Trips and Falls

I had a doctor visit on Wednesday with an ultrasound to check how big she is measuring to see if we could schedule the c-section yet. She measured 37wks.5days, and the doctor likes to wait until a good 39 weeks is completed to do the c-section. So I go again on Wednesday and then we'll probably schedule it for the following Tuesday or Wednesday (the 9th or 10th). The good news is that she flipped in the last week, which the doctor said is very rare this late in the pregnancy. She continues to be active, as are her other 3 sisters!!

Things continue to go well here in Juazeiro. Chad is studying Spanish every afternoon, Mon-Fri, from 2-4 with a personal tutor who comes to our house. She is a native from Peru, and it's going very well. His only problem is that sometimes he wants to say some Spanish things when he's talking Portuguese, since there are many similarities. His purpose in learning Spanish is that when we move back to the states, he plans to continue to work in missions and with the latin/south american council of DCFI. There are a couple of churches in spanish-speaking Central/South America countries, so it would really be an asset for him to be able to communicate with them.

Below are a few pictures from Chad & Giselle's trip to Rio de Janeiro for her visa. They had a beautiful view from their hotel room! Then we have Elysia getting all messy eating spaghetti. Last of all are a few shots of Elysia's brush-burned face from a nasty fall she took yesterday. It's looking better today and she hasn't seemed bothered by it at all today. But brushburns always look bad! And the last picture is of the girls this morning playing that they were watching a circus. They all sat with their stuffed animals, and at times they would just pretend they were watching a clown, and other times one of them would actually be performing some sort of act. Gotta love the imagination of little kids!!

She has a nice scrape with a bruise above her eyebrow, a brushburn on her eyelid, and her entire cheek is pretty much one big brushburn.

Giselle's Visa Approved!!

Thanks so much to all of you who prayed with us for Giselle's immigrant visa interview to go quickly and smoothly today. Chad just called me and said that it all went smoothly and she was approved. This clears the way for us to move back to the states at the end of the year, at which point Giselle will automatically receive American citizenship! We just praise the Lord for the way this process has gone so smoothly for us.

It's been funny to see how Larissa misses Giselle. She's asked many times about Daddy & Giselle since they left early yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon she came up to me and said, "Where's Daddy?" I said, "He went on a trip with Giselle, remember?" She giggled and said, "Oh yeah". Then she got a real serious look on her face and said, "I love Giselle". I said, "You miss her, don't you?" She said, "Yeah, I do miss her." They will be getting home late tonight. They actually have a 5-hour layover in Fortaleza, so Chad is going to have a meeting with the leaders there and will get to see some of the people from the church.

Trip to Rio de Janeiro

Chad and Giselle are leaving early tomorrow (Sunday) morning to fly to Rio de Janeiro (southern Brazil) for Giselle's immigrant visa interview at the American Consulate. The interview is Monday morning and they will be getting back late Monday night. Please pray for 1. Safety as they travel to and from Rio. 2. Favor at the consulate, that her visa would be issued without any problems. THANKS!

Gigí's Birthday and Misc. Pics....

These first five pictures are from Giselle's 4th birthday on Wednesday. She is just growing up so fast. We had a fun day with her. We went out for pizza to a fun place that has a little playground where the girls had so much fun while we waited for the food to arrive. Giselle's newest pose for pictures is to give a thumb's up. I'm not sure where exactly she picked that up. The girls are adjusting well. Larissa isn't asking quite as often for our old church and friends and today she was asking when she is going to be able to go to Sunday School again at our new church. So that was a good sign. The pregnancy is going well. I can't believe how big my belly has gotten this time around. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I've had 3 pregnancies in 3 years and my abdominal muscules have just given up! But it is pretty obnoxiously huge! She is breach (seated) and hasn't flipped yet, but since I will be having a planned c-section it doesn't really matter. We haven't scheduled the delivery yet, but it will most likely be the first week of September. I have a doctor appointment on Wednesday and we'll set the date then. Here are a ton of pictures from the past two weeks here in Juazeiro... Playground at the restaurant where we went for Giselle's birthday.
They all liked the merry-go-round!





This is our new gadget - a "mosquito racket". You charge it up in an electric outlet, and then there is a button on the side that when you push it down, it causes an electric current to run through the metal netting. When you hit a mosquito, fly, etc. with it, it makes a zapping sound and kills them instantly. It's basically like those insect zappers we have in the states that hang with a blue light to attract the bugs and then when they get too close they get zapped by the metal mesh around it. The mosquitoes are really bad here. At around 5pm we have to close all the doors and keep the house shut for about 2 hours and then we can open back up and they're pretty well gone. Five to seven is apparently feeding time :)
The girls with their best friend, Molly.
This is my really good friend, Priscila, here in Juazeiro who is also pregnant and due in October.
I found the girls playing one afternoon... Giselle was combing Larissa's hair and 'getting her ready for bed'. A minute later Giselle was coming out of the room, shutting the door and telling Larissa to sleep good. And Larissa was quietly laying in her bed pretending to go to sleep.
One of our first days here Chad went out to the store with the girls in the morning and came home with these beautiful flowers for me!!

This is the new routine after lunch - as I clean the table off, Daddy and the girls do the dishes.
Elysia even pulled up a stool and tried to get in on the action.
This girl loves to climb up and into anything she possibly can.
They sure are 3 buds!!

OK, here is the obnoxiously huge belly I was talking about!! If you need a better look, click on the picture to see a bigger image.


The Incredible Hulk?? No, just a green lollipop :)

The Move

Here are pictures from the move from Fortaleza to Juazeiro do Norte. We moved August 6th - can't believe it's been over a week already!! The girls are adjusting pretty well. Larissa keeps asking to go to Bruce and Lyndell's house and our "old church". I think it's hardest on her. She seems to be the one that likes change the least so far and likes to be in her comfort zone. She's always really shy when meeting new people and being in new places. Please pray for wisdom for us as we deal with her - that we don't push her too hard in new circumstances, but at the same time that we don't "pity" her so much that we end up encouraging her shyness and insecurity. It seems to be a fine line, and knowing how to respond to each situation can be tricky. Giselle, on the other hand, is always ready to meet new people and go to new places. And Elysia is a typical 15-month old so far... we'll see what happens in the next year or so. The girls going up into the attic with Daddy to get boxes for packing.

Vânia was a huge help in packing up clothing and little stuff in our room.
Elysia trying to be a big helper.
The last night sleeping at Bruce & Lyndell's.
All of our stuff packed and stacked in the living-room, waiting for the moving truck the next morning.

Packing the truck.
Now that's packed pretty full!
Giselle during our 6-hour trip to Juazeiro... "are we there yet??"
In our new house, yay!
Elysia is going to miss her "perch" after the baby is born.

Farewell service / party

Here are pictures from our farewell service at church on August 3rd. It was such a neat and honoring service that they put together for us. We had a time of worship, and then they had a couch up front where they asked us to sit as the "guests of honor" for the remainder of the service. They presented us with a photo album that they made for us, they put on a skit about our lives here in Brazil (the funny part was that they accidently made me pregnant 4 times in the skit instead of 3... hopefully that's not prophetic!), several of the young people who have been around since the early days spoke to us and thanked us for all we did in their lives, and Lyndell made an awesome video of pictures from over the years. Then after the service there were lots of hugs and tears and of course, food. Oh, how we will miss those "salgadinhos" in the states!!

Here we are up front being prayed for by the congregation.

Here we are watching the video that Lyndell made for us.

Bruno playing the drums... how he has grown up over the years!!

Marcio & Diego
Lélia & Lisandra
Bruno
Monikelly, Mikaelly & Aline
Victor, Vânia, Chris & Chad

Chris & Lídia
Letícia
This thumb will prove to be interesting to wean Elysia off of!!
The girls and their friends (whom they miss already).

Bruce, Victor & Chad...

Hmmm, did Chad and Bruce plan to wear nearly matching shirts??
These are my two big girls!
Victor, Bruno, Diego & Marcio