Weekend trip to Pirenópolis

We took weekend trip to Pirenópolis. We had a great time! The weather was overcast so there weren't many people at the waterfall. We hiked and swam in 2 beautiful clear natural pools that were flowing into a waterfall. One of the pools was about 4 meters deep. At the bottom of the waterfall there was a trail that lead behind the waterfall. It was like a cave! So cool! We also walked along a small canyon and saw some strange looking plants and vines. It felt like we were walking through an Indiana Jones scene minus the high intensity.
That evening we ate dinner while an excellent guitarist serenaded the restaurant with Brazilian music.

Namibia's Independence Day

We were invited to join the Namibian embassy in celebrating their independence day. We were able to meet and talk with some wonderful people from Namibia and South Africa. The food was very good.

Cool tree!!

We saw this tree after playing tennis with our cousin. Kind of cool isn't it? You walk through it to get to the newspapper stand.

Poco Azul

Today we went to Poco Azul and saw many waterfalls! To get there we had to go down a LONG dirt road with many potholes. But the view was very pretty.

The first waterfall had a cave that the water flowed into. It was very deep. We jumped in from the side of the rocks after watching others jump. The water was COLD! Later we walked down an extremely steep rocky path to see another water fall. This one was down stream from the first one we went to. Later we walked up stream and passed many, many people playing in the water. We found a place just past where everyone was and put our hammock across the stream! With both of us in the hammock the hammock touched the water!So much for staying dry. On our way back to the car a family that was cooking out offered some of their food to us! We took them up on a sausage link. It was good. :)

Agua Mineral

We spent the day at Agua Mineral. The pools here are made from a river that runs through it. Every 3 hours the water is changed by the flow of the river. We saw 3 monkeys watching the people from trees and 2 huge bright blue butterflies! The butterflies were about the size of a small saucer.
We went in a 5 km hike in the cerrado. Kimberly's sandals started making blisters on her feet so we used some leaves to help slowdown the process since we still had 2.5 km to go. Bear Grilles would be proud. By the end of the hike JP gave Kimberly his sandals. Now that's love. :)

The new year in GA

After the beach we went to Georgia! It felt so good to feel the wheels of the airplane touch down on Georgia soil! We spent 8 days in Georgia. The weather was definitely different compared to the beach! All of Kimberly's sisters and their families were near to spend the week with us. We did some shopping, celebrated Christmas again, visited extended family, saw our dear neighbors and had a cookout. :) Our cups were overflowing with blessing after blessing!

Christmas 2011

We had a much blessed Christmas filled with family time. We celebrated the birth of Christ and thanked God for the gift of life offered through Christ Jesus.
Luisa and Preston came to Brazil for two weeks. It was great to be with them! These 2 weeks were packed full. The second week the family went to the beach for a week! Wow! It was gorgeous!!! Here are some pictures.

Pirenópolis

Back in November we spent a holiday in Pirenópolis. It is an old city in Brazil with many, many trails and waterfalls. We drove to the top of a mountain and hiked through the cerrado (on a cleared path.) At the end of the hike we saw the waterfall. It was so pretty!

New years

JP's eye injury

  So I was playing a wicked new game called paddle (kind of a mix of tennis and squash)
and I got nailed in the eye. The ball actually hit the edge of my racket and hit me square in the eye.
Really bad luck. From there I went straight to the hospital. Tear on the retina. Laser surgery the
next morning and now three days of rest and recovery. My eye hurts less today, but vision is still
very blurry. I'll see the doc again tomorrow at 9am. Thanks for your prayers! JP

Kimberly's Birthday!!

Kimberly's birthday was great! We celebrated with the family here and had a DELICIOUS chocolate and strawberry cake! That evening we went to a small amusement park and rode the ferris wheel! Then we each ate a churros! Happy Day!! Thank You God for life!!

School Has Started

We have started our school year at BIS. JP is teaching high school math and P.E. Kimberly is teaching Pre-k 3 and 4 year olds, 2nd grade math and language arts, and kindergarten social studies and science. We are staying busy with school work and lesson plans. We are able to go on runs some afternoons and spend our Sundays with church and family. It has been a privilege to be able to share Jesus' love with the children at school and incorporate stories about Him in our lessons. How cool!!!

Itaipu Power Plant! Major Power!

Once back in Brazil we went to the Itaipu Power Plant. The largest hydro electric power plant in the world! It has 20 huge turbines. One turbine generates enough power for a city of 2.5 million people! That’s a lot of power we were riding around! On part of the tour we went through Paraguay! Brazil and Paraguay share the power from this hydro electric power plant.

Now back in Brazil we are looking for a car and doing some shopping. JP’s mom knows the places in town for the shopping experience! We are having a great time!! School starts in a week. We have a few more days of vacation left. J

Iguassu Falls!! The "Land of Rainbows"

After Caldas Novas we came home for a day and then onto the airplane to go to Iguassu Falls! This is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Unbelievable beauty there! We spent 3 days in Foz do Iguassu. The first day we spent on the Brazil side of the Iguassu Falls. I call this place the "Land of Rainbows". There were so many rainbows there! We took the boat ride and went right up to some of the water falls!! We hiked some and ate lunch. We ate outside and there were signs that read “Watch out for the Quati.” These varmints would come up to your table jump in an empty chair and reach across the table and take your food!!! Then hop down and walk off with it in their mouths! At first I thought they were cute until I saw one take a lady’s lunch right off her plate! They were so fast. Later that day we went to the Bird Park. It was one of the largest bird parks in the world.

The next day we were able to go to ARGENTINA to see the falls from their side! After we got the visa issue worked out our taxi driver took us the Iguassu falls park . We were in for a breathtaking surprise of beauty! It reminded us of the pictures of Never, Never Land in the movie Peter Pan. There was a high standing island in front of the some of the falls which has a water fall coming from it! There were platforms going out over some of the falls to get us closer to the roar of the water. We walked 1.1 kilometers one way over the Iguassu river to get to a raging waterfall.

There was so much water moving through the river. Check out some of these pictures to see. The power of the mass of water was breathtaking. God’s creativity foresaw these waterfalls and HIS power is mightier than the rushing of the many waters. HE has allowed us to look upon HIS rainbows of promise and love! Whoooooooo!!! J