Trip to Caldas Novas, Goias, Brasil with the Crossland & Axworthy Families

Mia (4) being SUPER brave on the zipline at the Hot Park

"He made the sky.  He made the grass.  He made the plants.  He made the birds.  He made the thingies. He made the dee-dee-da"

All the way home from Caldas Novas (a place in Brazil located on a volcano, so all of the springs and rivers are filled with hot water), I heard Mia playing and singing in a soft, high pitched whisper.  As she played with this stuffed, plush baby chick keychain thing, her arms flailed in the air, sometimes awakening me from my half-sleep-bobble-head-state.   She sang for about twenty minutes straight about God and all of the things that he created.  Not only was I amazed at how well this four old occupied herself for 5 hours, but I saw firsthand childlike faith, and the importance of Proverbs 22:6, "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Mary, David, and Michelle

Jessica invited me and the Crossland family to stay at her mom's house in Caldas Novas this past weekend.   We had a 4 day weekend from school because of a Brazilian Holiday.  The trip was truly a blessing!  We all bonded so well.  The Crosslands, David and Michelle, are from Corpus Christi, Texas and have 4 kids, David (14), Victoria (12), Mary (10), and Nathaniel (6).  They moved here to learn Portuguese and work with orphans in Brazil in August, about the same time that I came here!

TreeTops Ropes Course

This weekend we were able to spend so much time together!  We shared many delicious meals, spent 2 days at 2 different water parks, and had a blast.  I saw a little too much of the following things: SPEEDOS & STRING BIKINIS.  It was a little bit of a shock, don't worry though, I will save you readers from sharing in that experience. Honestly, size, shape, or even age didn't even matter because everyone, well almost everyone, skinny, fat, old, young, all strutted with confidence around the parks.

Check out the view on the way!

At the end of our last day, the Crosslands treated us all, along with countless other things, to the zipline and treetops high ropes course over the water.  All of us, even Mia, as you can see in the first picture, went fearlessly down the zipline!

Blue Macaw

The town of Caldas Novas was not just full of nice family vacations, but also with endangered Tucans and Blue Macaws.  After watching the movie, Rio, I wondered if I was ever going to get to see these birds.  And, amazingly, just driving around town we saw them both!  Michele was able to get a picture of the Blue Macaw! All in all, it was a great weekend!  Good company, good food, and great experience.  Who would have thought about going to a hot water park in the middle of December!  Thanks again to the Crossland and Axworthy families!

Joseph & Nathaniel

Continue to pray for:

Health and Safety in Brazil

Me as I work at Brasília International School.  I am loving every bit of it.  Praise God that our Accreditation visit went well last week.

My trip during Thanksgiving Break to Recife, Fernando do Noronha, & Porta das Galinhas.

My trip home for Christmas Break.

Visiting friends and family during this short amount of time, December 24 - January 7.

Dreds and Torpedo will be recording a CD with Kevin Buie during the break and there are tons of things that need to be worked out, licensing, logos, finances, etc.

Thanks for your prayers!