Andersonisms and Odds and Ends

Couple of conversations between Anderson and my girlfriend over the last few days.

We know you have missed your Andersonisms so here you go:

Anderson: "Everyone says my teacher next year is SOOO mean!"
Girlfriend: "Well then, just remember what I told you.  If you are nice to your teacher, she will be nice to you.  You just obey the rules and she won't have any reason to be mean to you."
Anderson:  "Yeah..... or I could just get used to her being mean, you know like I did this year. I just got used to my teacher getting on to me when I got in trouble."
(In other words, no need to worry about always obeying the rules, just get used to the yelling!)

Anderson:  Mom, isn't it neat that our family is SO special?
Girlfriend:  Um.... yeah.  Like what do you mean?
Anderson:  Well, I got Guinazu's (one of our favorite soccer players) autograph..... you have a cool blog..... we're Christians...... and we are German!
(Never mind the fact that we are Americans, and he is Brazilian..... Our last name is German, so we are German!)

Odds and Ends:

Our kids always find the best videos on youtube. Yesterday Garrett showed me the one below. It's only purpose is to make you laugh.

We leave in two days for the states. Garrett checked out of school mentally about 2 weeks ago after he found out he was going to be home schooled in the states by my girlfriend for the last semester of the school year (our school year ends in December). So the last 2 weeks of school here aren't counting towards his final grade so it's been bye bye school concentration lately. This school checking out would be a genetic trait he got from me.

This week Carys began checking out mentally with school as well.  It's been interesting trying to get them motivated to go to school.

Garrett is counting down days until he gets to drink a Dr. Pepper. Carys is counting down days until she can eat a doughnut.  About every 5 minutes (literally), she says, "Guess where I wish I was right now."

Anderson wants to see snow for the first time in his life.

Giovanni talks every day about riding on a plane.

Ansley is getting a little nervous about staying by herself for 3 weeks. She just finished an awesome video that we plan on showing to people on our trip. If you run into us you need to ask to see it. It's worth your time. She did a great job of capturing what God is doing here in our city. She has a gift for that kind of creative stuff. I'm not a crier and I've dropped some tears every time I've looked at it so far. It makes me not want to leave and gets me excited to return in January. God's doing some amazing things here and Ansley's video just nails what is going on. Thanks Ans!

Meanwhile, my girlfriend and I are praying for God to stop the earth's rotation a little to slow down the days just long enough to let us get everything done before we step on the plane.

Much is going on in our last few days here. We would appreciate your prayers for peace as we try to get everything done.

Dia das Crianças

Dia das Crianças, or Kids Day, is a Brasilian holiday celebrated every October 12.

No schools are open and almost every business is closed.

It's a day just to celebrate kids.

On Monday the little guys got to dress up for parties at their schools as they celebrated Kids Day.

Reggae Inter fan....

 .....and of course Spiderman.

This morning Giovanni got his face decorated by Carys when he first woke up.

We started a tradition on our first year here and we've been doing it ever since.

The kids wait together to get their presents, just like we do on Christmas day, and then they usually open their presents from youngest to oldest.

This is a photo I found from that very first one in 2002.

This year Giovanni went first and then the kids let him pick the opening present rotation after that.

Chocolate was the theme this year, along with Hot Wheels cars for Giovanni. Everyone was happy because Kit Kat bars just made it to Brasil and they have 4 different kinds (I know not a big deal if you are an American) so they were the gift of choice.

Giovanni also got some Toy Story 3 gummy bears but he would not allow anyone to eat them because he just wanted to play with them as he drove his new cars around Woody and Buzz.

After presents we went and had a cook out at a place near our house.

Ansley entertained while we cooked and got lunch ready.

We ate and then.....

.....my girlfriend made home made ice cream and everyone seemed to like it.

Ansley wanted to know why everyone thought it was cute when a little kid spills ice cream all over himself when eating and takes pictures and talks about how cute it is and not when an 18 year old does it. She then posed for a photo. You can decide which "ice cream spilled on face" look is one you think is more picture worthy.

I personally am going with the 3 year old.

After a little while Dee and Laura (our new missionary friends who just moved here in June) and their kids came and hung out with us.

It was a fun, relaxing day and just what we needed in the middle of all the busyness and stress of trying to get ready to get on the plane on Sunday.

I love that Brasil has a special day every year just to celebrate our kids.

Last Game.....for a while

B,

Ansley went to her last game before heading to the states and then Ecuador.

It was Ansley, Anderson, mom and me. Garrett bailed at the last minute which freed up a spot for mom.

We played against Vasco who was in first place.

We had a great time.

We ate food.

We got a good laugh at the direct hit a bird put on Ansley's jersey on the way to Beira Rio.

We got to hang out.

We got to see a rainbow (hard to see but Ansley is "holding" it).

 We got to watch mom take random pictures like she always does.

And we got to see an awesome victory followed by a celebration.

It was fun and it's been fun watching Ansley making some good memories with her bros and sister before we leave on Sunday.

Oh yeah, Ansley got a new hat that she said she's going to wear on game days in Ecuador.

My favorite picture of the day:

By the way, here are your goals of our 3-0 victory. I thought you might like watching it from Bom Dia Rio Grande instead of the national news:

J.B.

Right now Ansley and Carys are at our favorite soccer stadium.

Why are they there and I'm sitting here at home? Why am I, and the other soccer fans in our house, not watching our team play with them?

Because they aren't watching our team and it's not a game. So why are they there?

This is why:

That's right, Justin Bieber is in concert in our city and these two are there to watch it.

Garrett and I dropped them off about 5 hours before the show even began and the line of girls to get in was around the stadium.

They are sitting with one of Carys' friends and her mom so my girlfriend made all three girls the "Bieber Fever" shirts you see above. They added to the fever by painting "J" and "B" and their hands.

I'm sure we'll hear some good stories tonight about their first big concert. I just called Ansley and she couldn't hear me because of all the screaming and the concert doesn't start for 2 more hours.

I'm glad they are doing this together before Ansley heads off to Ecuador and then college.

They won't ever forget it.

Gotta get that "Bieber Fever!"

Teaching is not effective without an example. Begin with acting right, then you can speak later.

Fenelon

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.

Countdown

We leave our home next Sunday (the 16th) for a 3 month trip to the states.

Garrett, our child most like me in the "not a fan of school department" has been counting down the days for the last couple of weeks. Not a countdown of how many days until we get on the plane but of how many days of school he has left before we leave. That countdown doesn't surprise me. I would've had the same one.

Ansley, like we mentioned on Monday's post, is staying here at home longer. 3 weeks longer. She will be working more but the real reason she is staying longer is because one of her best friends will celebrate her 18th birthday in early November and Ansley didn't want to miss that.

Ansley has been working like crazy this year teaching English. What started out as a huge dread and burden in her daily life has turned into something she really likes to do. Her world has really opened up with working for someone other than mom and dad, making new friends, being on time to all her classes, etc. She is finding out that God has gifted her in teaching young kids. They LOVE her. Almost every night it seems like she is bringing home a new picture drawn from a different child that they made just for her. Her bosses have also praised her for her great work ethic and the way she deals with the kids.

None of this surprises us. She has so many gifts that God has given her and we knew she would do great.

It hasn't been an easy year for our 18 year old. Taking different buses to go to different places throughout the city, learning to deal with having a boss and obeying the boss even when it might not make the most sense or when you feel your way might be better, dealing with, at times, difficult kids, etc. But all in all it's been a great experience for her and she has grown so much over the year.

She has taken this year to work to make money for college and although she really loves teaching the kids she is ready to take a break in the states before moving to Ecuador in January where she will live for 5 months. After that she'll come home for a month or two and then go back to the states for college. She's excited about the future and what God is doing and we are excited for her.

She has really grown to love her job with the kids but now she too, like Garrett, has a countdown but of a different kind.

I went into her room the other day and found this post it note countdown above her bed:

Think she's excited about the end of her first real job?

Art Show

Last Saturday we walked across the street to the kids school for an art show.

The school was displaying the art work from every grade level and every class. Carys gave us a guided tour as the boys said, "No way I'm going to school on a Saturday!"

We got to see Anderson's handiwork which consisted of worms....

...the names of all the kids in his class...

....and then they were asked to recreate the Mona Lisa but using someone else for the picture. Who did he chose? Mona Marta (the best female soccer player in the world) of course.

We had Garrett's art work.

And the kind of art work that goes with 14 year old boys. Soccer, surfing, Reebok, Batman, Google, a Gaúcho and of course, Black Sabbath.

Then Carys showed us some of her work.

And this is one of my favorite pictures. Obviously because of our cute daughter but also because of what she is holding.

Here it is more clearly:

It spells the word peace (PAZ) and with those three letters she wrote the following, "The Lord is my shepherd and I don't lack anything. Thank you for making me who I am today." Carys

We love our kids' school. It's a Christian school. It's a Lutheran school with a Lutheran church right across the street. In fact, sometimes they have classes/activities at the church. They are taught Christian values.

Big deal right? I mean a Christian school should teach those values right? You would think so but our kids have gone to Christian schools before where they were taught things like the Big Bang Theory as fact. It was more a school where being a Christian was just part of a hodge podge of religions. Part of the buffet that a lot of Brasilians want to partake in to make sure they have their bases covered.

Last year Anderson's teacher regularly lead the class in prayer or as Anderson said (emphasis his), "She did it every single day and she always did it with us."

Do you think my son will ever forget a teacher like that? Not likely. Do you think we will? Nope.

We loved our art show tour and we loved the fact that our daughter openly thanked Jesus for taking care of her and for who He is in her life.

Pum

Bronwyn,

It's a shame we will be arriving in the states on the 17th.

Why?

Because we will miss this:

You know me, Carys and Anderson would have been all over that.

Maybe next year.

P.S. For our English speaking readers this invitation is to a kids play that is entitled: "Poots.....smelly stories." 

Home

Two weeks from today our family (except Ansley who will stay a while longer) will arrive in the states.

We are so looking forward to seeing family and friends and meeting new people, but it is hard leaving our home for such a long period of time.

Imagine picking up and leaving your life for three months. It's never an easy thing to do. As our kids get older and older, it gets harder and harder to just pick up and leave everything.

Our furloughs happen every 2 years and they are part of this life that God has chosen for us and, like I said, we love going back to the states (the kids are already talking doughnuts, Dr. Pepper, bowling with grandparents and other things that they don't get here) but it's a strange thing to try to explain.

(Anderson and Garrett with Papa at the Memphis Zoo in 2009.)

We have lived here longer than any place Benay and I have ever lived in our married lives. Going on 10 years. Two of our kids were born here and know no other life than the life we live in Brasil. Two of our other kids were 5 and 3 when we moved here so most of their memories of the states don't come from when they actually lived there but from our furloughs. Our kids' best friends are all Brasilians. Our church family, aside from one remaining teammate as well as other American missionaries that we worship with, are all Brasilian.

We love living here and know that this is right where God wants us to be right now. This is our home.

That was brought home to me last week in a big way.

We went to pick up Anderson from school and he was sitting on the bench with his buddies surrounding him and giving him hugs as he was crying. His teacher, Vanessa, looked at me and motioned for us to come in.

She began to tell us that he was sad about going to the United States because he was going to miss all of his friends and school and he was afraid everyone would forget him. He was going to miss his home.

Now, when we get on the plane to go to the states he will be completely jacked up. He's going to the land of candy we don't have, grandparents who play with him all the time and take him to cool places, food he can't get here, etc. but he cried when he thought about leaving his home.

(Anderson and Grandaddy at the beach in 2009.)

We understand. We are excited to see family and friends in the states. We are also excited to see what the Lord will do while we are there. But we will miss our home for 3 months. We will miss our family traditions that we do every Christmas. We will miss Christmas day in shorts and a t-shirt. (I can still remember our first Christmas here and how weird it was to be going to the mall in shorts. Now it's weird to think of wearing a big coat to go Christmas shopping). We will miss getting to experience our full spring. We'll miss the end of the school year excitement as summer approaches.  We'll miss our annual dirty Santa Christmas party that we invite all of our friends to in our house. We'll miss our bible studies together and just hanging out with our friends. We'll miss home.

God isn't done with us yet and, in some ways, it feels like He is just getting into the real meat and taters of why He called us here. Exciting things are happening and, honestly, we just don't want to miss it.

This is home and we understand exactly how Anderson was feeling last week and yet we know he will probably also cry when it's time to leave grandparents and get on the plane to come back home in January. He will have a foot in both worlds.

It's a interesting thing to see and feel and it reminded me of a favorite quote from one of our most favorite people (Dottie for those that know her) who was also a missionary for 15 years in Amsterdam. She loves the following quote:

"If you came back, you wanted to leave again. If you went away, you longed to come back. Wherever you were, you could hear the call of the homeland, like the note of a herdsman's horn far away in the hills. You had one home out there and one over here, and yet you were an alien in both places. Your true abiding place was the vision of something very far off, and your soul like the waves, always restless and forever in motion." -Johan Bojer, "The Immigrants" 

We are often more convinced of our unworthiness than we are of His worth. Our inability takes on greater focus than does His ability. But the same One who called fearful Gideon a Valiant Warrior and unstable Peter a Rock has called us the Body of His beloved Son on earth. That has to count for something.

Bill Johnson

There is a 20 year old in the states who has been bugging us to start blogging again.

So B, tonight these pics are just for you. Thought you'd like them. Enjoy.