Wow, God just keeps on being God

It is with a great deal of humbleness and awe that we want to let you all know that we have reached our support raising goals! It is truly fantastic how you have all prayed and given and today we can let you know that we are fully supported! God has done so many amazing things in this time through all of you in so many different ways, we can´t even begin to list them all. This marks one part of the adventure and this by no means, means that we are letting you all off the hook and that we don´t need your continued pray and support. We just wanted to let you know that even though you may think you only have played a small part you have joined together with many others to let God do something awesome! We look forward to seeing how God uses all of us and that includes you for His honour and glory in the future.

Through the eyes of Josh

Hi everybody, first of all I would like to say that life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. In this case my box of chocolates has every kind imaginable. Life here in Portugal is very...different to say the least. For instance, I have never had to take an elevator to take out the garbage before, never seen so many National Geographic movies before, so many cigarette butts on the ground ever, or ridden so many buses that are driven like race cars. While we have been here we have met some people who own a restaurant. We eat there regularily now, but the first time we went there, I ordered a hamburger and thought, hhmmmnn a hamburger, a nice bun with cheese and maybe even some bacon. So I waited and waited and eventually they brought it out, but there was no bun, or bacon, there was only meat and cheese, and then they gave me a fork and knife. It was good, but not as good as a Mount Olive Evangelical Free Church " Cruise Night" burger, good gravy I miss those! All in all, it is not so bad here, I mean other than being bored lots of times, it is kind of fun here. The weather is just as random as Three Hills, except there is no snow, but I do enjoy it here, so anyway...ahh keep your stick on the ice. Josh

Through the eyes of Kait!

We have turned over the blog to Kait for this update...not sure what we were thinking!

As I sit here, watching a Jane Austin classic, I can´t believe how fond of Portugal I have become. Here are my top 10 reasons why I love Portugal/ living in Portugal.

1. The coffee is stronger, better and generally more enjoyable.

2. The streets are cobblestone.

3. They are more passionate about soccer, than we are of hockey.

4. They have «novellas» (Soaps, soapies, soap operas...) on TV all day long.

5. You can fit more people on a bus.

6. The bus drivers are all former race car drivers. They have two speeds, fast and faster.

7. The streets are narrow and the drivers are fast.

8. The english shows aren´t dubbed, they have sub-titles, which makes learning the language so much easier.

9. There are pastry shops on every corner. On one street there are 10!

10. The Portuguese love shoes more than me, there must be a million shoe stores in Oporto.

Now in my opinion, for every pro there is a con. 10 things I have learned to dislike while here.

1. I get the worst «caffine hangovers» I have learned my lesson, only one «cafe» a day.

2. Though the streets may be romantic, they are annoying to walk and ride long distances on.

3. When they celebrate a holiday they use fireworks, all day and night long.

4. The acting on the soaps is really bad, probably worse than any episode of Degrassi ever recorded...ack!

5. When the buses are loaded, my nose dies, because it gets really smelly.

6. The bus drivers stop suddenly. it is amazing that I have not suffered any internal injuries.

7. I have no con about the narrow roads or fast drivers, except that I fear for my life when a bus zooms past.

8. The english shows all start at eleven at night.

9. I visit the pastry shops on a daily basis, I feel like I have gained 200 pounds.

10. I have no complaints about the shoe stores.

So really I have only 9 cons...wait 8 for my 10 pros. All in all I find this country lovely and beautiful. It has bewitched me and I love it.

Well, there you go, life in Portugal through the eyes of Kait. The boys will be sharing over the next couple weeks...should be interesting.