My how the time passes!

I'm so sorry that I've been a horrible blogger.  I would have way too much to write about, so I'll try to just hit the highlights of these past 3 months since I last posted...October 22nd we flew to Atlanta!  Yeah!  We had a great reunion with family (the grandparents) at the airport.  

On October 26th, we celebrated lil'j's very first birthday.  We had a great time, great weather and great food.  Thanks to all who came.  Unfortunately we pooped lil'j out before cake time and he wanted no part in the eating of it.  

The rest of our trip was a time of relaxing, eating, shopping, spending time with friends and family and enjoying the US (grass, cars, space, etc)!  Here are some photos...

More to come...I promise!

Penguins in Rio

That's right...apparently penguins get sick of the Antarctic and come to Rio to lounge on the tropical beaches. Here's a link to an article about it http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27004165/from/ET/

I personally haven't seen them...bummer. We don't get to the beach all that much, especially since it's been winter here (75F). We've been wearing our mittens, toboggans and heavy winter coats instead. :)

We are looking forward to more beach time as it warms up a little more and the water is not so cold. Lil' j hasn't had the opportunity to get in water except for his bath in a tiny tub. We are looking forward to some time in a pool and the ocean this summer (summer down here...winter in the States).

Anyone want to come play on the tropical beaches of Rio with the penguins? Come on down! We'd love to have you.

A Visit from Gramma

In September, my mom came to visit for 2 weeks. The last time she came was when lil'j was born, so we weren't able to get out and do a lot of stuff in Rio. This visit we got to do much more and, of course, spent a lot of time playing with lil'j. We had a great time with her and really miss her. We are thrilled to be going to the States for a visit the end of October, so we will be seeing all the grandparents, etc soon. Here are some pictures from Gramma's visit...


happy tears at the airport

playing with lil'j's many girlfriends

lots of reading time

seeing the beauty of Rio

We'll see you again soon, Gramma!

Friends

Here are some of our dear friends and fellow missionaries here in Rio...

lil j's precious friend A Rebecca with A and lil' j and I

Richard and Jason with the kids

lil' j and a coconut (he obviously had a drool problem this day)

It is so nice to have American friends down here. We enjoy swapping recipes and things we've discovered down here like where to buy tortillas or how to make good feijao (black beans). Not much else to say here, just thankful for friends overseas with us.

Novo Friborgo

Last weekend we went with some friends (Jose and Heckel) to Novo Friburgo, a city colonized by the Swiss located in the nearby mountain range. We stayed with Jose's aunt and uncle in a beautiful yellow house. The weather was great. Sunny days in the 70's, but cold at night getting down to freezing with no heater! Jose's aunt had our trip all planned out. The first day we rode in a jeep up a very steep road to a set of never-ending stairs leading us to one of the highest peaks in the range.

Here is Jose and her aunt's friend that owned the jeep we rode up in.

Jason with Jacob in tow ascending the stairs (all 700+ of them!)

The three of us at the top.

Heckel being silly, Jose's aunt, Vania, and her friend.

Jose and Jacob

The trip also included a visit to a honey farm, a Swiss cheese making school and a beautiful pousada (Bed and Breakfast) for lunch. Here is a picture of Jose and Heckel at the pousada.

We also went bowling on top of a mountain overlooking the city. Jacob had a great time with the guy at the bar there...I think he was just trying to get some free candy.

Day Off; Misc.

Every week we have one full day off and we try to do something different and fun in the city. Rio has so much to offer. Two weeks ago we went walking along a coastal community, Urca, and then along a path under Sugar Loaf (see last picture). Of course, pictures just don't do it justice.




Our work is going well. Jason stays busy with Bible studies in the different communities. They are studying Romans. We are in the middle of winter here. Of course, today was about 77F and sunny. Just beautiful. However, the beginning of last week was cold and rainy (low 60's/high 50's)...that's the coldest it ever gets here in Rio. It always feels colder than it actually is due to the lack of insulation and plethora of tile. Hot chocolate is a favorite on days like that!

my little boy...

...is growing up soooo fast! Jacob is 7.5 months old now. He'll be 8 months on the 26th. He is sitting up, crawling and last Friday (the 13th) he STOOD UP on his own...crazy! I was sitting at the table eating breakfast and j was crawling around in a little area we set up for him. He was trying to crawl over the pillow barricade we put up and I was laughing at him and turning on the camera to take a video of him. When I looked up, there he was on his own 2 feet! Of course, before I was able to get the camera on him he toppled over. He is so eager to go! I'm still trying to capture him standing on video. He's done it a couple more times, but I haven't been quick enough with the camera...one day I'll get it!

Today is Jason's first Father's Day. What a joy! Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful men out there!

Cookies...Yum!

Some of the kids that we do a Bible study with wanted to learn how to make "American" cookies. So, one afternoon we had a baking class. We made oatmeal raisin cookies...they were a huge hit!

In fact, we often make brownies, cookies, etc. and people here love it! They think we should open a shop...oh, if it were that simple! :) It's fun to make good ole US of A sweets for our friends...and of course, for ourselves.

Random Goodness

Here are some fun pictures from the past couple of weeks. Here is Jacob with our dear friend, Anna. Her parents are also missionaries down here. Anna calls us Baby Kristin and Baby Jacob. All her dollies are also called Baby Kristin. She is just precious! After the Passion Conference, a friend who came down from Atlanta to work at the conference came back to Rio to spend the week. We had the opportunity to take him to a couple of places...the beach...

...the Botanical Gardens (Tom is pictured here with C...one of the boys in the SR house)...

...and up at Sugar Loaf (Pao de Acucar), a tourist spot here in Rio...

a little friend up at the top...

All this in one day! Jacob was a little trooper! Rio is a beautiful city...anyone want to come visit?! We'd love to have you!

Passion ~ Sao Paulo

We are extremely grateful to some very generous friends who gave all of us the opportunity to go to the Passion conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We had a wonderful time of worship and fellowship. Sao Paulo was the third stop on Passion's world tour this year. Music was lead by Chris Tomlin and David Crowder Band. The speakers were Louie Giglio and Frances Chan. To find out more about the Passion World Tour conferences, visit: http://www.268generation.com/ or 268blog.com. Here are some pictures...the 2 boys are C and P...they live in our Sombra Road House.

David Crowder*Band

Jeremy, P, Kristin, lil' j, Jason and C

Enjoying Starbucks in Sao Paulo...it hasn't arrived in Rio yet....

We also enjoyed Whoppers at BK...gotta love the American influence down here :)

Hotlanta

Jacob and I had a GREAT visit to the States. The grandparents, etc. thoroughly enjoyed their time with him (and me too, I guess). We were there a little under 3 weeks and the time passed so quickly. It is always like that. I know for Jason those weeks passed slowly and we are glad to be home again with him. Here are some pictures...(somehow I didn't get pictures of a lot of people...particularly Jason's side of the family). Ooops!

Manginhos

Jason teaches an English class in Manginhos, one of the poorest favelas in Rio. His main objective is not to teach English but to recruit one of the youth in the community to live in the Sombra Road home. He teaches his English class in a house that is owned by a ministry called Timones (refering to I Timothy). The director, who invited Jason to work with the youth of the favela, allotted almost US $100 per month to do activities with some of the teenagers. This month they took the money and bought basic necessities (rice, beans, oil, sugar, etc.). They delivered the food products to six deserving families. As you can see in the photo, the families all life in a line of wood shacks. Upon delivery, they prayed with the families and read scripture with them. This was a good opportunity for the youth to give back to their community and the gesture fits well with Sombra Road's desire to disciple youth. The lady pictured above is Oliene, the social worker at Timones. Below are some of the youth Jason works with there.