Family Snippets

Theatrical representation: "O Boi e o Burro" The four traditions listed below have been with us for as long as we remember, how old are they? and why do we still keep them?  1. The Nativity The representation of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, the humble yet sublime scene of Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus in the stable with the animals, the shepherds and the star was always a central ornament at the home of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Just after our wedding, we bought our own set of the nativity, that we still use until today. No other tradition has brought Christ to our Christmas more than this one! 2. Christmas Eve Reading the account of the nativity in the scriptures and theatrical representations of the nativity is a key part of Christmas Eve. Fish is the traditional meal of Christmas Eve. As far as I can tell this is a tradition that comes from the XVI century. The exact reasons for this tradition are unknown, in my p...

We look at two points of reference as we set our goals for 2025. Point of reference #1: Teachings of living prophets  Question:  Are my goals giving adequate attention to my spiritual needs? Point of reference #2: Personal and Family Statement Question: Will my goals help me progress in one or more priorities of my personal and family purpose statement?

We have to use a stool or a ladder to reach to the top of our Christmas tree to place a star , without it would not be a proper tree for the season... the star stays there above everything else, reminding us of the real meaning of Christmas! "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." [Mathew 2:2]. These wise men were righteous and were seeking to witness the presence of Christ on earth. Their spiritual capacity is evident, for they were able to see the star that others could not; they knew it's meaning and were certain and confident they would be guided to the Savior, so certain that they brought meaningful presents to honor Him! Enjoy the Christmas season. Links:  The Wise Men Seek Jesus

Na nossa infância tivemos um Natal Português tradicional com grande influência dos costumes e tradições do norte de Portugal, os nossos avós são oriundos de Trás-os-Montes e do Porto. O  Presépio  é a atividade principal de Natal, lembramos da história da natividade com a preparação para construir o presépio. É uma actividade emocionante; procurar o musgo, construir os estábulo, colocar as figuras e cenário da cidade de Belém... or a nossa propria cidade, a mãe lembra que na sua infância a construção do presépio era um projecto de vários dias. Na cidade de  Coimbra  meus pais visitavam vários presépios da cidade em exposição em área publicas da cidade.  No dia 24 Dezembro, véspera de Natal, à noite, têm lugar a consoada , nesta serve-se  bacalhau cozido  (ou para os menos tradicionalistas hoje em dia o  bacalhau com natas ) e a doçaria conventual, rabanadas, sonhos, arroz doce, bolo rei, etc. Nessa noite lemos as escrituras, contamos histori...

This Christmas I hope that as decorations go up and traditions unfold, the right opportunity emerges for us to remember with our family, that Jesus’s birth was real, that His birth allows us to experience perfect joy. I also hope that this year we might be able to use the power of words, written or spoken, as a gift to express love and be more Christlike by following His example and teachings.

As parents we used in our day to day vocabulary two Portuguese words more often than any others, recently I have been thinking why? In spite of being two very distinct words, they seemed to serve always an identical purpose or objective, at least for us they conveyed similar meaning as we raised our children. Cuidado - A word to warn us that ahead are obstacles or challenges that can be prevented if precautions are taken along the way, a form of showing concern and care, of calling our attention for something important, of being thoughtful and aware of how precious life is . Calma - A word that invites to slow a little to avoid problems that can be encountered if we rush too fast into things, a sister word of tranquility and peace. At first it might seem these words imparted a sense of fear or lack of confidence in what lays ahead, but as I look in retrospective as a parent, they meant exactly the opposite, we used them because we really saw the opportunities o...

Jane with Madeira Island Boots Look at the picture... we are all different aren't we? Some have big feet, others small or very small, but we all have feet!  Same of us might be at a stage where we are just walking the early steeps of life, or the early steps of marriage or  the early steeps of a career and at times it might seem that the walk is going to be a very, very long one, for some of us the journey now is in an advance phase, but for all of us one thing is certain, the journey can be going in same direction to reach the same destination. When I look at my granddaughter I am reminded that we are all children of Heavenly Father. That knowledge and conviction gives me strength.  The Plan of Happiness is for all of us, learning more about that plan it will give you and me a greater sense of purpose and  a stronger desire to live this precious life more abundantly. "Regardless of what you do or don’t have in this life, your deepes...

Which direction will you face when you encounter life's cross roads? is it fame? money? personal gratification?, none of these are bad things, but they will be different to you and others that live with you when we look at roads that include... charity! selfishness! service! productiveness! compassion, patience! I know, it is not always the case that we get on a road where you can find all these things all at once, that would even seem unreal, there will always be struggles and challenges, that are part of life, which will cause us to stop and think where should we go? what is more important? Sometimes we see people taking roads that lead to emptiness, passiveness, idleness, apathy and even negligence, all of these roads do not bring true happiness, we might be deceived at first with the idea of a road with a shorter distance, an easier road to ride, or even a prettier road, only to find out in the end disappointment that we could not see at the beginning of the journe...

Just prior to my departure to serve a full-time mission  for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I wrote in 1979 a personal statement that would be the basis for the direction I took in life during these last 35 years. I did it with the hope it would guide me in critical decisions.  As a convert to the Church, I acquired a profound desire to be a better person in this world, a more committed Christian and to walk the path of mortality with purpose, this was the motivation to write these lines that would provide me inspiration, reference, and courage to live a better life!   When I met Filomena, my sweetheart, I felt impressed to share it with her prior to our marriage, these simple words took us to very meaningful conversations and discussions about what both of us would want for our future family and what values and principles would guide and help us raise our children, with her input we updated this statement to become "ours" to guide us i...

Römerberg, Frankfurt - March 9, 2013 Just a few days ago the scenario of spring we found at downtown Frankfurt was marvelous, the sun was shining and blue skies were clearly on the background. We of course enjoyed the first sings of spring and savored the occasion. Just a few days latter the skies turned grey and a significant snow storm caused complete chaos in traffic and quickly the winter reins again and spring is gone, but there is beauty and life in the white landscapes as well! Kurk Park, Bad Homburg - March 12, 2013 Isn't life like this many times, when we think is spring all the sudden it turns winter again.  Often is not the change of season but our capacity to see beauty in the change that makes the difference! 

Is saving an attitude or a financial skill?  Most likely you need both, but my comments today will focus on how attitude can influence our capacity to generate savings. By definition saving is income not spend or deferred consumption or goods or services. It is the ongoing practice of this simple definition in day to day activities that will allow us to put aside financial resources for a time of need.  There is a difference between saving and investing, when we save we use low-risk methods of preservation of our financial income, such as a savings account as opposed to investing where the methods employed have always a higher risk involved. Saving is often not accomplished by just being disciplined to make a bank transfer from your checking account to your savings account but more so as an attitude towards needs and wants of life. Link: A good video to watch, not about savings but attitude!...

I would like to talk about consistency because in life abundance of it or deficit of it makes such difference in my perspective. When to have it or not to have it?  Some of the great products I used over the years and continue to love today is because of the constant reliability and quality they offer, another reason for my attachment to them is because the updates and improvements came gradually, consistently in the transition of the old to the new allowing me to assimilate and learn new features and new technology. It was been that consistency that allowed me to trust those products and the people that develop them and manufacture them, that consistency make their reputation, at least to me. Consistency allow us to improve because it builds a track record which we can use to measure our performance. Basically allow us to see more clearly if today we are doing better that yesterday because we can measure our experience of the pres...

Now that we are in the first days of 2013 reflecting upon what happened this last year and counting our blessings I found myself pondering about an unexpected gift of no monetary value but of high moral substance.  During the Christmas season we went to several stores to look for a few gifts for our family and friends, during one of those shopping trips we took a number of Christmas cards we received in the mail to read while we drove to downtown, after we read them all, we place them in one small plastic bag which while trying some cloths in one large department store we left behind in a fitting room. It was only by the end of the day we notice the absence of our little plastic bag and assumed to be a total loss. I as returned to the office on January 2, 2013 I learned that a woman passed by to deliver the few cards in the little plastic bag we left behind, what an unexpected gift of kindness and thoughtfulness from someone we don't kn...

mer·ry Adjective  (of an occasion or season) Characterized by festivity and rejoicing: "he wished me a merry Christmas". Synonyms jolly - cheerful - joyful - mirthful - happy

Gift for my dear wife this year! What do I want to remember in a birthday?  I want to remember the moments of Joy, the laughs, the moments of learning, and above all the moments we spent together!  The calendar helps us pause and reflect about family and friends during their birthday, and it should also remind us that the more time we spend together during the year the more will we remember next birthday and the more will we cheer! Happy Birthday! Link: Album

People today can search for answers in the internet and in seconds proclaim they are already an expert on the topic at hand.. The constant online access enables instantaneous communication as never before and opens the door for so many opportunities to learn. One hopes that the generation that has been blessed with so much possibility to see and learn good things does not get lost in the maze of the internet and online social communication, and will become richer in their human interaction, more elevated yet humble in their verbal and non-verbal forms of expression, instead of developing an equally quick and instantaneous response that yields to prejudice or stereotyping.  At times the reality of day to day interactions leaves a taste of a deconomy of words that prevails against words that should extol and uplift. Just think for a moment... a deconomy of words equals to a deconomy of thoughts and eventually to a deconomy o...

Ana  visits the Discovery Monument in Portugal - July 2012 Looking forward and facing what's head of us  with hope is essential to make a productive contribution to life, yet challenges will always be there during the process. That is why learning what others have done when they faced challenges to move forward is a rewarding and  uplifting  experience,  every time  we come to Portugal we have abundant history  around  us to remind us of this principle. The enormous compass rose made of fine marble stone that paves the floor on our way to the entrance of the Discoveries Monument  is a good example of that principle. This impressive piece of art occupies a surface of 50 meters in diameter and at the center of it there is a world map that depicts the routes of the maritime discoveries of the Portuguese navigators in the XV and XVI centuries, w hat many do not know is that this popular tourist  attraction ...

At home we have a vase full of Daffodils that mom picked in the fields today, a favorite thing she loves to do, pick flowers... I took the picture on the left when she was enjoying the moment! These beautiful yellow and white flowers are a sign of nature that a new season arrived. Easter is a time to remember that a new start or a new season is also possible for us. Here are two links of some easy reading that will help us better understand the meaning of Easter and enjoy this special season of the year. By the way, did you know that popular wisdom says that the meaning of Daffodils is rebirth and new beginnings, faith, honesty, truth and forgiveness? Happy Easter Links: Video: An Easter Declaration  - Message: The meaning of Easter   

This is an excellent App for the iphone