Next Stop..........The Pros

Last night we had one more graduation. This time it was Garrett's graduation from high school.

Computer problems keep us from putting any video on here but we are able to show some pics.

It was hot again yesterday. About 90 degrees. Thankfully it was a little cooler in the place where we had the graduation.

Giovanni is our hot natured kid. He is always hot. Yesterday he was hot and tired and he crashed during the graduation. First he crashed on my girlfriend and then we switched and he crashed on me.

His head was soaking wet with sweat. It looked like someone had poured water on my shirt where his head was.

So while he slept we used the sweat as gel and spiked his hair.

The hot day kind of zapped Anderson's strength as well.

The graduation was good and fun except for the goofball that sat next to us who kept blowing his air horn right in Gi's ear while he slept.

Garrett has a really great class and lots of good friends. We like all of his friends. It was a fun night.

Some post graduation photos:

This is Elias. He's been one of Garrett's best friends for the last 4 years. They make me laugh any time they are together. He may get to spend a couple of weeks with us when we are in the states. That sure won't be boring.

Garrett has never owned a suit in his life. He found out he had to wear one for graduation so a couple of months ago my girlfriend took him suit shopping. They found one and had it tailored. He didn't decide to wear a tie until 2 hours before the ceremony. He said he owned one tie but it was ugly. I told him I had some old ones that he could look at. I haven't bought a tie in 20 years and have used one once, that I can remember, in the last 10 years. We aren't big dress up guys. He looked over my choices and wasn't too impressed with any except the one he is wearing. It says Jordan 23. That's right, it's a Michael Jordan tie. After the ceremony he told me everyone was talking about how cool his tie was. Who knew a 20 year old Michael Jordan tie would be so popular at a Brasilian high school graduation in 2013?
Garrett with his soccer coach. Playing for this guy this year Garrett won the city high school championship as well as the FC Bayern Youth Cup in our city. He got selected to go to São Paulo and play in April and his team was one minute away from getting to go to Germany in June. I think it's safe to say he's a good coach. 

Garrett's graduating class was made up of four different classes of about 30 students each. Each class was called to the stage and there they were presented with their diplomas. After Garrett's class had come off the stage and returned to their seats they called Garrett back on stage to present him with this:

It's a Brasilian World Cup soccer doll. His friend, Ivan, told the audience that one of their classmates was getting ready to move to the United States and they wanted to do something special for him. They called Garrett back up to the stage and gave him the soccer doll along with a big piece of paper signed by all his friends with messages about how much they will miss Garrett. . When Garrett got to the stage he told Ivan, "Why are you doing this? You know I'm coming back in March." and Ivan told him that they loved him and wanted to do something for him in case he moves to the states to go to college some day. Somehow, since we bought our plane tickets, some people have understood that Garrett is moving to the states today to live. We've had parents coming up to us over the last couple of months with tears in their eyes talking about how much they are going to miss Garrett and are sad that he is leaving. We repeatedly tell them our trip is a visit and NOT a move and yet people still think he's leaving for good. He got home this morning from his post graduation party and told us that people were crying at the party because he is moving back to the states. His friend Bruno, who seems to be the only one who understands what is going on, finally said, "Guys, he's coming back in March. He's not moving." Even though his visit to the states has taken on this life of it's own  I love the fact that his friends did this for him. It showed me the love they have for our son and the example he is to them.

Today we get on a plane for our almost 3 month visit to the states. When we get home in March we begin testing at different pro teams to pursue Garrett's dream of being a professional soccer player.

The soccer world needs a soccer player who shines the light of Jesus. Garrett would definitely do that.

We leave the future to Jesus. For now, we celebrate with Garrett on his victory over high school. It was hard fought and Jesus gave Garrett the victory.

And we are so proud of him.

Next Stop.......High School

Last night we went to Carys' 8th grade graduation (formatura in Portuguese).

There were three different classes. Each class walks in holding hands with each other and their teacher as she leads the way.

The graduation started with some opening comments and then a pastor spoke for a few minutes. This was followed by the representatives from each class sharing about their year. Then each student was called up and given their graduation diplomas along with a big hug from their teacher.

It ended with the school director speaking. Garrett bet me he would go longer than 10 minutes. He said he was long winded. I noticed the directors shirt when he got up to speak. It was soaking wet with sweat. Did I mention it was 90 degrees? I figured he would do his best to shorten it so he could go home and get out of the heat so I took the bet. I won. The director went under 5 minutes.

Carys was happy and excited on her special day.

So were some of her biggest fans.

I'm glad we got to share the day with her.

Here she is with some of her buds. God has blessed her with lots of good friends.

Now bring on high school!

End of the year

Our school year ends in December. I can't tell you how busy our Decembers are.

This year along with end of year school parties and birthday parties we also have two graduations along with the parties that go with it.

Costumes have been a theme recently.

It's been Garrett's senior year and once a month the seniors went to school dressed a certain way. The last time was an all night costume party. HIs friends begged him to go as Woody from Toy Story. So my girlfriend made his costume. She is amazing.

He's not really taller than me. He's got cowboy boots on for crying out loud.

Do you think Gi looks up to his big brother? I think for a minute he thought he was standing next to the real Woody at Disney.

They had the party and then walked to school the following morning to welcome all the other grades to school and remind them that the seniors were skipping that day. If you don't have the school uniform on then you can't enter school so a group of costumed kids weren't, obviously, allowed in. This party is a senior tradition. Our apartment is on the same street as our kids school so when we heard fireworks going off at 6:45 we knew who it was.

Here's what that looked like walking by our front window.

Here's what a group of seniors welcoming everyone to school sounds like.



This is Bruno, one of Garrett's best friends, dressed as Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

With some of his best buds at the party.

The entire class.

Anderson had an end of the year play of Alice in Wonderland. He was a parrot. Guess who made his costume? You guessed it. My girlfriend.

Anderson with his best friend Lucas. They've been friends since they were two years old.

Anderson stole the show. Everyone laughed when his turns came up in the play. His teacher later told us that he just invented that part as they practiced and she just rolled with it. It ended up being really funny. The entire play was good. The kids worked hard.

Giovanni was invited to a pirate themed birthday party. Want to guess who made his entire costume?

I am amazed at my girlfriends creativity and her ability to make stuff like this so quickly. I'm also amazed at her ability to do it with all the other things going on (our cookie business, church responsibilities, everyday mom stuff, other end of the year stuff and packing to visit the U.S. for three months).

Oh yeah, on top of all that, she's super cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEPHEN!

This year we added to our family. Stephen and Bronwyn got married in May. 

Aren't they cute?

Much better.....

So, now Stephen gets the Blume family birthday treatment. (His birthday was actually yesterday.  It's kind of hard to round up birthday messages from around the globe, so we are a little late!  Sorry!) 

Here we go.....


Gi: "He's a weirdo and he's awesomely cool and I love his beard. Happy Birthday. I'm going to give you poop for your birthday. Happy Birthday."


Anderson: "Happy Birthday Chump! Happy Birthday. From your birthday list I was kind of thinking of giving you some pink panties. I don't know what you think but i will probably just get you that. Stephen, I love you, I miss you and I can't wait to see you. Anderson."


Carys: STEPHEN HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU DORK!!! i hope you have a great birthday! Thank you for being weird, awesome and for doing awkward stuff with me when i get to visit you because i have been waiting for someone like you.... #justkidding #gross #never #awkward. Thank you so much for loving Bronwyn like i know no one else can. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! Thank you for loving parmisan and cheese in general!


Garrett: Happy birthday girly man! Cant wait to see you in a couple of weeks to beat you up! Hope you had a good day! Love you bro!


Ans: Happy birthday Stephen!! I am so so happy that you are my new brother. Remember when you said that I used to think you were cool but I don't anymore? Well guess what: i do still think you are super cool. I love watching the way you treat bronwyn and I love that you live so close to me!!! But most of all, I love YOU!!


Bronwyn: Stephen! Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great day! I am so glad that I met you and that I get to be married to you. I love how much you laugh and how you love to make everyone around you laugh. I love how much you love to be around your family and mine. You're pretty great I guess. I hope you have a great birthday week, and I love you!



Mom: Happy Birthday, Stephen! I am so very happy and thankful that you are part of our family. You are genuine, honest, and very concerned about other people and their feelings. You have your own faith and you are spiritually deep, but you still know how to have fun. I love the way you love our daughter and the rest of our family. You are a blessing to us. I wish we could be there to celebrate your birthday with you, but I know that Bronwyn will make sure that your day is really special and fun. I LOVE YOU!


Dad: "Happy Birthday Goober! I'm very thankful that God put you in B's life. I appreciate your honesty. I love the way you have just jumped right in with our big family. I love how you play with all our little punks. I appreciate the way you treat B. You treat her like a queen. I thank God for your relationship with Him. You put Him first and B second and that's all we've ever wanted for her husband. Thanks for being a good example to our family. Our kids see who you are and it's impacting their lives. I love you dork! P.S. I absolutely can't wait to see you lose your bet with Garrett. It's going to be so awesome! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHEN!  WE LOVE YOU!

Next.....the Finals!

I mentioned the other day that Anderson had a semifinal game today.

They won 5-0. Anderson scored a goal.

He was ready.

Last night he laid all his clothes out in the bathroom like the pros do it. All ready for him when he woke up today.

Getting some game time instruction from his coach.

Post game photo with the best looking girl in the gym.

Here's your video Pops.



Maybe tomorrow he gets to hold the big trophy!

Heat

Our spring/summer heat is finally arriving. Not every day is hot but we've had some warm days recently. It's been warm enough for us to sleep with our fans on at night.

Some are celebrating the change in temperature by putting on their bathing suits and visiting a local pool.

Some welcome the warmer season by sharing a meal, good discussion and laughs while dressed only in their underwear.

Our winters can be really cold and our summers can be insanely hot but we are thankful that we live in a part of Brasil that has four seasons.

And right now we are enjoying our spring.

Goleador

Goleador: a portuguese word that means "a soccer player who scores goals."

A couple of weeks ago Anderson had a futsal (indoor soccer) tournament. His soccer school does this every year. It's a tournament just for kids within their different soccer schools. It's fun and they ask different dads to be the coaches of the teams.

He had a ball. He always enjoys playing and his attitude is great whether he wins or loses. He plays with joy. Pure joy. It's like he already understands that life is short so enjoy what you do, especially what you love. And he loves soccer.

My girlfriend and I went to his game.

They won the first game. Our son scored four goals. My girlfriend and I were just looking at each other with our mouths hitting the floor. He's never scored four goals in a game in his life. For one game he made it look easy. Yes, I'm bragging. It's my blog.

They won the second game. Our son scored another goal.

They tied their third game. Our son was scoreless.

They won their fourth game. Our son scored one more.

They won the fifth, and championship, game. Our son scored two more.

During the games I was sending texts back and forth to Garrett who was out of town. He kept telling me how awesome Anderson is and how he is going to play pro one day. High praise from a 17 year old brother.

Here is a pre-tournament picture. Think he's posing a little bit? Like I said, he is joyful about life.

Game time photo.

Post game photo. They always ask the parents to present the medals to their kids. We think that's cool.

After everyone received their medals the coaches gave medals to the best goalie, the best overall player and the player who scored the most goals.

My girlfriend and I knew Anderson scored eight times but we had no idea if anyone scored more. Here is what happened next:



Here is the picture with the coaches.

And here is what you do with your little brother to celebrate.



This year he has also played in a futsal tournament. It's called the Liga Norte (North League) It's a tournament where all players have to take their Brasilian ID's to every game to show that they are the same age. It's a serious league. The semi-finals and finals are this weekend.

Here is our refrigerator with a calendar to remind us of meetings, doctor's appointments, games, practices, birthdays, etc.

The paper out to the left side was put up last week. With a reminder that Saturday is a big day.

That was followed up by a note, on Harry Potter lego stationary no less, with instructions on what to do before the game and during the game.

I think he'll be ready. After all, for one day, Anderson was the goleador. Yes, I'm still bragging.