Gone...BooHooHoo

Well, Danny and Joel left yesterday morning on a bus headed to Caldas Novas. Then they are heading to Belo Horizonte for a few days, then Rio for the remaining days until they head home a week from Monday.

It was SO MUCH FUN having them around. We miss them already!!

But, onward we march. And more visitors will be arriving today. We serve with Asas de Socorro here in Brazil...a Brazilian organization. We needed an American sending agency. The sending agency we were led to is AMAZING!! We LOVE them! It is called CTEN...Commission To Every Nation.

Sending agencies funnel money and provide tax deductions for donators, among many other things. One of those 'many other things' includes pastoral care. So, the pastoral care team for Latin America (a husband and wife) from CTEN are currently on a trip, visiting us and at least one other missionary couple (living in Rio). They're names are Dick and Birdie Johnson. We've skyped with Dick before, but never Birdie...and have never actually met either in person. We are looking forward to it. They've had over 35 years of missions experience, so it should be really interesting to talk with them over the next few days.

They head out early Thursday morning, so you probably won't be hearing from me until that point. But, until then, enjoy some more wonderful pictures of our time with Danny and Joel. Ahh, sniff sniff...so sad that they're gone. Remember to check out their Brazil blog to see more pictures and find out how the rest of their trip goes...assuming they will have internet access every so often.

We just got a call from them this morning. They are loving life there in Caldas Novas (at a DiRoma hotel/water park) and will be leaving Caldas around 7PM. They'll have a 12 hour bus ride through the night to Belo Horizonte. They are having a great time!

Now for the pictures (lots of them...thanks, Danny and Joel, for sharing) of the last few days...

Last Saturday was just a relax-at-home day. Joel came up with an idea to make a sprinkler for the kids out of some hose that was left here by the previous renters of the house.
So, he, Danny, and Joel whipped out a fun water toy for the kids really quick.
Me and Cass...
...hanging out watching the menfolk.
Excited about their new outside fun.

They were a little unsure at first, but Daddy provided them with a demo.
Then they were ready to go too.

Before, lunch that day...she was already passed out. ;)
On Sunday we all went to familiarize Danny with his birthplace, Goiania. This was the house where he lived for his first 5 years.
We stopped at one of the open markets to look around. It's a sea of tents where you can get all tons of stuff.
Then it was off to Flamboyant, the big fun mall. We ate lunch at the food court (Burger King!!...for some of us) and then walked around.
Cass is quite the big girl these days. Snacks with the big kids in the afternoons now...she gets SO excited when she sees the snack bowls coming. Love the squeals! ;)
July vacation was over as of this week. Classes started back up at Asas, we started homeschool again, and the kids' soccer and dance kicked back up. Danny and Joel tagged along to experience a day with the kids at their activities. Fun-ness.
First, we dropped off the girls at their dance class.
Then we headed to the center of town to take Grady to soccer.



Watching from the sidelines.
After we watched Grady for a bit, it was back to watch and get the girls at dance class. I'll post the dance pictures another day...Danny got some GREAT ones.
And then we were on our way again, back to the car to go downtown to get Grady from soccer.

As you can see, Joel's glasses were a big hit. ;)



Cute pic. Unfortunate her finger's in her nose. ;) Ha.



What a hard worker...great job, Grady!!
Then off to get...CHURROS!
Grady...
...studying the magic of a churro.
After Joel had his first churro, he announced that he was going to start a churro business back in Beverly. He had several throughout his stay here. "I can't get enough" he kept saying. ;) After this churro stop though, his tummy became a little iffy. So, Beverly folk, unfortunately for you, the churro business might be out the window. Don't they look good though? You can get them filled with either chocolate or sweetened condensed milk. Mmmmm!

Headed back to the car to go home. Our little ballerinas always get lots of stares when we are out and about. ;)
Grady climbing up for gum. ;)
Tuesday evening when Joel came home from work, I had the kids all ready and we headed out to find this quarry where people go cliffjumping about a 10-15 minute drive from our house (and then a big ole walk). By the time we found it, it was dark, so no cliffjumping occurred. But, it was a good adventure anyway. And really pretty.

Looking at the view when we got there.
It's hard to see because it was DARK!! We literally walked back to the car (20 minutes or so through pastures and barbed-wire fences) in the pitch dark. ;) Our kids are awesome...they never even questioned it...just matter-of-factly marched along and climbed through barbed wire. Ha ha ha. Just a normal day in the life of the Ebersole family. Ha.
On Wednesday after lunch...went out to find this. So much for homeschooling with Hadley that afternoon. ;)

Most of our pictures are of our kids smiling or laughing. Just thought these were great serious pictures. ;)
Joel and Danny's mom sent down things for us to make pinwheels with the orphans in the orphanage across the street. So, we took it all over there on Wednesday afternoon and gathered the kids together. Fun!! Chaotic, but fun. ;) And the kids loved it too of course.
Hadley hanging out with the girls, waiting with them for a pinwheel too. She got one, but then gave it away later to a little boy who didn't have one. Sweet.

Showing off his new pinwheel.
Danny hanging out and talking to some of the boys there. He seemed to really be in his element. He said he needed to work in an orphanage some day. Of course, the answer to that is that he needs to come live with us and work in THIS orphanage. ;)
We went over to the little boys' house to visit some more and see some of the other smaller boys.

They started knocking him down...ha ha ha. They got a real kick out of it looks like.

Pray for these kids. They first of all need to have their process completed in a timely manner so that they can be adopted. And then after that is accomplished, they need homes. Praise: Just since this picture was taken on Wednesday, things started to really roll for one of these little boys and he might have a home soon. A family is praying about him right now. Pray for that family as well. Thanks!!
Preface for the next few pictures: Joel had been wanting to get the kids one of these for a while. Being the animal lover that I am NOT, it was not hard for me to not rush into it. The timing was right on Thursday, so here is what transpired. That day we had gotten our babysitter to come for one last hoo-rah downtown with Danny and Joel. We took them to our favorite hamburger joint here and then ran some errands downtown (including picking up some churros one last time). We picked up the kids' surprise and went back home to wow their socks off. ;) The babysitter, her sister, and another friend were also there for the big reveal. ;)


Everybody close your eyes.









After the new wore off a bit and Joel had left to take our babysitter and her sister home, Joel C. set out to make the bunny rabbit a home.
Cute, huh? We haven't decided on a name for sure just yet. Grady came up with John John and Michael Shane. ;) Other possibilities are Chloe, Lucy Sue, and Goldilocks (another Grady contribution). ;) The rabbit is a girl, just FYI...not that it matters in relation to a name. We'll see what sticks. At their ages, us parents might just have to declare a name. Otherwise it will probably be different every day. ;)

Danny, the foreman. ;)
They were shaking the tree and making it 'snow' on the rabbit.


A tad bit excited to have a furry, moving thing in the box. ;)

Everybody got a turn 'building' the bunny house. Eissa was cracking me up.


Grady giving the rabbit her food and water. Now our pet was all set. Although we did have to chase it around the seminary that night in the dark after she escaped...twice. ;)
After we played with the rabbit some, we took some family pictures while the photographer of the family was still here. Thanks Danny!
Then something really funny was going on. I'm not allowed to say much. It involved preparation for the Brazilian beaches...that's all I'll say. ;) Hilarious.
Saying goodbye yesterday morning.

Uncle Danny and Joel were pretty adored around here. :) We sure will miss them. We already do. Thanks for coming!!

I Used To Be a Sunbathing Fool

Yesterday. Was. Excellentay.

Oh. My. Gosh.

For the 1st time since Grady was born 5 1/2 years ago, I laid out by a body of water...all by myself...without a nursing baby waiting on me somewhere. It was heaven. Ahhhhh!

I used to wear my bikini as underwear every year from May-September. I kept a blown-up raft in the trunk of my car...just in case I was to happen upon a lake. Of course, Saline lake was always my preference, but Lake O' The Pines (Brushy Creek!!) and Lake Cherokee were great too...or any of the other lakes in the great Louisiana/East Texas area.

That all ended once I got married actually...no lakes around us in Phoenix (the desert!). And then, of course, the babies started coming. So, yesterday was just SO GREAT!! I read and read...and laid out and laid out. And just did NOTHING!! Stupendous I say!!

Of course, now I'm paying for it. I think I overdid it in the sun. What used to be no big deal for me (as far as time in the sun), is now WAY TOO LONG!! Ha ha ha. For whatever reason, I just neglected to remember that I was about as white as the whitest newborn you can think of as of yesterday since I hadn't been in the sun hardly at all in many years. Of course, I had somewhat of a farmer's tan, just from hanging laundry...it looks like I have flip-flops on even when I have no shoes on at all...ha ha ha. But, now...I am a total lobster. And SO OUCHIE!! Misery!! But, it was worth it. It was so much fun and so relaxing.

So, this came about because we took Danny and Joel to Salto Corumba. The kids stayed at home with our babysitter. The guys hiked all around the place while I just stayed by the pool. Heaven.

We also went to Pirenopolis this week with them. Fun. Last Saturday Joel had a flight scheduled with some people, so we all went to the airport and were able to all fly with him. It's the first time I'd flown with him since I was pregnant with Eissa. Eissa really enjoyed her first flight with Daddy. Cass didn't go this time, but maybe next time.

John Carter happened to be there too. He said he was on his way to fight some squatters on his land (his life fascinates me) when he looked over at Danny and told him he was welcome to come along. Before John headed off into battle he was going to be stopping over at his 'fishing camp' to meet up with a team from none other than...Massachusetts. So, with just the clothes on his back and his camera, Danny headed off for a Brazil adventure.

Danny spent Saturday - Tuesday with them, traveling around Brazil a bit. We met up with him in Pirenopolis on Tuesday to retrieve him and enjoy the sites in that cute little town (that does NOT smell like crap, Joel!). ;)

In other news, Asas just got back from their HUGE mission trip that they go on every year, Projecto Ide (Project Go Ye). Every July, they bring together many teams from all over Brazil from many different churches to go into a less fortunate/less evangelized area of Brazil to share the love of Jesus and just 'do their thing' in general. They all meet for a couple of days of training and then split off into their assigned groups...evangelism, children's ministries, Jesus film, medical/dental outreach, etc. in several different areas of the region where they are. Joel went last year. I want to point you to a couple of different blogs that are doing excellent series of posts about the trip this year. So very cool to hear about the work of our mission here. So, take a look at Stephanie's blog and Kristin's blog. Really exciting.

Things get going again around here on Monday. Joel has been going to Asas every day like usual during July. But, Monday is when the school starts back up for the students. We will probably start back with homeschooling as well. We've had a nice little 2-week break with Danny and Joel here.

Danny and Joel will be here until Friday, then they will leave (boo hoo hoo), taking a bus to Belo Horizonte and Rio for a bit of traveling. Then some other visitors will be here on Saturday to stay a few days. More on that later.

For now, here are some great shots that our visiting photographers have captured in the last week. And as usual, you can visit their blog recording their Brazilian experience here.

Painting with Joel C.
Just a couple of cute Cass pictures from downtown last week.

Cass getting some help from Uncle Danny.
A typical downtown scene. Danny and Joel have gotten some great shots of just the world around us here. I'll be sure to do a post sometime showing them to you. Very interesting.
After checking out downtown, we went to the mall for supper. Here the girls are window shopping. Cass seems to be pointing out just what she wants. ;)
;) What cute passengers.
Me and the girlies.
The plan was for us girls (me, Hadley, and Eissa) to go up and then the boys (Danny, Joel C., and Grady) to go up. But, since Danny took off with John Carter, Eissa got to go twice. ;)

And our faithful, favorite pilot. We like him.
I love Eissa's face in this picture...as Cass tries on Joel C.'s glasses.

Cute little Cass on the way to church.
I love this picture of little Miss Hadley...and her tude.
On our way to get Danny in the wild. ;) It was such a bumpy ride...see video below.
We had to cross 2 little streams...see video below for more fun. ;)
The place we came to (kind of like a little rustic resort, minus a place to stay overnight) was really nice. It was a big rustic wood and stone structure with tons of these hammocks on the top deck. There was a great view from up there.
Before we got down to the waterfall, we came to these natural pools. The kids stripped down to their scivvies and had a great time!


The steep hike down to the waterfall...our kids are awesome...they love this stuff.
This was the waterfall where we found Danny.
Me and my 2 littlest. ;)
It was good to see Uncle Danny again.
A sweet picture of the brothers and little man Ebersole...the boys had hiked up behind the waterfall.
Eissa and Uncle Danny.
Our little hiking family.
This toucan was there at the waterfall place.
The cute streets of Pirenopolis.
And some cute shops...the streets are lined with these.
Tired us at the end of the day in Pirenopolis. Love Eissa's smile. ;)
Cass has taken a liking to this one. Funny.
Torching termites in our yard. ;)
Boys and their games. It was actually really, really funny. ;) They've had the opportunity to do it a few nights...and more fun to come before they leave I'm sure.
Joel and Danny...ready for a big hike at Salto Corumba.
On their way to the falls.
A look at the waterfalls from the bottom.
Joel C. and Danny walking on the very top.
The brothers playing in the pools on the top of the waterfalls.
A real photographer. ;)
Me and my sweet husband at the end of our day of play last night.