New Food Finds

Ok, so it isn't really NEW food, but we continue to amaze ourselves at the things that we have been able to make ourselves. By make, I mean, from scratch, no boxed meals or mixes that you just add soup to. This is no big deal to a lot of people, but it has taken some getting use to for us. We didn't think that we used as much Campbell's soup and Hamburger Helper as we did, but we quickly found out that we not only used it, but we didn't know how to cook without it. So, I just want to share some of our recent successes that have been like a little slice of home. We made our very own flour tortillas and when tortillas actually became available in the grocery store here, the kids didn't like the store bought ones....they wanted moms! It did my heart good. Of course it is more trouble, but not that much more and it was fun making them. I think I have mentioned it before, but we have been making our own barbecue sauce and maple syrup. These have been favorites too. I made some drop biscuits that I added a type of cheese to (since we don't have cheddar in Brazil) and garlic. They tasted just like the garlic cheese biscuits from Red Lobster, which Paul and I have always loved. But the latest creation was Rotel chicken spaghetti without the Rotel. I got a taste for it and wanted it, but there is no Rotel or Velveeta in Brazil. I found a processed cheese spread that I thought I could make work and boy did it work. As far as Rotel, well, I got tomatoes and jalapenos and made my own. We haven't had chicken spaghetti in probably a year and a half and this was mouth-watering good. We are not only getting used to cooking in Brazil, we are actually liking cooking in Brazil.

Botanical Gardens

We had a wonderful day at the botanical gardens here in PoA. We took a picnic lunch, spread out our blanket under the trees, and had a great day. This was the first picnic for the little boys and they did great. They sat on the blanket and ate their lunch and once they were done, they did get up, but they stayed right with us and came back when we called. It was a nice change being in the open spaces. There are days when the bars on the windows and the gate around the property seem to close in on us, so to be able to roam free and have plenty of space to walk was just a nice change. We even walked through their natural science museum and all the kids enjoyed that. We ended the day with some ice cream to cool off with. This is the day that the Lord has made! And we rejoiced and were glad in it!

Coming to an end!

We are wrapping up our two month long family visit from Pawpaw and Nana. I can honestly say that it has been a great time just having family close again. It has been a lot of fun showing them the town, taking them to some of our favorite restaurants and my personal favorite...showing them the mountains and the beautiful city of Gramado. It was neat for us to see them experience all the firsts of a new culture. There have been many things that we have gotten used to in our year in Brazil, and they have reminded us that they are not what we experience from where we are from. I think one of the biggest things has been the overwhelming size of the city we live in. Coming from Olive Branch, Mississippi, which is growing by leaps and bounds but only has a population of about 35,000 to PoA with its surrounding area it is somewhere around 3 to 4 million. So this has been overwhelming for them to say the least. They never got used to the driving or just riding in their case. Nana was constantly gasping for breath as another motorist cut us off in traffic or a motorcyclist buzzed in between cars with barely enough room to fit. We have gotten used to, but they never did.

The babies have especially gotten used to them being here. They wake up in the mornings or from their naps and at least one of them starts looking for Pawpaw. Every night before they go to bed, they have to give Pawpaw and Nana kisses. I'm sure that the babies will notice their absence, and I am even more sure that the grandparents will feel some separation anxiety.

So, as our time comes to an end with them here with us, I would like to ask for you all to pray for us, we will miss them terribly, but also pray for traveling mercies for them. It is a long trip traveling from here to there. They will leave PoA at 7:30 Monday evening and not arrive in Memphis until 12:40 Tuesday afternoon. Please keep them in your prayers!

Thank you for your partnership in prayer with us. We cherish you all!

Updates coming soon!

Well, I am floored! I truly had no idea that so many of you actually followed our blog. I have heard from countless people asking me when are we going to update. So, I promise updates will be coming soon! We have spent the last month with Paul's parents and it has been wonderful. They will be here until March 16th, and we will be so sad to see them go. It has been wonderful just having them here to share meals with, to show them around town, and just to visit. We have always enjoyed their wise Godly counsel and now is no exception. This has been a great time to just unwind and enjoy them since it has been so long since we have seen them face to face. I will work to get some updates on what we have been doing along with some pictures soon, I promise!

Thanks for your interest in us and the work that is going on down here in Southern Brazil! By the way, it is HOT down here!

Spring Cleaning

Spring is almost over so we have to rush and get all that spring cleaning finished. Kati and I scrubbed the backyard today. Does that sound strange? Well, a year ago it would have sounded strange to me too, but not today. Our backyard, which we prefer to call a "courtyard", sounds more formal, is all tile. We do have grass, but it is in our front and side yard. The tile has not been scrubbed and really cleaned since we have lived here this 3 months and before that the house was empty for over a year, so I am sure it has been awhile since the tile was scrubbed. Well, it was scrubbed today and Kati and I took turns making it happen. We washed it all off with the water hose and a broom and then we literally scrubbed on our hands and knees. See the picture below....I'm not kidding. It was hard work, but we did it and were able to sit back, relax and enjoy our pretty, clean tile. I do think the caption on this pictures needs to be something like Cinder-relly, or something like that.

From Christmas Cookies to Emergency Rooms

Preston and I decided today was the day for Christmas cookies. I had Grandmother's recipe for sugar cookies, but was a little nervous that I just wasn't going to be able to make it work. So, it was just our practice batch, but it turned out great. We will be making more to give to our neighbors this weekend. So, let the baking begin! One funny note about the cookies was that we don't have cookie cutters, which is fine so don't send us any. What we did was cut out shapes out of paper like a snowman, candy cane and gingerbread man just to start with. We laid the paper shapes on the dough and used a knife to cut around it. (see picture of Preston in action below) It worked rather nicely. Once we figured out that it would work, we then did a cross, a manger, smiley faces and bells. We had a lot of fun. In addition to the cookies, we made a Brazilian sweet treat, brigadeiros, and a new found recipe from Susan Clements, cake balls. All of these turned out great and Preston was so excited that he was the only one that helped me. He is always excited about Mama/Preston time. Kati wants me to explain however that she had a friend from Campinas here spending the night and that is why she wasn't helping us......The flour all over everything and us was Preston's doing. He thought we needed it for the pictures.

We barely got the sweets finished when Kati came in the kitchen and said she was starting to itch all over her body. I gave her a benadryl and told her to go take a shower. Well, nothing seemed to help and it was getting worse. It started out as just red places but they were everywhere on her body. Then those red places began to swell and developed welts. She said her clothes touching her skin only made everything sting and it was obvious that she was very uncomfortable. She then thought she was having trouble breathing and that is when I got nervous. I went ahead and called for a taxi to take us to the ER. Paul and I didn't want to take a chance on her throat swelling shut. So, Kati and I were off to the ER with my Portuguese dictionary in hand. And just for the record that dictionary was never needed!!! Woo-Hoo!!! I was nervous though being by ourselves and having to rely on our language skills, but we did it. I got the paperwork filled out and she was checked in. That was task number 1. It may not be a big deal, but we are counting it as a major accomplishment. Then we were called back and the doctor spoke no English whatsoever. She had to examine Kati and explain to us what she was going to do; she did, and we understood! Accomplishment #2! So, she told us that they were going to give her medication to stop the itching and hopefully it would in turn stop the swelling. By this time, Kati's eyes, lips and ears were all swollen, but her breathing was okay. After they gave her the medication, they just wanted us to sit and wait to make sure that it was doing what they hoped it would do. It worked and Kati was feeling much better within 15 minutes. The swelling went down and the redness was gone, so Kati and I had a little time just to sit and talk. Once we knew she was going to be alright, it was a nice time together. So, it may have come about in a strange way, but I was able to spend some good one on one time with both Kati and Preston today. And on top of all that really felt like we had a major victory in the language being able to manage the ER with no help. I have already said many little prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord for seeing us through this and giving us this victory.

Brazilian 1st Birthday Party

I told you it would be nothing exciting, but here goes with my first "journal entry". In Brazil, the 1st birthday is a big one, along with the 15th birthday for girls. Well, we got to go to our first Brazilian 1 aninho aniversario festa and it didn't disappoint. We knew when we received all 6 invitations that it would be something spectacular. The picture below shows the invitation. It was adorable! It was just this cute little box and we all six got one.
When we took the top off of the box, it popped open with this cute green with white polka dot inside with little ladybugs all over it. The center ladybug is even a 3D type bug. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was so cute.The inside of course just gave the details of when and where the party was. Fofinho, neh? We waited after getting these cute little invitations for 3 weeks for party time. So, we were ready and excited to practice some Portuguese. Let me tell you a little about the party and then I will add some pictures. When we arrived they had red and white balloons everywhere and ladybugs on the sidewalk all the way up to the door, through the house and to the backyard where the festivities would actually take place. Everything was red, white and black with the ladybug theme - the cake, the treats, the sweets, the napkins, the tables, everything fit the theme of the party. Too cute! We first got there and sat down to be greeted by the waiters wanting our drink order. Remember I said that this was a 1 YEAR OLD birthday party! Waiters! Ok, then they brought around a little tray for every table with all kinds of little salty snacks. And when we ran out, they brought more. Then they brought around these cute little hot dogs, and even the wrapper for the hot dog had a ladybug on it. See below:Preston ate about 5 hot dogs and this was after all the little salty snacks which he ate way too many of. Not to mention all the guarana that he had already drank. Then there was lots of talking and mingling and chasing babies. We were there for almost 4 hours and no English was spoken. I felt that from a language point of view, it was good. We talked plenty, we didn't just sit there. We found a great couple that was so kind and so patient with us, Luciano and Marlise. We are supposed to have dinner with them after the holidays are over. We are looking forward to this! Ok, in this backyard the family has a pool and a beautifully shaded area that was just decorated to the tee. As I was enjoying the tropical trees in the yard, I noticed one of them was a pomegranate tree. They told me to come back and get as many as I want when they are ripe.
I was fascinated by the pomegranate. You know there are just some things that this Mississippi girl is not used to seeing and this was my thing for the day! The babies loved the pool and this dolphin that spit water. I was afraid that one of them was going to fall in, but Preston was the only one that got wet that day and I was the one that pushed him in. He liked it so don't feel sorry for him!Then we sang to the birthday girl, ate cake, ate chocolate covered strawberries, ate more treats and talked a lot more. It was fun and a great experience. We had heard that the first birthday was sometimes as big as a wedding reception and this one could have been a wedding reception. A neat little side note to this party was that there were 3 sets of twins there. Ok enough already, I know, I will quit boring you now, but here is a picture of the birthday girl, Bruna, and her cake.Isn't she precious? Her family speaks no English whatsoever and they are so sweet to us and are so very patient with us as we struggle to make our Portuguese words make sense. We are thankful for our new Brazilian friends and ask that you pray with us that the Lord will nurture these friendships and show us how to be a light to them even if we can't speak as fluently as we would like.