Amazon Video

Jeremy's Amazon mission team has put together a great video of the trip they took this summer. Click HERE to watch it!

The Soccer Museum

If you know anything about Brazil, you know that soccer is a HUGE part of the culture. And with three boys growing up here, I might as well get used to it. A few weeks ago we took an afternoon and went to the soccer museum here in São Paulo. It is located inside of one of the soccer stadiums in the city.

 

I think the boys really enjoyed it. Their favorite part was getting to kick a ball in a goal and playing Foosball! It was interesting, even for someone like me, who really knows (and cares) nothing about soccer.

To take this picture of the boys, they let us just right inside the door to the stadium. 

These were the seats that we were next to us.

 

I'm guessing that these are the cheap seats!

Presidential Election

It is difficult for me to understand the political situation and government of Brazil, but I am learning little by little. Two weeks ago was election day here. For many weeks leading up to that there were all sorts of advertisements, signs, and vehicles blaring catchy jingles with the name of their candidate.  They also put pamphlets and fliers in everyone's gate, sometimes twenty or thirty at a time! One man, named William Woo, put out giant "thumbs up" statues with his info. Evidently it was a good tactic, because all three of my boys know him by name!

There are at least 27 different political parties, so there are MANY candidates. Some can be clearly eliminated by the party they are associated with, but there are still many to choose from. 

Jose Serra

Two weeks ago was the general election. Since no one presidential candidate won 51% of the vote, they will have another election in two weeks, on October 31st, between the top two candidates. These two candidates are Dilma and Jose Serra.

Dilma

Jose Serra is not what we would call extremely conservative, but has much better values and ideas than Dilma, who is a strong socialist/communist. She has very liberal ideas, and has plans to begin taxing churches on tithes and offerings, as well as restricting what can be preached in churches, on the radio, and on the internet. The current president, Lula, is promoting Dilma which has made her quite popular. However, the media predicted a clean sweep for her in the first election, and that didn't happen.

Dilma recently stated, "Not even Jesus Christ can keep me from winning this election." I am praying, that for God's glory and honor, this statement would be proven wrong! Please help us pray for God's will in this election, and pray for the country of Brazil to maintain the religious freedom it now has.

Mission Accomplished!

We have reached an important milestone here in the Tyler house. For the first time in almost seven and  a half years, my home is diaper free!! It has been a huge challenge to potty train this final, and very stubborn little boy, but we have FINALLY made it!

It has been over two weeks since Judson has had any kind of accident, and he is very proudly wearing his new "big boy underwear" from Grandma. We are all very excited about it, but me especially. This experience was lengthy and extremely frustrating for me. Everyone used to say that each one gets easier because they watch the older ones, but I would have to beg to differ. I have come to believe that personality has a lot to do with the training process, and this was quite the battle of wits and wills.

It is great to be able to cross diapers, pull-ups, and wipes off the list...for good!

Way to go, Jud!!!

Hmmm...That's Strange

This evening I went out the kitchen door to get something from out back. It had recently finished raining, so at first I didn't think anything about the yard being wet. When I got about half-way to the back door I realized that I was standing in at least three inches of water. "Hmmm....this doesn't seem right," I thought. At first I was afraid that we had a clogged drain. Then I remembered that Jeremy had closed the drain a few days ago because the boys were playing a game outside, and didn't want their pieces to fall down the drain. Unfortunately (for Jeremy) I couldn't get the drain open, so he had to wade through the water and open it.

Why do I share this? Because I want everyone to learn from our mistake, and don't leave the drain in your tile yard closed! I know this will prove to be very helpful to all of you. (She said with a sarcastic tone)

Rearranging

When I was growing up, my mom used to move the furniture around in the house every few months. It was fun to have a little different look, and makes something old feel new again. Well, that's what is happening to my blog!

I am, by nature, a very routine person, but every now and then I like to change things up a bit. Just a bit! I'm still working on it, so please be patient. Everything is still here, but may have just moved around a bit. If you are looking for something that used to be down the side of the blog and isn't there anymore, just check the tabs at the top under the header picture. Click on the tabs there to find more info, and then you can click on "Home" to take you right back to where you started!

My goal is to unclutter and update a little. Please bear with me, and keep checking back!