Rachel & Feliciano

Here are the first shots of Aedan. Sorry some of them are from the phone. But hey, they are still pictures. I'll add some more video to these later. Click here to see more.

Born April 21, 2009, 6lbs 9.8oz, 19inches.

One of the pictures is a video in case you missed it you can see it here.

Okay. So, i think we bought "Hailey" (the rust bucket that doesn't run) back on valentine's day. What a great present from a wifey, huh? Me letting Brett buy an old broken down car for all that was in our bank account at the time. haha.
ANYWAYS. She has been Brett's project. Every Saturday when he gets home from work, that's what we generally spend our time doing: figuring out how we can fix up this car and make it run.
First, Brett replaced all the fluids and switched out the oil filter. He had to take the gas tank off of the car to clean it out, and then he found a hole in it, so he had to get that welded up. SO, after that, we were hopeful, thinking that she might start. A couple turns of the key in the ignition, and it sounded like she wanted to go...But then gas started shooting out of the carburetor. Oh, sad day. :( Brett was so heartbroken. ANOTHER thing to fix before the car could start.
Brett is so smart, though. He got a cheap rebuilt kit, and for about $20, it's like we have a brand new carburetor now. (It looks so new, partially because i cleaned off all the metal parts, and now it's nice and shiny. When you open up the hood, it seems to glow, it's so clean!)

After Brett rebuilt the carburetor, it was time to try again and start Hailey up. :)

FINALLY! SUCCESS. The engine was running great, no leaks or fluid shooting out of anywhere. So, Brett thought he would take her around the block for a drive.
NEW PROBLEM: Apparently there is something wrong with the transmission. She doesn't want to go into drive or reverse or any of the gears. Hmmm... So, i guess we have some new things to work on. He'll ask around and figure what ne needs to do next for the transmission problem and see if we can't figure things out.
Oh well. When Brett is feeling down about the car, he says he'll just sit behind the wheel and start it up and remember that he was the one that got her to run. :)
Maybe, just MAYBE, we'll have Hailey driving before Aedan is here. :)

I have yet some more pictures from Saturday's activities. They are on my Picasa site.

Enjoy.

Free Family pre-Thanksgiving dinner and Testimony

Here are the first few pictures, and a couple of videos, we took of the wedding. There should be some more really nice ones coming from the Ginters.

More info later...

In case you did not see it, Manoel was quoted in the Daily Herald on Saturday talking about the Brazilian bicycle rider that he had met in Paragonah at Grandpa's house. Here is the text of the article with a link to full thing.

Brazilian biker shares his love of nature
Joe Pyrah - Daily Herald

He doesn't have corporate sponsors. He's not protesting a war. He doesn't have cancer.

What Renato Campinho does have is a bike and a love of nature that has driven him tens of thousands of miles from his home in Sao Raimundo Nonato, Brazil.

"For some people, this sounds crazy," Campinho said through an interpreter. "But it's not."

A wiry 5-foot 7-inches, the Brazilian is lighter than his old Italian 5-gear bicycle loaded down with gear. Newspaper clippings sheathed in plastic about his journey through South and Central America cover the tarp that now shrouds his bike. It was installed by well-wishers in Arizona.

Leaving home with little money, he has made his way mostly by the kindness of strangers to spread a message about preserving the environment. After getting a six-month visa to enter the country, he has been through Arizona and is now making his way through Utah. In Provo, the Silvas have taken him in.

The Brazilian family heard about Campinho when a nephew, Manoel, met him pedaling through Paragonah in southern Utah. Manoel told him to stop by in Provo when he came through. While here he's received free bike service (thousands of miles means hundreds of tires) and will be getting his rear brake pads replaced.

"Everybody helps him," says Rosana Silva. "It doesn't matter if he speaks the language or not."

The air-conditioned Silva home, with its big-screen TV and pool in the backyard, is a far cry from the rocky overhangs where Campinho has spent nights in a tent. Pictures and choppy video on a donated digital camera show country after country and hill after hill. One video shows the bike speeding down a steep decline.

It's on the upswing that the traveler has had problems. Though he's so far avoided traffic accidents, the weight of the bike has brought him over backward several times when a hill gets too steep.

He doesn't have what would be considered an education in this country. He can read Portuguese, but can't write it very well and was a beekeeper in Brazil. While he doesn't have a family of his own, he is one of 16 siblings.

"He's very humble. Very humble," said Rosana Silva, who doubled as a translator on Thursday.

How does he keep the legs pumping over the long miles? A large bowl of rolled oats (oatmeal) every morning and a lot of fruits and vegetables. He won't drink soda or alcohol.

He doesn't have a specific itinerary to follow, only hoping to now get to Canada, Alaska and then to Russia, Japan and beyond. Brushing off the heat or nights asleep on the ground, his hardest times have been the "crazy winds" of Arizona, he said.

"He's a very little guy and he goes with the wind," said Silva with a laugh. Did You Know:

• Renato Campinho has biked through every country in South and Central America and is now in the United States.

• Days on the road: 484

• Age: 37

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/273206/17/

FINALLY, BRETT GAVE ME A RING!!!!!!!!

Today we spent the day at Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake CIty.
We went there at Brett's suggestion to feed the ducks (which i am always so thrilled to do!), and just lay out on a blanket, enjoying the weather and scenery.
There was a wedding reception going on this evening, and Brett started joking about marriage. He put his Brazilian seed ring on my ring finger and joked "Look. It's like we're engaged now!".
"VERY FUNNY..." I said, not completely amused. I shook of the Brazilian seed ring and let it fall on the blanket next to him. I turned around and went back to watching the animals and the reception. Brett grabbed my hand again, and i thought he was being silly, putting the brazilian ring back on my finger.
I turned around to tell him something like "Oh, Brett, you're silly..."
But at the moment i turned around, he said, "Aisling, will you marry me???"

I thought it was a joke! But i looked down at my finger and OMG I HAVE A SHINY DIAMOND RING ON IT!!!!!!!!
I was so shocked and surprised, i just start bawling. (I think i scared Brett a little bit. What a champ he is to not have run away!)
So...we both cried and after i finally calmed down, he got a "YES!" out of me. Ü

So that is the story!
What a wonderful surprise it was to me! It was the most perfect evening EVER! Ü

Love,
soon-to-be,

Aisling Silva

(There are more pictures of our fun at Wheeler Farm attached. Ü )

Brett made it safely to Phoenix. In addition to all of us--that we know he was dying to see--Aisling surprised him. See if you can figure out who he was more excited to see...

few minutes before ammons baptismal meeting this picture was taken by manoels new, but now broken camera. there are a couple of pictures with the family, or just manoel and ammon, some of everybody eating. i guess you can even see how much everybody grew in eight years!

manoel and ammon, at a little river that was transformed into a pool.

On Saturday November 3, 2007, we got up early to go hiking and fishing up American Fork Canyon. The hike was long and exhausting. We were impressed that James and Heather's dog Fender made the hike without a problem! We saw a total of 12 moose while hiking up to the lake and almost got chased by a cow and calf moose, which was kind of scary. James caught three fish, Jen caught one, Jessica caught one, John caught one, and Heather caught one. This was Heather and Jessica's first time fishing!

click to see slideshow->

Most of you got these emailed to you. But I thought it would be nice to have a them online as well.

Here ya go... (by the way, we are looking for more!)

click to see slideshow->

Here are the first pictures from Mike (well the first several are from Becca!). Here you can see Elder Silva and Free are together! Lots of great pictures and some great movies. You can hear "I am a Child of God" and Michael's testimony in Danish as well. (you can read his latest letter here)

Aisling gave me a CD with images and movies of Brett's mission. You can see them here.

Here are some pictures at the MTC with Justin and gang.

Here are a few pictures of all those who have good wishes and admiration for Justin as he enters the MTC.
We had a lovely family Home evening in Rosanna and Pedro's house. Marilee and her girls sang "Sweet is the work" with their beautiful voices blending wonderfully. That set me up to teach the lesson on fear faith and the spirit. Justy is such a good example of humility, like Mike, that it was easy to show how being filled with charity will make them fearless as he enters into the unknown, possibly fearful, work of teaching the gospel. It was also easy to show by his example that remission of sins brings the gift of the Holy Ghost which in turns gives the gift of charity. In that audience it was natural to testify of the invitation of the the savior for all, no matter their transgressions, to come to him and become clean. We had a nice outpouring of the spirit.
Amazingly the member of the Mission Presidency who came to set Justy apart was our Mission President when we were in the Rochester Mission. That made his setting apart very special. Interesting how the Lord blesses us continually.