We’ve been in Brazil for a week now. We left our house in Santa Clara at 10am October 16th and arrived on the doorstep of our temporary house in Curitiba at 10pm on October 17th.

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I was amazed at how well our kids did on the flights. They switched off between coloring, watching shows on their iPods or movies on their personal screens in front of their seats, and slept.

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My biggest mistake was watching A Fault in our Stars on the first flight.
The tears. Oh my.

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Our flight from Houston to Sao Paulo was delayed because of late flights earlier in the day. Then once we boarded and were about to take off they had to solve a maintenance issue that kept us on the ground (& in the plane) for two more hours. Thankfully we could still watch movies and they gave us drinks. By the time we took off (around 2am) Cailyn & Efraim were fast asleep. We arrived in Sao Paulo five hours later than expected. Our airline had already rescheduled our connecting flight to Curitiba and had our boarding passes ready. We had just enough time to go through customs, grab some food, and get to our gate. Perfect.

The next flight went smooth at first, but once in the air over the airport in Curitiba a storm closed the airport. The pilot circled the airport a few times to see if it would let up, but we had to go back to Sao Paulo. Ugh. This was supposed to be the easy flight. I had no idea what we would do. The kids still had great attitudes, wish I could say the same about me.

We landed back in Sao Paulo and just as everyone stands up to get their stuff, the pilot announces the storm had cleared and we would go back…after refueling and changing the crew. I was elated. Finally.

We waited patiently and expectantly, and we made it. God is good.

Even though a 10 hour flight turned into a 12 hour flight, and a 45 minute flight turned into a 4 hour flight, we safely arrived in Curitiba. After 30 hours of travel, we opened the door to our new house for the next month.

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At the airport in Curitiba waiting for dad to get our rental car. These girls amazed me.
(Not pictured is Efraim asleep on my lap.)

Our house in Curitiba was offered to us by a missionary couple who are traveling during the same time. We have Facebook to thank for connecting us to new, lifelong friends. It is a typical Brazilian home and for that I’m grateful. The lack of American conveniences is exactly what I wanted for our time here. For our family to learn and experience true Brazilian culture is important to me. The majority of the world doesn’t have what we have in America and I want my kids to know/learn how to do life simply- without needing an appliance for everything.

We don’t have a TV, though I think God saw it fit for us to have wifi (with 3 computers at hand and Netflix, the kids hardly notice). 🙂 Only the showers and the kitchen sink have hot water- so I wash some clothes in the shower.

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No dryers for clothes means line drying everything.

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No dishwasher means hand washing a lot of dishes.

Life is different, but life is simple, and I love it for us right now. I told Filipe that this is so good for us here because our home in California will feel like a mansion. Sometimes life is all about a new perspective.

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The day after we got here (Saturday) we spent the day getting things ready- bought groceries, got a sim card to make local calls, and familiarized ourselves with the neighborhood. Sunday we found a local park, flew kites, and I went running before a rain storm blew in. Our kids have seen more rain in a week than they have all 6 years we’ve lived in California. We have to keep reminding them that rain, thunder are normal in other parts of the world.

These were our last moments before getting the boys, and they were good.

We traveled to the boys’ city on Monday with our social worker and she talked us through some things to watch out for with the boys, and do’s/don’ts for the week ahead. We went to our hotel that evening with a little more anxiety, unsure of what would unfold in the hours ahead.

On Tuesday we went to the courthouse and first met with the psychologist and social workers who have been involved in the boys’ life. They are some of the biggest heroes around here and are doing a fabulous job. They shared with us more about the boy’s history and personalities. Their first description was “very active”. 🙂 After meeting with them we went up to the judge’s office where they brought the boys to meet us.

Meeting the boys was both emotional and overwhelming.
Joy on all sides.

We are now five days in with 25 more to go before the adoption can be official. Once it’s official we can share full names and pics.

Right now we’re all adjusting, but I can’t be more encouraged by these first few days. The first several weeks is considered a “honeymoon” phase, and while we expect some challenges ahead, it’s been a good start.

God’s grace is evident and abundant, I couldn’t be more thankful.

FullSizeRender (6)Lots of kids=lots of shoes

Mandy Sig