A sweet surprise came in the mail yesterday!!! A care package arrived from our dear, Florida friends the Millers. It was like Christmas! We received 3 boxes of taco shells, 3 bags of chips, 2 books, and some little things for James. How did you know that James' favorite snack is cheese puffs? Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Now I can make mexican food for Ricky's birthday dinner this week! We definitely feel loved!

James is 21 months old today! I think he is speaking more Portuguese than English too! This is an exaggeration but I am impressed at how quickly he is understanding and saying words. It is true.......Children are little sponges, absorbing everything they see and hear. Before long, James' Portuguese will be better than mine and speaking without an accent! Here are photos we took a couple days ago with some friends. We like to go to this vegetarian restaurant every Sunday after church. It is healthy,delicious and inexpensive too! This restaurant is a kilo restaurant, which is a popular concept here. It's kinda like an all-you-can-eat buffet but after you fill your plate with food, it is weighed and then you pay for that amount of food! Yes, it's all-you-can-eat but you pay for every gram you put on your plate. I think it's brilliant! This way no food gets wasted. Notice in the photo a man standing next to our car in front of the restaurant. He is the "seguranca" that asks to watch the car after you park. Any time, you park at a restaurant or downtown there is always someone wanting to watch your car. Even children as young as 10 ask to be hired. When it is time to leave, the custom is to give them a few coins for their security services. I am still not sure exactly how much security they provide but it is safer to go ahead and pay them then to risk them holding a grudge and damaging the car when you are not looking.

Well, let's see. Where do I begin? World Cup news: Brazil beat Ghana and will move on to the next round! Hooray! Once again, we went to our friend Edivanio's house for the game. It seems to be the party headquarters with plenty of space for the children to play! Edivanio is Fiel's graphic designer and will travel with Rick to the states next week for the CBA Expo in Denver. (Christian Booksellers Assc.) Also, it seems that many of our Fiel friends are having birthdays during this time. So we take advantage of the fact that we are already together for the game and have a birthday party too! Diego, pictured in the Brazilian jersey, turned 20 on Tuesday. He works with us at Fiel and helps Edivanio with editing. Notice the chocolate chip cookies in the foreground. Rick's mother made them and they are always a crowd-pleaser here in Brazil! Saturday at 4pm is our next game against France, with yet another get together and birthday party. Oh what fun!

Here are a couple photos of James at our neighborhood park. It is only about two blocks from our apartment building and we walk there several times a week. James makes friends every time we go!

James playing in daddy's shoes a couple weeks ago. These are big shoes to fill!