't give little Tropical Storm Nadine a thought.  Boy did she sneak up and get us!  It was a fun adventure that taught us that we don't have enough flashlights and never forget that Mother Nature is the boss!

 

As we finished up dinner at a local restuarant, the power went off.  We knew that was the cue to head home.  The peaceful cloudy sky had quickly turned to sideways rain and strong winds.  We ran to the car and made it home.  Our power was off at home as well so we went right to bed.  We already had a text(thank goodness for 3G) that school was going to be on a 2-hour delay the next day.  The kids decided to squish beds together and have a sleepover(they blame it on Megan being afraid to sleep in her own room, but I don't think that she was the only one!)

 

The night howled on and we heard some things being thrown around.  Curtis and I headed out into the storm to save our nice grill after we saw the older one fly away.  While out there we saw some of our ceramic roof tiles fly away and crash on the ground.  Water streamed in one of the windows flooding the playroom. The power was restored through the night which we were grateful for(it was getting hot!)  The next morning we found only minor damages.  The kids were happy to survive the "great storm" and especially happy that school was starting late.

 The farmers little shack behind our house didn't quite make it through the storm.

 The swing left the porch and flew into the yard.  Megan and her friend tried to help it back up.

 The tree branches that took the brunt of the storm got stripped of their leaves.

And the saddest damage of all....Megans plant got stripped of it bountiful flowers and leaves.  We hope it comes back to us.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the time we had huddled together listening to the storm.  We are grateful that we suffered no major damage and that we have another fun experience to add to our adventures here in Portugal!

 



Jake's Birthday

For Jake's 12th birthday he wanted to have a paintball party. This is the only picture I have because we were too busy playing.

First Day of School

Today was Megan's first day of school. She is a full-day kindergartener, and I have an empty house! The boys started last week! Yay for school!!

Branch Activity

On Saturday our little Portuguese Branch got together at a park near the ocean for an activity.  It was one of the best activities we have ever been to.  Every ward or branch should have availability to an ocean for an afternoon of fun.

 The men were grilling.  They had some fun trying to keep the heat going!!

 The park has a little paved in area of the ocean to make a swimming hole.  The water isn't too deep or to strong for kids.  After swimming awhile the boys began catching any sort of fish that they could.  We came home that evening with 1 fish and 6 crabs. 

 The adults and teenagers went snorkeling.  The water was beautiful.  We saw lots of fish and some other creatures too.  One lady got stung by a jelly fish.

 These girls were swimming in our beach bin.  They were so cute!

 There was plenty of time to sit around and chat.I think here we were comparing goosebumps from the cold popsicles.  You know me, I am pretty wimpy!

It is not easy to serve in a Branch where I don't speak the language very well, but activities like this make it all worth it!

Bullfight

When Curtis and I were headed out for dinner for our anniversary, we noticed a bunch of cars parked along the road and remembered that there was a bullfight in one of the local villages.

Fortunately we knew a Portuguese firefighter who has a house on the main street.  We hopped some wall barriers and had front row seats.

There was so good chases but noone got hurt.  The bull means business.  It was a bit scarier than watching it on tv.  Videos can't truly capture the full force of the bull.

It was an extra bonus to our anniversary celebration.  It has been fun to experience the cultures of the area.

Madrid

 Curtis and I took the opportunity to go to Madrid, Spain, with our district to the temple. While there we went out in the late afternoons and evenings to see some of the sights of Madrid.  This is the famous bull fighting arena.  Unfortunately there were no fights while we were there.

 We took some of the youth out for some sight seeing.  This was their first time on a subway.  These kids from a tiny little island in the Atlantic had lots of firsts.  First time on an subway, first time on an escalator, first time outside of the island or Portugal.

 Parque Del Retiro

 We couldn't leave without seeing the Real Madrid Stadium. 

 We ate some good old American food.  The Spanish food was great but it was nice to be somewhere "familiar" and to eat "familiar food!"

We feel so blessed to see another country and spend time with our amazing Portuguese friends and go to the temple.  The week was refreshing and uplifting.  We can't wait for next year!

Madrid Temple

Greece

 On July 11th the kids and I decided to get on a military hop to Greece.  Curtis had been gone all week taking a class for his Masters.  Since we wouldn't see him much all week, we decided to take the opportunity to go somewhere new.  It was only a 3 day trip but was a great experience.

 Jake and Nick were put on camera duty so these pictures are some of the ones that they thought were important to document our trip.  They did a pretty good job.

 We were on the island of Crete.  It is much bigger than Terceira, where we live.

 We visited a major city called Chania. 

We got on a glass-bottom boat for a cruise around the area in the Mediterranian Sea.

 It was HOT!

 Here is a little shrine on a little island in  the Mediterranian for St. Nicholas.  This is where the people brought their sick and dying.

 The heat zapped us.  Air conditioning didn't seem to work well enough.

 We got lost driving around and eventually found our way to a little beach.  The water was warm and lovely.

We definitely plan on going back another time.  Maybe in a month not as warm as July though.  We can't wait to show Curtis everything that we saw.