Father/Son Weekend at Camp

This past weekend, our 3 older boys got to spend the weekend at camp for a father/son weekend. My dad, brother-in-law, and nephew were the speakers for the event. Since Keith was not able to be here, each of them took one of the boys as his "son" for the weekend. They had a great time doing lots of neat things together, as well as learning more Portuguese in the meetings. Here is a glimpse of what they got to do.

This is a glimpse of the zip line that they ride down then jump off of and into the lake.

They had a contest in which each one had to build a tower out of these crates, stepping on one while putting on the next one. They had the safety belt around them to catch them when they fell. Joshua won the competition with 20 crates. The others weren't far behind him.

This is my nephew giving his devotional while using the climbing wall as his illustrations.

Memories for my Husband

This post is mostly for Keith......but for the rest of you, we went to Keith's home church this past Sunday, and also drove by the places where Keith used to live. Hey, babe! Thought you would enjoy reminiscing. Hope you enjoy! Aunt Maureen came up from Peruibe to see us before church began....she was on her way to visit Jeff Yerrington......remember him? It was GREAT to see her again!

Benjamin was in the nursery with Jane Meacham (she is the teacher with whom I student taught)......Keith, the nursery is now in what used to be Carpenter's Union.....at least where I remember it being.....(that is the name of your class....right?).

Walter is holding Cahterine's youngest.

Catherine was visiting....leaving that night to go back to the U.S.....go figure.....I come all the way to Brazil to see her! Here she is with her oldest daughter.

God Answers Prayers!

Just an update on my camera......I prayed very specifically that God would show me HOW to clean my camera. After some research on what to do and what NOT to do, I found a solution here that I was able to use to get most of the ink off the lense. It is not perfect....but, oh, SO much better! Thank You, God!

Yep.....he's TWO!

Notice how this picture is quite blurry, and how there are black smudges......well......let's just say, that ANY time a 2-year-old is quiet for any amount of time......rather than count your blessings......it might be a better idea to go find out WHY he is so quiet. Today (as I was counting my blessings because my 2-year-old was so quiet, and I was actually getting some school done with the boys), my dear Benjamin decided to go to my room, open my drawer, get out a permanent marker, and proceed to get my camera out of its case, turn it ON, then use that permanent marker to color my camera lense. Oh, and he also decided that my glasses needed adjusting, so he took that upon himself as well, and twisted them into fine form. Well, enough on the adventures of Benjamin.....time to go see WHAT IN THE WORLD I'm going to do to fix my camera! I LIKE my camera!!!!!! Oh, and Benjamin......I do still love you......really!

Happy 12'th Birthday, Marc!

As per Marc's request, Grandma baked up a "bread" breakfast. She made homemade doughnuts, gummy rolls, banana bread, English muffins......the works. Marc was delighted, and we all enjoyed a YUMMY breakfast! Thanks, Grandma!

Grandpa made up clues for Marc to follow in order to find his gifts. Aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us for gifts, cake, and ice cream.We took Marc to town for a Brazilian birthday lunch......in Portuguese they are called "pasteis". We also had milkshakes to go along with our lunch......we had over 70 flavors from which to choose. It was a fun time.Marc joins the ranks of those with Airsoft guns......watch out!

Unfortunately, Keith was not able to be with us for Marc's birthday, so we had to settle for 2nd best, and that was to talk severl times via Skype. During this particular conversation, Marc opened his gift from us.......Marc was surprised and delighted with his gift!Marc wanted a cake with tools this year.....so we did our best to make cake in the shape of tools.........he was happy, so we were happy!

Grandma's Day

My mom has Grandma's day every Friday afternoon. My boys are delighted that they get to be a part of it for a few weeks, while we are here. This past week they decorated the Christmas tree as well as did some reading and other things. They always have a blast!

Annual Triathlon

Last week Word of Life held its annual triathlon. The contestants had to first swim the length of this lake, then ride their bikes around this lake and another lake 4 times, then run around those same lakes 2 times. It happened to be pouring rain, and was not a nice day at all. Many from my family participated. Here are some pics to give you a glimpse of the "fun". My Dad (72) and my niece Kelly (10) got medals for being the oldest and youngest participants.

My sister and her team won first place for the team category (the contestants could either enter as individuals, or as teams.)

My brother Steve won 2nd place in the individual category, and his son won 3rd place!

Here is Joshua running along side my dad to cheer him on to the finish line.

GO Kevin! (In all that mud......well you can only imagine what these guys looked like! )

This is the lake that they had to swim across.

Fun in the Sand

Life with cousins is always lots of fun!

Scott reading to Benjamin

Scott was doing his school reading yesterday, and Benjamin wanted to listen in.

Benji Dancing to Christmas Music

My mom has been decorating for Christmas this week, since she has a Christmas party at the house next week. She has several decorations that play music, much to Benjamin's delight. Before long we will all be very tired of these songs, as Benji plays them over and over!!!

Where's the SUN?

Even though it was only in the 60's today, and quite cloudy and cool out, the boys WANTED to go swimming. Normally these pools are heated, so it wouldn't have mattered, but today, they were NOT heated, and it was QUITE chilly. I was cold just watching them. But, they had fun all the same, and I guess that is what really matters!

All set for an adventure!

All set and ready to go.......thanks, Amy for taking us to the airport!
I LOVE this next picture.......Benji was quite excited to "Go bye-bye on an airplane!"
Excitement was high as we boarded the 767 to Brazil. On each of our seats was a packet with toothbrush, lotion, eye masks, etc. Wow.....you would have thought it was Christmas already!

Yay.....he's sleeping......unfortunately, this was very short lived. In the middle of the night, Benji decided that it was time to throw a fit.....he literally screamed for one hour straight......right while most everyone was TRYING to sleep. I've prayed for mothers of uncooperative children while on previous flights.....this time I got to experience what it was like to BE the mother of an uncooperative child......let's just say, it's a good thing, this was not my first trip with a 2-year-old!
To watch the sun rise from 33,000 feet was really neat. It also was a sign that this trip was soon to end......thank you, God.......we are READY to arrive!!!!

Fall Pictures

Since Misty kindly donated the gift of time to me, I was able to actually post some fall pictures.....sorry, but THREE is ALL YOU GET! Anyway, for now......enjoy, and happy fall!