Made It

We got a call from Ansley around 11:00 last night letting us know she made it safely to Quito.

We woke up this morning with an email letting us know that she had made it safely to the school/orphanage.

We wanted to thank you loyal readers who have been praying for her safe travels. You blessed us and our daughter.

First thing this morning we got to talk with her on skype.

Seeing Giovanni helped calm a bit of her nervousness.

My dad and I left to go to his weekly Tuesday morning prayer meeting with the "Memphis Guys" (and the group has grown since I posted about them almost 4 years ago) and when we came back people were still talking to Ansley.

As her nervousness grew again her 7 year old brother took matters into his own hands. He pulled up a chair and began reading page after page from his "Diary of a wimpy Kid" book as she started to unload her suitcases.

When she got nervous about her new surroundings, new people, new food, etc., we would hear Anderson speaking calming words to her and encouraging her to allow him to read some more. She allowed and he read some more.

When I got home my girlfriend said he had been reading to Ansley for about 30 minutes.

I love our kids and how they take care of each other.

P.S. Please keep praying for Ansley. That God's peace would just overwhelm her and that she would love her new apartment, new friends, the kids, Ecuador......just everything. Thanks.

Tooth Fairy Revisited

Remember the loss of the first front tooth and then the great "stolen" tooth dilemma?

As you know, that all got worked out.

About 3 days later Anderson looked like this:

The second one came out. Knocked out really by an accidental elbow from Carys while they were goofing around with Giovanni.

Anderson wasn't shy about showing off his new toothless grin.

And since he noticed that we were taking pictures of people smiling Giovanni figured he had to get in on it as well and asked me to take his picture.

No misplaced tooth this time, tooth removal taken care quickly by big sister, and another visit by the Tooth Fairy which means more stuff. Much smoother experience for Anderson this time and I think he's kind of enjoying this money making deal/sticker earning deal.

I don't think he'll ever be like Carys and pull all of her teeth out on her own, (we've never actually had any of our another kids do what she does) but I think he's getting used to them coming out and I know he's enjoying his visits from the Tooth Fairy.

Finals Week-Part 2 (Moon Message Man and Nugget Head Boy)

Bronwyn,

There was some hesitation (believe it or not on my part) to share this post with you on the blog. Your mom thought it was too funny not to share, so here we go.  (If any internet police out there have problems with this, take it up with my wife. If you are offended by the following picture, take it up with my wife. If you think it's in poor taste, take it up with my wife. If you think it's hilarious, good fun kind of stuff, then it was my idea.)

I know we showed you some pictures from the camera on skype of this event the other day but we felt they might have been too blurry for you to really appreciate it.

When it starts to get hot Anderson, as you know, becomes an underwear kid. He strips off his clothes when he gets home from school and at night he only likes to sleep in his underwear.

I found out a new twist on his underwear sleeping the other night.

I walked by his room and saw that his underwear was pulled halfway down his crack. The Brasilians call your, uh......rear end crack (that polite term was for your grandmothers who also read this) a cofrinho (or little piggy bank).

When I saw the way he was sleeping I immediately accused his 14 year big brother roommate of yanking the grunders down. Garrett assured me that it wasn't his doing but that Anderson always sleeps like that now.

Later I was on the computer and Garrett and Carys asked me to come to the back of the house. They both had smirks on their faces and I knew that meant that it was time to wrestle and they were trying to lure me back to the fighting area. I told them I knew what they wanted but I couldn't wrestle then. They assured me it wasn't wrestling but something else. Neither one of them could wipe the little smiles off their faces.

Together we went back to Garrett and Anderson's room and I was met with Garrett's art work.

Here's what it was:

A special hand written note from Garrett to me on his little brother's little buns. I felt so honored.

Through the miracle of iPhoto we were able to literally uncrack your brother. We thought he might appreciate it later in life. Honestly, knowing your brother, he probably won't have any problem showing the original crack photo.

It's kind of hard to discipline your kids while you are laughing.

Anderson, surprise, surprise, woke up the next day and found out what had happened. He thought it was really funny.

When I came back out from seeing Anderson I noticed Giovanni on the couch eating his chicken nuggets. So I took his picture.

He enjoyed having his picture taking during meal time and began to pose for the camera.

Somehow he thought being upside down and eating would be a good idea.

This upside down move somehow stuck a nugget to his forehead.

At least he was happy.

Bronwyn, these two super heros (kind of like Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy but with their own special, different powers) are super excited that you will be home in less than a week. We all are.

Day of Firsts

Yesterday Giovanni got his first haircut......

(This is Alice cutting Giovanni's hair. She has been Anderson's personal hair cutter for a few years.)

......and Anderson got his first Mohawk.
They are now officially ready for our trip to the states tomorrow.

He's Fitting Right In

We have a fun family. Giovanni has no option but to blend in and go with the flow.

Watch this and you'll see what we mean:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books