Birthday Boys turn 1

Peyton and Pierce turned 1 on April 25th. I am having a hard time believing that it has been a year already. This time last year they were still in the hospital weighing only 6 pounds each. Wow, how time flies when you're having fun! We did have a party for them and we had a blast and I guess they did too. No, I'm kidding, they did, but they were not sure what to think about all the people, balloons, presents and the CAKES. Yes, that is plural, cakeS. We actually got 3 different cakes. One for the guests and it was so delicious. It was 5 layers of chocolate cake, creme and some sort of pudding stuff. It was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten and everyone else said the same thing. Then we got 2 small chocolate cakes with chocolate icing...one for each birthday boy! They did not know what to do with the cake, the flaming candle or all the people singing to them. It was very funny to watch their reaction.

We let them do what they wanted to do with these little cakes. They had fun, but it took them just a minute to get the hang of it. At first they both touched the cake, then we showed them that they could put their hand in it, then we gave them a bite and that is all it took. They figured it out after that and they loved it. It is the most sugar they have had in one sitting that is for sure and they were only up until 9:00 that night.

It was so much fun watching their reactions. After we bathed them, then we opened presents and they did just like most kids, they played with the boxes. I am please to report that they have been playing with the toys, but their first choice always seems to be a box. They got some cool toys and books. It is nice to have some new toys and toys for their age instead of just baby rattles and little things like that. They had plenty of help opening presents from Preston, Kati and two friends, Maggie and Laura. Everyone seemed to really have fun. We even had some Brazilian drinks or maybe it would be called punch, but anyway our language teacher made the punch for us and it was a big hit. It was made with passion fruit and very light, but very tasty.

It was fun birthday! These guys are growing into such sweet and fun little boys. They are beginning to really bloom individually and their own personalities are starting to shine through. It has been neat to see how God has provided for these babies and how He has provided for us through these babies, but it is only going to get better. I can't wait to see what God has in store for these guys. Please join us in praying for them that they will be a vital part of what God has called our family to and they will be a light in the darkness. We have already seen the doors that can be opened just because there are two of them, so I know He has a plan for them to be used in a might way.

Lagoa Taqural (Our neighborhood park)

The babies enjoyed the sunshine and just strolling around the park. Kati and Preston couldn't resist pretending that Kati was being attacked by the huge snake and Preston was saving her.


We just wanted to share with you about the park here in our neighborhood. It is really a neat place. It is huge with a huge lake and walking trail all the way around it. It also has unique birds in cages that you can look at and enjoy as well as plenty of birds in the wild that if you get lucky you can catch a glimpse of those as well. We have seen all kinds of parrots and even toucans. It is really neat and like nothing we have seen in Mississippi. There is a train that runs on Saturday mornings and takes you on a tour of the park. There is a big ship that you can tour and it is supposed to be a replica of the ship that brought the first explorers to Brazil. There are also many different food and beverage vendors. You can get coconut water and drink it right out of the coconut if you want, you can get pastels, fresh juices, ice cream (corn flavored if you want) and many other things. There are also swan boats and that is way cool. So, yesterday we went to the park and wanted to just be there and walk and enjoy the beautiful day. We were going to do the swan boats but walked around the lake first and by the time we got back the boats were closed. We are going back next weekend for the babies 1st birthday, so we will get pictures posted of our family in the swan boats. Preston made me promise!

Oh I almost forgot the craziest thing of all that you can find at the park and that is the capybaras. They are just loose in the park and not hard to find at all. They are huge and it seems so strange when we run into one on our path. They are not aggressive and they will run away if you get too close, but we have been told that if you corner one that are not afraid to use their big teeth. Yesterday, we were within 15 feet of one and he just laid there and didn't seem to mind that we were there and taking pictures of him.



So there you have it. It may not be much, but it's what's in our neck of the woods. Thanks for reading.

Keri....Cooking?

Yes, you read that right....Keri has been cooking and Brazilian style at that! One of our language teachers, Priscilla, has come over a few times and taught me how to cook some things. We have done a dessert, passion fruit mousse, which was very good. Then we did a cheese bread, pao de queijo, and Preston likes that one so much that he no longer wants it from the bread store, he only wants mine! :) Then she taught me how to do lasanga, rice and beans, and stroganoff. I am no longer afraid to use the pressure cooker. That is how we cook beans and other veggies and I can do it now, yea me! It has been a challenge to come up with meals in Brazil. Everything is different! We can't find some of the things that are in the States and then we can't figure out what other things are. It is still a challenge, but thanks to Priscilla it is now much easier. The family has been very eager to try new dishes and I must say that everything so far has been delicious. My mama would be so proud.

Language School is in Full Swing

Paul and I are now in the middle of week 4 of language school. We are a LONG way from being able to speak the way we need to, but the good news is that we are understanding a good bit. There are even times that I am shocked that I actually understood something. Preston and I were able to talk to two of the college guys next door, Nelson and Alfredo. We carried on a conversation even though it was short, but it was a conversation none the less. I was able to make complete sentences. Again, they were short, but they were complete! Praise God! We even took some homemade chocolate chip cookies to them. These are just small victories and may seem so insignificant to most of you, but they are HUGE in our book. Thank you Jesus!



I for one still feel very much like a child, but with every word that I understand, or sentence that I understand or even conversation that I understand, I feel so empowered. We are still taking baby steps and will be for a long time, but God is showing Himself to be faithful as always. He is making our ears to not just hear but understand and believe it or not, He is making our tongues to speak where people can understand us. We thank God every step of the way for walking with us through this journey.



Please continue to pray for us that we will grow in language and meet more and more new Brazilian friends.

Would you guess that this was in Brazil?

I never thought that I would see this in Brazil…..

Your eyes are not deceiving you, they are in Southern Belle dresses and Confederate uniforms. They are dancing a dance that was supposed to have been popular in the 1800’s. I don’t think you can tell, but they are dancing on a confederate flag painted on the floor. This was a confederate festival that we went to in Santa Barbara which is about an hour outside of Campinas. This is to celebrate their history! Yes, THEIR history. After the civil war in the USA, there were Southern families who moved to Brazil. They were offered land in Brazil for $.22 per acre and slavery was still legal. So, many families came here and began to raise sugar cane, corn, watermelons and other crops. It was the funniest thing to stand there and here songs like Dixie, Yellow Rose of Texas and Yankee Doodle Dandy (all in English), but all the language spoken around us was Portuguese. There is a group of Confederate Sons and Daughters that take yearly trips back to the South to show kids and grandkids where their ancestors came from. They are also trying to keep the Southern English alive and teach that to their children as well. We didn’t meet any of those people, but I wish we could have. I was interested in hearing the Southern English that they would speak, but maybe next time.

There is a cemetery here where the original group is buried and to be buried in this cemetery you must be a descendant of one of them. It was very interesting to walk around the cemetery and read the tombstones. Preston found it very interesting and we had to pull him away.

They served some Southern food such as fried chicken and biscuits, but no sweet tea and Kati said that should be a sin.

All in all, it was a very neat time. Even though we really don’t have much in common, it was just neat to think about the heritage that they were celebrating and the fact that it is the same heritage that we have.

Interesting, huh?

Language Learning

We have officially started language learning. We thought we started two weeks ago but were informed that it was only preliminary stuff we were learning. So, we officially started the official language school this past week. We have class 2 hours a day and then 1 hour out on our route and then 2 hours of homework. The class starts with review from the day before and then we learn something new. The second hour of class is a review from the day before and a review from the hour before and then we learn something new. Then we go on our routes. Our route is just a small street that has a mechanic, tv repair shop, small market, gym, bread store, pharmacy, and a small shopping center. We have been introduced to all of the workers along this route and they are aware that we are learning Portuguese. We thought we would be a bother to people trying to work, but they are so excited about helping us. It has been really neat to see how people react to us. It will be nice when we can carry on an actual conversation instead of just asking our simple basic questions. We try to ask everyone at least two questions and then get them to ask us those same two questions. So far, it has ended up being way more than just two questions that have been asked. Some of what has been said to us we can understand but most we can't catch. I am going to take my dictionary next week and maybe I can look up words that I don't know. I have a feeling that they will be more than eager to help us with that too. We have already had two ladies tell us to bring pictures of the kids next week because they want to see who we are talking about. Our experience so far is that the Brazilian people are very kind and loving. They keep telling us that the real conversations with people will happen. We don't see it right now, but we will keep you posted on our progress.

Please keep us in your prayers because this is not easy for our old brains to take in. Kati has made it her goal to be understanding her teachers by the end of April. It is a very ambitious goal, but she seem to be headed that direction. She is listening intently and asking lots of questions. Of course, Preston is picking up on words left and right and we fully expect him to be our interpretor in just a short time.

Also keep the babies in your prayers, they continue to fight one bug or another. We can't seem to completely get rid of anything and one of them seems to always be running a fever.

Please send us any questions that you may have about our life in Brazil. We welcome them and would love to hear from you. Our email address is cunninghamsinbrazil@gmail.com, so just email them to us.

Love to you all,
Keri