Sergio turns 32, whewww

8 Amazing Years!!

As of Dec. 28, 2008 Sergio and I have been married for 8 beautiful years. We couldn't be happier. I kidnapped Sergio on Sunday afternoon and we stole away to spend some hours together alone with no kids and no in-laws. It was awesome to just talk and talk and talk and .... I won't tell you the rest. But we love each other so much and we are grateful for our strong marriage, our 3 incredible children, and our faith in our Heavenly Father that glues us all together. We look forward to 80 more years together in this life and 8 bazillion years in the eternities......

We Love you

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

Up Up and Away........ I can't believe it's over. Santa's gone and Christmas is trickling down for another year. What an awesome December we had. We decorated the house the best we could. We had a fun ward Christmas party where the primary kids were the highlight of the night. Sergio and I danced and dined at his work Christmas party. Nick had a blast at his school Christmas party. We sat on Santa's lap 3 separate times this year, not on purpose but he just happened to be at the same places we went this year. We did a sub for santa project where we fixed up and repaired 4 bikes for a family and delivered gifts to them...(unfortunately we were seen by the kids) but I'm still glad we got to help out. We invited a family over to make home made cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve and Christmas day was filled with presents, laughter, laziness, pajamas all day and a yummy dinner made by Iolanda. We couldn't have asked for a more awesome holiday season. It was a more slow paced Christmas this year and although the last week was a lot of running around, it still seemed to slow down enough for us all to truly feel the spirit of giving and the true reason for the season, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are so very grateful for the baby that was born and whom we celebrate every year. We missed you all, but pray that you all had a great Christmas!

Trip to Utah

Well we did it... we decided pretty much at the last minute to make the trek to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was worth every bit of sacrifice we put into it. Our trip consisted of so much fun... we flew into Vegas, rented a van and headed straight to Salt Lake. We visited friends and family there for 2 days and then spent the rest of the time in St. George. Our activities consisted of an adventurous Thanksgiving meal provided by good 'ol Chuck A Rama and dessert at Kerry's hours. Mom provided a fun thanksgiving craft for the kids. We did family sealings at the St. George temple which was so neat and then headed for the red rocks to let the kids run around. We had a whole day of 4-wheeling thanks to Joe and Kerry and then a birthday party for Seth and Spence. What a trip. The airplane rides were tons of fun for the kids and we hated to see the trip end. We love our family so much and although its tough to be so far away, we feel so blessed to have been able to spend 9 days with ya'll. Hope to see you again soon.

Trip to Utah

The Lucas Family

Many of you may know the Lucas Family. They are dear friends of ours from Brazil. We had the pleasure of visiting them during our trip back to Utah in November. Sergio grew up with Douglas and Giseli in Brazil and we spent many fun days together while we were still in Utah. Sergio and his dad were able to give both Giseli and Douglas a priesthood blessing of comfort and healing. It was a very special time for all of us. A day we will never forget. This week Douglas called us to inform us that Giseli's cancer has now spread into her brain. She has been battling cancer for over two years. The doctor's believe she only has a short time left. We love the Lucas family dearly and pray daily that Heavenly Father will watch over this beautiful family... thank you Gi for ALWAYS smiling and being such an awesome example of strength and beauty in every measure. We love you!!!!

Lucas Family

Fall Leaves

Fall has fallen and the crisp cool air has brought about the spirit of Christmas. Our leaves change into magical colors here in Mississippi. I love the fall because to me it symbolizes CHANGE. Just as the leaves change color, I believe we need to change up our lives a bit so we don't get too comfortable. My big change has been the new calling I have been given in our ward. Today I was sustained as the primary president. I am extremely humbled and feel I lack the knowledge to take on such a calling, however; I know I have been blessed with two great counselors and I know this is going stretch me to the max. I am very eager to love all the children in our ward and share with them my testimony and love for my Savior. I hope and pray that each of you have change happening in your lives, whether it be challenging or pure joy, all change is good!!!

Fall Leaves

Halloween 2008

Halloween was awesome this year! What a week we've had. Someone in the neighborhood does a free Haunted House here so we started the week off taking the boys to their first haunted house. They were pretty scared but no nightmares because we had prepared them for all the ooey gooey things they'd be seeing. We had the missionaries over for a fun Halloween dinner with green noodle spaghetti and witches blood to drink. The missionaries loved it. We then made Halloween cupcakes ( thanks to Grandma Katie's box). We carved pumpkins and then Friday we went to the church for a big Chili cook-off, hay ride, and trunk or treat. The kids loved it all. While on the hay ride, Nadia thought she was on a roller coaster so she screamed and put her hands up almost the whole time, making everyone laugh. I was for warned that I would need a ton of candy for the trunk or treat.... so I spent a sickening $30 dollars getting candy and to my great horror we have about $40 dollars of candy left. Candy is the worst part of Halloween and now I'm stuck with more than what we started with and can't take any back.....I guess I'll be pawning it off to Sergio's work and wherever else I can send it. What a waist of money. Next year I'm passing out plastic bugs and spiders.... We love you all and hope you enjoy the pictures.

Halloween 2008

DANCING QUEEN

Hey everyone,

Yes, it was my 34th birthday today. Yee haw. I feel , I feel, I feel exactly the same as yesterday! Today was a great day. I went out to lunch with some gals from my ward then Sergio took us all out to eat at the Olive Garden....yum. We had ice-cream cake when we got home. I received a nice book, perfume, shoes, a jacket and the Mama Mia soundtrack, but the big Kahoona was my monster hand Wheat Grinder. Yes! Can't wait to grind my own wheat and figure out how to make my own bread. Thank you Sergio for an awesome evening.

p.s. dad, the closest I got to going dancing was rockin' out to ABBA's song "Dancing Queen." That was pretty dang fun! You and Katie should try it some time.

Stacy's Birthday

Thank you MOM!

Mom, thank you so much for coming to see me. What a great time to just talk and relax for the weekend. We love you and know that the Lord will continue to bless you in your efforts to press forward with faith in your times of trials and hardships. Stay strong and positive. Have an awesome week.

Nick Updates

Nick had 50's day at school and this is as good as we could do with last minute notice. He said he met Elvis...(his music teacher). He had a great day.


That same night he decided it was time for us to pull his first tooth. He was so brave and so excited. The tooth fairy brought him an Oreo cookie and a Golden One Dollar coin. What a day. We can't believe he's growing up so fast.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Hey Y'all-

Here is our big "Fall Getaway"!! Nick had two days off of school so we hit the road and drove 6.5 hours to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. For all of those of you who are like me and didn't know these places even existed.... these cities are considered the gateway to the Smokey Mountains and home to the famous Dollywood. What an amazing family fun vacation. There was so much to do we couldn't even decided where to start. We had an awesome helicopter ride, we rode a tram up into the mountains and did a water slide and alpine slide (helped with a bit of the longing for our own mountains back home). We played in an enormous indoor water park, we spent half a day in one of the most amazing aquariums we've ever seen. We will place some videos on the blog later. And we did experience Dollywood. What a trip. The kids were plane pooped out by the end. The drive to and from was gorgeous. The leaves are all changing colors and the Smokey mountains are extremely lush and full of beauty in every directions. We couldn't have asked for a better getaway. Thank you Heavenly Father for creating such a beautiful world around us. Next time we hope to see some bears and get some actual hiking in the mountains....

Part 1 Gatlinburg

Part 2 Gatlinburg

Nick's Soccer Season

Feliz Aniversario, Iolanda!!

Yae! Grandma Iolanda turned 66 today. What an accomplished age. Grandma was spoiled with flowers, cashews, a yummy seafood dinner at Red Lobster, and topped off with Marie Calendars chocolate silk pie. She loved the winter clothes we bought for her. We hope it was a great night. We love her a lot and are very grateful for her graciousness and assistance with the kids. Happy Birthday, Iolanda. We love you.

Iolanda's Birthday

Life in Olive Branch

Here are just a few pics in our normal everyday life. The kids are growing like weeds and we love it. Relaxing on our swing in the backyard is a favorite pastime for everyone. We miss you all and hope the pictures help to mend the distance....

Everyday Life

Nick & his bike

Nick learned how to ride his bike in about 4 days. He practised everyday after school until he could get started by himself, turn by himself, and not fall. He even was able to lose the full out gear after about a week. He still feels the helmet is very important but the knee and elbow pads make him too sweaty. It's awesome to see him growing up!!

I'm going to ride my bike, ya

Hurricane Relief

Houma Louisiana

Last weekend Sergio had the opportunity to volunteer for some hurricane relief efforts in Houma, Louisiana. The people were soooo grateful for their services. 1400 church members showed up to lend a helping hand. We feel so blessed to be part of such a great church that truly takes care of other people. Sergio worked his tail off and yet had an awesome experience that he won't ever forget. Way to go, Sergio!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN

Hey Brian, we love you so much. We wish you a very happy birthday. Nadia was screaming at you and wanting you to know she misses you. The boys wanted to know if you could catch a plane and come have cake & ice-cream at our house... I told them I would ask. So do you want to fly on out to our pad today and get some cake? If not, many awesome wishes to you on this great and glorious day that you were born. Rock on and party hard. Your card is in the mail!!

The Fair

Here we are at the fair. Why we decided to go to the fair, I do no know. I take the blame for wanting to go. Fairs are all the same no matter where you go. Some of the highlights were the yank it out your shorts prices, the foot long corn dogs, the deep fried candy bar (you only need to try once in your life time), the long lines, sweaty people, the pig races, the stinky petting zoo, the broken rides, or when PAT decided to pick Nathan up and returned him to us with a big ol' smile on her/his face. I think she wanted to show us her pearly whites (I mean her pearly white) and she gave Nathan a smoocher right on the cheek. That was especially nice. The coolest part was the motorcycle jumping... not $95 dollars cool, but the boys loved it. You could even pay extra to see the smallest horse alive and then around the corner you could pay extra to see the smallest living woman. I thought the movie the "Elephant man" did away with this type of cruel and unusual punishment, but I guess not. I decided to save my $2 dollars and bought ice-cream on the way home so that the big zit on my chin would go ahead and increase in size. Fun times.

The Delta Fair

The next Osmonds.....

Here are the kids showing all their moves...

My new valance

Mom,

Here's the valance you made. Looks pretty darn cute in the country style kitchen. Thank you for your hard work and talent. It definitely warms things up and does a great job covering the blinds.... Love you.

Tori's Visit to Memphis

Tori braved the heat and spent two and half weeks in the hot, humid, lushy green of Mississippi! We are so grateful she was able to come and do a lot of r & r. She shopped, texted, watched movies, texted, drove to Wal-mart, texted, shopped some more, texted, took a tour of Sun Studio, texted, had a night on the town in the middle of BEALE street, texted, saw the big gaping Mississippi river, texted, caught frogs, texted, got a million mosquito bites, texted, and talked a lot to her cooky aunt Stacy. It was awesome to get to know Tori better and spend some good quality time with her. She's not a little lady anymore, she's a Woman and a gorgeous one too! Best wishes to her in the upcoming senior year. May lots of fun times roll ahead... Come again anytime. We love you, Ms. Tori.

Tori in Memphis

Out at the Zoo

This was one of our fun, extremely HOT days out at the Memphis zoo. What a day. The pandas and penguins were the kids favorites. The giraffe's were Nogueira's (sergio's dad) favorite. The butterfly expo was my favorite but I had my hands full at the time and couldn't take pictures. The zoo is very nice. You're all invited to come hang out with us at the zoo.

The Memphis Zoo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE TONY!!

WE LOVE YOU, TONY!! We wish we could be close by to give you a huge birthday squeeze from all of us. We hope your birthday is full of fun. Best wishes in this new year of life! May you be, see, and experience things you never imagined!!!

All our love,

The Nogueiras

Nick's Big Day!

I can't believe it. We've arrived to school age kids. Nick was so excited to go to school. He woke up by himself with an alarm clock that he insisted on having and ran downstairs to get movin! After a long boring photo shoot, Nick was dying to get to school. I slipped a brand new CTR ring onto his wee little finger as we walked into the school. He said, " mom, you're the best. Now I will always remember to make the right choices even at school! " He found his name on the wall to the right class room for Mrs. Dana. He sat down next to Greta and took over the Lego bucket. He then made it very obvious that it was time for me to leave. How awesome for him. I teared up on the way home only because I feel so grateful to have such an incredible 5 year old. Way to go NICK!

Look how pretty our yard is looking, thanks to the in-laws who have taken over the yard work. They are such a great help to us. Olha como o jardim esta ficando bonito por causa do trabalho dos jardinheiros...

THE HUDSPETH BLUEBERRY GROVE.

Tons of fun for the whole family. We woke up
at 6 am. Got to the grove by 7:45 am and by 9:30am
we had 2 bushels of berries and tons of sweat drippin'
down our backs. Good times in Mississippi.

.

Little Red Riding Hood in the middle of a huge blueberry grove. We had a blast picking the berries. Now what do we do with them once they're home. Maybe we can make our own Kyani juice!!!

Here's the replacement for the chevy prizm. Nissan Altimas are just 1 step up from the prizms but we love the smooth ride.