on bolos

Our co-laborer, Ellie, called yesterday to say that her neighbor had kindly given her some bolo (cake) that was left over from a party they threw. Ellie eats gluten free, so she was calling to see if we could like it and later brought it over.

I had another "only in Brazil" moment as I opened up the container later on that night to see 2 pieces of chocolate cake, 1 piece of coconut, pineapple, and whipped-cream cake, and 1 piece of mayonnaise, chicken, pea, pickle, and carrot cake. I had forgotten that cake comes in both sweet and savory varieties here!

Thankfully, I did not get the privilege of enjoying a lovely dollop of mayonnaise after finishing the coconut whipped-cream cake.

I wasn't able to snap a picture before some of the cake was devoured, but for reference here's what bolo de frango (chicken cake) can look like:

sunrise

We're steadily settling into our new home here in Sapiranga. One of the many transitions we've been going through is that the boys are now sharing a room. :)
We've seen lots of sunrises this week, reminding us that God's mercies are new every morning! As promised, here are some photos:

back in Brazil

      Less than a week here and the jet-lag has finally worn off for our two guys. It was a pleasant surprise to wake up at 9:40am to the sounds of baby giggles on Wednesday morning. The boys were tired from the trip! Samuel slept in even longer -- he got out of bed at 10:45!
      After just short of 24 hours of travel, we made it back home on Tuesday 4/17. We were thankful that we did not have the 8 hour layover we were expecting in Sao Paulo! The ticketing agents were able to get us on an earlier flight at no extra cost.
       Mark and I have spent the last several days reintegrating into life in Brazil, as well as working hard to get our house clean and unpacked so we can move in! We've had a few laughing moments as we remembered some differences between the US and Brazil. Mark came home laughing after spending about 3 hours at the store working on getting our cell phone plans reinstated. He had one of those "only-in-Brazil" moments as the store was being renovated as the workers were still trying to attend to the customers. At one point, someone on the renovation crew even asked if he could clear out the desk of the salesperson as she was using it to help Mark finish setting up the phone plan!
     But inefficiency isn't the only thing that reminds us we're home. As we were locking up our house after a day's worth of cleaning, Mark and I were able to admire a gorgeous pink sunset. In our valley we have frequent storms and thunderstorms. It's rarely a cloudless day (though that doesn't mean it's always raining). We were reminded of how much we missed the big, billowy clouds catching all of the different colors as the sun goes down. I, unfortunately, do not have a picture to share with you this time. But I do promise to post some in the future! I'm so thankful that we are able to see beautiful sunrises and exceptional sunsets from our new home.

"From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised." 

psalm 113:3