Fun "Foto" Flashback

Do you know who this is? 

Can you recognize him in his disguise?

I LOVE this picture!

For years now, any time I look at it, it makes me smile.

No matter how many times I've seen it,

No matter what is going on or how I feel, it only takes a look at this picture to bring a chuckle.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Made From Scratch

Every once in a GREAT while I get it in my head to make from scratch some food that we can't easily get here.  This week it was tortilla chips!

We've lived here in Ouro Preto for eight months now, and I've seen tortilla chips at the store twice. When they do have them, they cost about $3 for a 6 oz. bag, so even if they had them, we wouldn't be buying them all the time.

I looked online to see how to make tortilla chips from scratch. All the recipes that I found started with "a package of corn tortillas." Problem! We don't have those either!  So I got a recipe for corn tortillas from a friend, and set out to really "start from scratch."

 It turned out to be a great recipe that was fairly easy to make.

It's always nice to have a handsome and handy assistant in the kitchen!

After they cook, you brush them lightly with oil.

Cut them into triangles (or whatever shape they end up being), salt them, and bake for a few minutes.

And enjoy the final product!

They turned out pretty good. The texture wasn't exactly right on all of them, but they were close. Since the whole process took a little over an hour (not including the time it takes to make the salsa), I don't think this will be something that we do all the time, but it was a nice treat to save for a special occasion.

Ordinary Stuff

When we are in our normal routine, just doing regular daily things, I have a hard time coming up with interesting blog posts. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE routine! It makes me happy. It just doesn't seem like you really want to know that I cooked meals, ate, washed dishes, did laundry, home schooled the kids, cleaned the house, planned meals, went to the grocery store, etc.

However, I also don't want you to forget about us down here! I am going to *try* to do better about posting about whatever is going on. So here is your fair warning. I'm going to just post about ordinary, daily life around here. Who knows, maybe you'll find something interesting in these mundane tasks, and perhaps every once in a while something exciting will happen along the way!

Today I present for you...
                         ...the parking garage of our grocery store.

This picture is looking back up toward the entrance. You have no idea how many times I have wanted to push the motorcycle at the top and watch them all fall over like dominoes!

What's that? Your grocery store doesn't have a parking garage? Here in Rondônia it's very nice because your car would be an inferno if it sat in the sun for an hour while you are in the store, so this is a nice perk. Another plus...you can get your groceries in your car during a tropical downpour and stay dry!

I am grateful that we have a grocery store (even air-conditioned) available to us. It doesn't always have everything I want, but it is definitely sufficient. Especially since I'm not really a "live off the land" kind of girl.

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Another year has passed in the life of our middle child. It was eight years ago today that this beautiful baby arrived and I was trying to figure out how to be a mother to TWO boys.  

Jonathan is so fun to be around. He keeps us laughing, and sometimes without even meaning to. We sure do love him!

Since we were in a year of transition last year, we didn't do much for birthdays. This year I let Jonathan pick what kind of cake he wanted, and we invited some fellow missionary families to come over and celebrate with us on Friday night. 

We planned for the kids to play outside, but the rain changed our plans and we came up with some inside games to keep them all entertained. 

 Jonathan really enjoyed his day, and I'm glad that we could make it special for him.