So We Are Slackin!

OK- I haven't been as good as I should be with updates. Jake pointed out something to me the other day. I have noticed that my vision seems to be getting worse, if that is possible. Everyday, I notice I can't see as well as I could a couple weeks ago. Then Jake said, "your pregnant!" I forgot about that! My vision becomes much worse when I'm pregnant. So my excuse for not updating as often as I should is I just can't see and contact solution is VERY expensive out here. I am rationing my supplies, no joke! Also, I am lazy and don't like to wear them. I will try to be better and maybe put my contacts in more often!

Jake is home, they did really well. He wasn't able to play in any of the games due to his little shoulder sprain! He is getting released by the Dr. on Wednesday and will be playing in their first official game of the season on Saturday. They had 3 games over last weekend. Fridays game they blew them out by 35. Saturdays game they won by 26 but unfortunately lost on Sunday by 5 points. They took second place in the tournament so that was good.

Here are just a couple of pictures Jake took while in Lisbon.


This is the same statue of Christ (Christ Rei, don't know what that translates to) that is in Rio De Janeiro. It stands 100 meters tall, approximately 328 feet. Jake said it was huge and is much smaller than the actual statue in Brazil. Guess we will have to go see it one day.


He called this the Golden Gate Bridge since they look similar.



OK- now to show off Mr. Nikko. Now that he has mastered climbing onto the couch, he LOVES to just chill. I turn on Portuguese cartoons for him and he is set.


He is also finding new places to explore. Like the basket in his stroller. He was THRILLED when he first climbed in but only seconds later did he realize he couldn't get out. He wasn't so happy about that! Hopefully you can see the angry expression.


Here is one of his new toys. We paid 40 Euros. What does that convert to? $57.00. No, it has no amazing features, just a simple walker with flashing lights and a couple of jingles. We miss Walmart more than we ever have.


I will NOT cut this hair! I am going to let it grow out until we are home in the States. We did get scissors to trim up around his ears since it's getting pretty nasty. That is not a zit on his cheek. Read below for an explanation.



Check out his war wounds. Those suckers are mosquito bites. You can't even see all of them. They are horrible. We have tried everything. My mom is sending us a mosquito net to drape over his crib and hopefully that will work. They look like burns but I promise they didn't bother him too much. They look terrible the first day and then start to get better. Of course the ones he got from our first week here are still healing but we are happy they are starting to go away!



While I was loading the pictures above, I found some of my favorite old photos!



December 27, 2006. SLC Temple, a very special day for us.



PCC, Hawaii. I really do miss those days. I also have no idea where that purse went. I loved that thing!


Another one of those "Where did that go?" moment. The backpack Jake is wearing was the best backpack ever! Where did it go? I will tell you. Some moron stole if from his locker at BYUH. That was a terrible day, it had a lot of Jake's books and school stuff in it. Shame on that person. I love all these pictures, we look so young and they are all pre-baby body days! I have to say, it's worth it.

Going To The Pool???????????

The three of us went with some of Jakes teammates to what they call a beach.  It is so funny to me.  This island has no sandy beaches.  You can either go to a rocky beach or a "beach" like this one.  It had 3 pools.  1 for kids, the one below and then the big concrete pool filled with ocean water.  They also have a high dive into the ocean and a big square floatie out in the middle of the water to swim to.  They have these all over the island.

This is one of the actual pools.

This is Jason and Danielle.   Jason is from Alabama and Danielle is from NY.  They are both super kind and we enjoy hanging out with them.  Jason plays with Jake and Danielle plays for the women's team. 

Here is a picture of the square floatie.  It's a pretty good swim and it was kind of rough waters.  

Big Jake and Jason flexing.  Check out the little boy in the spedo.  I think his dad was wearing one too.  What did we miss the most while we were away from  Europe?  The wonderful spedo.

Our little man watching his dad and eating a fry.  

BIG BOY!

This was kind of crazy.  It is just a massive pool that fills up with ocean water.  

Saturday night was Jason's birthday so we all went over for a nice BBQ.  Jake and Boby, the other American, just grillin up tons of meat.  The BBQ later fell apart and nearly burned Bobby but he's quick.  No burns!

Me and my man.  My OTHER man!  He is starting to look and remind me of Jake so much.  I should start calling him little Jake.

Two handsome boys!  Jake left all of his church clothes at home so he had to wear jeans.  I told him he wasn't going to be the only one in jeans.  I was right.  He fit right in.  

Some more pictures from yesterday.  The picture below was a really pretty shot but right as we posed, the little red van parked next to us and then a bus drove past.  Poor timing.  

He loved to chew on the rocks.  They were nice and salty.  We thought of little Aaron the whole time we were there.  We thought of him saying " A ROCK, A ROCK, A ROCK."  

Jake's teammates were all swimming and having a great time.  We preferred to just chill, swimming with a baby on a rocky beach wouldn't be that great. 

Free Therapeutic Volcanic Massage

We took our first trip to the beach yesterday.  It was a unlike any beach we had ever been to.  No it wasn't a nude beach, it was a ROCK beach.  People were actually laying out and sleeping on these rocks.  This island has no sandy beaches so I guess they will take what they can get. 

Our Adventure Of The Day

Nikko and I had some time to kill.  I've been wanting to check out the park across the street since we've been here.  Today was the perfect day.  It wasn't raining and the sun was shining.  This island is really beautiful and we've only seen the city.

For You Noni!

This is what Nikko looked like when he woke up from a LONG nap.  This also is known as "ass eyes" pardon the language.

He had been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours and I thought it was time to wake him up.  He was fighting it.  It was too cute, the camera ran out of batteries so these were the only shots I got.  How about his mattress?  Yeah, their version of a pack and play is more like a collapsable table.  It does not fold down at all.  And it is heavy.  Nikko is sleeping well in it so we can't complain.  It might help having all the entertainment right in the mattress!

Noni, we sure miss you and hope you were able to rest.  It probably has been a long day.  We can't wait to hear from Grandad!  Our prayers and thoughts are with him constantly.  Please let him know how much we love and miss him, especially Nikko!  Show him these pictures, maybe it will help him feel better!

Love you!

The Internet Is AMAZING!

Lisa Chrisman, 

I was so skeptical that we would be able to plug that little "Magic Jack" into our computer and all of the sudden be able to make calls from a Utah phone number all the way from Portugal.  FOR FREE.  Well, you sure proved us wrong.  It works.  We tried a bunch of numbers and we got through to Bryce.  We will try you next.  

To everyone who reads this that means you can call us anytime for free!  Actually please call from anytime in the morning and no later than 4 p.m..  That is 11 p.m. for us here.  

So give us a call @ 435-705-5097!!!!!!  Hooray! 

We both have new cell phone numbers as well.  You can reach Emy @ 011-351-914-014-429 and Jake @ 011-351-913-605-872.  

We think those numbers will work, there is only one way to find out!!!

Life In Funchal

Here is our new home! We use this entrance because it is the only spot to our building that has a ramp for a stroller.

This is our apartment building from the opposite side. We live on the fifth floor and 5 windows to the left! It's a lot of fun so far. The city of Funchal does not sleep much!

This is a gorgeous park across the street from us. The road that the cars are going up is the street our church is on!

This is for all the Grandparents. He really does miss you guys! Check him out in his new tub and new tub chair! We also use it for feeding him!

He misses you all! And so do we!!

Keeping My Promise!

I only have a minute, Jake and I are going into town. These pictures were taken from our balcony. The view is SO beautiful! It reminds me of Waikiki with a European touch. They unfortunately do not have the Aloha Spirit here! Sad to say!




Jake just picking up some WiFi on his phone late last night.

This is how packing went, a LOT of distractions!

Nikko and his Noni! He misses you SO much!