prepare for arrival

Early on the girls were enthralled with the geckos that would get into the house and climb on our walls . They found them quite entertaining. I myself, did not appreciate them or the little lizards poops they left for me to clean up. Now almost 6 months later, the girls are not nearly as impressed as they once were. We are taking in the land and culture. Slowly and at times painfully. A few days ago I was in conversation with a Canadian visiting on a short-term team. I apparently used some Brazilian body language (the finger twitch to saying "no") during the conversation and she noticed. She congratulated me and told me I had "arrived."

That's Ava with the gecko. She is struggling right now with continued fluid and infections in her ear. She is also having some behavior issues that we are not always certain what to do with. She is homesick just like we all are so we are not sure when to show grace and when her behavior requires discipline. She is also very timid to speak Portuguese, probably because she knows we can barely understand her English sometimes. Can you see why ear infections with this girl might be a problem? In some ways parenting is much easier here because we have so much more family time. However, on the flip side, there are so many other factors that we have to take in to account. It can get tiring.

Josh went to his first Brazilian soccer game with Betu and Alisao. Like a real one where good players play other good players. He wasn't sure what to expect but is always up for a night out.