My Adventures in Rio de Janeiro - Day 2

Sunday morning we got up and got dressed for church. Our Uncle Guy joined our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) approximately 5-6 years ago after a trip to the states and a visit with our parents for three weeks. During that time, he attended church with them 3 times telling the Sunday School teacher on the second week that his lesson was the second best lesson he had ever heard. When asked what the first one was, he replied that it was the previous week's lesson.

He returned to Brasil and requested the missionary discussions. It's great to be able to talk to him about the gospel.


Here I am with my Great Uncle Guy. (Can you believe he is 87?)


This is Lezlea and Guy.

This is a view from outside the apartment complex in Leblon. I really like the bricked streets (the way they look, not the way they feel driving on them).

This is looking up to the apartment's laundry room and kitchen area.

We took a taxi to church. Taxi's in Rio are great. They are clean and relatively new vehicles. Aside from the aggressive driving in Rio, Taxi's are a terrific way to travel.

This is Lezlea outside of the church building.

The name of the church in Portuguese.

The church building.

We went to the famous "Hippie Fair" in downtown Ipanema. Lezlea and I both said it was the best flea market we had ever been to. It's the best place to buy authentic Brasilian items...art, jewelry, clothing, shoes, you name it. We discovered that the malls in Rio are very expensive and carry designer stores with designer prices.

We had dinner at the Yacht club. I tried ox tail and actually liked it. It was a good chance to try some of the local cuisine with other safe options if I didn't like it...buffet style.

This is Marcia and Julia (our cousin).

My Adventures in Rio de Janeiro - Day 1

After 9 hours on a plane orginating in Atlanta, GA, my sister, Lezlea, and I arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil at 8:35 AM, Saturday, May 16, 2009. We were greeted at the airport by our Great Uncle Guy (and I do mean Great!) and his daughter, Julia.

After visiting for a while and then taking some time to rest, Marcia took us to a beautiful park not far from where they live. It was a little cloudy that day but at least cool (May is the beginning of Brasil's winter). You can't really see the beauty of the area in pictures. You have to be there.


This is Marcia, Uncle Guy's wife. She is brasilian and quite a wonderful hostess too. She was so awesome at helping us to plan our time and the places to go. She took us quite a few places herself. In addition, she is a wonderful cook!

These are all pictures just around this lake park area. Very beautiful!

Together Forever and Ever and Ever and Ever...

This past Tuesday we had the privilege of attending the temple sealing of our very good friends, Paul and Alicia Mears at the Columbia, SC temple. It was such a special occasion and several of our other church friends attended as well.


Here are Paul and Alicia with three of their children and Alicia's step-mother.

Paul and Alicia.

Paul and Alicia twitterpated. Ah, love!

Ted and I standing in front of the temple.

Truthfully, the whole experience left us "twitterpated" as well. We can hardly wait until we can be sealed together also.

Family Fun in Sunny Florida

I love my family and I hate that we now all live so far apart. Heather and Kevin are in California, Mom, dad and Nana are in Florida, Lezlea and Brent are in Tennessee and Tamara is in Alabama. Ted and I are in North Carolina and all of his family is living in this state. Unfortunately, some of them are up to 5 hours away. So, when I get to together with my family, we plan for fun and take lots of pictures. These first 3 photos I swiped from Heather's family blog. Thanks chicka!


Heather and I strike a facial pose. Probably one of our favorite things to do as we are both incredibly goofy. I think it's just an Archer trait.


I love to laugh, but it's the true sign of having fun.


Here Heather and I are with our 95 1/2 year old grandmother. She doesn't look it does she?


This is my dad and mom and then Heather and I.


Once again, the silly faces must present themselves.


Kevin has no trouble keeping up with Heather. He's just a big kid himself! :)


Here we are...all the family we were able to muster. Myself and Ted, Heather behind Kevin, Mom behind dad, then Nana, and then Aunt Linda behind Uncle Brian.

Fun in Sunny Florida!

Last week, Ted and I took a week vacation to Florida to visit with my parents who live near the Tampa area.

One of the highlights of our trip was attending a session in the Orlando Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is a beautiful building both inside and out. We experienced the feelings of peace and happiness that can only be found inside that building.

Ted said he felt short next to my father.

We had the opportunity of going to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. My brother-in-law, Kevin, was our own personal tour guide. He grew up in Southern California near the original Disneyland and over the years picked up interesting tidbits of information. He made the adventure more interesting. Unfortunately, it ended up being a very busy day and we spent a lot of time standing in lines waiting to ride this and that. My favorite ride was "The Haunted Mansion." I also really enjoyed Space Mountain. Ted did too. He has now experienced his first trip to a theme park of any kind. What better way to get christened than to go to Disney!

Collin at the Carnival

Just a few weeks ago, Collin's kindergarten class visited the Drexel Fairgrounds for a Letterland Carnival. Amongst the festivities were a puppetshow featuring the Letterland characters, booths for each letter of the alphabet and carnival rides.

I am very impressed with the teaching methods for my kindergartner. He is reading at age 6 and able to sound out many big and difficult words. I had fun participating in this activity and thought I would share a couple of fun pictures.

Collin's a Character

Earlier this month (April), Collin participated in his school play - something about the tortoise and the hare. Here is a photo of him delivering his lines and then standing with a few classmates afterwards.