Could it really be happening??

If you read this post, then you are pretty caught up. There have been four more unforeseen obstacles put in our way, which at this point should have been no surprise, and we have been continually surprised by how inept some people are at their jobs. I am glad that the people aren't unemployed and homeless, but it would be nice if they could be more adept at performing tasks in a timely manner.

Anyway, I'm done complaining.

WE LEAVE TOMORROW! And the kids and I get to fly with Jeff!! And my parents have purchased plane tickets, so my mom will fly back with me in March, so I won't have to fly internationally with my three children and no other adults. Wonderful, yes? :)

I'm really curious to see how it goes. We'll have a short flight to Atlanta, and then we'll depart from there at 9:00 in the evening to arrive in Brasilia the next morning. I really, really hope my kids will sleep. Apparently there are bassinets you can request on international flights; they are first come, first served, so I hope we get one! I have no idea where my feet will go with a bassinet on the floor, but I would much rather figure out some place to stick my feet than hold Alice the entire time. Assuming, of course, that I can get her to sleep. But surely she will. . . . right?

Which brings me to another point. Alice has had a lot of trouble sleeping since we returned to Virginia. She fought really hard at falling asleep and was waking up six times some nights, and a few nights I ended up sleeping on the LoveSac with her in my arms. The last few nights, however, she has fallen asleep the first time I have tried to get her to sleep, then she wakes up once around midnight, nurses, falls back asleep, and hasn't woken up until after 6:00am. Marvelous!

I can't help but chuckle though that I am about to disrupt her sleep again by going to Brazil. So, during Standard Time, Brasilia is only one hour different from Washington DC. But during Daylight Savings Time, they are three hours different, because they "spring forward" when we "fall back." I am trying to just be grateful for this week when she has remembered how to sleep. Maybe after two or three weeks in Brazil, she'll have learned how to sleep again.

Sleep is so precious.

Alice's first basketball game.

Danny is starting to make some great faces for pictures.

The Maryland colors are very similar to the Cincinnati colors; it was easy to imagine we were at a Bearcats game instead of a Terrapin game . . .

And check out what we were wearing! It was in the seventies the week before Christmas.

We went to the Festival of Lights at the Visitors' Center at the Washington DC Temple.

Alice was very concerned about the camel next to the nativity.

Jill's favorites were the pink trees and the rainbow trees.

Danny's favorites were also the rainbow trees and, no surprise, the blue trees.

Again, look at Danny's face! I don't know if he did that on purpose, but we are catching a lot of great "smiles" on camera these days.

I have to say that I am looking forward to 80 degree weather. I am nervous to see how it goes with speaking Portuguese. I really haven't spoken it since I graduated from BYU, and I've been so Spanish focused since then. Wish me luck! I am curious to find out if my kids will be brave in trying new foods. And I'm VERY curious to see whether Jeff likes being an FM at an embassy, because our future kind of depends on it.

Here is a fun conversation Jeff had with the kids the other day.

Jill: "Danny, you will find a girl soon and get married."
Danny: "No! Not yet."
Jeff: "What is Danny going to do?"
Jill: "He is getting married."
Jeff: "When will this happen?"
Jill: "When he is a teenager."
Jeff: "Who is he going to marry?"
Jill: "His baby sister."
Danny: "No! Mommy. I want to marry Mommy."
Jill: "You can't marry Mommy; she is already married."
Danny: "Oh."