Finally an Auntie!

I gotta share! I'm finally an auntie! This morning my niece, Tessa Delaney Turner, was born to my brother, Mike and his wife Jacque. Isn't she just perfect?
And look at all that hair!

I was just talking to Mike and he held the phone up to Tessa so I could hear the little noises she was making in her sleep. So adorable!

It made me pine a little for the days that Jackson was that tiny; especially since we've entered the fit-throwing years.

But don't get your hopes up--it didn't make me want to run out and have another one right away!

In the meantime, I'll praise our Creator for yet another fearfully and wonderfully made child!

Team Banquet

The day before the Quireys arrived we had our annual team celebration. This year marks the fourth anniversary of our arrival on the field, so we celebrated with FOUR-leaf clovers, a la St. Patrick's Day. Randy and Jenn had just arrived home from furlough a couple days before so it was our first time to have the whole team in one place again in several months. The kids had a great time running around together. Look how big they all are!
(L to R: Aubry Mabery, Ceara Sass, Calen Sass, Jackson Quirey, Samuel Porter, Kelton Porter)

It was weird that now Jackson is one of the kids that's running around and screaming! He had a great time--parties are his thing! Here's our party animal in action:


The team banquet is always a great time to reflect on the past year and celebrate all that God has done!

We've Created a Monster!

Sorry I haven't blogged this week. We've been enjoying our time with R's parents. I'll post some pictures of their visit later this week.

I just wanted to share about how well our English classes are going. We started up again last week. Today Heather and I had made 50 copies of our handouts and that wasn't enough! This year we decided to formalize the classes a little more. So for the past two weeks, we've taken registration forms from everyone who wants to participate. Today I counted up all the registration forms and we have 71 people in the beginner class alone! Then there were at least 20 people in the intermediate class upstairs! That means 90 people are coming to our church building every week to participate in English classes! What an amazing connection to the community!

God is blessing this ministry beyond our wildest dreams. I am thankful for Heather, who has joined me in teaching the beginner class, and Travis, who teaches the intermediate class. May we find a way to turn these contacts into deeper relationships!

(FYI, enrollment for the beginner class is now closed! We're thrilled to have 71 people but it's also incredibly overwhelming!)

Perks

We have sacrificed in many ways to be here in Salvador but the job isn't without its rewards. We try not to talk about this stuff too much because we hate to make it seem like we're down here just hanging out on the beach and enjoying the tropical weather. But every so often, we get a chance to kick back and call it work.

Our team is hosting next year's missionary conference. One of the first things on our agenda is finding a location. We've spent time scouring hotel websites and on the phone with all sorts of people trying to find a place that will meet our needs affordably. But sometimes, you've got to leave the office to really get the job done.

So Thursday afternoon we loaded up the car--four adults and two toddlers (and their huge seats!)--and headed across town to the ferry boat terminal. This was definitely pushing it for our car. We had to get in the car in a special order. Kids first, then Russ in the driver's seat, then I would climb between the front seats to get to the middle seat in the middle row, then Matt in the back door to climb up to the back row, then Mary Virginia would close the back door and get in the front. We were quite a spectacle!

And don't ask me the Portuguese word for ferry boat, as you simply call it a "feh-hi bow-chi" (a Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation of ferry boat). The boat took us across the bay to the island of Itaparica. We drove the length of the island (about 25 minutes) and then across a bridge that took us back to the mainland.

The hotel was what's called a hotel fazenda (farm hotel). It's a working farm, with all kinds of animals, but it's also on the water so there was a beach, too. In other words, if you look one direction, you see this:

and when you turn around, you see this:

It was a working trip so Friday morning we got up and met with the owner of the hotel about the possibility of having the conference there (pray that she decides to lower the price for us!) but we still had time for a swim and a little horseback riding!

After lunch, it was back to the ferry boat. This time we lucked into riding on the newest of the fleet, which offered an air-conditioned cabin. We chose to sit on the top deck to enjoy the view and the breeze.
It was a nice little getaway in the middle of the week and the best part was that we got to call it "work"!

p.s. Jackson seemed to have a great time, even though he was running a bit of a fever. He and Aubry have fun running around together and there were so many new sights!

The Mighty Hunter

So with all the craziness of the combination of Jackson's birthday and his burn, I totally neglected to mention one major thing: he's walking now. He took off the day after his birthday party and is practically running now. I think he really enjoys the freedom that comes with walking, especially since it means that he can get away from Mom and Dad!

Which is what happened yesterday morning when he and Russ were playing downstairs. He took off around the corner and Russ found him with a new toy:

This officially makes Jackson a better hunter than Samson is. When there are lizards in the kitchen, Sam just barks at them.

(Speaking of Samson, the poor little guy has some sort of internal fungus. He's got to take medicine for 21 days and be given special baths, etc. Oh, and we're not supposed to let Jackson touch him. How to you keep a one-year-old from touching his puppy?!)