Dia dos Namorados

Dia dos Namorados is Brasilian Valentine's Day and it's today.

Here's my Valentine.

I know, I know she's very cute. Get your own valentine.

If you do have your own then go ahead and use our special day here in Brasil as an excuse to do something special for your valentine.

Weekend

We had an amazing weekend spiritually.

Lots of time in the word with different people and Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Lots of encouragement for me and my girlfriend.

We got home last night and my dad had sent us the following video. I'm thankful for parents who aren't stagnant in their faith and who disciple. Thanks for the link Pops!

Watch this. In two minutes you will be encouraged and, if you are stagnant in your faith right now, you will be touched to get off your bum and start discipling. Jesus could come back today and there are people you know who need to hear the Good News. Go!

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength." 


Corrie Ten Boom

Future Pro

Yesterday someone in our house won the "Player of the Month" award at his soccer school.

It was a huge deal for him. He only had an ear to ear smile plastered on his face for about an hour after he was presented with his medal.

Okay so he was one of three boys that won the award for May. And his class has 16 kids.

It still counts and, in Anderson's world, it was just like winning the World Cup.

It was another one of his "best day ever" days.

For Pops

Dear Pops (aka Captain America),

We don't want to say it was like taking candy from a baby but........it kind of was.

The boys wanted to know why you keep making this same bet?

What should my answer be because I'm having a hard time trying to explain it to them?

The only thing I can figure is that you just want to bless them with more DP's.

Anyway, your name was brought up a bunch yesterday. Thanks for keeping us smiling.

Love,

Your Brasilian family

P.S. Here is a little something to help you remember your day:

One

B,

Just think, in one day you will get to enjoy what mom enjoyed last Sunday.

She went with me and Anderson to an Inter game. Ladies got in free because of Mother's Day so she hung out with us. She celebrated with Anderson after one of our goals....

.....but it seemed like she was really more interested in the pipoca doce than the game.

You get next game with the A man.

We also couldn't let you get on the plane today without sharing your favorite video. It will help get you ready for the madness:

You also need to know that Carys is now CRAZY for the group One Direction (bought the CD, posters in her room, etc.) and after about one day this song will be in your head because you will have heard it 1,000 times. You know Carys.


1,000 times might not be that big of an exaggeration. You've been warned.

We are officially ready for your arrival.

Two

B,

In two days we will be picking you up at the airport. You'll come home and get to be a part of the live versions of things like this:











And, don't forget, you'll get to have some good conversations with your little sis.



Everyone is super excited to see you and I know you are excited to make some more awesome videos with us.

Three

In three days our oldest goober comes home from college.

She's told me that when she's bored or needs a laugh at college she goes back and looks at some old videos on our blog.

So to get her ready for an overload of little brothers and sisters we thought we'd get her mind ready by sharing some videos just for her over the next couple of days.

So B, the first thing you need to be ready for is some dance time:







You also need to be ready for music and singing:



You need to be ready to goof on little brothers and sisters (I guess you didn't need to be reminded of this one)....



.....and your mom:





And even though you won't have early college classes you need to get up for we'll make sure you get up bright and early anyway. We'll wake you up to the awesome sounds of the Carys orchestra because every day you are here will be like your birthday:


And because well, let's be honest, sometimes you need help waking up in the mornings:

Mother's Day-Zero

Sunday was a very good day in our house.

First we celebrated the best mom in the world.

Carys made strawberry, raspberry and apple crepes. In the words of Anderson they were "awesome!" Garrett seemed to like them the most because he had at least three.

My girlfriend then opened up her presents. She loved everything. Handmade cards to clothes to flowers. She got lots of stuff and she loved everything. She especially loved that everything came from her kids.

We then had house church in our apartment. We were able to bless the moms present with verses from Proverbs 31 as well as a reading from Max Lucado about moms. We then put all the moms in a circle. The rest of us laid our hands on them and Adam, our US visitor, then prayed for them. We allowed the Spirit to translate from English to Portuguese. The entire time was pretty special.

Around 11:00 I got a phone call. It was from Ansley and she was at the airport. We had spoken a couple days earlier about trying to catch an earlier flight after she got to São Paulo instead of waiting for 5 hours. She was able to get one and arrive almost 4 hours earlier.

After she called, Garrett and I made up a story about getting a phone call from a friend who had a flat. We needed to go help him. We then made the 5 minute drive to the airport. We didn't tell anyone else what was happening.

We got home and decided to let Ansley go in first and act like it was like any other day instead of her being home for the first time in almost 5 months.

We were hoping to surprise my girlfriend. As you'll see below we pulled that off. We actually surprised quite a few people. Check it out.

I think we succeeded in helping my girlfriend have an unforgettable Mother's Day.

Adam and Spencer

Eight days ago these two goobers.....

......got here.

They are Adam (on the right) and Spencer (obviously on the left) and they are from our sponsoring church in Alabama.

They've been an amazing blessing to our family, our church family and God's work here in Porto Alegre.

And we've kept them busy.

In eight days here:

-They got to live with three different families that are a part of our house church family.
-They've gone out to eat with different Brasilians and experienced lots of our good food.
-They've participated in our house church worship.
-They've participated in a bible study with an entire family.
-They've visited another family and hung out with their kids.
-They visited different language schools in the city and got a chance to share about themselves, their lives in    the United States and about their faith in Jesus.
-They got to participate in an English party in our house.
-They got to travel around our city and visit other parts of our state.
-They got to know our house church family.

Another thing they did was bless our kids. Anytime our kids can be around strong Christians it's a blessing to us. Adam and Spencer fit right in with our family. Push up contests, goofing on each other, eating with us, cracking on each other, you name it and they participated.

And they blessed my girlfriend and myself. They were willing and excited to do anything that needed to be done. They were on their own, with our brother Paulo Renato, quite a bit last week because of our cookie bazaars and they didn't even blink. They just jumped in and we loved it. They laughed with us and with the Brasilians. They showed Christ in everything they did. They really encouraged us both.

The plan is that this is the first visit from people from our new sponsoring church and that more visits are to come. We already look forward to the next group and our church members have already asked when they are coming back. I love how God can bond His kids together in such a short amount of time.

We are excited that Adam and Spencer came and that we got to know them better and that they got to know their brothers and sisters here and can go home and share what God shared with them over these last few days.

We are excited to see how God will work through our church family in Alabama and our church family here to bring His kingdom to earth.

It should be a fun journey together.

For now, we ask that you pray for their safety as they head back to Alabama this afternoon.

One

Ans,

Here is our monthly appointment/schedule calendar. Carys filled it out this month.

It's filled with weekly volleyball, soccer and theater classes. It also has German classes and soccer trips.

This month is cool because she got to mark the days that you and B are coming home.

Do you think she is excited about tomorrow?

Oh yeah, you may have noticed. Carys grounded herself from the 3rd to the 24th. Carys is still Carys.

Tomorrow you get a front row seat to the madness and we can't wait.

Two

Ans,

In two days you'll be back with us. We know you are sad to leave all your kids in Ecuador so we thought we'd do a blog today to help you smile while you say your goodbyes. 

As you know, in our family we've always gotten a good laugh from the "isms" of the family. Mainly the Andersonisms. 

We still, obviously, have his but lately I've also been keeping track of other family "isms" (mainly Garrett and Giovanni) as well. 

So, to get your mind ready for the family lingo I've shared a few of the recent good ones below:

Anderson: (coming back from playing soccer with me at Sogipa) “Dad your nose is dripping sweat.”

Me: “I know. And you have a sweat moustache.”

Anderson: (touching his face) “I know and I wish I could keep it forever.” 

Anderson: (same conversation) “Have you always wanted to be sweaty your whole life?”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Anderson: “Have you always wanted to be do stuff to make you sweaty?”

Me: “Well I usually get pretty sweaty when I run.”

Anderson: “Hey have you ever tried to get a girl not to like you?”

Anderson: (at 6:30 a.m. on mom's birthday) “What do you think mom is dreaming about right now?”

Me: “I don’t know.”

Anderson: “Her birthday?”

Me: “Probably not.”

Anderson: “Gummy bears?”

Me: “Maybe.”

Anderson: “Maybe it’s about women. She normally dreams about women jumping into a pond.”  

Garrett: “Dad, I got water in my ear. How do I get it out?”

Me: “I always just hop on one leg.”

Garrett: “Which leg?”

Anderson: “Dad, where do they keep the document that Japan signed to end World War   I?”

Me: “It was World War II and I don’t know.”

Anderson: “You don’t have any idea?”

Me: “Probably in Washington D.C.”

Anderson: “Underground?”

Me: “I don’t think so.”

Anderson: “In the White House with the President?”

Me: “I don’t think so.”

Anderson: “Yeah, they probably keep it in some extravaganza building.”

(Mom singing “How Great is Our God” to Giovanni)

Giovanni: “Do you sing that at church?” 

Mom: “Yes. What’s your favorite church song?”

Giovanni: “Brother McGoofy Pants.”

Anderson: “Hey Garrett, scratch your knee with your finger. It feels soooo good!”

Garrett: (scratching his knee)

Anderson: “See! It’s like an electronic jacuzzi.”

Anderson: “Dad, when you die would you rather be buried or burst in flames?”

burst in flames=cremated

Giovanni: “My eyes are blue. They are nagical!”

nagical=magical

Anderson: (in our apartment driveway going into the garage) “Look! A dead rat in the tree!”

Me: (without even looking) “I don’t think so.”

Anderson: “Well maybe it was a baby mouse cause it was small. Or a leaf. Or a pair of monkey ears.”

Anderson: “Dad, could the President of the United States use a coupon like this: One for the price of 79?”

Me: “Maybe because he’s the president.”

Anderson: “Imagine how weird that coupon would be!”

Me: “What’s that?” (looking at a picture in a book that Anderson wrote)

Anderson: “It’s an alien.”

Me: “What’s that coming out of it? Blood?”

Anderson: “No. It’s milkus. When you shoot an alien milkus comes out of it.”

Milkus (obviously)=mucus

Garrett: “My name backwards is Ttrerrag.”

Anderson: “Mine is Nosredna.” 

Giovanni: “Mine is GIBBY!!”

Giovanni: “Hey dad, do you like Man vs Food?”

Me: “Yes I really like that show. What’s your favorite episode?”

Giovanni: “The wonderful world of gumballs.”

Anderson: (at an Inter game) “Can I have a coke?”

Me: “Not tonight buddy.”

Anderson: (about 5 minutes later) “Ohhhhh, I’m so thirsty I could drink chicken blood!”

Since you, Ans, do the best British accent of the family  I share this good one from Anderson:

Anderson: (after watching a History channel show about divers going to the wreck site of the ship Britannic and hearing the two divers talk about what they saw after being at the site for 4 hours.....the show was filled with Americans and Britons) 

“Dad, he was under the water for so long that he lost his British accent. He’s American now.” 

Me: “I don’t know if that’s what happened. Are you sure?”

Anderson: “Dad just listen to him. He had a British accent and because he was under the water for 4 hours he lost his accent. Now he sounds American.”

(Obviously confusing one of the British guys interviewed with the American who was actually doing the diving)

I end with my personal favorite over the last couple of months:

Anderson: (while watching a show on Animal Planet) “Why do eagles have to do circles?”

Me: “I think because they are looking for food.”

Anderson: “Yeah, I know but does it have to be circles? Couldn’t it be triangles?”

Two more days and you get a front row seat to this talk every day for the next couple of months. 

P.S. For you loyal readers out there: Ansley asked for your prayers today on her blog. Please take 2 minutes to go there, by clicking here, and leave an encouraging comment. It would be like a long distance hug for her. Thanks in advance. 

Three

Ans,

In three days you can watch Anderson use the comemoração, that he worked on all week before the game, after he scores a goal (sorry I missed the goal scoring part) AND team up with mom to embarrass Garrett at the same time.



Then you can go with me to watch Garrett play for Cruzeiro in one of his night games at Anchieta.

You and Bronwyn still think he's shmexy right?



Nothing better than front row seats to your brothers soccer games.

Three.

Four

Ans,

Gi (as he is now known at school) has become a comedian. He writes his own material. I subtitled it word for word just in case you needed it.



I love how he still calls everyone "he."

Four more days and you get a front row seat to this guy.

Five

Ans, Allow me to present DJ Andy:


He's the best rapper we know but he's only human so there were some goofs along the way of making the masterpiece above. Here are a couple of the flubs:



Just think, in five more days you will have a front row seat to the show.

Six

It's Ansley's final week of living in Ecuador. She gets home in six more days.

We know she'll be sad to leave her kids there but we are a little excited about her coming home. Giovanni keeps asking when he can have a sleep over with Ansley.

This week we'll get Ansley ready to come home by sharing some videos that, honestly, will mainly interest her. The rest of you guys are welcomed to share but they might be boring to you. You've been warned.

The first video is of her boyfriend.

He played yesterday and saved the game for us.

Here he is just for you:



It's the first time he's played, as you know, in a month and a half because of the stupidity of São Paulo and the judicial system.

 What did he do after he scored? This:

He cried.

It's like he just let out all of the frustration of the past 47 days. It made us like him even more. Mom said "Awwww" when it happened like she was thinking of what that would be like to watch Garrett do the same thing. A mom's compassion. After the game he couldn't even talk to the reporters because he started crying again.

Unfortunately, for you, he still made the L sign with his hand after he scored for his wife.

But the good news is you can start watching him in person again starting next week. Right after you have your sleep over with Giovanni.

The Prince and the Dragon

This video is so worth 6 minutes of your time.

 

Yesterday

Yesterday my girlfriend, Sergio and myself ran in the Porto Alegre half marathon.

It was cool and cloudy. Perfect weather.

It was the second half marathon my girlfriend has ever run. I mentioned in Saturday's blog post that we haven't trained as much as we did for her first one last December so we were going to play this one by ear.

My girlfriend didn't feel great on Saturday and that carried over to yesterday but she muscled through the cruds and did great. She didn't stop one time and she finished within 20 seconds of her final time in December. That's crazy. A 13 mile race and she basically ran the exact same time as her last race.

Side note: For those of you ex-teammates of ours who were here years ago we were blessed to see Pablo and Dani Espíndola during our run. We got to stop, talk and hug them before getting back to the race.

We crossed the finish line and Sergio gave my girlfriend a huge hug and told her how proud he was of her. She really did great.

Before the race I told Sergio he could run his own pace because Benay and I were going to run together. His response? He wanted to run every step with us.

I  mentioned the other day that Sergio runs with joy and encouragement. Here's a taste of what I mean. Yesterday, while we ran, he sang to us, played classical music for us to listen to, he danced, he told jokes, he talked and he encouraged. He told my girlfriend that she, once again, did FANTASTIC! And, as always, we crossed the finish line and he prayed. I can't say it enough, I love running with Sergio.

Here we are about 30 minutes before the race trying to stay warm.

And here is my girlfriend after the race with her medal.

We were also happy that the name on her numbered race tag was right this time.

Last time we ran a race in Brasil my girlfriend's race tag was just a little off in the name department.

No after race photo with Sergio because he had to leave quickly to go to work for a little bit.

Later we met up with his family at a churrascaria (sorry girls) for lunch. We love this family.

After lunch my girlfriend got phone calls from our girls and my dad to find out how she did in the race. Lots of people were thinking of her and praying for her yesterday. That's pretty cool.

Later in the afternoon we were blessed with a Gre-Nal. Those are always fun. We didn't go but watched it on tv. The good guys won. (Sorry you missed it girls.)

Here are the highlights for our girls.

The day ended with Giovanni sharing this quote with me as he laid in his bed getting ready to go to sleep:

"Hey dad, blue stinks and red is happy right?"

One more Colorado.

God really blessed us with a great day.

Not a Fan

I just finished reading this book:

In the book Idleman talks about the difference of being a fan of Jesus versus being a follower.

If you want to be challenged to be a follower then I would suggest getting this book. I will also tell you that you may not like to read what he says because it might make you very uncomfortable with where you are in your walk with Jesus.  It will, at times, feel like a hit in the face but you will, if you allow the Spirit to work, see the difference between fan/follower and hopefully make some changes in mindset and actions in your life.

One of those "hit in the face"comments that shook me up and I can't get out of my mind is his fan take on the verses from Matthew 23:23-24. Here's what he said:

If Jesus were preaching this sermon today, I think he might say something like:


"Woe to you fans, if you would be as passionate about feeding the poor as you are your church's style of worship, then world hunger would end this week. Woe to you fans, if you sacrificed as much to care for the homeless and hungry in the community as you do for your church building or place of worship, the need would be wiped out. Woe to you fans, if you would be as zealous about caring for the sick as you are about a 'Christmas tree' being called a 'holiday tree,' health insurance wouldn't be a problem."


I needed to read this book to be reminded to be a follower and not just a fan. Jesus wants all of us. He doesn't need a fan club.

My prayer is that we all become followers.

Tomorrow and Sergio

You might remember that my girlfriend completed her first half marathon last December.

There is another one that we will run in tomorrow.

We haven't been as consistent in our training this time as were last year so we needed to do a long run last weekend to see where we were physically.

Our brother Sergio is also running in the race tomorrow.

God brought Sergio into our lives the first month we lived in Brasil 10 years ago. He's a real estate agent and he helped us get our first apartment. He also helped us with the legal part of getting our first house.

Over the years he and his family have become our great friends. We've shared meals together, trips together and, most importantly, studied the Bible together. I was blessed to have been asked by Sergio to share in his baptism a few years ago. He is a very encouraging brother and a great husband and dad.

He's also a runner. He, in fact, has taught me more about the joy of running than any other person in my life.

I've always been a casual runner but my running has increased since we moved to Brasil. Much of it has to do with Sergio.

He runs with joy and he runs for the Lord.

When I tried to complete my first marathon in 2005 he ran every step of the way with me. He had already completed 10 marathons before that one. He did not train for that one like he should have and so I thought that as I struggled he struggled. When I needed to stop and rest he stopped and rested. He was super patient and calm with me the entire time.

I was unable to complete that first marathon. I had to stop at the 36th km. He stopped with me and pulled out his cell phone. Did I mention that he answered a business call at the 21st km of the race and set up an appointment to show an apartment later that day? Anyway, when I had to quit he called his wife and my girlfriend to tell them where to pick us (I thought) up. He then asked me, for the 10th time, if I was okay. Even looking into my eyes to make sure I was okay. Feeling that I was good to wait for our wives by myself he said, "Okay, you wait here. I'm going to finish the race now."

The whole time I thought he was going so slow because he, like me, hadn't trained properly and was hurting when, in fact, he was just staying by my side and carrying me km after km. I knew it before but it was at that moment that God really showed me just how special this brother is. He had stayed the whole time to encourage me. He put me ahead of  him.

Because of me he was the last runner to cross the finish line. He had an ambulance behind him with sirens blaring. If that was me I would have been a little embarrassed or would have tried to explain that I was helping a slow/hurting friend and that's why I was in last place. My pride would have taken over.

What did Sergio do? He smiled and waved at everyone as he soaked in the ambulance escort. Pure joy as he runs.

I love to train with Sergio. Our schedules don't allow it as much as we'd like but it's always a pleasure to run with him.

Last week he called and wanted to run with us on our long run. I told my girlfriend how much of a blessing it would be for her to run with him.

So at 6:30 last Saturday morning the three of us met at a mall to run around the sidewalk that enclosed the mall. It's almost a mile loop.

Sergio showed up with granola bars and Gatorade for everyone. That's Sergio.

We took off and ran 11 laps. We ran for almost 2 hours. We talked the entire time. We, as usual, talked about kids, sports, God and our relationship with Him, business stuff and life in general. We also talked about how last Saturday was his dad and my grandmother's birthday. They had a 10 year difference in age and died within 4 months of each other. Sergio is close to my parents and so that parent/grandparent connection makes our family connection even more special.

We were also blessed with Sergio praying. Before and/or after you run with Sergio he bear hugs whoever is around him and prays to God and thanks Him for our run, our day and the ability to run.

While we ran he told my girlfriend how thin she looked because she is a runner now. How she did, "FANTASTIC!!" with her training run and how her calves are just pure muscle now because of her running. Like I said, he is 100% encouragement. Nothing negative ever comes out of his mouth.

He took some pictures last week so, as he said, people would believe that we actually ran at 6:30 in the morning.

Here are a couple before....

......and one after.

We are really blessed to have this guy in our lives.

And, by the way, Benay nailed her run last week. She actually ran faster than us on the last lap. I'd say she's ready for the race tomorrow.

It will be fun and something we won't ever forget.

Birthday Girl

Today this goober turned 19:

You guys know what we do on birthdays. Hope you enjoy it Ans.

Giovanni: (direct quote) "Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!"

Anderson: "Ansley, you are one of the best sisters I've ever had. I like it that we make handshakes and you are really nice. And Awesome! Done. Dad don't type done. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!"

Carys: "I love you soooo much and miss you so much you are one of the best sisters ever. With you everything is soo much fun''

Garrett: "Ansley I love you so much!! You are awesome, I love doing everything with you, especially torturing Carys!! I miss you a loooooot!! Just 20 more days and you will be here!! And Happy Birthday!!!!!!"

Bronwyn:  "Ansley!!! Happy birthday! You're so cool, having your birthday in a foreign country and stuff. I hope you have a really really great day :) I am so so proud of you. I think you are the coolest person ever and I look up to you a lot. I love you!! Get here to ACU already! Duh! Sheesh."

Girlfriend: "Ansley, I hope your birthday is great.  I love you so much and I am so proud of you.  You have a gazillion talents and gifts and I believe that your experience in Ecuador has taught you not to let silly fears and lies keep you from using everything God has given you!  I know that everyone there, especially the kids, has loved having you there and will miss you so much.  But, I am ready for you to get home.  I need to crack up more, and nobody makes me laugh like you do!  I'm sorry we can't be with you on your birthday, but God will surround you with many blessings, I'm sure.  Make the most out of your last days there and then get back home!  We all miss you and love you!!

Me: "In some ways it's hard to believe you are 19 but in other ways it feels exactly right. You have become an amazing young woman who has a big heart for God and His kids. I love that. I know you are right where He wants you to be right now and you are making such a huge kingdom difference. I think a lot about the things God has blessed you with. Some of them are that you are funny, an incredible story teller, happy, a good friend, a good listener, an encourager and you share the love of Christ with people. What better people on God's earth deserve to be around someone like you than orphan kids and school age kids?  We miss being with you today but take joy in knowing that you have a bunch of Ecuadorian kids around you and that they are loving on you. I could not be more proud of you. And we are really excited about you being home in just a few days. Giovanni can't stop talking about it. Have a great rest of the day. I love you!"

One more thing Ans. As you know we normally try to have our birthday blogs out first thing in the morning. This one got out a little late in the day and you may be wondering why.

Well, when I talk about how God uses you to make a difference in the lives of others. I don't want you to think I'm just talking about kids in Ecuador, or your brothers and sisters or people in our house church family. I'm also talking about your friends in Brasil.

You are loved so much here and your friends wanted to share that love with you here as well. Fabi called a couple of days ago and asked if we could hold off on doing your birthday blog until she sent us something.

What was it? It's the video below.

You are loved and lots of people are looking forward to May 13. I think these guys are almost as excited about you coming back as we are.

Enjoy this present from your buds. We think it's pretty awesome. (Our apologies to you guys who don't speak Portuguese.)

LDU

This past Sunday around noon our American phone rang.  We have a Memphis number that rings straight to our apartment. Don't ask me to explain how it works. It runs through the internet. That's all I know.

Anyway, it was Ansley. She was calling from Quito.

She called from this place.

It's the stadium for the LDU (Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito) soccer team. It's called "La Casa Blanca." (Impressed Ansley?.....I did some homework)

She was watching her first Ecuadorian soccer game.

Last night my girlfriend and I got home from our weekly date. We walked in the door and Garrett tells us that Ansley had called (she has an American phone deal as well) and that she put a picture on facebook that someone had posted. I'm pretty sure he took it out of a newspaper or website. It's a picture of the players and fans from Sunday's game.

As Garrett was telling us about it we went to facebook and looked at the picture. I found Ansley in about a second. My girlfriend started laughing at how fast I found her.

Wasn't too hard to find a tall, blond haired girl in a group of Ecuadorians.

Can you find her?

How'd you do?

Need some help?

If so, then follow #3's tattooed left arm and shoulder straight up to about midway through the crowd and you'll see Ans.

She's winding down her days in Ecuador and we are thankful that she is able to have some fun, like this game, before she leaves.

By the way, LDU won 3-0. She and her buds left happy.

If following Jesus cost you everything, would it still be worth it?

Kyle Idleman

For B and Ans

Here's a video that probably only our girls (the one in the states and the one in Ecuador) will like. It's some inside footage from our favorite team and their game last week with Santos (I know that means nothing to most of you).  It was a BIG game.

Garrett and I went and, like always, had a great time.

Have I ever mentioned that I love Fernandão? Listen to him as they are in the tunnel getting ready to go up to the field. He makes me want to play.

I also love the sound after Nei made his falta. Very, very cool.

So girls, hope you enjoy it. Next month you guys will be going with us and hopefully we'll still be in the  Libertadores. Just think, we could all be together again for one more final.

Using a new favorite word of Giovanni that would be "awesome!"

EIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Anderson turns eight today. If you know him then the correct Anderson way to say it is: "ANDERSON TURNS EIGHT TODAY!!!!!!"

If you don't know Anderson here is his world: I woke up this morning at 5:15 with a really bad headache. Got up, took some medicine and decided to see if a hot shower would work to knock it out. I stayed in there longer than I normally would trying to make the pain go away. I got out and opened the bathroom door and there was Anderson with arms wide open and a huge smile from ear to ear waiting to give me a hug. I have no idea how long he had been standing there. He was waiting to give me a hug on his birthday. He didn't even wait for me to say Happy Birthday. He was just happy to see me on his birthday and ready to give me a hug. That's Anderson. He's pretty cool.

We've told you before he's just a really happy, joyful little guy and never more so than on special days.

When he first saw Garrett this morning Garrett wished him a happy birthday and Anderson smiled, walked over to Garrett and gave him a thirty second hug thanking him for wishing him a happy birthday. Simple joy.

Most days he's a walking joy bomb.

You guys know our birthday deal so here it goes:

Giovanni: (exact quote) "Happy Birthday. Nothing."

Carys: "Anderson you are so much fun to be around and i love drawing and coloring with you. i love you sooooooooooooooo much Pagogo!"

Garrett: "Anderson! You are the best little brother ever (and giovanni) I love to play soccer with you and I love to wrestle with you. You are awesome and sooo funny!!!! I hope you have an awesome birthday!! I love you!"

Ansley: "Anderson! Oh my goodness! I am so glad it is your birthday because now we get to have 3 weeks of being EIGHT and EIGHTeen! I miss you so much! You have no idea. But I get to see you soon! YAY! Thank you for being a constant ray of sunshine and happiness in our lives. Whenever I think of you, I think of your smiling face :) That is a gift from God, buddy, that I hope you never lose! KEEP SMILING! I love you:) Love, your twin."

Bronwyn: "Anderson!! You are so much fun and so funny. I still remember going to the hospital to see you. I was so proud to be your big sister! You are so sweet to everyone and, every time I'm having a sad day, I watch the 'what's up my friends, WHAT'S UP MY FRIENDS. This.' video. You always make me laugh! I love you so much and I miss you so much!"

Girlfriend: "Anderson, you are the biggest and best surprise that God ever, ever gave me!  You have always been such a blessing.  I love how you love God and are not ashamed to say it!  I love how you are a happy kid and you spread that happiness to people around you.  God has blessed you with lots of talents and gifts and I pray that you will always use what He has given you to bless other people and bring glory to Him.  We are going to have a great day and an awesome weekend celebrating your 8th birthday.  I love you so much!!!! Mom"

Me: "I can remember the exact moment we found out we were pregnant with you. We thought we were done having kids but God had something else planned for us and, like always, His way is so much better than ours. I can't even imagine our lives without you. I love how you are happy every day when you wake up. Every day! That's a blessing from God and you bless your family just by the way you wake up in the morning. You are my wake up early buddy. I smile as I think of the mornings we would both be up at 5 and we would watch Jacques Cousteau before school. I still don't know why that channel (of the 4 we could pick up) showed it in English but I'm glad they did. I love your excitement for life. I love that you are so tuned in to what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. I LOVE that you have already given your life to Jesus. I think you are awesome! But it's not just me. Everyone who meets you says you are awesome. Stephen, Weston, Josh, Elyssa, Traci and all the Aggies and many more have told us how awesome you are. Everyone loves your heart and your spirit. People love to be around you and God is using and will use that to His glory. LOTS of people will be in heaven because of you. You just love on people like Jesus loves on people and that's the most important thing. I love you Anderson. Happy Birthday!"