Christmas at Our House

We tried to get a picture on Christmas morning, but you know how that goes with a timer....Dad runs and jumps into his place, bangs into the cabinet, bumps the Christmas tree, everybody turns, "No, look at the camera!"...snap.  This is the best of several attempts.

We decided to go with one big family gift for everyone from us and from the grandparents this year.  We all "pooled" our money and then "took the plunge."

The boys bought each other some small gifts, though.

Can you find the common theme?

They went over just "swimmingly."

Do you give up yet?

Any ideas?

Do you need some more  clues?

OK, I'll tell you.

A POOL!!!!!

Ironically enough, the weather was quite pleasant for a week and a half or so before Christmas, and we didn't even hardly see the sun, but we have managed to find a few opportunities to enjoy it already, and I have no doubt that there will be plenty of hot, sunny days in our future.

Feliz Natal!

A Very Merry Christmas to all our Family and Friends

Some Christmas Fun

We had a Christmas party with some other missionaries last week.

The heat demands a few changes in our normal Christmas traditions and activities.

 

The kids had a blast having a "snowball" fight and building "snowmen"...Amazon style.

Road Trip - The End

Since the devastating earthquake in the country of Haiti in 2010, thousands of Haitians have immigrated into Brazil. Their point of entry is this border city of Brasiléia, where we spent several days  They come in from Bolivia, after passing through Ecuador and Peru. The Lord has given us a burden to take advantage of this opportunity and encourage the Brazilians who live there to take the responsibility to reach out to this people group.

I had planned to post about this, but Jeremy has already written a great post about this situation on our ministry website, BraziltotheUttermost.com.  Please take a moment and click HERE to read that post and see pictures that we took while we were there.

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After a total of about 31 hours in the car, (and about that many episodes of Adventures in Odyssey and Patch the Pirate) the Lord brought us back home safe and sound without incident. We really enjoyed this trip, and the time we were able to spend together as a family, and with friends and acquaintances.

Road Trip - Part 5

Bolivia

Since we were right on the border of Bolivia, we wanted to cross over and look around. Jeremy has been there before, but the kids and I hadn't, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to add another country to our "Been There" list.

People from this area do a lot of shopping in Bolivia because the prices are usually much better. We walked for several blocks looking in different stores and some open markets. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but we picked up a few things to put away "for a rainy day."  The boys were less than impressed with the stores and shopping, so I didn't prolong their agony by spending a lot of time looking around.

Most people here on the border speak both Spanish and Portuguese, and the prices are listed in Bolivian currency, Brazilian currency, and dollars.

I am realizing now that we didn't take pictures while shopping, but we took some of the bridge into Bolivia and us on the border.

This is the sign leaving Brazil and entering Bolivia. I think they could use an English translator!

What you see in the background here is Bolivia.

Road Trip - Part 4

Back on the road again! The final leg of our journey was 220 kilometers from Rio Branco to Brasiléia, a city on the border of Brazil and Bolivia.  This stretch was much more slow going due to rough roads and several of these "detours."

There was a ladies meeting on Saturday evening where I was asked to give a devotional, and Jeremy preached on Sunday morning and evening.

The boys enjoyed their Sunday school classes.

Many churches here in Brazil have the children come into the auditorium after Sunday school to recite a verse and tell about what they learned in class.

After the service everyone stayed for dinner at the church. The men grilled the meat while the ladies took care of the rest.

These ladies are cutting up manioc, a staple in this part of the world.

We enjoyed the fellowship and getting to know the people of this church.

This is Pastor William and his wife Silvia. Jeremy has known them for many years, and they have been a great role model and encouragement to him. I was glad to have the opportunity to meet them. Their family has a great testimony and we greatly admire them.

Thanksgiving

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  ~Psalm 100:4
 
Though it is difficult to be away from our families on holidays, we are grateful that we have friends with whom we can celebrate. This year we gathered with the American missionaries from our area to celebrate Thanksgiving together. It was a great time of fellowship and of course MUCH food!

The kids patiently awaiting dinner

Our missionary "family"

We are so grateful to the Brewers opening their home to us.  We had a great day. They even found room for all 21 of us in their house for the night!

Nine kids in one room in hammocks, and I think some of them actually even slept!

We have much to be thankful for. We have been blessed.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. ~Psalm 100:5