Happy Birthday to Israel and a few pics from Brazil

My big boy Israel turned three today! He had the privilege of being the first in our family to celebrate his birthday in Brasil! We went to the beach this afternoon, where I took this picture in the beach garden. He is afraid of the water! Daddy took him in for a little while, but he hasn't gotten over the fear yet. Otherwise, though, he seems to be adjusting fairly well and enjoying life in general. :-)

This is the view we have out the window of our bedroom. Just to give you an idea of the feel of Santos. In the background you can see some big apartment buildings - and there are many more in construction presently. Then there are smaller, older homes as well. And most have these clay tile roofs. The three-year-olds of the family: Israel and Leonardo. This is the kid's only cousin here - Leo. He was happy to finally have some cousins to play with! They stayed here last weekend, and will be back this weekend. It has been really nice to catch up with them and get to spend some time together.

Joshua and Dominique on the beach, claiming "Brazil for JESUS!" Pray with us to this end, and that the Lord would use us here and our family for this purpose!!!

First Week in Brazil!

Well, I am not able to post pictures at this time, and I was waiting to blog until I could, but I think we wont have internet after today for a while, so I thought I would at least write. Hopefully pics will come soon!

We arrived a week ago today. The trip was tiring, but we really can't complain. There were so many things that could have gone wrong that didn't! And I even slept for about three hours, which was wonderful compared to last trip when I didn't sleep at all. :-)

The first few days were nuts, trying to find things in our luggage. Ugh. We had had to divide things up so randomly in order for none of the suitcases to go over weight, so it took a while to re-organize.

There was a lot of movement through here all weekend of family members coming to visit. Fabio's brother, wife and son were also staying here all weekend. They have a three year old little boy who was super excited to finally have some cousins to play with!

Now, a week later, I feel that we are getting adjusted and finding some kind of new routine. They kids are starting to adjust to the time change (4 hours)- which was a challenge! I had a really hard time getting them to sleep before midnight!! It is getting better now. :-)

The kids are doing fairly well. They miss the USA and get bored in the house at times, but in that regard, the beach is a lifesaver! We have gone most days and the kids can run and yell and get out all their energy!

On Sunday we went to church here and it was so neat to see the Lord's work in the family! The last time we were here, one of Fabio's cousins and our sister-in-law got saved, and the Lord spoke to my heart that it was only the beginning to what God was going to do in his family. Now, his brother has gotten saved, two more cousins, and their girlfriends. We filled up two rows at church! Hallelujah!!

I better stop for now, especially since there are no pictures to break it up! More soon, hopefully. Thank you for praying for us. Don't stop!