Austin Turns 10! Guest Blogger - Austin Pierce!

Hi this is Austin. My birthday was on May 21st and it was good  AMAZING! We are in Brazil for my Daddy's work. When I first found out that I was going to be in Brazil for my 10th birthday, I wasn't that pumped. But, because we couldn't change the date, I decided I had to go with it and make it work. Because Brazil is known for it's açai in our family, I decided to eat one bowl of açai for each meal. As planned, we had a bowl of açai for breakfast. (Well....most of us!)

My breakfast bowl

 After we ate breakfast, I opened my present from Mom and Dad. AND IT WAS AN UNDERWATER CAMERA!!!!! After I opened my present, we got ready for the day. And of course, took some pictures! 

When everyone was ready (meaning the adults), Mommy and Daddy took me on a mysterious birthday adventure. I call it mysterious because I had no clue what we were doing. It turned out to be fishing. I LOVE FISHING! It was a pesque e pague which means "fish and pay". When we got there, I couldn't wait to get started. The lake was stocked full of fish! 

This is the lake where we fished.

We started as soon as soon as the guy could get the hooks on the poles. This took a few minutes. The picture above shows where we started fishing. I caught the first fish. Then each of my siblings caught a fish or two. Then it seemed like the fish moved away. So I moved to the other side of the lake under the roof of the building in the picture above. I switched spots for two reasons. First because it seemed like the fish swam away. The second reason I moved was because on that side of the lake you could see the fish swimming in the water. Then that's when I began to catch a ton of fish!

This is the biggest fish I caught. He was number 15! 

By lunch time I had only gotten 17 fish. After lunch, I caught fish numbers 18, 19, 20, and 21!

This "guy" is #20!

OK! That's enough about fishing! After we went fishing, we came home and began watching a movie. This was also part of my birthday plan. About 30 minutes into the movie some of my new friends from our CC Brazil community came to say happy birthday to me. They brought with them a mini party! This included pouvillo (like a cheese cracker), brigadeiro (which is a like a chocolate truffle), and juice. 

They made me a huge brigadeiro! We sung happy birthday. Before I could even blink, all the kids took the brigadeiros and were off! They devoured them incredibly fast! 

We went out to dinner for pizza. Chocolate pizza was our dessert. We ended my birthday celebrations by coming home for a final bowl of açai and finished our movie!

That's the story of my 10th birthday! It was a memorable one!

Community - Old, treasured friends

As mentioned in the previous post, in our many different seasons we've been blessed with rich friendships and community. Thus far in Atibaia, we've been overjoyed to connect with some old friends who are very dear to us. 

Fabiano, Fabiana, Julia, and Laura. 

These are friends from when we lived in São Paulo during Aaron's grad school. We lived in the same neighborhood and went to church together. Though we have gotten to see them a couple times since our departure in 2013, this was our first gathering with our whole families. It was so fun seeing our children become friends and play. Fabiano and Fabiana are such great examples of selfless friendship. During our time in São Paulo they were so willing to help us in any way possible. They loved our children (only Austin and Jonathan at the time) deeply. When seeing the boys again this time around, they were brought to tears at how big Austin and Jonathan were. It was an emotional reunion and sweet time creating new memories. 

The Matthews family - Jonathan, Erin, Samuel, Jesse, Hannah, Abigail, and Benjamin. 

This sweet family were also our friends during our time in São Paulo. The internet helped us find this friendship. Their webpage was Brazil for Christ and we found the site in preparing for our departure for grandschool. At the time they had four kids and we had two. It was super fun to gather all of our children (now nine in total). It's always amazing to me how quickly our children can connect with others and forge deep bonds. Though the children did not remember each other, their connection was fast and strong. The Matthews have been missionaries in Brazil for over a decade. Being with them is always an encouragement to Aaron and I as we hear of God's work through their ministries. 

Gil, Lucelia, Ester and Tito. 

 The friendship with these precious people goes back 13+ years. Gil and Lucelia are missionaries with Cru. We met them in our first years of marriage when Aaron and I served with Campus Crusade for Christ in Fortaleza. At the time, we all served as campus staff. They still serve with Cru, but now Gil is the country director of all of the ministries under Cru. The Lord brought our families together again in December when I came to Brazil to train for Classical Conversations. Lucelia was in that training. There was no sweeter reunion. In talking we realized that though a decade had passed, the Lord had spoken very similarly to my heart as He had to Lucelia's. We were delighted to spend a few days with them after attending a homeschool conference in Rio. 

Community - New, Fast Friends

Community...it's life giving. It's part of God's design for humanity. He Himself is communal - Father, son and Holy Spirit. Having community is a beautiful thing. In our short stint in Brazil, we've found wonderful friendships. With only having 4 months to do life here, God in His goodness had an active community already prepared for us. Aaron and I have lived lots of places. As I look back on our 15 years of marriage, having people to fellowship with has always been a priority for us. God has been faithful to provide for that need no matter where we've been. The avenues of His provision for friendship have varied. In our early marriage, our team on the mission field was our community. Later, it's been through family, church, and neighbors. Most recently as we've entered the homeschool world, God has used that to bring friendships to enrich our lives. In this adventure,  Classical Conversations , has gifted us with community. Just a few days into our trip, we joined the CC community here in Atibaia. By the third or fourth week, it felt as though we'd been a part of them since they began. 

These precious people have become fast friends. In a short 8 weeks, we've made many memories that will be treasured for a life time. These precious faces, to me, have represent many conversations contemplating the value of family, investment, schooling, Jesus, country, culture. For the children, they are a testimony that God cares enough to give us friends in a new place. Their friendships have been a gift of companionship to pursue adventure and experience joy! I'd love to share these precious faces with you....

Atibaia CC moms enjoying adult conversation over a delicious tea time!

Nicholas with Maria, one of the oldest students who's a sweet friend and helper with the youngsters.

Evelina, Maria, and Ana dancing in a mall

Aaron and I with a two other couples enjoying a meal together

The other side of the table during that meal

Isabelle, Nicholas, and Jonathan 

CC kids at Homeschool conference where they sung the timeline in the closing ceremony.

CC boys sitting on a pine log they had recovered from the pine forest and carried as a group over to show the mommas.

Me with lots of kids carpooling to a sports camp.

Boys posing with minnows they caught with cups in the lake. 

Evelina and Nicholas with Deborah and Timoteo (another set of siblings)

Littles striking a pose with big brother photo bomb

Week One Picture Diary!

One of the very first conversations Aaron and I ever had was him asking me how I felt about adventuring! I'm not sure either of us understood the degree to which our lives would be consistently filled with adventures as we pursued God's call. As I mentioned in my previous post, our latest adventure is to back to Brazil. Aaron and I need to write a post explaining all that is going on here for Aaron's business, the homeschool movement, and ministry. There is much to tell, it's hard to know where to begin. As I've pondered where to begin, I decided to do a picture diary of our first week.

As many of you know, this gem of a friend, Emily King, journeyed with us to Brazil. Her sole mission was to be a helping hand on the way down and in our first week in country. Aaron went ahead of the kids and I because he was speaking at a conference, so her presence on the commute down was such a gift. She continued to bless us richly as she was a companion, a familiar face, a playmate to the kids, and a trusted friend to ask good questions as we processed the transition.

Beginning the journey, everyone was so very excited!

The journey was long and everyone was thrilled to arrive. Shortly after this picture, all the kids were sound asleep on our hour long drive from Sao Paulo to Atibaia. 

Our home here has a pool. It's winter. Though the tempertures have hovered in the 70/80s the water is still freezing!!! However, the kids have still swam almost daily! 

Look closely, Austin is shivering!!!!

Endless nature discoveries!

Our first full day here, we walked down to the park and collected nature along the way.

The park in our neighborhood. 

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Beside the park, there is a field where capivara. There's dozens of them! Jonathan and Austin took lots of pictures of them. I'll include a few here! 

This is our soccer field. Emily got lots of cardio here with soccer, lacrosse, and shoot outs! 

We have loved getting to know other families. This is the Pinheros. I met them in December when I came down to train for Classical Conversations. I was immediately drawn to them as they are such a sweet family. It has been so sweet to watch our children become friends! Daniel (dad pictured) is the director of the  CC community here. His wife is one of the tutors.

  

Emily was so patient in situations where she was the only one who didn't speak Portuguese! 

This is Carol. Daniel's wife. She's a mom of 5. Started homeschooling a couple years ago. She is a brave pioneer in this homeschooling movement. She has become a sweet sweet friend here! 

This lady right here was a dear friend when we lived in Brazil for Aaron's second year of grad school. We were pregnant with Evelina when we left and she finally got to meet to Evelina!

On our first Sunday, we returned to our home church in our old neighborhood. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch with the pastor and his family. The reunion was so sweet. They were like grandparent to Austin and Jonathan during our time in Sao Paulo. We shared many laughs over all the fun memories!

Our first community day with Classical Conversations Atibaia. 

The kids got to dissect an owl pellet. This was a favorite of our science experiments last year so it was a welcomed repeat!  

Grocery shopping with Mrs. Emily!

In her kiddo - whisperer nature, she was able to motivate all the kiddos to cease the whining and engage in helpfulness! 

MILKSHAKE OVOMALTINE!!!! This is my favorite ice cream dessert in Brazil.
 Emily couldn't leave without tasting this amazingness! 

New way of napping! 

Nicholas woke up from nap and dressed himself. "Mom is this right?" He asked about his shirt.
Then posed like a cool guy for the picture! 

We had to see Emily off in style. We started our afternoon off with acai bowls and board games!

The view from this coffee shop was amazing.

Then we toured the old down town area and did a little shopping.

We ended the evening with Rodizo de Pizza. Most of you in the states will know what a Brazilian steakhouse is. That restaurant style is called a rodizo where it's an all you can eat buffet of various types of meats. This was the same set up, only serving pizza!!! Numerous different flavors including dessert pizzas....chocolate pizza, banana pizza, strawberry pizza, and a special M&M pizza for the kiddos! All walked away with a full belly and a happy heart!

We loved having Emily with us. The commute down was incredibly smooth and even fun with her company. Our first week came with unexpected frustrations. The kids were so excited to be here but no one factored in the disappointment of not being able to fully communicate. Emily was a great buffer when circumstances became overwhelming to the kids. For me she was a trusted friend who asked great questions. She helped me process some of the transition we were all undergoing. Her company also made me have renewed courage to explore and settle in to our new neighborhood. When Emily offered to come down with us, I knew it was a good idea. However, I really had no idea how much her presence would bless us. Our whole family was in awe of her selfless nature in gifting us with her time, love and friendship. Her willingness to take this time was a true investment setting a good foundation for our adventure! We are forever grateful Emily.

There is so much more to write, process and share. This is only the beginning and it's actually already outdated! I'm finding it difficult to find the time to write. This picture diary is my attempt to get in the groove of blogging again!