To my guys (part 4)

Hey guys!

Today was Sunday, which included for me:

• breakfast at Burger King with Larry and Margaret Ann.  I got a good hug for all of you.
• church at the coffee shop with Fresh Wind Fellowship.
• church at Monrovia with more hugs and a great lunch afterward. (from Terra Novas!)

Kennedy and Carys were playing together at Granna and Grandaddy's house after church. Kennedy remembered a fun place to play in their neighborhood.

It was a big ditch that fills with water when it rains.  Someone has fixed a swing that you can swing from one side of the ditch to the other.  Check it out!

 They had a lot of fun!

 A reflection in the water...

 Cute cousins!

 The mosquitoes were starting to eat my face (the only part I didn't spray with bug spray), so we headed back home...

Here is my favorite picture of the day:

Hello Carys's booty!

To my guys, (day 3)

Dear guys,

Today is a great reason why this was a girls' trip and not a family trip.

Today we shopped.  And then we shopped some more.  And then we ate a quick lunch and then shopped some more.

Little guys, big guys and just guys in general would not have loved it.  Or even liked it.

Trash cans, canvas shoes, jewelry holders, hangers, laundry hampers, t-shirts, tank tops, sandals, room decor.......

(don't worry, dad, we only bought the necessary things, didn't go overboard, and got good deals).

So, I don't have an exciting blog post AGAIN!  Sorry!

Here is proof of our day:

So, that's it for today.

There should be some more exciting action to report tomorrow, though.

I miss you all!!!

To my guys (day 2)

Hey Guys!

Well, today was a travel day (again).  I drove and Carys did this:

Guess where we went.  Here are some clues.....

Did you guess?
Here are some bigger clues:

Granna, Grandaddy, Ansley, Carys and I all miss you and wish you were here with us.  On the agenda for tonight:
Ansley and Spencer are going to see Batman.  Carys might go with them.
We are eating barbecue for supper.  The best barbecue ever with watery sauce.
It is thundering outside and I bet it is going to rain.

Tomorrow I think we will go shopping. I am glad that we won't be traveling anywhere else at least for a few days.

I love you guys and miss you a bunch!

To my guys...

For the next couple of weeks, I am in the states to help Ansley and Bronwyn get settled in at college.  Carys came with me, so it's going to be guy time in the Blume household in Brazil.  I'm going to use my blog to let the guys know what all is going on with us on our trip.  


To my favorite guys in the world...

Well, we made it to Memphis.  It is about 10 in the morning here and I don't have a lot of exciting stuff to tell, but I thought I would share some highlights from our travel.....

On our first flight to Brasilia, Carys  and I read books.  Guess which one was hers....

The guy beside us decided to take a nap.  And he snored.  It was funny and we snuck and took a picture of him....

After Brasilia, we got on our plane to fly to Atlanta, Georgia.  Now it was our turn to snore!  Carys and I both slept almost the whole trip.

We woke up when they brought us our breakfast.  It was something that I know Anderson would LOVE!  An egg, cheese, and black olive sandwich!!!!  Oh, YUM!

No really, it was gross.  It looked so bad I didn't even dare to taste it.

But that's OK, because when we got to Memphis we snacked on some yummy cereal.  (oh yeah, and Carys got a donut - sorry Anderson!  but I AM going to bring you some donuts!)

It is hot here, and we might go swimming or shopping a little.

Sorry this update is kind of boring, but I'll do better next time!

Miss you guys!!!

Love,
Wife and Mom

PS.  Check out the berry filled frosted mini wheats.  They were so good.  I will be bringing some home.

PSS.  What I miss right now:

Brotherly Love

I have one sister and one brother.  Kevin has only one sister and no brothers.  Besides my dad and my uncle (who remain best friends to this day), I haven't been around that many brother to brother relationships.

But with our girls gone this week, it has been an all-boy household around here.  I love that our boys love their brothers

There is one big brother who didn't appear in these photos.  His mission when I get out my camera is to ruin every picture I try to take, so therefore no pictures of him.

BUT, he is a great big brother.  He is very patient with his little brothers and loves to help and take care of them.  He's a great soccer pal to Anderson and patiently plays with Giovanni and his toys.

We start our 2 week winter break today.  To kick it off right, Anderson came home today with a 102 fever.  Fun.  Please pray for him!  Thanks!

Monday Morning

"Mom," whined the 3 year old sleeping beside me this morning.
(Yes, he still gets in our bed.  It's getting better, but we're not there yet...)
I grabbed his hand thinking he just wanted to hold my hand.  But, no...
"Something's wrong.  I sheeshed* in my pants."
(Xixi - pronounced she-she - is pee pee in portuguese.  Around our house we've shortened it to "sheesh")


That was the 4:45 start to my day.

I had planned to run this morning and almost called it off because of the lovely wake-up, xixi adventure and the fact that it was cold.  In the 30's.  

But, I decided to go run anyway, and I'm glad I did.

Since the half marathon I did in April, I had probably run a grand total of 1 hour in two months.  If you've ever run regularly, and then stopped, you know how hard it is to get started again.  Like starting from zero.

I needed something good to listen to, so I downloaded a sermon from the Bethel church website.  I wasn't that excited about the title, but it ended up being just what I needed.

It was an interview with Ryan and Sara Hall.  They are professional runners and Christians.  Ryan is on the US Olympic team for the marathon.  Their interview was so great.  It encouraged me physically and spiritually.

I would strongly encourage you to listen to their interview.  If you are a runner, you will love it.  If you are a young person interested in sports, you will love it. (I'm encouraging Garrett to listen to it soon.)  If you are serious about running the Christian race, you will also love it.

Go here to download.

I can't wait to follow Ryan in the Olympics!

10 years

On June 23rd we marked our 10th year of being in Porto Alegre.

10 years.  It went by really fast.  Looking back, I have learned so much, grown so much, and been blessed beyond imagination.  The biggest blessing of these 10 years is the wonderful people that God has brought into our lives.

I love our church family.  

I am so glad that I will be spending eternity with these people.

Today was a special day.  We found out about a house that is owned by the Catholic church and has been used for several years as a type of "soup kitchen" or shelter for the homeless.  They didn't sleep there, but went for a warm shower, change of clothes and a hot meal.  Most of all they received the love of Christ from the Franciscan monks who lived there.  

Because of a lack of volunteers, the monks are not able to continue the work they were doing and gave the house back to the Catholic church who owns it.  One of our members found out about this house and inquired about the possibility of us continuing the outreach to the homeless (and others who need help) by using this house.  

Today we went to visit the house and pray for God's will to be done.

The house is huge, and our church family walked around with stars in their eyes just dreaming about how we all could serve the Lord using this house.  We have not had a building for several years and our church has grown in number and in spiritual strength.  We don't need a building to be a family.  But  it was neat to see and hear the dreams of those who visited today and hear the humble prayers of petition that God would grant us the use of this house if it would bring glory to Him.

I am so thankful for the attitudes and servant hearts of our church family.  I am thankful to be a part of this group.  We'll see what God has in store for us.

Thanks for praying with us!