JOEY! TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES...TODAY IS THE DAY YOU LEFT IN A MISSION, A GREATER MISSION THAN MEETS THE EYE, ONLY WE BOTH KNOW. THERE'S SO MUCH ABOUT YOU THAT WILL BE MISSED, SO MUCH WILL BE REMEMBERED, SO MUCH WILL BE LEFT WANTING. BUT BEYOND ALL THAT, BEYOND THE ACHE, THE LOVE REMAINS, AND IT WILL BE CARRIED ON NO MATTER WHAT. I WISH YOU WILL CARRY ON THIS LOVE YOU SO WILLINGLY GIVE, THIS DROP OF RAIN TO OTHER LITTLE FLOWERS WHO ALSO NEED YOUR TENDER CARE. I'M HAPPY I WAS ABLE TO SHARE OF YOUR HEART, THE TENDER MOMENTS AND THE HARD TIMES...CARRY US WITH YOU, WILL YOU?
ALWAYS IN YOUR HEART, ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS. LANCE AND I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME BECAUSE OF YOU...BECAUSE "YOU STOOD BY US!"
LANCE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER AND KNOW HIS "DADA".
LOVING YOU AND PRAYING FOR YOU FOR AS LONG AS YOU'RE GONE...
THESE PICTURES ARE IN SWEET MEMORY OF THE MANY GOOD MEMORIES WE'VE HAD.

Our First Seminar

We hosted our first seminar at the company of our landlord, with about 50 people including our landlord. Here are Joey and myself participating of a skit called "menina futil" and he was supposed to be like Don Juan, and I"m the man stealer who leaves my sister broken hearted-ha! We had a blast practicing it, and presenting it. We had a few very touching slide shows, against drugs and alcohol, as well as workaholism which hit home to alot of those business men. In the end we had a barbecue hosted by our landlord, with loads of free beer...of course, there's not great ending for a true Brazilian without the "amarelinha" as they call it...the "little yellow one"-Good Brazilian Beer!
TTL everything worked out great, and many hearts were touched and we even prayed with everyone there.

All about mama!

It's been so long since my last post, so I thought it'd be about time for another one. I've talked about Daddy, drooled over baby, so I thought it was time to talk about mama now.
Well, the reason I haven't posted in such a long time is because mama has been extra busy these past weeks, no time for herself or her blogs...aw, mama doesn't mind, it's the beauty of motherhood.
Yup, so that's what I love most, to spend the day caring for Lance, using just about every opportunity to teach him colors, shapes, names of objects and anything else opportunity might throw my way.
Today Lance got to see the moon during broad day light, and he learned the word "moon", one of the few in his limited vocabulary. He was so proud of himself for it, that he kept saying it all afternoon long, over and over.
We spent the day together, went in the pool twice, and then we went over to the other home to visit his little friend Mateus, or as he calls him "Teteu". He discovered through mama that it's alright to let the water fall on your face, and he enjoyed a whole half an hour in the pool shower just letting the water fall and bathing himself all alone.
Aaaargh, I was going to talk about me, and all I can seem to blur out is about Lance. Oh well, I'm in love, what can I say?
I don't get to spend as much time with him as I'd like to, as I'm usually attending other business of the home, so every day with him is worth gold for me.
I'm loving Brazil again, can't get over the wonderful food, the warmth of the weather, the joy of the people and the aroma of the beach just a block away. I'm glad to be home! I thank God everyday for the gift of being a mother, nothing can take it's place. I love life!!

The Little Missionary!

These little eyes say so much....

Eric Lance...I'm in love every single day over and over many times a day. Just looking at him, hugging him, and having him ask for me, run to me, and trust me as his angel here in this earth.
Those little eyes say so much, they look at me in adoration...how can anyone not fall in love? He's conquered the hearts of everyone who's lives he's touched. As he goes out for walks every day by the beach, he greets everyone that passes by with a smile and a wave. He calls out to them, making sure to get their attention...now that's a great method for witnessing. He's a true missionary already. TYJ! Everyone goes crazy about how outgoing he is, and how he fears no one, man or woman, he isn't a respecter of persons. So much of heaven is in his little heart, which flows out... to love even the unlovely, the old, the poor, he sees no difference. I wish I were more like him. He's a sample to me of what a true missionary should be, we shouldn't let anyone pass us by without at least a smile of acknowledgment and a look of "Jesus loves you". He's a faithful little missionary.
Our next goal is to teach him how to hand tracks, though most likely right now he'll just stick them in his mouth or think they're his-ha! In time he'll get the point I'm sure, he is only 14 months old.
When asked how old he is, in all 3 languages, he'll already sticks out his little pointer as to say "1"...how smart!

Yesterday he grabbed 2 spoons and decided he wanted to "bug" Dada and Mama, so he began circling us and poking our backs with the spoons making some loud shrills of excitement and then waiting to see our reaction. We laughed so hard!! We couldn't believe he actually knew how to "bug" people.

This coming week I'm starting his school prep, and more seriously delving into his teaching. I'm planning on teaching him both english and Portuguese reading. LHM! A huge challenge.

I love my little Sunshine!