YAY! First photos

A view of the neighborhood.

Where the t.v. will live - someday...

the living room - with temporary furniture for now...

the back porch

the pool! :)

These are the first photos from Erich - I'll send more tomorrow - there were a ton... including one of a lizard they found in the backyard. Ewww.

Thanks for checking in! More tomorrow. God bless!

Long Distance...

Well, yesterday I got my first phone call from Crunch since they got to the house... it was SOOOOO good to hear his voice... I didn't get to talk to him long because I was at work but it made my day! He told me about his teachers, and his new friend who is also his "ambassador" (basically another 7th grader that has taken him under his wing this semester). He has new friends from Oklahoma and Canada... he later told me that the Graded School in Sao Paulo is rated as one the top schools in the whole world. His step-mom told me she met a mom from Geneva that has moved her kids to the U.S. and then to Brazil just to find the best education for her kids. Crunchie told me it's in the 70's there, and it rains every single day (like Florida - where they get 1/2 hour showers every afternoon). He had homework in math. He has a Humanities class in which he has to read 80 pages a week from a book of his choice. Imagine my utter delight when he chose "The Shack" by William P. Young... YAY! It's a fiction story about a man who spends the weekend with God. I digress though - he only had a choice between 2 books (all that he has at home right now) but I am still proud of my son for choosing that over "Ghost Recon"... :) GO GOD! He talked about the cars there - particularly the Ford Fiesta - which he informed me will be built at Michigan Truck after they finish modifications there. He sounded so great and so at peace... although I'd love for him to be missing us all, I too, have peace that he is doing well and that his experience is better than he could have even imagined. I can see and hear the changes in him already. All for the better of course (hmm, I'm a little biased)...

Later I received a quick email about a song I should download - and that he had changed the background on his iPod to a picture of me - so he can see me face every time he uses it. Gotta love that (hope he has widescreen)... heehee.

Oh - he has taken lots of photos but I guess technology is a bit behind there... and I guess until they get their desktop computer they can't send any... so next post I'll share some older photos of the Crunch-meister...

And the park he went to over the weekend (with a long, crazy Portuguese name) is like Central Park in New York... complete with a lake... you can rent bikes, feed the birds, ducks, etc.

More soon...

1st day of school in Brazil

my first day was AWESOME. i saw some kids i saw on Wednesday and im already friends with one. The schedule is sorta confusing but ill get used to it. my iPod is really slow downloading emails so i didnt get most of them. ill log on in a sec so i can look at them. loooove you!

This is great news. I am trying to get some photos... stay tuned!

School starts in the a.m.

It's 3 hours ahead in Brazil... So Crunchie is surely fast asleep (maybe) before his big first day of 7th grade in the Graded School (The American School of Sao Paulo). Here is the email I received 1/2 hour or so ago... he seems very happy and very excited but nervous for tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers!

God bless!

HI MOM, there hasn't been any internet so i didn't get your emails . we only have wired internet so i cant see them. just wanted to see what your doing and how it is back in MI. i went to Ibirapuera park today (EE-BEERa-PU-AIR-a). and i went swimming in the morningand TOMORROW IS MY FIRST DAY IN SCHOOL! i'm nervous but i'm sure it will be lots of fun and i already made some nice friends there. hope its OK down there and the new car situation is going good. well i loooooooooooooove you and ill talk to you later . from, Crunchie

"Dear Slim, Part 2"

Saturday, Crunchie wrote only one email... about a song called Dear Slim, Part 2 by a Christian rap artist named Kj-52. It's a song written to Eminem (aka Slim Shady) telling him that life doesn't have to be this way - that God could change it. A lot of Crunchie's tunes made his playlist because they have a good beat or they sound cool... it's neat to see him go beyond the music to the lyrics and ponder them for their true meaning. I pray his iPod and his music keep him connected to Christ while he is away. Here is his email:


If you really listen to the lyrics, it means something. It's almost sad. It tells you what non-Christians do and what an impact on other people from a song. Especially to the non-Christians. My favorite line of the song is "God puts together the broken pieces that've been thrown away" I'm sure it's in your iPod somewhere. Listen to it when you got time. Luv u!


FYI - here are the lyrics:


la la la la la
Dear slim
la la la la lala la la la la
yo yo yo yo
la la la la la la la la yo
la la la la la la la la la yo
la la la la la la la la
Dear slim Part 2
la la la la la la la la yo
Dear slim i wrote you but you aint callin'
its been a couple years now since i wrote that song and
alot has changed now for you and I
I had no clue that I would write a song for you and it would change some lives
Kids with tears in the eyes they now come up to me showing love to me
and telling me that they look up to me
The effects to me, well were really kinda strange to see
I only wanted to share with you how Jesus done for me
but theres a whole nother side to things now that I come to see
Its a huge influence you got upon on the industry
but enough of me cause its not what i came to say to you
not a day goes by while i take time to pray for you
sorry now for what your mom and dad what they did to you
but i can relate with you cause, well see, dude i've been there too
I know theres a lot of pain and hurt now that you've been through
but never forget there's a real love that God gave to you

la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
to whom it may concern
la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
still to whom it may concern


Yo dear slim i wrote you and you still aint callin'
backstage at the VMAs someone gave you my song and
I kinda wonderin' what you thought man
Or when that guy walked up to you and talked to you and put it in your hands
Maybe you never listened to it or maybe you lost it
or maybe you heard it and you just got mad and then you tossed it
did he hit you back thats the question i always get
Im like well God forbid you might even of liked it
I dont know but
congratulations on your movie yo and
Heard your last record well over ten million sold
but theres one thing thats got me thinkin bro
Does the grammy mean anything if you've just gotta lose your soul
In case you didnt know theres a lovin, that will never go away
you say your goin' to hell but it don't have to be that way;
see the bottom line of what im tryin, to say is
God puts back the broken peaces that are thrown away
if even everyone you know just up and goes away
he'll still love you till the very day that your of that old and gray
too bad alot of Christians all they do is hate on you
instead of droppin' to there knees and takin time to pray for you
its obvious that you really love your daughter dude
for that i gotta tell you well i really got respect for you
so here it is dear slim chapter part 2 another cat trying to make it just like you
-chorus-

Yo dear slim did you hear the junk that im goin through
Kids sending me hate mail and telling me how im fighting you
telling me how they gonna beat me up and just kill me too
but alot of people they just seem to get my song confused
see what i say to you i know it might even sound funny
but i never came at you just to paint you as the enemy
it wasn't about haten or starten some controversy
it wasn't about blamen you or tryin to make some money na
I dont claim to know everything that you've experienced
man i dont even know if you'll even ever be hearing this
but i said it once and i still hold it to this
that a life without Christ is still a life that is never fixed
I'll tell you this even if its a hard pill to swallow
like it or not slim your gonna always be a roll model
do you know these kids were the ones they always follow
what we say and how we live gives them a better tomorrow
I've had my share of some, plus man I've been rejected
i've been chewed up spit out and cussed, disrespected
but if i die today and never sell another record
Jesus gave me more than i ever could of been expectin'
i know life is hectic it can leave you blown away
but check it bro cause we just gonna die someday
and on that note well theres only one thing still left to say
theres still one love and one god and only one way

la la la la la la la lala la la la la la la la la to whom it may concern...

Sometimes ...

Friday, after many days bored without t.v., Crunchie wrote about a song he had been listening too and what thoughts came to mind when listening to it... the song is by Pillar - a Christian rock band. It's called "Sometimes"... Here is what he wrote:

I listened to that song as soon as I got to each airport. So when I got off of the first plane and on to the strip, I got in a little terminal and I ran to the exit to go see my grandma. And when we got to Brazil I looked out the window and played the song and saw all the high rises and all the small buildings clustered together I thought it was gonna be the time of my life. If you can imagine that while listsening to that song... It really makes you thankful for what you have, and what is coming in the future that God has stored and planned for you.

Home ...

Before I elaborate on the neat emails I've been receiving from Crunchie about his revelations there, I thought I'd share a few photos of the home in Sao Paulo... along with his contact info ... I think it's a fortune to send him 'snail mail' but he loves email.

Hmmm... Michigan or THIS?

This gives a whole new meaning to cooking outside (this is the outdoor kitchen)...

backyard and pool

tennis anyone?

One week and counting...

Well, today marks one week that our dear Crunchie landed in his new hometown of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It's been an adventure so far ... lost luggage, no phone, internet, t.v. or belongings other than what was packed in their bags... a broken washing machine, cell phones that don't work there due to networking differences. The god-send? His iPod touch, that miraculously picks up a wi-fi signal from the neighbor's house (thank you God, for small miracles)...

God is revealing all sorts of small miracles... the depth of his recent emails are quite profound... his iPod being his only form of entertainment before school starts on Monday, has led him to ponder the lyrics to the songs he's downloaded; both from iTunes (thank you to everyone who blessed him with gift cards) and from my cd collection ... 90% of which are Christian - no worries on lyrics there... this tidbit of info will be relevant next post...

for now I'll post these 'last sightings' of the little man - before soaring off on his once in a lifetime experience.

God bless...

left behind mom