May So Far

Well, Fall English camp is in the books. The boys left us Thursday for camp. They had an amazing time. The staff always does a great job.

Tucker was always upfront in the mix. They learned about having rooted faith.

I love when Mason loosens up and has fun.

Mason and Tuck were on different teams and part of the activities were to recreate a Disney movie. Mason was cast as Aladdin from Aladdin and Tuck was Simba from the Lion King. The finished video re-creations were hilarious! I would love to post them but they are way too long. I am so proud of both of them.

This year’s theme was Roots. They dove into the parable of the sower during devotional time. I love seeing them grow in character and faith.

Trev and I decided to take the opportunity to visit Socorro (which is the Portuguese word for help, just a little fun fact) and visit the Gruta do Anjo, or Angel’s Grotto. I have no idea why it’s called that. I couldn’t find a sign or anything giving me an explanation or I would share it with you. The city is known for its various adventure tourism and ecotourism boasting many rivers, waterfalls, and mountains. I’d love to go back and go rafting and take a hike or two to some waterfalls. We weren’t prepared for all that this day. Just means we’ll have to go back, I guess.

The grotto was a neat little tourist attraction. It’s not a must do but it was certainly a fun little date day. If you ever go, just know that there is parking at the top of the hill close to the grotto. You don’t have to walk the steep hill. Just a piece of information I would have liked to have known before we parked at the bottom. It was a holiday weekend so we had to wait about an hour for our paddle boat but we were just hanging out so we didn’t mind. The paddle was short only about 20-30 minutes but we had fun.

Afterwards, we were hungry and found this cute little bistro almost by accident (we were googling places and just happen to turn around and look up and Bistro Lago was on the Google list and it just happened to be across the road so we decided to give it a try). It was a great lunch date. We got a table right on the lake. Super chill. The menu warns you that they are not fast food and if you order pasta it can take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour to get your food once it’s ordered.

Again, since we were hanging out, we didn’t mind. Our food was good. Trevor had filet alfredo and I ordered the risotto with filet and we had bruschetta for an appetizer.

We were full from lunch and decided to skip dessert. Well, that was until after an hour and a half long car ride back to Atibaia and, by that time, it was the perfect time for açaí.

The boys came home on Sunday telling us nonstop about camp but after stories were told, dinner was had, and showers were taken, they were out like a light. I know this is random and maybe a little too much sharing, but my boys’ feet always look like this. They shower daily, sometimes multiple times a day, and yet these are the nasty feet that turn the white kitchen floor into a muddy mess. I hate it but at the same time I wouldn’t have it any other way. Those dirty, bug bitten, scratched up hobbit feed are evidence of boys who play and work hard with the kids of the ministry and I’m proud of them.

Our family loves these three teens.

We decided to take them to Campinas (about an hour and a half away) Friday after school for lunch at Outback and to the mall.

We had such a great time.

The following day was learn-how-to-grill day. The boys were in charge of the grill and cooked us some burgers and wings.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and we celebrated it as a group. Sarah and Emily convinced us to drive to São Paulo for ribs at Cadillac Barbecue. It was fun to almost feel American again. They had shelled peanuts, American country music playing, and BBQ ribs and brisket. The boys made me homemade cards, per tradition. It’s one of my favorite traditions we have. Tuck also made me a 3D yellow flower and Mason designed me a wallpaper for my phone of him and Tucker running to hug me in a field of yellow calla lilies. Love it.

While we were at the bbq joint, the outdoor patio had all this cool old stuff the boys decided to explore.

This inspired an impromptu short story in pictures. I have no idea what it was about but…there it is.

While, Tucker was climbing on the old tractor, Trevor recognized the tractor. Lee Cain used to have one just like it. Ron verified via photo that it was the same model.

Then we were back at work. I don’t have lots of pictures because Trev and I were in the office a lot working on the upcoming teams, taking pictures of the kids at both locations for child sponsorships, teaching English, and doing devotions; which is also what the next two weeks will look like. A lot of ministry was/is being done, we were/will be just too busy to photo it.

Progress on the building is still happening. It’s going to be so great once the bathrooms and kitchen are finished.

I will try my best to post before the end of June but I can’t make any promises, it’s going to be extremely busy. There are only 3 days the whole month we don’t have a team here.