Celebrating six years in Santos

After returning back to Sao Paulo from Foz de Iguazu, Nate and I had the chance to head out on a little anniversary 'getaway' of our own to the coastal city of Santos, the oldest city in Brazil. We left Natalie and Lucas with Grandma and Grandpa and took Elijah with us. Nate did a great job planning all the logistics and all I had to do was get us packed and enjoy the journey! It was so nice to just have some quiet time together and not worry about keeping little ones out of trouble.


It was also nice to have some more quality time with little Elijah - a rare treat these days!



We found a well-priced hotel near the beach at Praia Grande, much less touristy than the other beaches we'd been to in Rio. The beaches didn't have the soft sand of Rio but it was shallow for a long, long ways out.


We went walking at dusk and found a bunch of sand dollars - even some still alive! I never knew how fuzzy live sand dollars were. Now I know why they are in the same family as sea stars. Sadly all the ones we collected to take back broke - pretty fragile little things!


We decided to put Nate's motto into action: "Life is short: eat dessert first!" They have the most incredible tropical ice cream flavors - including avocado, corn, pineapple, coconut, papaya, mango, you name it, they have it.

I found THE most amazing burger. I am craving it right now in fact. This thing pegs out the flavor (and calorie) meter. The "X-Tudo" has cheese, bacon, egg, hamburger, and all the other fixin's. I had it both nights we were there. Heaven on a plate.



Before we left, Nate found the contact information for one of his old mission companions who lived near Santos. At first he was doubtful that he'd be able to find him after 13 years of no contact, but after looking up his address and finding the bishop's contact info on the church's website, it was anything but hard. I remember listening on the other end and hearing the complete suprise in Nate's voice as he learned that his companion was now the stake president of the Santos Stake!


This dear man, with a busy career, a family of five, and heavy church responsibilities, literally rescheduled his entire weekend to spend with us. On Saturday they took us out on a boat adventure. We had such a nice time getting to know Max and his family. Their energetic boys were so excited about the boat ride and absolutely adored playing with Elijah.

About half-way through it became apparent that the boat wasn't really moving anymore and that there were some engine troubles. We sat for a long time while the boat operators tried to fix it. Then eventually we had another boat tow us a little ways.


Then, another boat in the same company (a "pirate ship") let all of us climb aboard and head back to shore. The boys loved the 'being taken over by pirate ship' part. We joked about finding a way to tie the 'being rescued' experience into a church talk.

Nate had such a great time catching up with his companion. His portugeuse was really getting a good workout, especially in translating for me. I enjoyed practicing the few words I had learned with the boys and Beth, Max's wife. It turns out she is also the primary president in her ward, so it was fun to swap experiences and ideas with her.

Some of the homes along the water we were told are about to be dismantled by the government which doesn't like their unsightly appearance.

After picking us up from our hotel on sunday and taking us to church, Max and his family fed us and introduced us to their extended family, and took us to the bus station where they waited nearly an hour with us until our bus came.


We came to really love those three boys - they are going to make great missionaries some day!!