Feelin' the Same Way All Over Again!

It was kind of sad as we were over to church this morning to take down the decorations from all the activities that have gone on during this Christmas season. Nothing garish, but everyone enjoyed them for the cantata and our family Christmas night.

That night was also “Talents for Jesus” night and all ages participated from two year old Levi singing God is good all the time while he strummed his guitar (yes, he really did!), to a teen group reading,

to families singing together, to older folks reciting poetry. It was an inspirational evening and there were again lots of guests.

Anyway, temps are back in the 90s so I was sweating by the time decorations were down, and things pretty much back to normal there once again. “Normal” at this time of year is hard to define around here. Activities bringing the New Year have started, with noisy trio-eléctricos (big sound trucks with loud music and dancing girls on the roofs) going up and down the main avenues (one of which runs right past our building).
Having Aaron and Rachel here with us over Christmas was just great! We traveled into São Paulo last week Monday to pick them up, spending the night in a hotel by a big mall where we met them.

It was good that we stayed there as there were huge thunderstorms and floods all around the city that afternoon. Plus, we got to eat at Applebee’s again!

The next day, heading out to Bauru – and back to sunshine – we stopped in Embu,

a small town with lots of Brazilian arts and crafts, and picked up some Christmas presents. It was fun and relaxing, especially after escaping the terrible traffic of the big city.

Once we arrived home and they settled in, we went out for supper and to see some of the light displays around town.

They were pretty nice for our little town – Santa’s village in the park

and the Electric

Company’s

Christmas

display

(right by Bauru’s Eiffel tower).

Christmas Eve we did fondues which were great and finally used the chocolate fountain we’d bought a couple years ago – yum!!

Christmas morning, before presents, Sue made a delicious (and pretty) yogurt-granola-honey-mango dish.

Afterwards, there were lots of gifts!

And I got my annual In & Out Burger tee-shirt!

That afternoon, we had a picnic and Aaron and I did churrasco (Brazilian barbecue) that was outstanding!

One day we went to a nearby town that has huge shoe outlet malls. Aaron and I visited while our wives bought shoes. On the way home we stopped at a country club by the river just to take some pictures.

Some days we went to the club where they could use the pool, track and workout rooms, and evenings we pretty much played games and visited at home.

All too soon it was Sunday, and after celebrating Aaron’s birthday, bags were being packed and kids were heading on their way again. But not before they sat through a sermon from Dad (at church that night)! Though it was a short time together, some great memories were made!