Time passes in a blink of an eye

It's been over 3 months since we last updated you. Since then we packed our suitcase and went home for 2 months to visit family, friends and to present Lorenzo, now we are back to Brazil and settled again into the way of life here! It seems like we blinked and our time at home was over. One month in France and one month in Northern Ireland, it seems like so much time - 2 months! But one month in your "home" every year and a half is never enough!! But we make the most of the time we have and try to enjoy every minute!

France

In a blink of an eye our time in France passed by, but we had such an amazing time. The weather was beautiful, about 30*C the whole time we were there. So this meant a lot of time eating outside, walks, bicycle rides. We even had 3 days at the beach - one of which Nico was in bed all day with a bad headache and the second day it rained but the 3rd day was lovely and we even swam in the sea!

But the best times we had were just being together with friends and family. It was amazing to have Lorenzo meet Nico's grandfather, it was extra special considering he would not be able to meet my two Grannies as both passed away before having this opportunity.

Nico had the privilege to baptise his father in his sisters swimming pool!! What an honour! After reading some scripture together and worshiping we celebrated communion together - a first for Nico's dad! It was such a special day and to have all the family gathered together for this special event made it one of the best days!

We had a family weekend with Nico's immediate family and aunts, uncles and cousins. It was the only time we had cooler weather but it didn't stop us taking advantage of precious moments together. I had my first experience of playing 'Pétanque'- a lot of fun but no-one could beat Nico's parents who excelled in this game!! Lorenzo loved every moment of the attention but also time to play with his cousins, who in turn loved playing with him!

Nico's friends were also very good at organising a week-end together as they all live in different parts of France. We were 15 adults and 15 children in a beautiful little village in the south of France! It was so nice to have time together without really worrying about the clock... It gave me the opportunity to practise more french and thankfully they are all very understanding and helpful.

To finish our time in France we held a special dinner party to celebrate Lorenzo turning one - 4th October!! Again it was so nice to have the family together and Nico's grandfather came for the event, I can only imagine how happy it makes him to see his whole family together in one place. Lorenzo had a blast and received some really nice presents and had his first taste of cake!!

Northern Ireland

Then we packed up and flew to Northern Ireland, we started our time here celebrating Lorenzo's first birthday! My mum and I had a lot of fun with a lot of stress to make his cake! Turned out nice but even better to eat! haha. Lorenzo received more presents but again what made this time special was that all the family were together.

One of the highlights in Northern Ireland was getting to meet our new wee nephew just 10 days old by the time we arrived! Lewis is Debz' third son, and everyone is in love with him especially his big brothers and also Lorenzo! We also got to meet my cousins newest addition to the family - Eli, a little brother for Jacob. Lorenzo was loving to hang out with all his cousins.

Although the weather was cooler in Northern Ireland we were able to enjoy lots of walks as it only rained 3 times in the whole month!! We had a nice weekend away in Dublin just the 3 of us and it was fun to do something just as a 3.



But of course when we are at home our focus is seeing friends and family and we filled our time with that. Being in Northern Ireland in October meant beyond celebrating Lorenzo's 1st birthday we could celebrate my two sisters, my sister-in-law's and my nephew Daniels birthday!! A special one was Bex's 30th!!

We also had a family weekend away which was so much fun including Gareth loosing his drone a few fields away, playing in a park, walks, lots of games to keep the younger ones entertained and of course lots of eating!

Overall

Over the 2 months that we were home we were so blessed to see friends and family and supporters. We were given the opportunity to speak in each of the churches supporting us, which is always a blessing to see people so interested and makes us feel so loved and cared for. We loved how each of the churches supported our new project "Prayer Warriors", each choosing a family that we work with and committing to pray for that family. Thank you, each of you for your love and support - we know that we are not alone and know that it wouldn't be possible to do what we do without each of you. It always a sad as our time goes by so quickly, and at the end we have to say our good-byes, also because there are always some that we aren't able to see, but we always hope for the next time at home to make up for it!

Back in Brazil
We are now settled back in Casa Rocha, it took Lorenzo quite a while to re-adjust especially as we arrived in a heat wave. Also adapting to the new time zone - he was waking up at 4am for nearly 10 days!! He has adapted to the new clock and different food but we still feel he isn't back to usual wee happy self... but I guess like us, he is missing his family and new friends from France and Northern Ireland. Please pray for him and for us for wisdom as we help him readjust to our life here. But good news is he is progressing loads in his walking...

Some other prayer points:

*As we close up our groups for Christmas

*For a family camp that we are planning - 7th & 8th December with 17 families (its been a dream for 2 years now and has been 5 years since the last one!!)

*For our annual staff retreat (9th - 13th December) as we reflect on 2019 and pray into 2020

*For the Brazilian YWAM conference that occurs every 2 years - 14 hours drive away (15-20th Dec) 

*For the Christmas period - it's always hard to be away from family at this time but pray that we can make it special as a family

THANK YOU