Back to School

This morning we put this goober (the one on the left.....not the college age looking super hot girl on the right)...

...in a car with my cousin's son (Andrew) as they made their way back to Texas to start the spring semester of college.

It's never a super warm fuzzy fun thing to put your kids on planes or in cars and then go live 5,000 miles away but it's part of growing up (for both parents and kids). And Bronwyn is so blessed to have so many good buds at college.

It's one of those deals where she didn't want to leave us but she also wanted to get back to her buds and school life. We understand. It's life.

We would appreciate your prayers for safety for Bronwyn and Andrew as they make the 10+ hour drive today.

We'd also appreciate prayers for all of them to have a great spring semester.

Thanks.

We just put this big goober on a plane going back to college (I picked an awesome picture of you B. I knew you would love it. I love how you had your left eye looking up and the right looking straight ahead......How did you do that?).

We would appreciate prayers for her safety as she goes back to Texas.

Thanks.

B,

Just to help you kill the saudades.

We are going to our last game of the year tomorrow (against first place Vasco). Even Ansley is going to go.

Should be fun. Wish you were here to go with us.

Awesome Futebol Weekend

B,

You missed an incredible futebol weekend.

First, Saturday night, the under 20 Brasilian seleção won the World Cup 3-2 against Portugal. Ansley's boyfriend made all three goals. Amazing. Especially his last goal. Here are your highlights from that game.


Then yesterday Ronaldinho Gaúcho and Flamengo came to town. We almost didn't get in (me,Anderson and Garrett) because they said they sold all the tickets. I decided that we needed to go home to watch it on tv but Garrett wanted to stay in the line to try to get one even though everyone said it was sold out. While he was in the line a friend (André S.) called me to say he heard on the radio that they just freed up 500 more tickets. Garrett was about 100 people out when it happened so he got a ticket for R$15. His persistence paid off.

Even with us playing short one man(Guinazu got red carded), the juiz cheating (as usual against teams from Rio and São Paulo.....notice the guy pushing our barreira during Ronaldinho's falta with no call and D'Alessandro getting pushed down in the área with no call), and Ronaldinho playing better than anybody in Brasil right now (except Damião)we played great and ended up tying them and almost won at the end. Damião made a bicicleta to tie it at 2. It was awesome. It was the best tie game we've ever been to. People were clapping when it was over. I've never seen that happen before. Even the Flamengo fans enjoyed it. Even Garrett, "Mr. only an Inter victory is good Garrett", didn't complain about the tie so you know it was good.
Here are the highlights from that game:


Finally, saving the best for last, your brother had a game yesterday morning.
His team won 7-1. He scored twice, almost scored again and assisted in 2 other goals. Here are his melhores momentos.

Sorry you missed the fun.

Back to Texas

We just put our oldest on a plane to go back to college.

We, thankfully, got to eat lunch together one last time and have some airport hang out time before she had to leave.

There were a few tears shed between her and her sister.

Sorry B.....I just had to put your post Ansley hug face on here.

Goodbyes aren't much fun when you live 5,000 miles away.

We can't complain too much. We were super blessed to have her back home over the last 3 months. We had lots of fun together and the good news is we should be seeing her in a couple of months. .

We ask that you pray for her safety on all three of her flights.

Thank you.

Restart

Both of our winter interns, Stephen and Weston, have now gone back home to the United States.

Bronwyn goes back to college this week so I'm going to try to get back into the blogging groove.

New blog post. New family photo above. A restart, if you will.

We had a fun 7+ weeks with Stephen and Weston and it's hard to believe that Bronwyn's three month home visit will be over on Wednesday. It all went by super fast.

As I try to get into that blogging groove again I'd thought I'd start with something fun that happened with me and those three while they were all here.

I found the video below on youtube. The rest of you readers won't care about it but the three will enjoy it.

So, Bronwyn,Stephen,Weston, here you go. Enjoy the memory and, Stephen and Weston....plan on coming back for more games.

Busy Weekend-Part 1

When our older kids were little we had a video that they loved. It was the video of this book:

Ever since that time whenever we are super busy my girlfriend and I will say, "Wow today was Huckle's busiest day ever." Goofy? Sure. But for some reason this little video is still a part of our lives ten years later.

This past weekend was definitely one of Huckle's busiest days ever.

Over the next few days we'll share what happened.

The most important thing that happened for our family was that our oldest came home from college yesterday. She just finished her freshman year and she loved it.

Our house church worshipped together yesterday. We ate a quick lunch and then almost everyone was able to go to the airport with us.

We hung out while we waited.

And then Bronwyn arrived. First welcomed by blood family and then God's family. Very cool.

I love Giovanni's arms spread out and legs kicking as he went to Bronwyn and Freitas' excited hopping as he greeted Bronwyn. (I love our house church family!)

Garrett wasn't there because he was out of town.

Later we went to go pick him up. Bronwyn went and we let her go greet him all by herself.

Normally this kind of greeting from a big sister is totally embarrassing to a fourteen year old but it looks like he didn't mind too much this time. I think he actually liked it.

Everyone is super happy that Bronwyn is home.

I caught myself smiling last night as I heard two things going on.

First, a big sister reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" to a little brother at bed time.

Second, hearing Bronwyn and Ansley giggling in their room after everyone else had gone to bed.

We are going to enjoy the next three months together.

20

Twenty years ago yesterday (sorry I missed your day B) my girlfriend gave birth to our first child.

It's hard to believe how fast 20 years can go by.

We have a tradition. You know the deal. Here we go:

Giovanni:  "Braween at colwedge." (he says that all the time)

Anderson: "I miss her. She's one of my favorite sisters. I've always liked her. She's still nice even if she doesn't go to Inter games with me. I hope she doesn't feel sad because she's growing 20 because she thinks she's kind of old now that she's 20. I love her."

As a birthday bonus I have a little Andersonism conversation on your birthday just for you:

Anderson: "Wouldn't you be mad if Bronwyn was hiding something from you while she's in the states?"
Me: "Yes I would but Bronwyn doesn't hide stuff from us. She's never hidden stuff from us."
Anderson: "Yeah but what if she was hiding something from you and mom."
Me: "Like what?"
Anderson: "Like what if she is hiding a boyfriend. What if she didn't tell you that she has a boyfriend. Would you be mad?"
Me: "Bronwyn wouldn't hide that from us. She'd tell us if she has a boyfriend."
Anderson: "I think she is hiding it because she so has a boyfriend."
Me: "How do you know? Has she told you?
Anderson: "No. I just know that she has one."

Anything you need to tell us Bronwyn?

Carys: "I love her a lot. She's one of my best friends and I could never live without my movie partner."

Garrett: "I love her a lot and she's the best sister in the world and the nicest sister in the world and the sweetest sister in the world. I miss her a lot. And she is really hot." (Okay, he's a little weird.)

Ansley: "Hey Beebs, I miss you a lot! I love how we can talk about anything and how you always help me and give me advice. I hope you had the best day ever yesterday!!! Love you!! "

Girlfriend: "I miss you Bronwyn.  When you get home, let's sew, do crafts, go drink coffee and eat croissants, try new recipes and talk, (oh yeah, and exercise, of course...)  I hope your birthday was great!  I love you!" (check out her blog to read more of her thoughts.....click here)

Me: "Being the oldest has meant that Bronwyn has gotten lots of responsibilities dumped on her over the years. She's never flinched. She's mature beyond her years. I love how she sees the good in everyone and how she shows Jesus to everyone around her. I love that she easily laughs at herself and never takes herself too seriously. I love that she loves to go to soccer games with her brothers. I love how she values family time. I love that she doesn't try to impress or fit in with the "cool group".....she is who God made her and she's fine with that.  I love that she has a servant heart. I love that she lives for Jesus."

 We love you Dork!

Home

It was a fun day for everyone......

.....and everyone is happy that Bonni is back home for Christmas.

Special thanks to this photographer (upside down camera self picture yesterday)....

.......who selflessly took pictures instead of getting the first hugs. Thanks Ans.

One More Day

Bronwyn,

Hard to believe that you get on the plane today to head home. (Anyone else reading this we would appreciate your prayers for her safety.)

To "matar saudades" we've given you some videos today that are just for you. They are from the final game of the Libertadores.

They'll bring back memories of our game together in 2006 as well as get you ready for our game together on Tuesday and then, hopefully, the final on Saturday.

Everyone is very excited that you will be home tomorrow. Your friends have been coming by the house and talking with Ansley on Orkut to find out for sure when you will be home.

Enjoy your videos:


This is the Chivas fans doing the wave with their sombrero's.

Giuliano scoring our third goal.

Final whistle.

And our favorite "We are the champions" trying to be sung in English by everyone in the stadium. How did it sound? Garrett's reaction says it all.

And you can't end a Libertadores championship without Sobis and his flag as well as fireworks.

We are excited that you will be with us tomorrow and will be with us watching the game on Tuesday.

We are praying for safe travels.

See you tomorrow.

Special Delivery

It's always fun for us to get a package from someone, anyone really, in the United States.

Yesterday we got one from Bronwyn. Between studying hard, hanging with her friends and doing the whole college freshman thing she went out and made a special gift box for her family.

The kids, as usual, had a ball tearing into it.

 The bigger kids tagged the chocolate products.

Giovanni tagged the candy corn.......

.......while his brother just smiled as he read and reread your hand written note.

Mom was even excited about the box. In her own special way.

.....and my teeth are already a purplish/blueish color from all the blueberries.

Thanks Bronwyn.

Personal Alarm Clock

Bonni,

I have no idea how you wake up now to go to your classes, to church or whatever.

Is it by alarm clock?  Is it by Asia, Shelby or some other goober screaming in your ear?

Whatever it is it can't beat the personal wake up calls you used to get here.

To help you remember how sweet those 5:30 a.m. wake up calls were I've included the following video from your birthday last year.

Enjoy:

Movie Time

Bronwyn,

We watched home movies last night for a couple of hours.

Very funny stuff. We had a great time.

We especially enjoyed the ballet recital of Christmas 2003.

Sorry we don't have a picture of that night to add here.

Even though you weren't with us we wanted to thank you for making our night fun.

New Home/Old Home

Today my girlfriend and Ansley said goodbye to Bronwyn and started their trip back to Tennessee.

It was another tough goodbye for Bronwyn.

I am thankful for lots of things but a couple in particular.

First, I am thankful that Bronwyn has Asia, her roommate. You see Asia is also a missionary (aren't all believers supposed to be?). She grew up in Thailand.

They met for the first time on Saturday and are already great buddies. Bronwyn loves her and has told us how happy she is to have Asia as a roommate.

We are thankful that Asia is there with Bronwyn. They will both be able to encourage and uplift each other when they miss their families who will be thousands of miles away. There, obviously, won't be many people on campus who will understand what they are feeling. I'm glad they have each other.

Secondly, I'm also thankful that Bronwyn goes to college in the city that she does.

You see our family actually moved to Abilene, Texas about 10 years ago.

We lived there for almost a year.

Not enough time, you might think, for us to get super involved or to make lasting friends. You would be wrong.

My girlfriend and I have been married 22 years. We've lived in 4 different cities in 3 different states and 2 different countries.

We've never lived in a city where we felt the Spirit's presence as strongly as we did when we lived in Abilene, Texas.  There are three Christian universities in this city and they get along great. Bronwyn's nursing program is actually for students of all three universities. God's family in action.

I felt the Spirit's presence so strongly when we lived there and I loved being there so much that I actually talked to my girlfriend about us staying there and not moving to Brasil. She, rightfully so, reminded me of God's call for our family. I, selfishly, had wanted to stay for me and not because I felt God asking us to do so because I honestly had never felt the Spirit's presence so strongly in a place before.

One of the things that I loved so much was our church family. To tell you what they mean to us and all the things that they did, and still do for us, would take too long but I'll share some quick details.

We were a part of a small group. It was our first real glimpse of what house church looked like. They took us in and really showed us the love of Christ. We laughed so much with them. The last time we were together with them, when we lived there, each family member of each family in the group blessed us with a different scripture and then they washed our feet. No one had ever done anything like that for us. Part of this group even came down here to work with us a few years ago. The last night we lived there one of the guys from this group took us to an elders meeting at our church just so they could lay hands on us and send us off to Brasil. This group continues to be actively involved in this ministry. They have taught us so much.

Benay took the girls to church there this past Sunday in Abilene. I told her that she had to find two men that are very special to me. They are shepherds at the church and I got to be close to both of them in different ways when we lived there.

I met regularly with one of these guys when we lived there. He is a man who is extremely humble, Spirit led and a prayer warrior. Right before we left, in 2002, he invited us to a prayer room at another church. When we got there, he and two women we had never met before from another church, laid hands on us and prayed for God's work in Brasil. I can't tell you how powerful that was for my girlfriend and myself.

Anyway, my girlfriend got to church last Sunday and there were about 1,000 people there and she said she looked at all the people and thought, "I'm just going to have to tell Kevin that there is no way that I could find them." About that time the leaders asked all freshmen and their parents to come up so that the shepherds could lay hands on them to ask God's blessing on them in the upcoming school year. Want to guess which elder laid hands and prayed for Bronwyn and my girlfriend? That's right. My close friend.

When church was over my other buddy came over to talk to my girlfriend. So she was able to speak to both men that I wanted her to see. A complete God thing as neither one of them even knew my girlfriend and the girls would be there. Next time, Jim and Ed, I'll be there to see you guys and give you a hug.

Okay, enough about our time there right? I mean why am I sharing this stuff?

Because many people there have emailed us and told us that they want to and are going to take care of our daughter. They've already invited her to share meals, to share some one on one time and have offered help with anything that she might need.

My girlfriend and I feel so blessed to have our spiritual family right there taking care of her. To know that people are looking after our daughter is such a blessing.

It reminded me of a lesson I heard recently from Francis Chan. He said the elders at the church he used to preach at told him that if anything ever happened to him that they promised to take care of his family forever. That he didn't ever need to worry because his spiritual family would take care of his blood family. What an incredible statement by the leadership. What an incredible display of what God's family is supposed to be like. Real family.

Bronwyn was 11 when we left Abilene. When she started looking at colleges, ACU was always at the top of her list. There never was much wavering on her going anywhere else. It's like she knew from the beginning where she was headed.

I really believe, even though she says she doesn't remember much, that she does remember bits and pieces about her time in Abilene and that she also felt the Spirit's presence in a strong way. In a way that just kind of tugged on her heart to go back.

Whatever happened, I am thankful that she followed the Spirit, that she is at ACU and that God's family is already taking care of her.

God continues to tell us that no matter what happens to my girlfriend or myself (life/death, sickness, thousands of miles separating our family, etc.), His family will take care of our family for the long haul.

Moving In

After a couple days of traveling from Tennessee to Texas, Bronwyn (along with my girlfriend and Ansley) finally arrived to her college town today and she is getting moved into her dorm room.

We just spoke with all of them on skype. We were also able to finally meet Bronwyn's roommate. Her name is Asia. She was introduced to the rest of the kids and had a special family introduction from Anderson.

I won't share what he asked her but if you know him, or have followed this blog and know some of the things that can come out of his mouth, then you know it was very uh........interesting. She just rolled with the question. It didn't even phase her. 1,000 cool points for Asia. If she can handle Anderson with no sweat then is already an official part of the Blume family.

Bronwyn is very excited about this new phase of her life and we are very thankful that God put her and Asia together. It really was a God thing on how He did that.

My girlfriend and Ansley are planning on hanging out with Bronwyn and Asia for the next 3-4 days before heading back to Tennessee.

I'm thankful that they have this opportunity to be with them.

I'd ask that you pray for Ansley. She's been sick with a stomach virus and, as you can imagine traveling while sick, she's pretty miserable. We'd appreciate your prayers for her to be healed quickly and that my girlfriend, Bronwyn and Asia don't catch it.

As always, thanks in advance.

Just for Pony

There is a certain 19 year old who let us know yesterday that she wasn't happy with the infrequency of blog posts this past week.

So this post is basically for her. It's a couple of videos to help her not miss her little brother so much. For the rest of you that want to continue reading we'll share a little about videos.

Last month Garrett asked when Giovanni was going to start talking. What he doesn't get is that Giovanni is already saying lots of things in his own language and it all makes perfect sense to him.

He actually has a tough job just trying to learn the tough names in our family. Here he is last month trying to say some names.

B....you'll be happy to know that Bronwyn is still the name he calls Ansley.

This next video has to do with cartoons. Carys has a notebook and she loves to draw cartoons (Sponge Bob, Veggie Tales, Dora the Explorer, etc).  Giovanni loves cartoons and so he naturally knows a lot of their names.

Here he is going through the book and naming them in his language.

Just think Pony, less than two days and you will be hugging on him again.

One on One

One of the cool things Bronwyn did before she left was that she tried to spend some special one on one time with each of her brothers and sisters.

She and Ansley went to see a movie together. I would put a picture here, from that day, but they didn't take one even though they had a camera with them.  I found the one below. You can just pretend that they are at the movies together.

Bronwyn is a big meat eater and she loves churrasco (our bar-b-que). I had decided that my girlfriend and I would take her to a restaurant in our neighborhood before she left. It's fairly expensive and we can never take everyone there at the same time because of the price. My girlfriend thought it would be a good idea if I took Garrett instead of her. Garrett is a churrasco lover as well and this could be some one on one (with dad along) for Garrett and Bronwyn that they would really love.

In order for Garrett to go we made him show some affection to his older sister. His 13 year old "I don't like hugging my big sisters" mentality was overruled by his stomach who wanted some churrasco. So he caved and showed Bronwyn some love.

But not too much.

The food, as always, was great.....

.....and they had a great time laughing together.

I think Garrett would say the "hug sister for meat" swap was a good one.

Carys got her nails done with Bronwyn at a place in our neighborhood. Then they went to McDonald's for some ice cream.

Bronwyn and Anderson went to the mall to eat at McDonald's. Nothing is better for a six year old than a Shrek toy in your happy meal.

They then went to a book store to read some books and then decided to get some dessert. We have great desserts in Brasil and Bronwyn was excited to get something good. She shared the options with Anderson (cake, pie, etc). What did he choose from all of those options?

Cookie from Subway of course.

Bronwyn said Anderson told her the best part of their time together was when they were waiting for me to pick them up. They waited, in the rain, in a phone booth and played pretend. Doesn't surprise me at all that that was his favorite moment.

With Giovanni she just continued spending time with him in whatever way he wanted.

I love how she made a point to spend special time with each kid.

I hope this becomes a "Blume leaving for college" tradition.