On The Road Again

Here we are once again on the road, heading south to Tennessee.

Samuel is better, but had a high fever on Sunday so decided to wait and leave out on Monday. It was a good decision as he slept through the night.

So we headed out, settled in and realized that the energy converter for the powerstrip isn't working. Yikes what will we do with no WiFi, no iPods, no laptops running? Ummmmm...... Maybe we might have an old fashioned conversation? Now that is a rare thought. :) But thank goodness we had the other plug for the portable DVD player for Mr. Samuel. :) Now, you may be wandering how I am posting this information? My clever Elizabeth figured out that the car charger for the Blackberry's will also charge the WiFi, yipee!!!!! Now Mom can jump onto the computer and post up my thoughts for those of you who are interested. :)

So, what am I traveling with close by my hands - plastic bags and paper towels!

Passing through the USA border control was interesting. I have never seen so very many cameras on one car ever! Gone are the days when I was a child and my parents just showed a drivers license.

We will miss the city life - public transportation with buses every 4 minutes and Metro trains every 6 minutes. It was a great experience for everyone.

The evening we spet in the ER of the Children's hospital will forever be impressed on our hearts as we saw a very sick Muslim toddler boy who had been burned and was in quite a bit of pain. The look of hopelessness on the families faces will be always remembered. And the single mom who's 5 year old daughter had been sick for three days. As our family hugged each other for the New Year in the midst of me and the other two little ones getting sick, tears came to her eyes. I don't think I will ever forget that we have everything as we have Jesus in our hearts and we have each other. What more could one ask for in this life?

A New Year to Remember

This was our 20th New Year together. The first was in the UK when I gave a party and this particular we were in the Emergency Room at a Children's Hospital! A night to remember. Samuel started getting sick yesterday afternoon in the shopping center. We had to travel back to the house via Metro with a plastic bag and paper towels for Samuel. Later in the evening I started, then Victoria. At 10:00pm we decided to make our way to the nearest emergency room as Samuel had not been able to keep even Pedilyte down. It was an experience. The emergency room was packed, many children throwing up and the place was absolutely filthy. OMG!!!! It was going to be a 5 - 6 hour wait for the doctor. They gave us a bottle of Pedilyte for Samuel to try to keep down. No one spoke a word of English - thank God Joabe was able to communicate in French. It was an experience never to forget. As we rolled the New Year in this setting and Samuel, Victoria & myself getting sick all I could think of was no one in the US would go for a health system like this! Nashville General was 150% better than this had to offer - it was chaos. About 1:00am I thought of call my dear friend, Dr. Karri, who is a Peditrician in Dallas. She was a God sent!!!! She told me not to worry about dehydration with Samuel until late morning. So we packed up and came home. Thank goodness it was not sub-zero weather, it was just cold and actually raining. JoJo proceeded to get sick when we got home. It was a rough night, but we made it. We are resting today and praying for a good day tomorrow.

Thoughts on our trip so far

It has been an interesting learning experience being in Montreal, Quebec, CA.

When you read about the city underground you get some sense of it, but until you experience it you have no idea. We literally walk 10 minutes to the Metro station then we are underground for most everything we need. The tunnels connect from station to shopping area, and you do not see the light of day until you return back to the station. Thus, why we are not cold and did not need many warm things after all.

It is a very interesting place. It feels like Europe with the language and the way things function as far as store hours from 9 to 5 and closed on the holidays. Nothing moves on January 1st for example. We remember this when we lived in England some twenty years ago. Then on the other hand you can see the influence of North America for example with the yellow school buses. Many of the same stores and products. So it is a good mix of both worlds actually which we have completely enjoyed. We will all miss the Metro, we have so enjoyed moving about catching trains. Some of the high lights have been simply playing in the snow, sledding and ice skating in the evening - it was a complete blast.

We are all looking forward to getting home into our own space, but have so enjoyed visiting with Fernando and the family.

Last week of December

This past week has been hectic, fun, exhausting and relaxing all at the same time it seems. Monday (12/27) we headed to downtown (Old Montreal) to visit a museum about the history of Montreal. What we didn't realize was just how cold this was going to be. It was 16F and downtown it was windy. The museum was very good until Samuel decided he had had enough of it. It was a two-year old tantum in full blown scale. Once we got outside in the freezing cold he was just fine. He likes to be on the move. After that wonderful event we decided we would split the group on Tuesday (12/28). So, the two little ones and the mother's went to a IKEA store. It was absolutely fantastic. I heard about these stores from friends in Europe, but going through one myself was just marvelous. You can check them out on-line at www.ikea.com. The rest of the group went to the Olympic Park and BioDome. They had a good time. It was definetly not a place for little ones. On Wednesday (12/29) we split the group again and took everyone but the little ones and Joabe Sr. to ice skating and sledding. It was an absolute wonderful time ice skating on a frozen pond. Victoria started out with this red bar that helped her get her balance. After practicing on the little area she was off to the races on the big pond. Before we left she was skating on single blades with the balance bar. She was amazing. We all couldn't believe it. She fell a few times and on the last tumble she asked if this was going to hurt in the morning as it hurt at that moment. Then we were headed to the sledding but it was closed. So we returned there this morning to just participate in the sledding activities. It was like a big water slide on a snow/ice slide! Victoria once again took to it like duck in the water. We all had a blast. Joabe, JoJo and Fernando then were off to see Old Montreal without any women or little ones - think they all needed some man time!!! :)

It has been a wonderful season of just hanging out together and enjoying so many new and different things around us. Being with Fernando and the family has been so good after not having seen them for four years.

As we look to the last day of the year, we remember this past year with the expectation of seeing one another and now looking forward to when we can spend more time together in the coming year. As Claudinha is working and Fernando will be studying French this coming year, we look ahead to the new year with them with much hope and expectation.

As we reflect on what we have accomplished and the things yet to be accomplished, hopes yet fullfilled and dreams yet to come to pass, we look and pray with much hope and anticipation for the coming year.

Happy New Year to each of you.

Christmas Day & Boxing Day (con't)

So, I did not yet find the camera/PC cord. Though I am using the extra I have with me. All I can say is that it is in a bag/suitcase, my goal will be to repack suitcase on Friday/Saturday. Oh, this is going to be fun. :(

Enjoy the few pictures of our couple of days.

Peace.

Christmas & Boxing Day

We spent a lovely Christmas Eve the typical Brazilian way - late dinner and stay up late. We started Christmas morning late - around 10:00ish. We had brunch and then Papai Noel (Santa Claus) made a visit to give everyone a little gift. It was a lot of fun. Joabe made a great Santa Claus! :) We read recently on a Christmas plaque:

* We first believe in Santa Claus
* We then don't believe in Santa Claus
* We then are Santa Clause
* Finally, we look like Santa Claus.

Boxing Day was spent going to church and participating in a French service. I had two very sleepy teen-agers. Their head was spinning due to the lack of understanding.

I'll post pictures later when I find my camera cord for the PC! Yikes. Need to go look for it now.

Some thoughts so far

Joabe and I have been commenting on how much the city reminds us of Europe. The Metro system is just fantastic. JoJo couldn't get over how you can move about to everywhere without using an automobile. Then to see people in the city walking, carrying there bags from shopping and back packs.

Everyone has done wonderful with the traveling even the two little ones. Victoria has her backpack and things all together. She loves using the card for the Metro to open the entrance gate to pass. Samuel just sits and rides! You should see him with his coat, gloves and boots! He walks like the Michlen Tire guy. It is so funny. The weather is cold but has not been that extreme cold - thank goodness. Also, it is only a 10 minute walk to the Metro station. Once we are in the Metro we are all inside. So it has been good thus far.

Today we are headed to the park to do some typical winter activities - sledding and ice skating. Let's see how this works out. Then we'll have a typical Brazilian Christmas on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we'll spend together resting and then we get to experience Boxing Day. In England Boxing Day was another day of eating, etc. Here it is more like our day after Christmas. I think we are going to skip the shopping and head to the Old city - weather permitting.

To each of you we wish a very special Merry Christmas. May it be a time for each of you spent with friends and family. May each of you also remember the reason for the season - the incarnation of God in the birth of Jesus Christ.