Cactus Flower

Every week sometime around Thursday I ask Uncle Byron for ideas for an exciting, adventurous tale for my weekly blog post for you boys.  Sometimes I already have an idea and just run it by him.  Sometimes I can't quite remember some event and get him to fill in the gaps.  Other times I tell him what I've been thinking of for a sort of affirmation or pat on the back - like asking for a compliment.  Then he'll say something like - Oh, now that's a good idea. Today when I told Uncle Byron that I was going to write about the vegetable called chu chu, he laughed and said he thought my posts were supposed to be adventurous.  Apparently he doesn't think that a funny, shaped green squashy looking thing could make for an exciting tale.  I'll let you decide that at the end of my story.  You can be honest with you and leave an opinion in the comments section with your mother's permission,  of course. Today's story goes back to my first year of missionary ser...

Google translated:  "kill miss" "kill longings" "kill homesickness" This month, Byron and I had the opportunity to " matar some saudades ."  Yes, that's an English word in the middle of a Brazilian phrase.  We do that a lot in our every day conversation around the house.  It's Expat/MK/TCK talk.  Things that are more beautiful or easily understood in one language get thrown into our English chats.  There just isn't a word in English just like " saudades ."  So, it's often added to the English-Portuguese mix of our speech.  The actual definition of the word in Portuguese just seems to go beyond a feeling of homesickness or some silly longing.  It's the whole gambit of missing loved ones and wishing for another place and time.    Boating on the lake like old times   Our oldest, William, came down from the States this past month and stayed for five weeks.  He was able to  " matar a lot of saudades ...

So my Texas boys have moved this week to a new state.  Does that mean I have to call you by some other name?  Hmmm... I'll have to think on that.  If you were Texas cowboys before, what are you now living in Indiana?  Indiana Indians?  Well, I better keep on thinking. Talking about moving reminded me of a story about of a time when our family moved out of our house in Fortaleza.  William was 8.  Dalton was 6.  Greyson was still three.  We had to pack up all of our stuff early to have it taken to a new state - Bahia, and we had to pack for furlough.  We were trying to sell our house in Fortaleza.  So we had to get everything out before we left for the States.  Uncle Byron took all of our belongings to a missionary's house in Bahia and we went to stay a few days at the Fortaleza Academy's guest house.   Several months before our big move and furlough, little Greyson had lost his glasses.  I don't know if you boys know b...

Yes, sometimes missionaries just goof off.  Or, perhaps we should be more formal and say - they take a mental health day!    Here are some photos of an afternoon at the lake  with our guests this month...  

Your Aunt Michele loves the Fourth of July.  Picnics with family, fireworks, flying flags - it's all great.  Grandaddy's birthday is only two days away on July 6th, so many times on the Fourth there was always lots of fun with birthday cake and ice cream.   The holiday also has a lot of sentimental value for me as it was the day that Uncle Byron asked me to marry him!  It was on July 4, 1986.  Uncle Byron and I were both students at Piedmont Bible College.  I was home on summer break - home there at Grandaddy's house.  Uncle Byron always stayed on campus even during holidays as his parents were missionaries in Brazil.  He drove up to Grandaddy's for a picnic with the family.  Even my Grandma Beckner was there that day - your great grandmother. Sometime during the afternoon when I was inside the house and everyone else was outside at the picnic table, Uncle Byron asked Grandaddy if it was okay to ask me to marry him.  Daddy apparentl...