Matt informed me it has been a VERRRYYYY long time since I wrote anything on the blog.  Like, I haven’t written since we moved to Santarém (and tomorrow is the 6 month mark already!) so I guess it’s my turn 🙂  So, an update in pictures of the last couple months…

People move all kinds of things by motorcycle, this guy holding a tire is far from the strangest thing I’ve seen.  People carrying chairs, dragging 2 x 4’s, other people….3 is the max I’ve seen on a motorcycle, but 4 on a bicycle–dad riding, small child in front of him, and mom on the back holding a baby.

 Matt’s birthday

Grandpa Steidinger came to visit for a couple weeks in May!  One morning he & the kids planted radishes, green beans, sugar snap peas, and some flower seeds.  The combination of heat/sun/rain here made those bean plants grow about 6 inches in a week.

Our 15th anniversary!  Grandpa Steidinger babysat and we were able to go out for supper (delicious fish–mmmm!)  and took a walk on the orla (wide sidewalk that runs right along the river) because it was a beautiful evening–which as my husband says, it pretty much always is unless it’s pouring rain.  (The temperature never really gets below 70F).  We’ll see if he still says that in another 6 months…we are heading into the hot season!

This is what happens when it rains hard every day for six months–the street along the river sometimes floods.  Just to the right of this is a huge pump working to move water out of this area and back into the river.

Last Saturday we were able to be part of the yearly ‘Marcha para Jesus’ (March for Jesus) here in Santarém that all the evangelical churches take part in.  These marches take place all over the country.  It was so cool to walk through the city with thousands of other people, praying and praising Jesus!  And trying to keep an eye on our 4 kids.  They were troopers, it was still pretty hot when the march stepped off a little before 5 in the afternoon, and we were all good and sweaty when we arrived at a park across town a couple hours later.  Thankfully another missionary mom took her own kids and Sierra about halfway through and headed to the ending point. There was a stage set up at the end and the worship music went on for hours, so I heard, we did not stay for all of it as we were a little tired-the kids slept well that night!  And Jesus’ name was praised!