Dunn Adoptions

Robert's Day

2008-11-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

This whole adoption thing sure has been exciting, depressing, invigorating, rewarding, challenging, great and frustrating all rolled up into one nice little (or big, depending how you look at it) package. I sound bi-polar, huh? Well, I'm not. It's just the truth. We've experienced so many emotional mood swings, that it's not even funny. If anyone ever tells you it's easy to adopt a large sibling group... run! Because they're lying. It's not. There are so many things that we never thought of that we have had to walk through (and still are). It's hard. But it is definitely worth it. Yesterday was Robert, the youngest of the groups, 3rd birthday. He is such a special kid. He always looked so angry when we first got him. You could really tell that he had seen and experienced things that no child should ever have experienced. But over the last several months his temperament has totally changed. He is definitely a mommas boy ( which he tells me several times a day, just to tease me) and he loves being in a family. There have definitely been a few rough days over the last 8 months (especially here lately) but yesterday wasn't one of them. Yesterday was one of those days where we could really see and get satisfaction knowing that we're making a difference in the lives of our children. Having spent almost his entire life in an orphanage, little Robert never really celebrated a birthday the way you and I know it. He never had a cake or presents or anyone sing the birthday song to him. Today was his day. We took all the kids skating, opened presents and sang the birthday song to him. If you could have seen his little face. The appreciation and joy that he had... it was amazing. As he opened his presents (nothing even that spectacular) he was so happy and just sat there and jumped up and down, yelling, "yay, yay, yay!" Man, he was so happy! This may not seem like a big deal, but to us it was huge. You see, there have been several days when we've thought, "have we done the right thing by taking in all these kids?" "Did we really hear from God? Because some days are tough. But it's in the days like yesterday that we know, yes... we are doing the right thing. We did hear from God and these kids are growing up in a family that not only celebrates birthdays, but we also celebrate the fact that we serve a living God. A God that loves us and loves our children. A God that has a destiny and purpose for each and every one of our kids. So, thank you Lord for allowing us to experience difficult times... because it makes days like yesterday even sweeter.

Love ya,

Robert's Proud Daddy

It's Been a Long Time!

2008-10-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time... I know. We've been so busy, as you can imagine, but that's no excuse... or is it? Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking with it. Things have been going pretty smooth considering we doubled the size of our family 8 months ago. The kids have transitioned very smoothly into our family. Really, the only issues we've had worth speaking about have been space related. There always seems like there is someone around... no privacy. We have to think of creative ways to spend time alone. Late night car rides, banning all kids from our bedroom ( for some reason our bedroom is the family gathering place!), making all the kids go out to the back yard and locking the door (actually that is where they are now! lol!). We're not mean... if someone comes up to the window and they're bleeding we'll let them in.

There has been drama here and there though. Like last week, we had to take our new puppy to the animal hospital (we bought a 6 week old white boxer several weeks ago). It's seems as though when the kids were out in the backyard playing with water balloons, they had the pack of balloons on the ground, and the dog decided to eat all of them. That's right, all of them! About 150 to be exact. It was funny at first... seeing brightly colored piles of doggy doo doo laying around the yard. But after a day or so we weren't seeing anymore balloons, exiting, if you know what I mean, and Bella (the puppy) was getting very lethargic not wanting to play. We knew there was a problem... so off to the Vet we went. She had to stay all day and got to come home late that night. So, to say the least, we had a family meeting and I confiscated all balloons in the house.

Mary Jane is homeschooling all the kids. She is my hero. Really... she is. She is doing an amazing job. It has been tough at times and I know that she has wanted to strangle me and the kids, but she perseveres and presses on. The way she does what she does is amazing... being wife, mom, school teacher, housekeeper... it's really amazing.

We are in the process of trying to find a new home (bigger) so that we can all eat at the same table, have a room to home school the kids in, and a room that everyone can hang out in (other than my bedroom!). We'll have to see what God does. We put our home on the market several weeks ago but nothing yet. We are very content though. Even if we don't get another house, we're content. That's such a cool place to be in. To have a bigger house would be great but not mandatory. It seems as though in times past we were always striving to upgrade something or get the newest 'whatever'... but not now. We've really changed our outlook on life. We've acquired an eternal outlook rather than a temporal one. Not that we can't have nice things or that we have to dress in rags and drive vehicles that are on their last leg... because we don't. What I am saying is that acquiring things is not our main goal and focus. Actually you are probably going to think we're crazy... but listen to this... "We think that at some point we are going to adopt more children." I know it sounds crazy but we're praying about a different situations that we know of right now. We are waiting on a few things to happen then we will let everyone know. Long term, our dream is to eventually have a property large enough to put dorms on and take in multiple children and give them a home and a family. Now this is farther down the road but we believe it will happen. This will be large enough that we won't be able to do it alone. Will have to employ staff members to help with the children... kind of like a big children's home. So, just watch and see. Pray for us and agree that God will bring to pass the things he has put in our heart.

Well, that's about it right now but I will try to blog regularly again. If you are reading this and it is something that you like reading, please comment or email me at jim@dunnadoptions.org and I will keep it going. Thanks for reading.

Love ya, Jim

PS The large group picture is all of my neices, nephews, brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, father-in-law, mother-in-law and our family. It's amazing to see this many people all raising their kids to be intentional followers of Christ!

Destined for Greatness

2008-05-23T07:49:00.001-07:00

Today is a big day here at the Dunn house. Michael, our 18 year old is graduating from high school tonight. We are so proud of him. We know that God has great things for him in his future. He has always made us proud. Michael, we love you little buddy!

All the kids are doing good. Ana and Diogo won trophies in Children's Church Wednesday night for the pinewood derby races they were in. They built their cars from blocks of wood and they won 3rd place for their age groups. Also, Diogo and Gabriel have taught themselves to ride their bikes just over the last few weeks. And I do mean they taught 'themselves.' Nobody helped them. That's pretty amazing to me. These kids have so much potential and so much tenacity to stick with things. We know God has great things in store for all of our kids. Destiny... greatness! I think today's children need to be told about the greatness that God has for them. Don't you? I don't know how you were raised, but in my house there was a serious dilema. On one hand, I had a God-fearing mother who took me to church every Sunday. On the other hand, I had an abusive, alcoholic father who never went to church. To say the least, I didn't have the greatest example of how to be a father. As I grew up, my mother (bless her heart) was doing the best she could to raise me and my brother to love God; but, as a boy, when you see the man of the house not serving God, it causes confusion.

My parents eventually divorced when I was 11 years old and suddenly, I was the man of the house. My mother still tried to take me to church, but it was hit or miss. When I was at church, I heard a lot of "don't drink, don't smoke, don't listen to that music and don't do drugs." I never heard anyone tell me that God had a destiny and a purpose for my life. It was always don't do this... but never, "God has greatness in store for you." You see, I think that we as parents (and ministers) spend so much time trying to get our kids to be good when we need to be spending more time showing them how to be great. We need to be continually motivating them to be great men and women of God... men and women whom God has destined to change the world! If we could show them Jeremiah 29:11 and instill in them the fact that Acts 1:8 applies to them, and that if they truly embrace the potential of what God has planned for them... then their motivation for not drinking and smoking would go from good (my parents told me not to and it makes God mad) to great (God has a detailed plan of greatness for my life and to mess it up with sin would only diminish His Glory!) When is the last time we told our children about the great plans and purposes God has for them? When is the last time we really focused in on helping them find out what their God given talents and abilities really are? I encourage you to talk to your children about the plans God has for them. Help them realize that God has a specific purpose for their life. Don't be guilty of just telling them what their "not" suppose to do all of the time. Start showing them what they are "suppose" to do. It doesn't matter that you didn't have a good example of how to be a Godly parent. You can be the one to break the cycle of ungodly parenting. The Word of God is rich with wisdom on how to parent our children and to show them that they are "Destined for Greatness!"

Love you guys!

Jim

"Where's the Fire?"

2008-05-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight Mary Jane and I were sitting at the kitchen table watching all of the kids playing in the back yard. Because of the way the sun was shining, they couldn't see us but we could see them. They were all in a big group in the middle of the yard trying to work on their bikes. All of them were there except for Robert. He was on the trampoline by himself. But then we saw him get off of the trampoline, making his way toward all of his brothers and sisters. But he was walking funny...? wait a minute. His diaper had fallen off, half way, and was hanging through one of the leg holes on his shorts. We could tell it had some pretty good weight in it because of how far down it was drooping. We started making bets on who would notice it first and help him. MJ said, "it would be Ana" and I said, "I thought it would be Matthew." These kids really do help each other out quite a bit, which is amazing. Anyway, we were sitting there watching as he walked awkwardly toward everyone... no one noticed him. As he got closer to the herd, we started cheering on who we had picked as our choice as the one who would help first. But then we noticed... his diaper wasn't full of #1 but it was full of #2... and it was almost a neon green in color! As he stepped up to the rest of the kids, I think they all noticed him at the same time... and they all ran like there was a fire! All the kids ran in different directions and were yelling different versions of eww!We were laughing so hard... you had to see it. But speaking of fires we actually had one last week here at the house. It seems as though Matthew, Marlon and Diogo had a magnifying glass and used it to start a log on fire. Not that big of a deal, right? All boys do that at least once in their lifetime. But my boys took it one step further. They decided to walk around the yard with their flaming log. They walked around the side of the house and a piece of the fire fell off into a landscape bed containing an assortment of plants, including a perfect hedge of 25' tall leyland cypress that spans the entire length of the house. The bad thing is that they didn't notice it fell off. When they walked back to this side of the house about 45 seconds later, they heard a crackling noise and then they noticed that the tree was on fire! They ran inside to get MJ and she tried to pull the hose over to the fire but it was too short! She tried to arch the spray of the hose to reach the fire but it was barely reaching. All the kids ripped off their shirts and were trying to 'beat' the fire out as MJ was frantically trying to fill up pots to dump on the fire and spray the hose at the same time. Maryssa called the fire department as everyone tried to put out the fire. It was spreading rapidly because it was very windy that day. It was only about 10' from the house and everyone was freaking out because the fire was about 15' high and 10' wide! They were finally able to put it out, after what seemed like an eternity. It was a very stressful time for my little wife, to say the least. Other than that, things have been going great (except for having to take Matthew to the Emergency Room the Monday before that. He was riding his bike in flip flops and ripped half his toe off!). We've been home for a month now and there is never a dull moment at the Dunn home.

There have definitely been a few challenges though. One of the things is never seeming to have any time to just enjoy the kids. It seems like we're always having to referee and discipline and entertain... non-stop all day long, without just being able to just have fun. That gets very exhausting ( for MJ mostly because I'm usually at church). Also, not having anytime to just relax (except when it's time for bed.) is very wearisome for my wife.The other thing is being able to spend quality time with the kids one on one. We don't want to just provide food and shelter for these kids. We want to love on them individually and make sure that each one feels special. Dealing with everyone as a group doesn't achieve this. So, we're praying for wisdom so that we can come up creative ways to make this happen. As far as never having time to relax... I told MJ to fill up our big cooler with water (we wouldn't want anyone to dehydrate) then make all the kids go outside to play and just lock the door! Problem solved, right? Seems reasonable to me. Now I'm not talking about all day or anything just for an hour or so each day. If someone has a droopy diaper filled with poop hanging to their knees, or if someone severs their big toe off or if there's a fire... then they can come in. Sounds like a plan to me.

Love ya,

Jim and MJ

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I made the stupidist comment I've ever made during my 19 years as a husband and father. It was Mother's Day and I totally forgot all about it. I didn't remember until I got to church and then it hit me... "oh man, I didn't get MJ a card or anything!" After church we went out to eat and when we finished eating all the kids gave her cards and stuff they bought for her in the bible bucks store at children's church that day. It was their way of honoring her on her special day. When they were finished I could tell she was wondering where my card was... or my little gift I had gotten for her... it was an awkward moment because I didn't say anything. How could I tell the mother of my children that I had forgotten all about her? After what seemed like an eternity I changed the subject but I could tell she was wondering what was going on. When I got home I began to look around for something I could give her or something I could re-gift or something I could make for her at the last minute (what was I thinking?)... please Lord, I'm dying here, help me because I can't come up with anything. We finished out the afternoon and that night when we were in bed she asked me the million dollar question... "what did you get me for Mother's Day?" Before I could stop myself, these words rolled off my tongue... "you're not my mother." What? Did I actually just say that? Did those words just come out of my mouth? Man, am I in trouble now! Why couldn't I just tell her I forgot? No, I had to say, "you're not my mother." But my sweet little wife didn't even bat an eye she just said, "just wait until Father's Day!" Father's Day rolled around and sure enough... nothing. I thought she would walk in forgiveness because she loved me so much, but nope, I got nothing, zero, nada, zilch! What's up with that? Lesson learned. I've never forgotten Mother's Day again. Actually the next few years I really went overboard so that she would know the deep level of repentance that I had concerning this special day.

It's funny... the other day I had another one of those moments where I couldn't believe I said something. You know, after it comes out of your mouth you think, "that was stupid." I had just gotten home from the office and when I walked in MJ said, "I've had a rough day today and I'm glad you're home." Rather than saying, "sorry, tell me about it" I said, "you should have seen what I've had to deal with today." Now in the past that comment could have carried some weight and I would have probably received some sympathy. But now it means nothing. As soon as I said it, my brain said, "you're an idiot... look around." There were 7 kids running all over the place just being kids, dogs barking, dinner was cooking, laundry was washing, the house was buzzing with activity. I thought, "there's no way my day could have been anywhere near this hectic. I looked at MJ and said, "you win." Your day was worse than mine... hands down." "That was stupid for me to even try and get sympathy just because I was a little fatigued." "Come here and let me hug you for a minute." My wife is amazing. She does so much for us all. Most of the stuff she does goes un-noticed but she does it anyway and never complains. She always keeps the kids looking good. She's also an amazing cook. The way that she keeps the house together amazes me. We had a couple of neighbors stop by last week unannounced. When they came in they couldn't believe how good the house looked. They said, "our house was cleaner than theirs and they only had 2 kids!" She spends time with the kids and is always there for them. I was laying in bed one morning and I could hear her out in the kitchen feeding all the kids and making them laugh as she was talking to them. She is so much fun to be around. I'm amazed at how she is always giving and giving. I have no idea how she keeps it up??? She is so consistant and the way she manages to keep all 10 of us in line is truly a sight to behold. I am so blessed to have her as not only as the mother of my children, and as my wife... but as my best friend. I don't always remember to say it but, "thank you" for all you do. I love you, Mary Jane... even though "you're not my mother."

Sorry we haven't blogged over the last 2 weeks. It's been very busy at church and with our business. The kids are doing great though. I will blog within the next few days with some new pictures and updates. We've been receiving your emails, wanting to know how everyone's doing, and we're going to try and be more consitant with the blogs again (maybe 2-3 times a week). Please continue to pray for our family as we try and get a handle on being the parents that we need to be for our children.

Payback!

2008-04-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

OK. I know I'm going to sound crazy, but here it goes... we went to church on Sunday, which was great. The kids love church. After 2nd and 3rd service they had a meet and greet/reception for us and the kids so that whoever wanted to, could come by and meet the all our new children and see the rest of us since we've been gone so long. It was amazing to see all the support and love for our family (thank you Hope and Life... you truly are our family!). We were given so many gift cards and other gifts. It felt really awkward because we're not use to being showered with that type of attention. We'd rather be on the giving end than the receiving end. But it was amazing none the less, thank you everyone who came by! When it was all over Pastors Tony and Gwen asked us if we'd like to go and get a bite to eat with them... we were all so tired but it had been so long since we've been able to see them so we said, "yes." We went to a Mexican restaurant right down the street from the church. Now, in case you don't know this, brazilian food isn't spicey. Actually it's kind of bland in comparison to Mexican food. We didn't know if the kids would like mexican food but we didn't care because we just ate their food for 46 days and you didn't hear us complaining... well maybe you did a little bit. Anyway, off we went. When we got there and were waiting for our food to arrive we were all eating chips and salsa. Gabriel was sitting next to me and he likes to touch everything! He also eats just about anything (remember our blogs from Brazil?). But I know he doesn't like spicey food. He kept on wanting to dip his chip in the salsa like everyone else. So, to teach him a lesson and to make sure he wouldn't want to dip his chip in the salsa anymore... I took his chip and scooped up a nice heaping blob of salsa and let him take a big bite. As he was chewing, it seemed like it took at least 20 seconds (delayed reaction?) and he then cupped his hand over his mouth and made the sound you make when something is hot... all the while his other hand was waving up and down in a fanning motion. Of course I was laughing the whole time because it was funny (it is funny, right?). Then I picked him up and whisked him away to the bathroom so that I could rinse his mouth out with cold water. When we were finished I asked him if he wanted any more salsa and he said, "NO!" So, mission accomplished... he will probably never touch the salsa bowl again. Wow, this parenting thing keeps getting easier and easier...LOL! Now here's where the 'payback' comes in. When we were finished, Matthew, Gabriel and Diogo wanted to ride home with me in my truck. We all sat in the front seat next to each other (in seatbelts, of course) just driving along, minding our own business, nobody talking. We drove for about 25 minutes everybody was happy, listening to music, singing... it was very relaxing. We were about 3/4 of a mile from the house...then it happened. I looked down at Gabriel, who was wedged in between Matthew and Diogo, and he just looked me in the eyes... and he kind of had a blank look on his face. He then looked down and began throwing up! I'm not talking a few little spirts of liquid either... I'm talking projectile, solid column hold your mouth open and let it all fly vomit! And of course it was salsa colored! He did it back to back 3 times in about 30 seconds! It was everywhere! We couldn't do anything because we were all wedged in the front seat and couldn't move. The only thing we could do was sit there and watch in horror. Matthew rolled his window down and said, "Dad it smells soooo bad... I think I'm going to throw up!" I said, "please just hold on... we're almost home!" I reached my arm around Gabriel and started to rub the back of his head to let him know it was alright... then he looked back at me and smiled reeeal big. Now this is where you're going to think I'm crazy... I could swear to you that when he looked at me and smiled he had that look of "that will teach you to put spicey salsa in my mouth, won't it Dad?" Payback! Lesson learned son, Daddy's sorry (it was still funny though). Maybe this parenting thing isn't that easy after all.

Everyone is doing great. It was such a blessing to see our kids in church clapping and raising their hands, in participation, during the worship. No one told them to participate. They saw everyone else doing it and felt comfortable enough to want to join in. That makes all of our struggles worth it. To know that these kids are going to be raised in a christian home with christian parents who have all christian friends and family, who attend a church that isn't afraid to worship God and reach out to change the community...it's such a blessing. I'm still in awe of the way God pulled this whole thing together. He took a couple with no desire to enlarge their family, without the resources to make it happen, without the space in their home to house 5 extra children adequately, who had busy schedules and... bam! Our hearts were changed when we realized the enormous amount of orphaned children in our world, he provided over $40,000.00 to bring the children home, He worked through friends and family to enlarge our home and He was able to make all of these things happen in spite of our busy schedules. So if you're contemplating stepping out in faith on something God has laid on your heart, even though it seems crazy... go for it! You're going to be amazed at what He will do for you if you are only willing to step out and trust Him.

Love ya,

Jim and MJ

Where's all that water coming from?

2008-04-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

We went to my sister-in-law's house to let all of our kids play together. I was talking to my nephews and nieces and then I noticed something... Gabriel just sat down on one of the tri-cycles and there was water dripping from the seat???... not just a couple of drops, but a steady trickle. At first I thought the seat had gotten wet by rain or something and when he sat down on it, that it was squeezing all the water out of it... then it hit me (I was still a little slow... jet lag, you know.)... he's peeing in his pants on purpose! What!? I told him to stop and picked him up and took him to the bathroom for the interrogation. What are you thinking? I was so mad. Here I was wanting to show off my new family and one of them is peeing all over himself on purpose. He's 4 years old and doesn't have accidents. We didn't have any extra clothes or anything... is he just trying to embarrass me (it's always about me, of course.)? I was livid. What would possess someone to pee all in their pants with that many people around and the bathroom only a few steps away? I have to confess... I was beside myself. Then, after I cooled down and was able to get my head around the situation, I realized it was his turn (finally) for the tricycle and if he got up, someone else would jump on it (there were literally another 20-25 kids there) and he would loose his turn. Now, I felt bad. I had just gotten all over my son and I didn't know the whole story. I just took it as something against me... embarrassing, inconvenient, un-necassary. I've never told anyone this, so keep it a secret... sometimes as a parent I over-react. Shocking, I know. I know you never do that, right? (note to self: try to get all the information before you react) You'd think that I'd have this parenting thing down by now. We've been doing it for almost 19 years now but I guess there's always areas we can improve in. It's just hard as an adoptive parent starting with kids who already have personalities and a history. You definitely have to take a step back and try to look at things from their perspective, in light of where they've come from and what they've experienced in their lives. Gabriel never had a tricycle. He was having so much fun that he didn't want to take a chance on losing his turn. Sorry Lord, for getting so upset. Help me to be more patient.

Sorry about not blogging more this week. It was very busy for us trying to get back into the swing of work and everything else involved with comng home. The kids are doing great. There haven't been any problems to speak of. The transition has been great. We're just trying to get into the groove of how to get things done when there are this many kids around. If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know. You know, I was having such a good time writing the blog today, I decided to just sit here and pee in my pants so I wouldn't have to stop writing... so I better go.

Love ya,

Jim and MJ

Everything is perfect now

2008-04-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

It's so weird... now that we've obeyed God and adopted these 5 awesome children, there are no other problems or challenges in our life. We don't have to deal with frustrations or negative emotions like anger or fear. It's amazing how when you 'obey' your entire life becomes so simple with no complications... yeah, right! Just because you're obedient doesn't mean we won't encounter all that junk. It means we'll have even more opportunity to wade through that kind of stuff. It was funny, today was my first day back to the office and MJ's first day without me there to help with the kids. Work went relatively good. I only had to bite my tongue about 15 times, count to ten 3 times and ask God to forgive me for a bad attitude twice (and that was in the first hour there!). Several things didn't go the way I wanted and I even received an email complaint about the sermon I preached the Sunday before I left... great! Welcome back! Then after I completed going through my 'in' box and answering emails I finally headed home. About 3 miles from the office I felt my truck shaking and I stopped and looked and yep, I had a flat tire! Awesome! I didn't have a spare either. So I fell down to my knees right there on the side of the road, looked toward heaven, shook my fists and cried out, "why God!" Just kidding. Everything was true up until the part where I fell to my knees... even though I felt like it. I had to call my little brother to come rescue me and he did... then I was finally able to head home. When I walked through the door Maryssa handed me a sheet of paper and it said, 10 tires, 1 chain, 2 seats and 1 handle bar." I said, "what's this?" She said, "that's what we need for you to fix so that all of our bikes work." "And we want you to do it now." What! I just walked through the door!? Are you serious? Yep. She was. They had been waiting all day for me to get home so I could fix them. Great. So, I told them to load all the bikes in the back of my truck and I would take them to Papa's because he has a compressor and tools. They did and we went and I fixed all of them except for 2. I put too much air in 2 of the tires and they exploded... it sounded like gun shots! I was too lazy to use a tire pressure gage and was just guessing on how much air to add... oops. As far as MJ, her day went great with the kids. My mother came over, Pastor Gwen and Carmen dropped food off and there were only minimal injuries (two bloody noses... Diogo and Robert) and only 2 spankings (Diogo and Robert... by the way, this had nothing to do with the bloody noses). A pretty smooth day. The kids are having a blast playing in the yard. When I finally got home from work and fixing bikes, MJ and I were sitting at the table in the kitchen watching all the kids playing in the back yard. We just can't believe how far we've come and how great the kids are doing. Just think... this time 3 months ago, these kids were all stuck in a small, cold, lonely orphanage with no family or place to call home. And now look at them... happy, secure, full of joy. Wow. Thank you Lord for allowing us to be the ones to do this... everything isn't perfect, but that's OK, it doesn't have to be.

Love ya,

The Dunn 10

I love America!

2008-04-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

As we got off the plane in Miami a female security guard was standing there at the end of the tunnel. She looked at me and said, "good morning." I was so happy to hear someone speak english that I wanted to kiss her! She was a rather large woman, she had a gun and MJ was standing next to me, so I didn't. I just gave her a smile and said, "good morning." MJ just looked at me and said,"you're happy to be back in the States aren't you?" There are no words to explain how good it feels to be back. I'm sorry for not blogging Friday and Saturday. Friday we were on planes all day and we didn't get home until Saturday afternoon. When we finally got in bed yesterday I had gone almost 40hrs with no sleep (you can't count closing your eyes on an airplane for 20miutes sleeping) and I didn't have any energy to blog. We almost didn't make it out of immigration in time for our flight to Atlanta. The story is too long to tell, but let's just say... they were actually closing the door to the plane as we were running up to gate... all 11 of us. But we boarded our flight to Atlanta and an hour and a half later we were on the ground... totally relieved and exhausted. Whew, we made it! It didn't seem real. But then I looked and saw the 5 extra kids in our crew and thought, "yep, it's real! When we arived at baggage claim we were met by my little brother, my sister-in-law and several of my nephews and neices. But then I noticed my mother! She had driven in from Florida to meet us. That was a nice surprise. Summit Baptist had let Carolyn use their 29 passenger van to pick us up (thanks Mike, for driving!). When we pulled in to our subdivision, turned the corner and pulled up to the front of our house, there were several cars there. Also, more of my nephews were standing out front holding a big welcome home banner with our pictures on it (thanks Berk and Janee'). When we got inside we were taking our kids to show them their rooms and when we opened the door to the boys room all there stuff was gone and michaels stuff was in there.??? What was going on? So we went upstairs to Michael's room and it was empty. Then my sister-in-law opened the door that led to our attic storage and there it was... a brand new bedroom for 4 of the boys and a new bathroom! My two sister-in-laws had gotten together with several of our friends and a few local businesses and coordinated a extreme makeover 'Dunn Edition' and added on to our house! MJ and I just sat there and cried as we hugged each other. And as my 2 sister-in-laws told us the story of all the people involved in pulling it off, we were so blown away. We had no clue that this was happening. The electrical, plumbing, framing, sheetrock, carpet, tile, paint... everything was done by volunteers! Some people gave money for materials, some businesses donated materials... it looks amazing. Now our kids have more space and it makes our home feel brand new. Our Pastors and the church gave us a brand new washer and dryer also! It was one of the happiest days of our lives. We couldn't believe that people we knew, and some we didn't, actually cared enough to do this for us. I asked my sister-in-law to give me a list of everyone who helped. So, as soon as I get it, you'll be hearing from us. Thank you so much for caring for our family. The whole day was made perfect when Quinn brought dinner to us... Shanes BBQ! Oh, yeah! You don't know how good it was to put one of those mouth watering smoked BBQ ribs in my mouth... I just know God invented BBQ! I ate so much I hurt myself.

The kids have been doing great here at the house. They have been having so much fun playing in their own yard and jumping on the trampoline. A lot of the things that we were thinking were going to be a problem (like touching everything in the house) haven't even been an issue. My mother is in town until Sunday. She is so funny. She brought all these gifts for all of the kids. But she doesn't give them to them all at once. She will go out to her car and get something and when they've played with it for a while she'll go out and get another, then wait a while and go get another... this pretty much goes on all day while she's here. And I think she likes torturing me because she doesn't give them gifts that are parent friendly... like crayons and coloring books or lego's... you know, quiet stuff. She gives them things that are annoying. One of the first things she gave them to day was a synthesizer with thousands of sound effects on it. Then she gave them electronic drums. Then she gave them a snow cone machine that actually grinds ice for snow cones! Do you know how loud and obnoxious a snowcone machine is when it's making that many snow cones? Anyway, the kids are loving it so I guess that's all that matters.

We love being home in America. We are so blessed here in this country. You hear people say it all the time when they come back from the mission field or after they've traveled to a foriegn land... but it's true. We are really are blessed here.

Tomorow is my first day back at work and MJ's first day home with the kids... so I'm sure I'll have some good info for you. Thanks again for all your prayers and support. We love you guys.

Love ya,

The Dunn 10

Of course he stepped in it!

2008-04-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

If you've been following our blog you know that Gabriel has an uncanny ability to find the only mud puddle in the the vicinity and fall in it, or if there is only small speck of dirt or grease somewhere he will find it and get it on his clothes. Well, we all went on a walk this morning and for an older city the streets are pretty clean. I am not exaggerating when I say that I haven't seen any of 'this' anywhere the whole time we've been here. If you're wondering what 'this' is... I'm talking about dog poop. I haven't seen any anywhere (not that I've been searching.) ! But as we were walking, Gabriel stepped in a big pile of it right on the city sidewalk! Where did it come from (well, I know the answer to that.)? But how is it that hundreds of other people could walk right by it this morning but yet my son has to step in it? Not only did he step in it but he tried to wipe it off on the top of his other shoe. So, now he has dog poop on the bottom of one shoe and the top of another... awesome! We had a plastic grocery bag with us so I tried to wipe as much as I could off. But all I did was smear it into the treads of his shoe even deeper. Somehow I now have dog poop on my finger, I'm carrying a bag with dog poop on it and we're several blocks away from the hotel... this is just great! As we were trying to make our way back to the hotel Gabriel decided to step on the top of my foot (and of course he did it with the shoe with dog poop on bottom and not the top). I had flip flops on so now I have dog poop on my hand and on the top of my foot... fabulous! It's funny now, but I wasn't happy walking the crowded streets of Rio covered with dog poop. I guess it just adds to my experience here in Brazil, huh?

When we were walking through the lobby this morning, all the people at the front desk were staring at me and smiling. So I said, "what! You lookin at me?!" Just kidding. They were staring and smiling though. The concierge motioned for me to come over and when I stepped up to the counter he placed a newspaper right in front of me and said, "that's you!" It was an article abut MJ and I adopting the kids with a picture. That was pretty cool, even though I couldn't read it. One thing we could read though was that they had MJ's age as 47! Of course she was really excited to see that... not! FYI... she is 37.

So today, except for the dog poop incident and having our picture in the paper, it was fairly uneventful. We hung out inside the hotel until around 2:00pm then we went down to the beach. It was overcast but the water was beautiful. Again, the kids had a great time. Of course everyone was complaing about being chapped from the day before (remember the whole male bathing suit thing?). We headed back to the hotel around 5:00pm, showered, fed everyone and 1 more day was complete! Only 1 more to go. We will be boarding a plane here in Rio @ 8:00pm tomorrow, headed for home! Praise God! It doesn't even seem real. We're a little nervous but we know that everything is going to be great once we get back to our own environment. Several people have emailed wondering if we were going to continue this blog once we get home. The answer is yes. We will continue it as we get home and transition the kids into our 'American' environment. It should be interesting because up until 2 days ago they have never been outside of Curitiba, Brazil. We really appreciate everyone who has followed our journey through this blog. Just in case you didn't know it, this has been very therapeutic for me writing everyday. Having this avenue to communicate what we are experiencing has been great. On days when we didn't think we were going to make it, just being able to type out our experience somehow made it more manageable. It has also been a good way for us to chronicle this experience for our kids. Finally, just knowing so many people have been reading all over the United States and Brazil (hello Carla) has made us feel like we weren't in this alone. So, thanks again for being there for us.

Before I finish for the day, I would like to publicly thank my mother-in law and my father-in-law. Howard and Marilyn Moore, in case you don't know them, not only are they great examples to the rest of the family but they are great examples to everyone they have the opportunity to meet. They were very kind to come with us on this trip, knowing full well what they were in for. You see, they did this last year with MJ's older sister and her family. Now I have asked myself, "why would anyone want to do this twice?" Jesus would have to show up personally, in an open vision, point His finger at me and say, "Go to Brazil for 46 days, thus sayeth me." Then I would still have to pray about it! Because it wasn't easy. But that's the way they are. I've known them for over 21 years now and they have been the same way since day one. They were missionaries for over 30 years and have faithfully served the Lord. They retired a few years ago and they are busier now than before. They are always helping someone with something... because they are givers. My family and I will be forever grateful to you for helping us through this time and for putting up with all the drama (mostly from MJ, because I'm so easy to get along with...LOL). We know that this isn't how you envisioned spending your retirement. Wait a minute!... that's it! My father-in-law is 70 and my mother-in-law is 67... they're senile! That's why they volunteered for this. I knew it had to be something. We love you. Thank you.

Love ya,

The Dunn 10

"There is a major design flaw in these things!"

2008-04-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Who designed the men's/boy's bathing suit? That's my question for the day. But before I expound on why I want to know, let me tell you how it went at the American Embassy...We were there around 7:30 this morning and left around 11:30. We were given crazy favor with the people who were reviewing our case. They approved all of our visa requests in spite of the fact that we didn't have all the required paperwork! Even though it was very stressful trying to contain all the kids in the waiting room(mainly by MJ, because I was in the office with the case worker), we're so blessed. They pushed everything through with just my 'word' on a few things, without written documentation. That's favor! And that journalist, that I told you about a couple of days ago, spent about 45 minutes with us getting our adoption story while we waited. A photographer also took a bunch of shots of the family while we went through the process. It was cool getting to share what the Lord has laid on our hearts with them. When we got back to the hotel we fed the kids real quick and headed off for the beach. We had been trapped inside for almost 3 straight days and we had already had several meltdowns (kids and parents!) so it was time to get out! Let me say this... I know that yesterday I made the comment that Rio wasn't that pretty, but let me retract that statement. The places we passed yesterday on the way in weren't pretty but the places we saw today were beautiful. They have some amazing beaches and the scenery along the coast is breathtaking. When we got to the beach the waves were huge. There was a very strong undertow so, we couldn't really swim out far. But we stayed for about 4 hours and the kids loved it! They had never been to the beach before. They stayed in the water the whole time running back and forth trying to run from the waves and trying to avoid getting sucked back out to sea by the current. It was fun. So, back to my question... who designed the men's/boy's bathing suit? Does anyone know? I know in theory it 'sounds' like good idea, but that little underwear that is sewn into men's/boys bathing suits can really put a hurting on a guy. You know, that stuff made out of that net-like material? I know it allows water to flow through but did they ever think it might keep the sand in? It's like it acts like a big sieve that strategically removes the water while retaining those nice little sharp granules we know as sand! And I don't know about you, but I don't like being rubbed raw with every step I take because I'm carrying a dump truck load of sand around in the bottom of my specially designed aquatic underwear! Or maybe they should have at least put a warning label on them? It could say, "best used in swimming pools and lakes. Avoid using at the beach, at all costs, because it could cause severe chaffing and makes it difficult to walk if warn in salt water environments." I don't know, it's just a thought. I actualy had to take off Gabriel's bathing suit right there on the beach so that I could dump all of the sand from his pockets and underwear. And on the way home... it was funny. I wish you could have seen all of us boys (8 total) walking back from the beach after wearing our bathing suits with the net-like underwear... it was like we had just stepped off of the ranch after a long day of riding horses! We were all walking bow legged because we were rubbed raw! So thank you whoever you are... you, who designed our special mesh underwear inside our swim trunks.

Tomorrow we don't have anything scheduled. We will go to the Embassy on Friday and pick up the passports with the visas stamped in them, then we head for the airport and it's off to Atlanta! It looks like we're going to make it after all. So, thanks for all the prayers.

Love ya,

Rubbed Raw in Rio

"What?" " You lookin at me?"

2008-04-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

I have never been stared at like that before. It's like people never saw a large family before! Here we were, pushing 4 luggage carts, stacked sky high with every bag weighing the legal limit, through the airport in Curitiba. On one of the carts rode our two youngest sons, because it was easier to push them than it was to drag them. Once we checked our bags we walked to the gate. At this point we had put one of those kid leashes on Robert and one on Gabriel to keep them from escaping. It's funny, I use to look at parents who had those on their kids and I thought they were going just a little overboard on containing their child. That was then... this is now... because man, those things are awesome! I should have invested in one of those things a long time ago. Anyway, everybody just stared at us the whole time while we waited... like we were from another planet or something. We boarded our flight and the kids did great. It was their first time flying and they had a great time. They even got to sit in the cockpit! After we landed in Rio, and picked up our huge pile of luggage, we went to the taxi stand to arrange for transportation to our hotel (because that is what we were told to do by our liason). We requested a large van or a bus and the girl told us there weren't any and that we would have to get 4 taxi's at 80 reais each! Obviously she had lost her mind ( or she thought we were idiots, one.) because there was no way we were going to pay that much. We went out to the front of the airport and within 45 seconds we had procured a 15 passenger bus, on our own, for a fraction of what they were going to have us pay at the taxi stand (note to self: never use the taxi stand!). We loaded up all our luggage and the entire family and we were off to the hotel.

We were told before hand that Rio wasn't that nice... and they were right. As we drove down the highway, toward the hotel, you could see the impoverished delapidated houses that seemed to be everywhere. It was raining so everything just seemed even more drab. We pulled up to the hotel, in the rain, and my father-in-law and I went in to see the rooms (I had gone on the internet the other day and found this Hotel called The Apa Hotel for a really good deal and that can be scary sometimes.). When my father-in-law and I got on the elevator with the bellman to go see the room it was a little uncomfortable. You see in Brazil everything is small. From the glasses they drink out of to the cars they drive, to the size of the city streets. It seems like they are trying to maximize every square inch of everything. Everything makes you feel closter phobic. Well when we got on the elevator, just the 3 of us, my father-in-law and I were against the back wall and then the bellman got on. It wouldn't have been bad except that the elevator was literally 4' wide by 3' deep (For those of you who can't comprehend measurements... that's not big!). When the bellman got on he didn't face the door like us, he faced inward... and our faces were only about 4" away from each other. So here I was, face to face with this Brazilian bellman. I could actually feel the heat of his breath hitting me in the face! Did this dude want to kiss me? He was that close! I didn't want to look him in the eye because we were so close that just seemed weird and I didn't want to make eye contact. So, I just stared at the floor until we reached the 5th floor. Talk about uncomfortable! We arrived at our floor and we went in to see our rooms. It wasn't fancy, but the price was right and we had a van load of Dunn's waiting outside in the rain. So, I told him,"we'll take it." So back on the elevator we went... me, my father-in-law and my newfound friend, the Brazilian bellman... back in my face again... but this time I think I stared at the ceiling.

6 hours later...

We were stuck in our hotel room with all the kids the whole day today because it was raining! What's up with that? Talk about miserable. Being stuck in a 2star hotel with 7 kids all day ain't fun! Actually, I think it's the most torturous thing a person can endure, Im sure of it! We just finished feeding the kids and putting them down for bed. Finally, a moment to think. This was one of those days where you really have to know that the Lord has asked you to do this and that it wasn't some idea you came up with on your own. MJ and I were talking tonight about how doing it as unto the Lord is so much easier than even doing it as unto the kids. I don't know if that make sense or not but this is what I mean... we can love and really try to minister to these kids because we want to help them and because we love them... which is good. But, if we love, help and minister to these kids because we're doing it as a service to the Lord it's so much better. Because then it doesn't matter how they act or what torment we endure, in this prison called a hotel room, because it's all for Him instead of just them. Make sense? I hope so... sorry, I'm so tired it's hard to articulate what I'm thinking. So, I guess that's it for tonight. We have to get up at 6:00am and get the kids ready again. Our appointment at the American Embassy is at 7:45am. Please pray for favor as we apply for their visas. We are only a few days from coming home! Love you guys.

Love Ya,

Rained out in Rio

We're outa here!

2008-04-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time! We spent the whole day packing and getting ready to leave Curitiba. We will be headed to the airport at 7:45am tomorrow. We will be going to Rio for 4 days to get the visas for the new Dunn 5. Then it's home to Hotlanta! Man, I can't believe we made it. MJ and I were talking this morning and it really hasn't been that bad. Sure there have been times where we thought, "what in the world are we doing?" But for the most part it hasn't been that bad ( just really boring, doing the same things over and over). I guess it's like the whole childbirth thing where the mother doesn't remember the pain after it's over for the joy of the new baby. I did get to do something really cool today though. This definitely made my day. If you know me personally, you know that I am a huge MMA fan (that's mixed martial arts, you know...UFC, IFL, Pride, etc.). Well there is a world famous gym right here in Curitiba called Chute Boxe Academy. It is where Wanderli Silva (my favorite fighter), The Rua's and several other world champions from the UFC and Pride FC train. Now that may not mean much to you but to but to any fan it's a BIG deal. Well, I was able to meet and get my picture with Zito, who corners and trains all these guys! That was worth the trip to Curitiba in and of itself... plus 5 kids on top of that? Wow, I hit the jackpot!

It was weird. Earlier today, we were saying all of our goodbyes to all of the staff and to some of the residents, throughout the day, and I actually got a little bit misty eyed a few times. These people are very kind and gracious. They have been very good to my entire family. One of the ladies even baked a cake for us today. Thank you Betania and CCI staff.

In case you didn't know this, my mother-in-law and my father-in-law were just here in Brazil last year with MJ's sister and her family adopting 4 children. They really wanted to go back to the orphanage that my two neices were at to bring gifts and to take pictures. So, my in-laws, Matthew and Maryssa went late this afternoon to visit. After talking to them when they got back, I'm glad I didn't go. I don't think I could have handled it emotionally. If you scroll back up to all the pictures I posted on today's blog you will see why. These kids are so cute! There isn't any way that you could look into their eyes and not want to do something to help them. There are 15 children in this particular orphanage. There was a sibling group of two children ages 3 and 1 that had just been put into the orphanage last week. Maryssa told me that the 3 year old just sat there and cried wanting her mother. When it was time to leave Maryssa told me that there was a little boy who sat next to her and pointed at her and said, "I want to be in your family." Maryssa said, "it just broke her heart." How can this kind of thing happen? It's definitetly not fair. These kids didn't ask to be abandoned... or born into a family where the parents neglect them to the point where the State has to step in to save them. You say, "well Jim, that's just the way the world is." That's true, but there are an awful lot of Christians in the world also. It's time we step up and make a difference rather than just say, "that's just the way the world is," don't you think? MJ talked to a guy before we left the States who works for an organization called One Church One Child. He told her that if only one family from every church in America would adopt one child... that we could totally eliminate the foster care system in America. I didn't say every family in each church would need to adopt one child... just one family in each church! That's pretty amazing... and it could be done. All it takes is someone willing to say, here I am Lord, send me. THIS... is true religion. We love you guys. Please continue to pray for us. We'll talk to you from Rio tomorrow!

Love ya,

the Dunn 10

Oww! That's got to hurt!

2008-04-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I was awakened by our 2 year old, as usual, but today was different. Today it seems as though grandma gave him a whole pack of Listerine breath strips. You know, those things you put on your tongue and they dissolve right on your tongue as they freshen your breath. They are pretty potent, right? Well, I had the pillow over my eyes trying to get a little more sleep (it was still 7 something) and he snuck up on me and was wanting to put one in my mouth, but since I wasn't all the way asleep I was able to thwart his meager attempt of freshening my breath before I got out of bed. I told him to get out of my face with that stuff (I can talk to him like that because he doesn't understand English yet!) and he went into the other room. A few minutes later I heard Marlon yelling. It seems as though Robert gave him one of these breath strips and it must of stuck to his finger or something and... are you ready for this? He rubbed his eye! And put breath strip all in his eye! Oww! That's got to hurt! As I pulled him in the bathroom, I began to flush his eyes out with water. As I was doing this it was all I could do to keep from laughing. I know it hurt, but come on... what are the chances of that happenning to someone? It wasn't like it was going to hurt forever. I only wish I could of caught it on video. Anyway, he's fine now and he still has his vision, so no harm, no foul, right?

Also, in the middle of the night,last night, I began to feel my throat swelling shut again. Sure enough, when I woke up this morning the right side of my throat was swollen shut! The same thing as before. It was becoming difficult to breath and swallow again ( by the way, breathing and swallowing are way underrated). But the beauty of Brazil is that the pharmacists can give you anything you ask for as long as you know what it's called! So, I just took my little receipt from my last visit to the pharmacist from week 2 of our adoption journey (and bypassed having to go to the doctor) and got more antibiotics and another shot. Just call me Dr. Dunn! The swelling is already going down, thank God. Hey, wait a minute... maybe I should have asked for valium for all the kids for their plane ride back to the States? Oh, well. I guess I wasn't thinking. Come on! It's a joke! Although that does sound like a good idea. Also when we got up this morning I had an email from Michael that he sent in the middle of the night. He was letting us know that he was in Sao Paulo and his flight was delayed. He said he called Miami and that they didn't have any more flights going into ATL that were available. What? That didn't seem possible. No flights to ATL? I could feel my blood pressure rising at this point. I was just thinking about my first born being stuck in Miami without me being able to be there for him. Would he know how to get a hotel for a night? Would he know who to talk to to get another flight? How was I going to call Gary, who's suppose to pick him up from the airport, because we don't have a phone today? I'm stuck in Brazil and I can't help him. I was so frustrated. That's my son. But then the thought came to me... "wait a minute, we prayed for safety, favor and no complications for Michael as he left last night." We prayed in faith, believing that we recieived it, we prayed in Jesus' name and even said, "Amen" at the end of our prayer ( like that adds more to it. LOL ). I know that God hears my prayers and I can have the things I ask for in prayer. It's settled, period. So, being the great man of faith and power that I am, I stopped worrying about it right away... yeah, right! I was still trying to figure out a way to contact Michael so I could work out all the things for him that needed to be taken care of. Why do I do that? Why is it so easy to trust God in some situations but I feel the need to try and control other situations... like God needs my help? (Oh, I'm sure you never do that, right?) No, seriously. I need to trust God in all situations. He cares about the small and the great issues in my life. I don't want to be like the Children of Israel... who everytime you turned around they were seeing all these great miracles (i.e. deliverance from Egypt, water, manna, quail, their clothes and shoes never wore out, not one was sick or feeble among them, etc. ) yet they couldn't trust God when the next situation arose. They either complained about their situation or they tried to work things out for themselves... man, forgive me Lord. Forgive me for getting frustrated and even a little fearful and not trusting you. Now you might say, "but Jim, didn't you just trust God and see Him miraculously provide over $40,000.00 for you to adopt 5 kids form Brazil?" Yes, I did. But that was yesterday. This is today. The Bible says, that "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Faith is a 'today' thing, not a 'yesterday' thing. I can have all the testimonies in the world of things He did for me yesterday (which is great), but if I'm not living by faith and trusting Him today, than I'm not pleasing Him. That's just the way it is. I need to be going from strength to strength, from glory to glory and from faith to faith. Well to make a long story short... Michael was able to catch his flight in time and is safely at home. They even sat him in business class! Good thing I did all that worrying, huh?

We only have 1 more day here in Curitiba. We will be flying out first thing Tuesday morning for Rio so that we can get the kids' visas. Please pray for favor and expediency. They must approve the kids coming back into the country with us. We found out this morning that we don't have all the documents that we were suppose to have... so, I guess it's time to whip out that faith thing, huh?

Thank you so much for praying for us and for following our journey through this blog. We love you guys!

Love Ya!

The Dunn 10

"See you in 1 week!"

2008-04-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well today is the day that Michael flies back to Atlanta. We would probably feel a lot sadder than we do but we will be together in 1 week, so that makes it a lot easier. Oh yeah, a really cool thing happened to us yesterday (besides the bacon cheesebuger and fries). We were asked by the US Embassy in Rio if a local television station could come and do an interview with our family when we are there next week. They heard about our family and they wanted to do a story on us. I told them we would if they would help us out with our visas ...LOL! I don't know if they will but we're going to do the interview anyway. This will be a good opportunity to testify about the goodness of our God and hopefully raise awareness of the huge orphan problem in our world today. Anyway, we were excited find that out. Back to Michael... he is only a few hours of leaving us to fly back home. We thought it would be a good idea to let him blog today since you haven't heard from him yet. So, heeeeerre's Michael!

So, I was informed this morning that I was going to have to post today before I left for the airport tonight. I was like, "Dad, are you sure you want people to read what I think?" He laughed and said yes. So, here it goes.

Originally I was supposed to come for two weeks, then it got changed to a week, and then for a little while there it was a possibility that I wasn't going to come at all. Mostly because I just straight up had no desire at all to be here. I mean seriously, after reading my dad's blog, could you really blame me? The few times I read it(which I'll admit wasn't very often), it just made me not want to be here more and more. I was like, this is my spring break of my senior year and I am not going to spend it being miserable. Well in the end I talked to my mom and dad and knew that they really wanted me to be here and be a part of this. I would of felt like I was abandoning them or something if I didn't come at all so I made the decision to come for one week.

My journey started at 4:30am on a Friday morning. I had to get up early in order to catch an 8am flight out of Atlanta to Miami. It was a short easy flight that didn't give me any problems, but then I got to Miami. That is where the fun of the trip really began. And yes, for those of you who don't know me, I am being sarcastic. I got to Miami and it already felt like I was in another country. You literally have to look for someone who speaks English. And thanks to the wonderful skills of whoever made my tickets for me ( thanks dad! ), I had like an 11 hour layover in this place. The TAM Airlines desk didn't even open untill after 5pm and it was 10am in the morning so I couldn't check my bags or anything. Time had never gone by so slow. I am pretty sure I did everything there is to do at the Miami airport. I went to 2 different restaurants, walked around, watched 4 episodes of The Office, took a nap, went to Starbucks, and then finally, after what seemed like an eternity, got to check my bags and get my ticket. Waiting there at the gate I realized something. I was going to be the only American on the plane. It was literally me and a bunch of Brazilians. Then I started thinking to myself, "what the are all these Brazilians doing in America?" Well, as I was getting on the plane a youth group from Tampa got on so it turned out that I was going to have some fellow English speaking people with me, which was nice. It was a long flight to Sao Paulo but I was able to sleep most of the way. When I got there it was evident that I was a long way from Atlanta. In case you ever go to the Sao Paulo airport, just an FYI, nobody speaks English, and the signs are in Portuguese. It took me awhile, but I ended up finding my plane ok. After one more flight I was finally in Curitiba. My Dad, Matthew, and one of my new brothers Marlon, were all there waiting for me. It was nice seeing all my family again and meeting the new ones didn't feel as different as I thought it would. My whole opinion on everything changed drastically that first afternoon I was here. So much has happened since my arrival. I know that I have already typed a lot so I will keep the rest of this short. The new kids, although aggravating and annoying at times, really are great kids. They have so much potential. Raising them is by no means going to be easy, but it is what God has called my parents to do, and this is their ministry. For me personally, seeing my parents, and seeing what they are having to go through has really mininstered to me in the sense that even though it may not be the easy thing, or the most convenient thing to do, you still have to obey what God calls you to do and just have faith that he will work everything else out. I guess that is what I can say that I got out of this whole trip this week. It has been a fun week with its ups and downs but needless to say, I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to going home tonight. I am scheduled to be in Atlanta just in time to eat some real food for lunch. You know what I mean if you have been reading the blog. I hope you guys enjoyed reading a story from a diffrent point of view. It was nice to be able to share a little bit with you guys. Thanks for reading.

Michael

Yesssss! That's what I'm talking about!

2008-04-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today was another awesome day! We were able to go to the Morretes, which is a mountainess area in the Rain Forest. There were beautiful waterfalls, lush green foliage, breath taking mountain views... it was amazing! But that wasn't the best thing... are you ready for this? I was able to eat a big juicy bacon cheeseburger on a fresh baked roll, along with a huge order of hot fries which I washed down with a nice cold Coke! That's what I'm talking about! Ain't God good? Anyway, today's blog is going to be just a little bit different. I'm sitting here with my princess, Maryssa. I'm going to be asking her a few questions that she has no idea that I'll be asking. These answers will not be imbelished at all. So, this should be interesting. I'm just curious what goes through her mind. So, here we go:

Dad: Let's start this off with an easy one. Who do you think the best Dad in the world is?

Maryssa: I will get in trouble if I don't say you. So, you.

Dad: Good answer, we're off to a good start. What has been the hardest thing about being in

Brazil?

Maryssa: Being away from home for so long.

Dad: What do you miss most about home?

Maryssa: My dogs, Family, and Friends

Dad: What have you enjoyed most about Brazil?

Maryssa: Robert ( not to choose favorites or anything)

Dad: Tell me a little about Robert.

Maryssa: He is so cute and sweet. He makes you laugh non-stop, and he understands the most

English out of all of them.

Dad: Do any of your brothers or sister get on your nerves?

Maryssa: Of course they do. You know that.

Dad: Like who?

Maryssa: All of them do different things that are aggravating.

Dad: Like what?

Maryssa: Marlon is a huge show off and sore winner and loser, and he's always hanging all over

Mom. Ana Carolina either acts like a girl or boy. When she's a girl she plays with dolls

and wears skirts and dresses. When she is acting like a boy she is burping, farting,

and playing in the mud. Diogo is always in your face and has the biggest melt downs

you have ever seen when he is told no. Gabriel stinks and is really messy. Robert,
well he dosen't get on my nerves.

Dad: Do they get on your nerves as much as Matthew and Michael?

Maryssa: Yes

Dad: Do you think you ever get on their nerves?

Maryssa: No, I'm perfect

Dad: Of course you are. What are some different things that you really like about Brazil?

Maryssa: You don't have to go to work everyday, some of their food and candies are good, most

of the people are really nice, and some of the stores are pretty cool.

Dad: How do you feel about adopting 5 other siblings into the family?

Maryssa: I'm really happy that we get to help these kids have a real family.

Dad: How do you think us adopting them will affect their lives?

Maryssa: A lot. I can already see a huge change since the first day we had them.

Dad: What kind of changes have you seen?

Maryssa: When we first got them they didn't care if you said no. They did whatever they

wanted. Ran off. They even gave some of us the finger. Now they don't. They used to

say really bad stuff and try to watch it on tv (of course you didn't let them.). You can

just tell they are happier.

Dad: I'm very proud of you because I know that this has been difficult. But there is no doubt

in my mind that God is going to bless our family because of our obedience. Thanks for

hanging in there with us through this whole thing. Daddy loves you. But I have one more

question for you... Seriously, who's the best Dad in the world?

Maryssa: YOU

Dad: Good answer, now take your $20.00 and go.

Maryssa and Matthew have really been troopers through this whole process. I can't imagine what it must be like to have your parents all to yourself, for you whole life, and then all of a sudden you see them having to give so much attention to kids that you don't know. And these kids, even though we think they're great, are kids none the less. Just think back to what it was like for you growing up with your siblings. There were always disputes and things to work through, right? Well, Maryssa and Matthew were hurled head first into this thing called adoption with not just 1 extra family member but 5. I am very proud of both of them for working through all the difficulties we've had to face together. In the beginning there were times when they were so upset... even crying, telling us that they wanted to go home... without the extra kids. It was very difficult ( and still is sometimes ) trying to integrate these kids into the family. As a parent, who loves his kids, it breaks your heart to tell them, "no, we can't do that." I didn't want to see my kids that upset about anything. I've always sheltered them from that type of heartache. But when you know that the Lord has commisioned you to do something, you know that it's going to be alright. So, I just reassured them that even though it stinks sometimes... we've got to complete what we've set out to do. Of course they didn't buy it at the time but we perservered and look what's happened. The kids have really come around and you can see that it's become more natural... being a family that is. As we were riding on the tour bus today I looked around at all the kids and I'm so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to expereience this whole 'adoption thing.' I really couldn't imagine 'not' having all these kids. And this is coming from someone who just a little over a year ago said those famous words... "we ain't havin no more kids!" We're fine with the 3 we have. Never say never... because you don't know what the Lord has in store for you. God is soooo good to us! "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"

Love ya,

The Dunn 10

"I refuse to eat that stuff anymore"

2008-04-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

OK. It's kind of cool to eat food from another country... but not 36 days in a row! We eat in a cafeteria for breakfast and lunch every day. Dinner is our responsibility. I don't know what happened but about 3-4 days ago I really started to loathe the food here in Brazil. I even skipped lunch today, and didn't eat! That's how much I've started to hate it. Black beans and rice is awesome... 4 or 5 times a year. But you might say, "the Brazilians eat it every day so what's the problem?" The problem is "I'm not Brazilian!" And having ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast every morning (that's what they serve, I know... it's weird.) was great for the first few weeks but give me some eggs, bacon, fresh biscuits and a big fat bowl of grits, PLEASE! Lunch is OK about 20% of the time if you want something other than beans and rice. Most of the time it isn't even identifiable. One time I got excited because I thought they were putting steak out. It was part of the cow but it wasn't steak... it was cow's tongue. Sorry, I think I'll pass. Today the choice was beans and rice, spaghetti sauce with no spaghetti, saute'ed peppers and this yellow stuff that looked like a cross between cheese grits and mashed potatoes. That was it. For dinner almost every night is bread with butter or ham and cheese sandwiches. I must say that sometimes we are able to buy this meat on a stick from a sidewalk vendor in front of the grocery store, but that's only happened about 6/7 times since we've been here. I want Shane's BBQ ribs! I want Mexican food, Chinese food, Chic-fil-a or anything that my wife makes with ingredients from the U.S.! It may sound like I'm whinning... that's because I am! I didn't get my girlish figure by eating beans every meal. I need something substantial! All right, I'm finished... whew! I feel much better just getting that off my chest.

6:15 came mighty early this morning, but it sure was nice getting to wake the kids up for a change and not the other way around. HaHaHa! You reap what you sow, kids! We arrived at the Federal Police Building around 8:15. We only had to wait about an hour and we were able to leave... but they said we had to come back at the end of the day to pick them up. While we were there, Marlon and Ana Carolina stayed in the office with our liason and the government worker to go through the paper work while MJ and I tried to entertain the rest of our kids outside of the building. When we finally got in the car and were on our way back to Betania, our liason told us that the government worker told him that she was very impressed talking to our kids. She said it was amazing to see the bond that they had with MJ and I. He also told us that he has been observing us and that he was very impressed with how well the kids have bonded with us as well. He has been doing this for 16 years and he said that he has NEVER seen a child Marlon's age respond so well with his adoptive parents. We just sat there and listened as he went on and on about the issues that normally happen with the oldest sibling in a group. But not with our boy! All the glory goes to the Lord. I know that sounds cliche but seriously... I know that it's because of his grace and the prayers of all our friends and family that this has happened. After we left the Federal Police Building we came back to Betania until around 2:15. Then our liason picked us back up to take us to the orphanage so our kids could say their final goodbyes. Now bare in mind that these social moms and dads are the only family our kids have known for the last 4 years. I didn't even talk to MJ about this, but I was a little nervous. How were our kids going to react? Were they going to want to stay there? Were they going to cry when they saw all the workers that have loved and cared for them for the last 4 years? Was this going to be a negative thing or a positive thing? As we pulled into the neighborhood they seemed excited because of the familiarity of everything. When we pulled up, the car got kind of quiet. When we went inside our kids hugged everyone but that was about it. Robert would not let MJ put him down. He had a look of worry on his face. We think he was afraid we were going to leave him there (don't worry little buddy, that would NEVER happen!). After a little while they started to warm up a little bit but when it was time to leave they gave quick hugs and kisses to everyone and they were ready to go! What a relief. I know that this final visit was suppose to be closure for our kids, but I think it was more theraputic for me. This erased any doubts that remained that the kids really wanted to be a part of our family. These are our kids and they know it! Anyway, we headed back to the Federal Police Building to pick up the passports. We had to wait in a crowded waiting area (there were probably 75-100 people waiting) for almost an hour! But this time I really didn't care that the kids were playing and laughing (like at court last week). I was actually hoping it would motivate them to give us our passports quicker. You should have seen how all the people were staring at us. They called us all back and like a bunch of ducks crossing the street, we all walked single file back to the office, with all these eyes staring at the family with all the kids. It was funny. We got the passports and that was it. The only thing that remains is the visas in Rio next week then we head home! Man, we've really come a long way!That was about it for the day. Nothing out of the ordinary... just another day closer. I think I only had to spank the kids six or seven times today too! It's getting better!

Michael leaves on Saturday so we are going to try and do something with him tomorrow. We love having him around. It's going to be nice to be together again in ATL! Please pray for his safe return home and for favor going through customs.

MJ and I can't thank you enough for all of the emails and for all of your prayers! We miss you all and can't wait to get home.

Love ya,

Starving in Brazil

An Awesome Day

2008-04-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

When we awoke this morning the birds were gently singing, the sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze blowing through our window and... who am I trying to kid! We woke up this morning the same as most mornings... tired because we had to get up few times during the night with Robert, scratching all the new bug bites we received during the night, kids jumping in our bed with us (which is nice except it's only a double bed and everyone in fighting for position), having to hurry and get all the kids ready and downstairs while they're still serving breakfast, having to decide who gets to sit at our table this morning (which isn't a bad thing... at least they are fighting because they want to sit with us), having to try and keep Gabriel and Robert semi-clean during breakfast (FYI, yogurt in Brazil has the consistancy of a glass of milk... not the best choice for a 2 year old if you want them to be able to wear the same outfit after breakfast!), having to try and decide if we should risk paying money to take a city tour with this wild group of banchees called the Dunn's. It was a typical stressful start to the day. I originally decided that we weren't going to go on the tour... then I offered to stay behind with the two little ones, then my mother-in-law offered to stay behind with the two little ones, then Mary Jane said let's just forget it, then I said, "OK, I'm just ready to go home anyway!" That was how our morning started. It was definitely an opportunity to have a horrible day. We were all frustrated. Mary Jane and my mother-in-law went down stairs to do the laundry and I sent all the kids to the room with the TV in it. I turned some music on my i-pod and laid across the bed... discouraged and depressed ( you guys probably think I'm a schizophrenic with all my emotional mood swings. You try adopting 5 kids from a different country then get back to me.). Then as I laid there I remembered yesterday (I'm a slow learner) and what the Lord dealt with me about. I could either turn it over to him and adjust my bad attitude to an attitude of gratitude or I could just lay there and feel sorry for myself. I decided to take the first step and move out of this funk I was in. I asked my father-in-law to go ahead and book the tour bus because we were going. So, we all got ready and the tour bus came and picked us up. Let me tell you something... the kids were amazing. They sat in this 15 passenger bus on and off practically all day and they were great. It was probably the best day we've had since we've been here. We were able to visit several parks, the botanical gardens, the tower downtown, we even went out to eat at a restaurant at the end of the day! Everyone had a good time. I wish I had more time to blog tonight, but we just found out that we have to get up at 6:15 to go to the passport office in the morning, yippee! There were so many funny things that happened today that I wanted to tell you about... like this one park that we went to. It was beautiful and the city had a lot of money sunk into this thing. They even had 100's of exotic birds and monkeys throughout the park that you could look at. The landscaping was beautiful, there were several water features throughout the park, there was a playground in the middle of the park for kids... but this thing was loaded with prostitutes! There were more ladies of the night (or day in this case) than you could shake a stick at! Now I'm not making light of prostitution, because it's not something to laugh about. These ladies need Jesus just as much as we did before we met Christ... and I have compassion for them. But man, this was a family park in the middle of town with schools and buisnesses all around. It was so surreal. It was just weird to be enjoying a day out with your family and as you're taking pictures of your kids having a good time looking at the Tucan, there's a call girl picking up some guy at the bench right next to you!!! The funny thing was that none of the locals (i.e. joggers, bicyclists, kids walking through the park after school, other parents.) seemed to pay any attention to them or even mind they were there. I guess the U.S. isn't as defiled as some people say, huh? Anyway, all in all, today was an awesome day.

We only have 10 more days and we're coming home! Thanks for following our journey through this blog. We're grateful for all the emails and comments of encouragement. You guys are great!

Love ya,

Jim and Mary Jane

"Oh my God, what have we done!?"

2008-04-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

It's final! There's no turning back... even if we wanted to. What in the world were we thinking? I went downtown this afternoon with our Brazilian liason, Matthew and Marlon and signed all the birth certificates of our adoptive children. All of the kids now have our name on their birth certificates, they're notarized and it's final. The picture above is a joke by the way. We actually have pictures of us smiling and holding all of the birth certificates but I felt like posting this one instead. Why, you may ask? Because this is the way we really felt. On a day that we should be shouting for joy and breathing a sigh of relief we were feeling a little overwhelmed. I think it finally hit me that I have 5 additional children. 5 more mouths to feed. 5 additional bodies to house and clothe. 5 more people who are going to need attention from Dad. Wow... this is my life now. Let me back up a little bit...

The day started out with me having to settle a dispute between Marlon and Matthew. This happens about 1,000 times per day. They are constantly at each other about something. It never comes to blows, just the normal bickering, but it still wears on you as a parent. Also it seems like you are in constant discipline mode and this has really worn me out. If you know my parenting style you know that I'm very laid back, yet my kids know their limits and I think we have done a good job parenting our 3 biological children. But with our 5 adoptive children they haven't had any boundries or limits so we are in discipline mode 24/7. This is really wearing on me because as a parent I just want to be a good example, serve God, live life, have fun, laugh and if a discipline situation arises... just deal with it then get back to doing what we do. But for the last month it's been discipline. discipline, discipline... definitely not my style. But I know that it is necessary if we are expecting our kids to act right. It's very tiring though. Also, Michael was still sick today. He got up for a little bit this morning, just long enough for all the little kids to put stickers all over his face (see the pic)... he's a trooper. When it came time to go to get the birth certificates changed Matthew and Marlon were the 2 I took with me while MJ stayed back at Betania with all the other kids and my in-laws. As the liason picked me up, he informed me that the place he found for us to stay in Rio (we have to stay there for 4 days while waiting for the kids visas) will cost us 900 reais per day! That's more than were paying for 42 days here in Curitba. So, to say the least we are going to try and find something on our own. Please pray for us... for favor and wisdom. We then had to go to 3 different places in the city to get all of the birth certificates changed. This cost a couple hundred reais, then I had to pay 1250 reais for the kids passports. Then on top of that our liason told me we were going to have to pay $1,900.00 for their visas in Rio... it got to be a little overwhelming... When I got back to Betania it was time for dinner and for the kids to get in the shower. After the kids went to bed, MJ and I were talking about all the changes that are going to take place when we get home. Our home isn't childproof yet, we're neat freaks and this will have to change if we are going to maintain our sanity, we're going to have to fence in the yard (probably electric! just kidding) right away or else our kids will be escaping every chance they get. They're probably going to want to throw stuff in our koi pond, they'll probably get finger prints on our stainless steel appliances, they'll probably touch all MJ's decorations, they'll probably want to chase our dogs all over the house. We won't be able to just pack up the family and head to Wal-Mart at the drop of a hat anymore. Our friends will probably change because who wants to hang out with someone with this many kids?... do you see why we're feeling this way? We've thought about all this stuff before but now it's crunchtime. We're going to be home in 11 days. There's no turning back... wait a minute while I finish hyperventilating... OK, that's better.

But seriously, as I was sitting here all alone, slumped over, holding my bald head in my hands, looking at the floor... I just quietly called out to the Lord. This wasn't our idea. This was His. Father, I trust you. I depend on you. I turn this all over to you. Then it hit me... As long as I try and handle the pressure on my own it's going to be more difficult than it needs to be. He isn't calling us to do something that's easy... but He also isn't calling us to do something impossible. He isn't calling us to do something that doesn't require sacrifice... but he also isn't calling us to do something that has no reward. There will be obstacles and there will be days when we have a lot of questions but one thing for sure... God is faithful. He will never let us down. He will never lead us to do something that doesn't have a better end then the beginning. No matter what my head is screaming... God is faithful! I have no choice but to trust and rely on Him. If I can't do it through Him... I don't want to do it anyway. You know something? There are some times when you have to encourage "yourself" in the Lord. You know what I mean? So, whatever trials come through this thing... we're going to count it all joy. So, to answer my own question at the beginning of this blog..."oh my God, what have we done?'... We've done exactly what He's asked us to do... reach beyond our comfort zone and make a difference.

Love ya,

Jim and Mary Jane

A Ghetto-fabulous Birthday!

2008-04-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

OK. Well today didn't really go as planned. Remember yesterday I told you that we were going to take the city tour? Well it never happened. When we woke up this morning we found out that in the middle of the night Michael woke up and had the chills so he put a jacket on. When he woke up a few hours later he was drenched with sweat. Then the famous Curitba diarrhea kicked in... welcome to Brazil little buddy! He's been in bed all day. So, with nothing on the schedule we decided to put on the big birthday extravaganza for Gabriel, Diogo and Ana. If you remember, Gabriel's birthday was the 2nd, Diogo's was the 4th and Ana's was today. We never told them. So, since we had their presents, now that Michael was here, we thought today would be as good as any to celebrate. So, this morning I asked Maryssa, Matthew and Marlon to go up on the roof to make the decorations. I had them make those streamer things that they made for their kites (grocery bags cut into strips, tied to a string). Then they took a bunch of water ballons and blew them up (just air, no water) and tied them to strings. Maryssa colored a few sheets of note book paper with happy birthday greetings on them and then stuck them to the wall with of all things, chap stick! Who would have ever thought we would decorate anything like this? It was definitely 'Ghetto-fabulous!" Then we decided we would wait until this evening to have the big shindig.

After lunch my in-laws took Marlon, Matthew, Ana and Diogo to the park to waste some time. Mary Jane, Maryssa and I stayed behind to take care of Gabriel and Robert. Once Gabriel and Robert fell asleep, Maryssa and I walked to the Supermarcado (grocery store) and picked out a chocolate cake and candles that had numerals representing each of the kids ages on it. By the time we got back and put everything away the little ones were waking up. So, we went outside and spent a few hours watching our watches and kicking the soccer ball around. The other group was at the park this whole time. When they got back they told us that while they were there that there was a group of kids that found out Matthew was from the U.S. and they wanted to know everything about him. They were all asking him a hundred questions. The only problem was that they all crowded around him (you can see the picture) like a little mob! Oh well, at least they didn't beat him up. Meanwhile, back at Betania, I decided that we would go and get McDonald's for the kids for the ghetto-fabulous birthday party. MJ said she thought that it would be too expensive. She had heard that Mcdonald's cost way more here than in the States. I told her I didn't care because I wanted to make it special for the kids (plus, I was really craving American food!) So, I got our friend, Carla, to take Maryssa and I downtown to pick it up. Our order wasn't exstravagant. We didn't even get drinks! We got 4 cheeseburger happy meals, 4 dbl. cheeseburgers, 2 hamburgers, 1 bacon qtr. pounder w/cheese and 7 lg fries. When they gave me the total my heart sunk and I think I might have soiled myself! Not because of the cost... it was crazy expensive... but because if Mary Jane found out I was going to be in big trouble and I would have to hear, "I told you so" for the rest of my life! And she would definitely hurt me. Anyway, we headed back to Betania. Maryssa, Matthew, Carla and I set everything up on the roof... on top of this ping pong table... wow, this was really fancy... with all of the grocery bag strips blowing in the breeze and by this time over half of the baloons had de-flated it was definitely a sight to behold. We rounded up all of the kids and sent everyone upstairs, except for the birthday kids. Then my father-in-law and I walked the birthday kids up, and when we got to the door he explained what we were about to celebrate. We opened the door and everybody started singing the Portuguese version of Happy Birthday. They saw their cake and the presents and then the saw their McDonald's! Everyone was sooo happy! The happy meal toys were a big hit with the 4 little ones. We all ate around the ping pong table, sang happy birthday again as they blew out their candles, then they openned presents. When they openned their presents they were so thankful. I noticed that none of them complained or even compared what they got with the other. As a father that really makes you feel great (Now, this would be a perfect opportunity to get all preachy on you guys, comparing that to how our Heavenly Father must feel when we have a thankful attitude and resist the tempation to compare what we have to someone else... but I'll cut you a break because I'm tired.)! After it was all over, Mary Jane took all the kids downstairs to get them ready for bed. My father-in-law and I stayed to clean up (when we were done with the party, it looked like an explosion had occured) and he told me that he thinks that this was the first birthday party these kids ever had. He had asked Ana, who is the oldest of the 3 birthday kids, if she ever had a party and she said, "no." Wow, she's 8 years old and this is her first birthday party? How sad is that? We have so much to be thankful for. No wonder they never asked about their birthdays. Lord, thank you for choosing us to make a difference in the lives of these 5 children and forgive me for complaining. amen.
Well, tomorrow we have to go get their birth certificates downtown. I think that we will try the city tour again on Wednesday, then on Thursday we have to go and get the kids passports. Other than that we're done with everything here in Curitiba. It's getting close! Thanks again for all of the emails, prayers and for all the support. We couldn't make it without you guys.

Love ya,

The Ghetto-fabulous Birthday Planners

We've come a long way, baby!

2008-04-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

Back in the 70's, after ther women's liberation movement, the Leo Burnette Ad Agency produced this ad slogan for Virginia Slims Cigarettes. It depicted a woman all bowed over carrying a big basket of laundry in raggedy clothes, all beaten down looking... like she was on her last leg because she had worked so hard for everyone else. This was suppose to be a depiction of what women of the past were like. Then this thin super-model looking chic in a business 'power suit' with a big smile on her face (depicting what women of the present supposedly look like) came on the screen with this cigarette between her fingers, like she had arrived. The slogan for the campaign was, "you've come a long way baby!" Do you remeber that? Well, today I thought of that slogan and I'll tell you why... a little over a month ago we came to Brazil, trusting God, to adopt 5 children that we had never met. When we first got them from the orphanage and brought them to Betania it was very challenging and there were times when we really questioned what we were doing (If you've been following our blog you know this.). Well that was then and this is now. Today Mary Jane, Michael, Matthew, Maryssa and my mother-in-law went to this thing called the Hippy Fair. It is a place downtown where on Sunday's they close down the street from 9am-1pm and all of these street vendors sell their stuff. My father-in-law and I stayed back at Betania with Marlon, Ana, Diogo, Gabriel and Robert. We took them to the park to let them play and at one point I went and sat down and just watched them. I then thought back to about 4 weeks ago. I was sitting in the exact same spot watching them. Man, what a difference. First of all nobody was taking their clothes off running around. Nobody was peeing outside. They were throwing their trash into the trash cans. There were no fights breaking out and the biggest thing... they were actually listening to me and following instructions! That may not sound like a big deal to you but this is huge. These kids were crazy in the beginning. They were like a pack of wild animals sent to torture me and my family. Sure, they were really cute but beyond that it was insane! I have litterally spanked more in the last month than in my entire 18 years as a parent combined . I'm not exaggerating either. But look at what the Lord has done! Michael actually told me today that it isn't really as bad as my blogs made things out to be. That's when I told him, "you weren't here in the beginning!" Things have really taken a turn over the last few weeks (excluding our day at court/doctor). It's almost like night and day. Don't get me wrong... it isn't perfect by any means. We still have a lot of stuff to work on... but we're no longer like that lady in the ad all beaten down, and bowed over. We're more like the super model all smiley and stuff... just without the cigarette! We've come a long way, baby!

Tomorrow we're going to be taking a city tour on a bus with the entire family. Pray for us! We're planning on going out to eat at a restaurant at the very end of the tour. It will be our first time eating out with all the kids so it should be interesting. I don't think any of the kids have ever been in a restaurant before so, like I said... Pray for us! Besides that, things are going good and we're counting down the days. We love you guys!

Love ya,

Jim and Mary Jane

Michael's here!

2008-04-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

Michael made it safe and sound. We had Kevin (thanks again bro!), a friend of ours, take Matthew, Marlon and me down to the airport to meet him. It was so good to see his smiling face as he walked around the corner. Thank you for praying for him and a safe arrival. I was a little nervous because of all the issues we had when we flew here. But, God really gave him favor with his flights and with customs.

The kids love Michael! They we're following him everywhere today. It's awesome to finally have the entire family together. The kids were great today. We didn't have any issues which is good, because we don't want to freak Michael out this early in his visit. It was funny, at dinner (we were eating in shifts again tonight) it got kind of loud in the little kitchen area we were in. Michael walked in and then immediately did an about face and said, "there's a little too much going on in here for me," and left. Get use to it, buddy! Those quiet dinners at home are a thing of the past. Then a little while later, Maryssa came in and told us that she went into Michael's room and he was in bed. She said she asked him, "what are you doing?" And he said, I'm going to bed... then she said, "Michael, it's only 7:00!" He thought it was later. Welcome to the world of chasing around all these kids! Everything was good today though. Nothing outrageous happened. Although when we were outside Robert came up and had a big piece of gum in his mouth... the only problem was that none of us gave it to him! He found a peice of gum outside somewhere (used/previously owned of course) and was just chomping away. The funny thing was that we didn't take it away from him! He probably chewed it for a half an hour before he either swallowed it or spit it out somewhere for some other kid to find. What in the world has happened to us? We would never have let our kids do that a month ago. Oh well.

Something cool did happen today though. A group from church called Crossroads of Walton arrived today. They are staying here at Betania with us. It is a group of adults and teens that are ministering for a week in some of the schools and slum areas around Curitiba. Now, it would have been awesome enough just to have someone from the States here. But these folks are from the church that is literally at the entrance to our subdivision back in Georgia! One of the kids even lives in our neighborhood. Is that cool or what? I think we are going to join them Wednesday Night at one of their ministy events. This week will probably fly by having them and Michael here at the same time. Well, that's about it for the day. We love you guys and thanks again for praying for us. We can really feel it.

Love Ya!

All 10 Dunn's

I think I'm going crazy!

2008-04-04T16:19:00.001-07:00

OK. If you read yesterday's blog, you know that it was probably the most difficult day we've had since we've been here (and that's saying alot, because there have been several.). And today had the potential to start off just as bad. I didn't get in bed until almost midnight. After I blogged, then I had to watch 2 episodes of The Office on my i-pod (I needed to laugh and that's my therapy) just to decompress from the day. So, I got to bed late. Well, Robert decided that 5:00am was a good time to wake up and start the day. Normally I would have been pretty grouchy about it but for some reason I decided to just roll with it. So, Mary Jane, Maryssa, Matthew, Robert and I got up and started our day. Robert always wakes up laughing and smiling so it's hard to be mad at such a cute kid (even though I was feeling sleep deprived). After about 45minutes Diogo woke up and came in the room. Shortly after that, him and Matthew

left the room. I really didn't care either because our room is pretty crowded and 2 less people is a blessing. After about 30 minutes I thought I should probably go and check to see what they were doing, because it was way too quiet. I noticed that the kitchen door was closed but I could here something going on inside. When I opened the door, Matthew was standing there tying little strips of plastic bags to this long thing that looked like a clothes line... in the kitchen! Diogo was standing up on top of a chair holding up one end of this long line of strips while Matthew tied them on. They had atleast 100 strips of plastic (that they cut themselves, out of grocery bags) tied to this line and it stretched from one end of the kitchen to the other. You see, those ghetto kites that I told you about yesterday won't fly unless you tie some type of tail to them. So they were just getting a head start on the day by making this big huge tail, that they woud later cut up and divide between all the siblings. We killed more time until breakfast, then we went to eat. After breakfast, we decided to let the older kids go out and fly their kites and MJ and I would keep the little ones inside and let them play with playdough. As I was sitting there, trying to act like I was interested in all the different shapes they were making (really I could care less, I was just trying to keep my eyes open because I desperately needed sleep... come on don't judge me, you can't tell me that you're always interested in every playdough shape your kid makes!), I noticed out of the corner of my eye that every time Gabriel smiled at me that there was a hint of blue on his tongue. So I asked him to stick his tongue out. Sure enough, there was a blue stripe right down the middle. Then it dawned on me... hey, he's got blue playdough, duh! He had eaten enough of his playdough that it had turned his tongue blue. I immediately panicked and scooped him up in my arms and we rushed off to the hospital, gently brushing his hair with my fingers, I reassured him that everything was going to be OK.... yeah, right... I'm kidding! Actually, I laughed so hard because this kid puts everything in his mouth and will eat absolutely anything, it's scary. Then I went and got my camera and took a picture. How much playdough do you have to eat before it changes the color of your tongue anyway? We actually played with the playdough all morning. We made all kinds of stuff with it. MJ even rolled a big ball of it up and then she sunk 3 of her fingers into it to make a bowling ball. She then fished some bottles out of the trash and used them for bowling pins. The kids loved it. And yes, as you can tell we are still bored. Anyway, it was time for lunch and I was pumped. You see, after lunch my father-in-law was going to take all the big kids to this park 45 minutes away and our friend Carla was going to take MJ, Maryssa and my mother-in-law shopping. This left me here alone with Robert and Gabriel and both of them always take naps after lunch... you know what that means? I get to take a nap after lunch! I was so happy. So, I put them down for their nap and I layed across the bed. I thought I would get a little reading in before I dozed off (I'm reading The Church in the Workplace, by C. Peter Wagoner. It's pretty good. You have to read to lead as my Pastor says). As I was laying there reading I started to think... man, I wish the 2 little guys were up so we could hang out. What? Did I just think that???? That's why I think I'm going crazy. Why wasn't I more concerned with getting in a quick nap? I was definitely tired. Then it hit me. I love my sons. I want to be with them and play with them and just have fun together. It's amazing how the Lord can light something inside of you that nobody else can. Because that's what He's done. You see, even yesterday in the midst of all that chaos, I was thinking about the what if's. What if I got arrested and put in jail for disciplining my children in public? What if they took the kids away from us because we actually believe that spanking a child is OK? The feeling that came over me wasn't good. These are our kids! We love them as our own. There is no way that we could be without them. Well, as I was laying there wishing they would wake up... I saw the handle on the door start to move very slowly. Was I hallucinating because I was so tired? No! It was Gabriel! I motioned for him to come up on the bed with me and we just hung out and waited for Robert to wake up. Then when Robert got up we went downstairs to play soccer. After that we decided to walk down to the store and get a popsicle... just the 3 of us! It was so relaxing. But here's another reason why I think I must be going crazy... I was really wishing all the rest of the family was back. Why wasn't I just enjoyng a relaxing day? Am I a glutton for punishment? Do I like the fact that when we're all together there's always some argument to break up or some kid to chase or a face to wipe, or... I think you get the point. When Mary Jane got back she asked me if I was able to relax and I told her about what happened. She definitely thought I was crazy for not sleeping and for actually missing all the drama that is 'our family.' But it's hard to explain. When I first heard that we were going to have to be here for 46 days to co-habitate with our children, I thought it was going to be a waste of time... we could do the same thing at home, right? But I believe that something special has happened over the last month... our hearts have been knitted together with our kids in an awesome way. We can't wait for you to meet them. Call me crazy, but I'm glad we've experienced EVERYTHING that we've experienced here.

Michael made it to Miami and should be boarding a plane for Sau Paulo in about 20minutes. He will fly all night and we will pick him up at 10:00am tomorrow. We can't wait to see him. Thank you so much for letting me rant today. God is really doing some amazing things on the inside of Mary Jane and I... I just hope that it translates well through the blog.

Love Ya!

Jim and Mary Jane

My wife is a prophetess.

2008-04-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

It started out as a pretty good day. We got to sleep until 7:30 or so, we ate breakfast, my father-in-law took all the big kids to this little convenient store and all the kids got kites. These kites are so ghetto! They only cost .30 each and the string is less than a dollar. The kids love them. They are litterally made out of tissue paper... the exact kind that you use in gift bags! They only last a little while but it's one of those activities that keeps the kids busy for a few hours so it's worth it. Then we ate lunch and then we started getting the kids ready for our last appearance at the courthouse. We had to time everything perfectly so that we could keep the kids clean until our adoption liason arrived to pick us up at 1:30. He arrived about 5 minutes late and as he was pulling the car around... that's when it happened. Mary Jane prophesied... "I have a feeling that what we're about to do is going to give you plenty of material to blog about tonight." I didn't pay much attention to her because I'm a guy and that's my job. But as the afternoon started to unfold I could see that what she said was all coming to pass.

Before I go on, let me give you some background info. In Brazil you aren't allowed to spank children. Not even in the privacy of your own home. They say that it is abuse. So, to spank a child in public is definitely a no no. Secondly, keeping our kids clean for any time past 30 minutes is virtually impossible. If there is a puddle they will find it. If there is a small patch of dirt they will walk through it. We have to keep a bib on Robert if we want to keep the front of his shirt dry for more than 10minutes because he is a world class slobberer! So, just the stress of trying to keep them looking good for court was enough to have most parents reaching for the prozac much less what we were in for. When we got to court we had to climb 8 flights of stairs because the line for the elevators was almost out the door! I know that I look like I'm in shape (round is a shape!) but that's a lot of stairs when you've got a 2 year old on your shoulders and you're holding the hand of your 4 year old. To make matters worse, Diogo (our family prankster) thought it would be funny to turn the lights off as he he reached the top of each flight and make monster noises to scare the rest of his siblings. Normally this would be encouraged (because it is funny) but when your parents are out of breath and feeling dizzy because of all the stairs, you just don't want to deal with that. When we finally made it to the top, we had to wait in this narrow hallway... with no air conditioner... and only 3 chairs. There were 7 of us! What's up with the chair shortage??? It wasn't because other people were in the other chairs either... there were only 3 chairs! As our liason told us to wait we all scrambled to try and be the first to plop down in one of the chairs. Then whoever made it first had to have someone on their lap... and if you were lucky you could have 2 kids on your lap. Wow, this is awesome. As we sat there each minute seemed like hours. After about 20 minutes of sitting in this tiny, hot hallway with kids trying to escape and whining and touching the lights and teasing each other and touching each other and complaining about the heat and asking for water and moving from one lap to another and... I think you get the picture... we were about to lose it. Remember what I said about not being allowed to spank your kids? Well, I think all Brazilian kids are given this information in school or something because our kids would not obey at all! They were acting like I've never seen them act. I'm convinced that they knew we couldn't discipline them in public and that is why they were acting this way. So, being the guy that I am (now remember we're not only in public, we're in a courthouse) I wasn't going to let some little kid get the best of me. I looked down the hall and didn't see anyone coming and swatted one of them on the butt because they wouldn't sit down. His eyes got real big... he couldn't believe Dad spanked in public! Then someone walked by and went into a room right next to us and another kid tried to turn off the lights for the 15th time so I looked around and the coast was clear so I coughed real loud and swatted at the same time ( I was in stealth mode now! ). This basically lasted and hour and 10 minutes! This may not seem like a long time to you but for us it was an eternity! Finally, the judge called us in... not into his courtroom but into his office. Now, his office had real nice leather chairs, all kinds of decorations from different countries, a lot of glass stuff everywhere... this was not a childproof environment! We all sat down and the kids were real calm at first as the judge and the D.A. spoke with them, then once the kids were comfortable they all started acting out again... touching stuff, jumping up and down on the furniture, getting up and taking things off his desk! Was this really happening? What was this judge thinking for bringing us into his office for this long of a time period? Was it a test? I don't know but I wanted out. Robert was all over the place touching everything even though I was saying, "NO!" He walked over to this small glass table that had this very expensive looking African statue on it and hit it just enough for the statue to rock back and forth and... whew! Mary Jane caught it just in time! It was crazy. The kids knew that even though I was brave, there was no way that Dad was going to spank them in front of the judge! There was no stealth mode spanking gonna happen in this office... you can believe that! The judge just kept talking and talking and talking. Was this really happening? Was this just a bad dream? Was Allen Funt going to jump out from around the corner and say, "smile, you're on candid camera?" Finally after about 30 minutes we were free to go. We then went next door to the courthouse and all the kids got there picture taken for their passports. This went fairly smooth except when it came time to pay... it cost us 120 reas!

Now, we were off to the doctor for their shots. By this time we were so frustrated with all the kids for not obeying us at the courthouse that we were glad that they were going to get stuck with a needle! And we hoped that the doctor used the biggest needle in his arsenal too! Just kidding... well, maybe not. When we got to the clinic, we were the only ones there. Everything was nice and neat... it was very quiet... then, BAM! Within 2 minutes of our arrival, all the toys were all over the place and it was so noisey, because of our kids, that you couldn't think! I looked at Mary Jane and told her I didn't care because maybe this will motivate the staff to get us out of there quicker. To make a very long story short... our children received a total of 17 shots between them! Robert had 5, Gabriel 4, Marlon 4, and Diogo and Ana had 2 each. You can imagine all the crying that went on as each child received their shots. We had to go in with them and hold them while they got each one. Mary Jane went in with Ana and I went back with all the boys. The way they made me hold them was like something you would see in a UFC cage match. They were not happy! To say that this was a stress filled day would be an undertatement! Then it came time to pay the bill... are you ready? 1,670 reas! That's over $1,000 American! What! You've got to be kidding me! OK Lord. Did we really sign-up for this!

When we got back to Betania all of the kids had meltdowns. just put it this way... it wasn't pretty. I even had to discipline Marlon, which was hard because I hadn't had to really do that yet. He was so mad with me that he said, "he wanted to go back to the orphanage!" I was so ticked off. My flesh wanted to say, "OK, there's the door!" "How dare you not be appreciative of all the things we've sacrificed for you!" But I wasn't going there. I had my father-in-law come in the room (to translate) with just the 2 of us and I told Marlon that he was my son. I wasn't going to let him go back to the orphanage. We were a family, period. By the time it was all over, we were able to hug and kiss each other. I think he realizes that MJ and I are serious about them and we are committed to them, regardless of how they act. We then brought all our new kids into the Sala (living room) and we had our first family meeting. My father-in-law translated for us and we explained that we were very disappointed in the way that they acted today. We told them that we loved them but we weren't going to tolerate that kind of behavior. They all said they understood then one of the kids said, "I think this would be a good time to hug now." So, we did. Man, what a day. This was probably the hardest day yet. Today's blog couldn't begin to explain the stress that we all experienced. But one thing... there was no quit in us. I even explained to our liason today that even though times may get tough, just knowing that this was a God idea and not a Mary Jane and Jim idea... it makes all the difference in the world. We know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and that He will complete the work that He has started in us. No matter what.

Well that's it for now. Michael will be flying from ATL to Miami standby tomorrow, so pray for favor. He just needs to be in Miami by 6:30pm for his flight to Brazil. We can hardly wait to see him. Oh yeah, we were told by our liason today that net week we have to take all of the kids to the passport office. He told us that it will probably take 2-3 hours inside the office! I can hardly wait! Hopefully Mary Jane will prophesy something positive this time... I guess we'll have to wait and see?

Love ya,

Stressed Out in Brazil

"What they don't know won't hurt them."

2008-04-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

Have you ever hid anything from your kids? If you're a parent you probably have, right? Have you ever 'NOT' told your child it was their birthday? Well, today was Gabriel's birthday and he didn't have a clue! So, we didn't say anything. He turned 4 years old today and he doesn't even know it. Now before you start judging us and talking bad about us, let me explain... 3 of the kids have birthdays this week. We had planned on celebrating them on their respective days, the April 2nd for Gabriel, April 4th for Diogo and April 7th for Ana (did the government pick these dates out of a hat so that they would have something to put on the birth certificates?). So, we bought presents while we were at home in Atlanta and put them in the suitcase that Michael was bringing. He was suppose to have been here this week. But when he heard how much 'fun' we were having here, he begged us to shorten his stay to 1 week rather than 2. He will be arriving on Saturday with all the gifts (from dollar tree of course, so at least we can throw them away before we head home!) so we will celebrate all the birthdays then. Now that you know the story behind why we didn't tell him it was his birthday, I'll move ahead with the story... he was so sweet today and we felt bad for not telling him. Gabriel is almost always smiling and laughing. He has this little squeaky voice that is very funny to listen to and he is always on the move doing something. One thing I can say about Gabriel is that he is definitely entertaining. He is constantly doing something that makes you say, "what in world is he thinking?" I was sitting in the Sala (a sort of living room area) this morning and he walked up to me and pulled my face down to his like he was wanting to give me a kiss ( he is very affectionate and this happens several times a day.) so I bent down and puckered up. All of the sudden I felt what I thought was his tongue touching my lips! So, I jumped back and kind of yelled, "hey?" Then Maryssa busted out laughing and said Dad, look... so I looked and Gabriel was sitting there with his lips puckered up with a lolly pop (just the candy part, no stick) protruding from his lips! He had pulled the candy off the stick and had it in his mouth and tried to pass it into my mouth! I don't know what is worse his tongue or candy that has been in his mouth for a while? Anyway this was one of those times where you ask yourself, "what in the world was he thinking?" About an hour later I was by myself in the Sala with Robert and Gabriel. My father-in-law had taken all the other kids on a long walk to the park. Mary Jane was in the bedroom cleaning and it was my turn to watch the 2 little guys. I was sitting there kind of in a daze not really paying attention to what was going on, when I looked down on the floor and I noticed Gabriel and Robert taking turns putting chap stick on (we had just given Gabriel his own chap stick - root beer flavored- yesterday in his goody bag at our ghetto easter egg hunt). As I continued to watch them (you can see the pictures I posted) not only were they applying it to their lips... they started applying it to their cheeks and foreheads. Rather than stopping them I decided to take this opportunity to conduct a little experiment, by seeing how far this thing would go. After about 20 minutes of passing this rootbeer flavored chap stick back and forth they started to eat it! It was an amazing sight to see your 2 youngest sons sharing so well! One would take a little bite then he would pass it to the other who would take a bite. This went on until they had pretty much consumed the entire stick! As I sat there watching I began to wonder... am I being responsible as a parent by letting them do this? I don't know about all that, but it sure was funny! And besides that it killed about an hour of the time that I was suppose to be watching them! By the way, if anyone out there needs a babysitter... I'm available LOL! After they finished eating an entire tube of chap stick it was time for lunch. So, we went down to the cafeteria and ate (FYI, chapstick isn't very filling because these 2 little guys ate a ton at lunch). the big kids got back with Papa and then we went to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. And that is what our day consisted of... exciting, huh? Who needs a birthday party with all that excitement going on? Man, am I ready to get home.

Tomorrow's the big day... our last day of court and doctor visits. Michael is coming in 3 days and we can't wait for him to meet his new brothers and sister. That's about all for today. I can't wait until the 4th so we can 'NOT' tell another one of our kids it's their birthday! Thanks again for praying for us. We truly love and miss all you guys.

Love ya,

Jim, Mary Jane and Gabriel - who doesn't know he's 4

Money Cometh!

2008-04-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to say that. It sounded just like Leroy Thompson too! If you've ever heard him preach that message you know what I'm talking about (you can only understand about every 5th or 6th word of anything he says, try and google it if you can.) No we didn't pull any lever(again, you've got to hear the sermon to understand)... Mary Jane had this cool idea for Easter that we didn't get to do because there were too many other kids around and we didn't want to exclude anyone. It's just like an easter egg hunt except there are no eggs. It's our ghetto version of an easter egg hunt... we took brazilian coins (centovos) and hid them outside where we take the kids to play everyday. There were over 60 coins but it didn't even equal $2.00 American, so this was a very cost effective activity. My mother-in-law and Mary Jane went outside and hid these coins all over the place. We then took all the kids out and explained what we were going to do. They were so excited. We lined them up and then said, "go!" They all took off like a crazy mob of shoppers at Christmas when the doors open at one of those early bird sales! There was no way that you wanted to be in front of them. Gabriel was the first to find one. He was so happy and was jumping up and down saying something in his little sqeaky voice in Portuguese. When are these kids going to speak English, anyway?... Back to the story... rather than all traveling in a pack they decided to split up and go different directions (this was wisdom in action) and they all started to find coins. This lasted for about 40minutes. It was so quiet and peaceful with just the occational shouts of joy when someone found one. They were so persistant in their search. Even though what they were searching for didn't really add up to alot... they were excited about looking and finding these coins. My wife is a genius. To be honest with you I thought this was a horrible idea when she told me. I even told my father-in-law, when we were going down stairs for the event, that I wanted to go on record as saying this was a bad idea. I really thought that the older ones were going to find way more than the younger and that there were going to be fistfights, crying and a lot of spitting going on because someone was going to feel cheated and throw a temper tantrum. It didn't happen. Not even close. They were actually excited for each other when the others found one. I think we as adults could learn a lesson from this. How many times have we seen someone else get blessed and rather than rejoicing with them, we felt cheated and threw a adult sized temper tantrum and said, why didn't I get that? You know what I mean, don't you? It's easy to fall into that junk. Anyway, after the big ghetto easter egg hunt (without the easter eggs) we gave each kid a big bag of candy and toys that was filled just for them. You know, easter toy stuff... the kind of toys that you purchase at dollar tree and if they last more than 45minutes it's a miracle...? They all sat there and stuffed their faces with candy for litterally an hour. My mother-in-law asked me if we should tell them to slow down and eat some later. I told her to let them eat it until they puked because they weren't bothering me right now (this was the first break I had all day!). Well, they ate pretty much all of it and nobody puked. Then we played soccer for a couple more hours and the day was finished. Another day closer to coming home. Praise God!

We have a big day on Thursday. We have to take all the kids to court to see the D.A. for the finalization of the adoption and then we go and get their shots. After that we go to get their passport photos. It's getting close to the end...wow!

Thanks again for following our journey through this blog. I hope that it encourages someone out there to keep on doing what God has called you to do, no matter how difficult it seems. And don't forget to laugh along the way... because it sure beats crying. Well it's time for bed so that's all for now. I think I'm going to wake up in the morning and tell the kids I hid money while they were sleeping... maybe that will buy me a few minutes of free time and they'll leave me alone???

Love Ya,

Jim

Let the countdown begin!

2008-03-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

We only have 18 days left! Can you believe it? It looks like we're going to make it. There have definitely been times where we doubted that we would ever get this far. When we first arrived and looked at the calendar and started counting... 46 days!... how in the world are we going to make it? Now, here we are over half way there and in the teens (days that is). God has been so good to us. There have had a few times where it was so horrible that we felt like cusssing (actually, I think Mary Jane and my mother-in-law did?... just kidding!). But there have also been times where you're like... Lord thank you for trusting us enough to let us experience this together as a family. Even the tough times. Mary Jane and I were talking the other night about our experience at the park on Saturday. I told her," that if everything would have been perfect that day we really wouldn't have created any lasting memories." If there wouldn't have been any chaos and struggle we would have had a great time then in a few weeks or months we would have probably forgotten all about it." Think about it. Think about that time where you went camping and you got rained on in your little tent and everything got drenched. Or maybe you've been on vacation and something happened that at the time ruined your day, but now every time it comes up you have something to laugh about. Those are the memories that we'll never forget. I think back to the time when Mary Jane and I were first married and we were in Bible college down in Graceville, Florida. We were so broke even the poor people in town felt sorry for us. I was going to school full time and washing dishes full time at night making $3.85 per hour. We also cleaned the restrooms at the local outlet mall on the weekends for extra money. We were on food stamps AND wic voutures. We would go and stand in line for government cheese every month (actually I don't think it was really cheese, because it didn't melt)! We were so broke we couldn't even pay attention! I know, that's an old one... I just wanted to go old school on you for a minute. But the point is this... we wouldn't trade those memories for any amount of money. We laugh so hard about those times. It's the tough times like back then, that make us really appreciate where we are today. It also causes us to reflect on the faithfulness of our God...man, He is so good to us! I have no idea why I said all of that. Maybe you're going through a tough time right now? If you are, just let this 'time' run it's course... be faithful to what God has called you to, and you too will have some awesome memories to look back and laugh at.

As I told you last night, the psychologist brought the 4 children, that were abandoned on the side of the road by their parents, by to see us today. These kids were so cute. But, you could tell that they were hurting. The oldest girl was so sweet, but she was very shy. I just wanted to hug her and tell her that there is nothing wrong with her... it's her parents that had the problem. I still can't fathom the fact that there are people out there who would do this to their own flesh and blood. We took a few pictures with them, we gave them some candy that we had bought for them along with some popsicles and that was it. This psychologist just wanted us to meet them because she had a real burden for this family. I really feel like something is going to come out of our meeting them though... I just don't know what. It's a crazy thing to think about kids like ours out there without parents. Our kids are so cute and so much fun... how could you abandon them? Oh well, on a different note... we're also counting down the days until Michael gets here... only 5 more days! We all really miss him greatly. Pray for his safe journey here and for favor with customs. I think Mary Jane and Maryssa are going to go to the doctor tomorrow because they can't shake these stupid sore throats. I bet if Mary Jane would have been more compassionate with me when I was sick her throat wouldn't hurt, hmmm... just a thought. Come on! It's just a joke! We love you guys and thank you for reading our blog.

Love ya,

Jim and Mary Jane

"Can't we all just get along?"

2008-03-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

I know you will probably be shocked when I say this... are you ready? OK, here it comes... all of our kids don't get along all the time. Wow. I know it's very unusual that our kids don't always get along 24hrs a day! Because all kids are suppose to get along all the time, right? I know that my little brother and I 'always' got along (don't say anything, Dwayne) when we were growing up. Maybe it's something in the water here in Brazil? Maybe we're not spiritual enough? Or, maybe we need to read more books on parenting? Yeah right! Our kids (adoptive and biological) are truly acting like brothers and sisters. They tease each other, provoke each other, stick their tongues out at each other, yell at each other, make fun of each other and my father-in-law just informed me that they even spit on each other (It's seems as though Gabriel thought it was OK to spit at Marlon in retaliation for something that Marlon did). But on the flip side... they laugh alot together, they have alot of fun together and most of all they truly care about each other. It's weird... I had to get on to Matthew and Marlon today because they were just picking on each other and I had reached the end of my rope with all of the constant bickering. Being stuck in a small room with 2 adults and 7 kids... I was like a ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off anyway. But, after I had gotten on to them... they banded together and worked some things out. I could see compassion in Marlon's eyes for Matthew becuase he got punished. And they were just at each other 10 minutes earlier. I'm not saying that they will never get into it again... I'm saying that they worked through some things in spite of their differences. They even ganged up together on PaPa tonight in a game of ping pong. It's all coming together, praise God.

We have returned to Betania tonight. It was nice to get a change of scenery for 2 days. The pics I posted were from our 7th floor balcony. We were right in the middle of downtown. It was pretty. Now we are back in the suburbs. But the nice thing is that we actually have grass for he kids to play in now. Tomorrow the lady who did our psychological evaluations will be returning to visit us. She wanted to bring the 4 children that I told you about on Thursday by to meet us. So, pray for us. Well, it's time for bed now so I guess we'll talk tomorrow.

Love ya,

The Referee

Looks can be deceiving!

2008-03-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Don't let the pictures fool you. If you were to look at these pictures you would probably think... wow, that looks like they had a really great time today! Psych! Don't get me wrong, there were moments of fun but they were few and far between. We had a friend of ours take us to this huge park. She had to take us in shifts, two carloads, first because we have a large family and secondly because all of the cars here are sooo small! Mary Jane and I went in the first carload with all of the little ones. Then my mother-in-law and father-in-law came in the second load with the 4 oldest kids. Now let me say this first... there were hundreds of other people there with their families quietly walking hand in hand just enjoying the beautiful weather. People riding bikes, joggers, you know... basic park people. Everything was so peaceful. Then the Dunn's arrived. When we got there we noticed a big bridge that crossed a creek, so we crossed it. Of course all of the kids were leaning through the rails so that they could get a closer look at the water, and it was freaking me out because none of them could swim and the bridge was about 15' above the water. Then when we got to the other side we saw a huge flock(?) of ducks... and of course the kids had to chase them until they all went into the lake. Then they thought it was necessary to throw sticks and rocks at the ducks because they hadn't tormented them enough yet. Then Diogo thought it would be a good idea to fake like he was pushing all the little kids in the water, just to tease them. It would have been funny accept that the water was atleast 3' deep right at the edge (remember none of them can swim?). Then we noticed these big things that looked like giant rats/pigs (they probably weighed around 70-80 lbs each) so we went to investigate. I don't know what they were but I was told that they are native to Brazil. And there were big huge piles of poop all over the place from these animals, and of course Robert just had to pick some up and put it in his mouth! What's up with this kid putting everything in his mouth? (He said it tasted like chicken... just kidding.) We figured it was a good time to move away from the water at this point. Then they found a manwhole cover that wasn't properly placed over it's whole (of course they found it!) and decided to all go and jump up and down on it. Anyway, all of this happened and we had only been there 10 minutes! Then the second carload arrived and we decided to walk around the park on the pedestrian path. There were ice cream and popcorn venders every 20' and that's how many times we were asked if they could have some... every 20'. There were kids crying (ours of course) and having to be carried and asking for rides on our shoulders because they were tired of walking and then they would run off to throw stuff in the water... it was crazy. Am I an idiot or is it suppose to be this difficult to have fun? There were these big swans (paddle boats) so we went out for a 30 minute ride. That was probably the most relaxed we were the entire day. Then it was time to continue our walk around the park. Everyone was exhausted by this point and ready for lunch. We had made it the whole day without the kids getting totally trashed and dirty... we were alsmost at the finish line... then it happened... all the boys walked to the edge of the lake and jumped in this mud bog! Man, we were so close to making it to the end all clean! I guess there's always next time.?? Well now that it's over, I guess it could have been worse. Nobody was injured and we didn't lose anyone... so it was a good day after all. When you're right in the middle of all this stuff it is so stressful and chaotic but after it's all said and done... these kids are great and we wouldn't trade them for anything (even though we might seriously want to hurt them sometimes!). It's pretty much the same with life in general. We have these plans of how things are suppose to go... all perfect without geting dirty. But that's not the way life is. We're gonna get dirty, things are going to seem chaotic sometimes and sometimes we're just going to be totally disgusted with the way things are going. That's when we just need to take a step back and say, "oh well" and just laugh our way through it. Otherwise were going to be pretty miserable. The Bible talks about how God sits in the Heavens and laughs... and I know He's got to laugh at us sometimes for taking things so seriously. We love and miss you guys!

Love Ya,

Jim and Mary Jane

We're at the new place

2008-03-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to the new hotel. It is nicer than where we have been staying but not as 'kid friendly.' It does have hot water, but still no air conditioning... I guess this is payback for freezing the secretaries and Dan out every week in the office! When we got to the hotel our rooms weren't ready so we had to actually try and sit still for almost an hour. This normally wouldn't be a problem but when you have 5 extra little ones it is a challenge. We ended up sending them to the gym and even Robert got on the treadmill for a little bit. When we got settled in we decided to take the kids to the pool and when we got to the pool we had to laugh... this thing was about the size of a baptismal tank! It was only 3' deep at the deepest part and was really warm... and the kids hadn't gotten in yet, so it wasn't pee. The kids wanted to keep jumping in and then get out and then jump in and then get out, over and over and over again. This normally wouldn't bother me but I felt like someone was going to get hurt, so I made them stop. But, like most kids do, they didn't get it right away and Diogo jumped in and hit his chin... busting it wide open! Normally we would have taken him to the hospital (it's right across the street) but we decided to butterfly bandage it and roll with it. Is that bad? It wasn't bleeding uncontrollably or anything. And there was soooo much chlorine in the pool (it felt like someone sprayed muratic acid in your eyes everytime the water got in them) so there isn't any possible way that it was going to get infected. And girls think scars are sexy, right? So he can thank us later for his really cool scar. I did get MJ to take a picture of the wound for you guys but it was too blurry to post. So, you only get to see the bandages.

Today I took Marlon to his interview with the judge. Let me say this, I almost started crying in the courtroom. It was just Marlon, Lino (our liason here in Brazil), the Judge, 2 court recorders and me. The Judge put Marlon in the witness chair and started asking him all kinds of questions. He asked him if he and his brothers and sister wanted to be a part of our family and Marlon told him, "that he had talked to all of his siblings except for Robert and they all wanted to be with us. The Judge asked him why he didn't talk to Robert about it and Marlon told the Judge that Robert was only 2 years old. The Judge then asked Marlon what he wanted from our family and without hesitation his response was care. Lino told me the word that he used care or affection. Wow. Out of all the things to ask for he was wanting something that every child should have anyway. The Judge then asked him what he had to offer the family and his response was the same. The Judge told him that he was very proud of him and that he was a very wise little boy. He said that he was proud because his answers were something that money couldn't buy. I was choking back the tears at this point becuase he could have said a house or security or some other 'thing' but, of all the things to ask for he asked for affection or care. Well, he's come to the right place because that's exactly what he's going to get! The Judge then made him sign a document that stated that he and his siblings wanted to be a adopted by MJ and I. And that was it. You can see a pic of us with the Judge at the end. Well that's about all for now. Thanks again for reading our blog and thanks for all the prayers. We love you guys!

Love ya,

Dr. Jim

No Rain!

2008-03-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day! There wasn't any rain in sight! We were able to take the kids to the pool and it was a great day... not being stuck inside all day. The kids had a great time and we finally got a little bit of sun ( I think I may be the whitest person in Curitiba ) .

We also had our last interview with the psycologist. It went great. She interviewed us and then all of he kids by themselves. She said that all of the kids loved being a part of our family and that Diogo said he loved having a Mom and Dad and Grandparents. That's a good feeling to know that the kids have bonded with us. During our interview she told us she wanted to change the subject for as few moments. She said she wanted to share with us about another sibling group that she was trying to find parents for. She said she wasn't meaning for us but if we heard of anyone we could point them in the right direction. She opened up this folder and started telling us about a sibling group of 4 children who have been in an orphanage for the last couple of years. It was 3 boys and a girl. I think thier ages were between 5-11. These kids were abandoned by thier parents on an abandoned road a couple of years ago. She showed us pictures and these were really cute kids! Now what is going through your mind as a parent... where you could take your own flesh and blood and dump them off on the side of the road like that? And never look back?? And what goes through your mind as a child... when your Mom and Dad take you to an abandoned road and tell you to get out of the car, then they drive away. Leaving you standing there all alone... where do you go? What do you do? Your just a little kid! This kind of stuff isn't suppose to happen to you.??? When I heard thier story and saw thier pictures it made me realize that what we are doing is definitely a GOD thing. It made me think about my 5 adoptive children and about how they now have a future. They don't have to worry about being dumped off on the side of the road. It breaks your heart.

There are so many children in the world today (over 143 million) who don't have parents. There are so many kids who really don't stand a chance unless someone steps up and says, "I'm going to do something." I'm going to try and step out of my comfort zone and do something. Now, I'm not saying that everybody needs to adopt a child. Let me say that again, I am not saying that everybody needs to adopt a child. But what I am saying is this... how many needs (other than your own) have you seen over the last 6 months? How many different situations have you seen where someone needed help? Did you do anything to try and fill that need? Or did you say, bless them Lord and then go on your way thinking, "somebody else will probably help them." We can't do that any longer. I believe that the Lord shows us different needs for a reason... to help. Some needs are big and some are small. But the enemy has us so busy that we don't have time to do anything for anyone else because we're trying to take care of our 4 and no more. We've got to break that cycle. If our schedules are so full that we don't have time to reach out to the people in our own communities then it's time to clear our schedules and re-evaluate our lives. The only reason that the Lord has us here on the planet is to make a difference. To be SALT and to be LIGHT. I'm sorry for getting all serious on you guys tonight. I would rather talk about all funny stuff we're going through right now but, man... when you hear stories and see pictures of kids like we did today it fires you up! We, as the Body of Christ, have the capacity and the resources to literally change our world... if we woud just be willing.

We love you guys. We might not be able to blog until Sunday Night because we have to move to a different facility tomorrow and we won't be back until Sunday Night. We don't know if there will be internet access there, but who knows. Please continue to pray for us. We will be going to court tomorrow for Marlons interview with the judge. Then next week will be more court appearances and the kids have to get all thier shots.

Love Ya,

Jim

Thanks for all the emails!

2008-03-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who have been emailing us. You don't know how much it means to receive something as small as an email from someone back home. You don't know how many times your kind words of encouragement have really helped us get through. Just this morning we were feeling a little lonely and discouraged and I checked our email and sure enough there was one from Albert (a Hope and Lifer) that really encouraged MJ and I both. Thanks! It has been really difficult for us to be away from everyone. I'm used to addressing over 1,000 people each week from the puplit and then being able to shake several hundred hands and hug a few hundred necks each Sunday... and I'm going into withdrawls! Being with my church family is one of the things I look foward to each week. We don't just do it because we're on staff and we have to be there for services, we do it because we honestly care about our brothers and sisters at H&L. We love you guys! Thank you for all of your support and especially for your prayers.

Well it didn't rain today... but it was so overcast it may as well have been raining! We were hoping to atleast come away from this thing with a good tan, but it looks like I'm leaving white and bald! Kind of like Curley from the 3 stooges (yeah, I heard what you said Marvin... good thing you carry a gun!LOL) We're still battling this sickness junk. But we're still standing on the Word. Our little guy Robert (2yrs old) has been such a trooper through the whole thing. Even though he hasn't felt good he has provided some prime entertainment for us during our stay here. The picture of him on the ladder is a picture I took up on the roof where we go to kill time each day. He is a little daredevil. He isn't afraid of anything and he climbs stuff that would make most adults scared. Anyway, there is a ladder that goes up to a big water tank on the roof and he climbed it. Then he strattled the safety cage that surrounds it at the top. That's what those 2 pics are of. Everyone else is doing good. We're looking foward to going somewhere else for the weekend. A change of scenery is going to do us good. Well it's getting late so until tomorrow...

Love Ya!

Jim

Mary Jane Started it!

2008-03-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well today was a rough one. It started out with having to take two of the kids (Maryssa and Robert) to the pharmacy to get the pharmacist to diagnose and prescribe medication for both of them. Maryssa has had a sore throat for several days and Robert has had a temperature for several days (it's been really high at night). Man, it seems that someome has been sick almost everyday since we have been here. I'm literally sick of people being sick! I confess health and healing over my family right now in Jesus name! It's like I've been so preoccupied with all of this adoption stuff that I've neglected the little things, like speaking the Word over my family concerning healing. Anyway, I'm tired of it.

Then Mary Jane and I had the first heated argument that we've had in a verrry long time! Of course she started it... but me being the mighty man of God that I am, I just walked in love toward her and realized that she was just having a bad day and ... yeah, right! I wish I would have reacted the right way. We've been married 19 years and you'd think I would learn to keep my mouth shut in times like that but I guess I'm either a slow learner or just a glutton for punishment. Anyway, I've had to apologized several times and I had to give up the last 3 peices of Hershey's chocolate I had stashed away as a peace offering. Man, I'm retarded! One thing for sure though... I truly love my wife. Seriously. She is the strongest person I know and I am so glad that we are in this together, not only as husband and wife but as best friends.

The weather is quite cool, even during the day now. It has rained everyday for the last week and a half. We might try and go to the pool tomorrow if it doesn't rain. We have to move out of our rooms Friday. We will have to find another place to stay until Sunday Night. We knew this before we came to Brazil but the time is now upon us. It will be good to get a change of scenery for a few days though. They are going to let us store all of our excess baggage here on the property so that will be nice. Mary Jane told you guys yesterday about our final meeting with the psychiatrist on Thursday. Then we meet with the judge on Friday. He wants to interview Marlon to make sure that he wants to be a part of our family. After that it's just a matter of all of the paperwork going through the Brazilian government.

Well, that's about all for today. Thank you for praying for us... we really need it! We miss everyone so much. Thanks Pastor Gwen for emailing all the info about the weekend. We are so proud to be a part of a staff that is truly changing our community.

Love Ya!

A Glass Bowl in Brazil (if you were at the Valentines Banquet, you know what this means)

Eight is Enough!?!

2008-03-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody, it's me, Mary Jane. Jim finally let me have my chance to speak again. I know he's been giving me a bad rap here lately about not being sympathetic and all but he didn't tell you the whole story, does that surprise you at all? I must say, I am not the most sympathetic person in the world when it comes to being sick. As a mother, I never get to have a sick day so I figure why should anyone else get to lay around and rest for a whole 24 hours while I work my butt off taking care of seven kids. Are there any other mothers out there who can relate? So yes, I did tell Jim that if he wasn't better by Monday that I was going home. And yes, I really did mean it at the time. Jim told me that I had offended him when I said it because he thought that I was blaming him for being sick. What I told him was, I just said that because I wanted to be able to take care of you and being here I wasn't able to do that with all the kids....I think he bought it. Needless to say, I am SOOOOO glad that he's up and feeling better and I need him more than I want to admit. This is definately a team effort (including Maryssa, Matthew and my parents and of course all of those of you who are home praying for us) and I am committed to see it through! For those of you who have asked, Jim is doing great and the doctor said he is going to be fine. I guess that means I better unpack my suitcase, ha ha!

Seriously, things are tough but going really good. The kids are trying so hard and you can just tell that they love being in a family. They are already looking forward to coming to the United States. We got some good news today. I talked to Lino (the contact for our adoption agency that is here in Brazil) and he said that we will be having our final interview with the psychiatrist this week. The good news is that we were supposed to have four interviews with her and so far we've only had one so that means we are only going to have to have two total. I call that favor. I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but Brazil is very precise in their adoption laws and it's very unusual that they would allow for us to only have two interviews. They said things are going so smoothly that they have decided to use their time on other families that things aren't going so good for. It is truly amazing to see how God is at work in all of this.

So, for those of you who are wondering why I said, eight is enough!? Well, today it feels like eight is enough. But then again, we thought three was enough too. I can't imagine what our life would be like if we had decided not to pursue God's plan for our life. Well, more sleep would be one thing, a clean toilet, less laundry, less food to prepare, less fights to break up, more me time.....but then I stop and think of all the things we would have missed. All the hugs and kisses, the smiles, the laughter, the knowing that we are making a difference in this world even if it's just a small part. There is nothing like hearing a child, who doesn't speak your language or even look like you do, call out for you in the middle of the night because they are sick. It just melted my heart and made me realize that God has blessed me with five more kids. I am their mother. Not because I deserved it, not because I am a better mother than anyone else, but because He knew that He could ask us to do something and we would do it. These children were created by God for us and to be a part of our family. It's truly amazing!!!

I am going to be so much more appreciative of the things that I have when I get home. I was believing for a commercial sized washer and dryer before I got here. Now, I'm just looking forward to using my rusty white ones in my little laundry closet. You don't realize what you have sometimes until you are forced to do something different. Washing clothes has been a challenge for me. I used to wash everything everyday not really caring how dirty it was. Now, I smell things to make sure they are dirty or not. It doesn't count if it just has a little dirt on it, now it has to smell before I will wash it. That means most of us wear clothes for two days in a row before washing them. It has cut down on laundry so much. But with nine people, it's still a lot of clothes to hand wash and hang out to dry. With three little boys (and a couple of older ones too) I've seen more skid marks than the Indy 500!! You think I'm kidding. There is nothing private about hanging out your laundry for all to see. I told Jim to leave his leopard print thong at home but for some reason it made it here and it's hanging out there for all to see. I am hoping that they think it's some American sling shot. Just kidding ya'll.

We are counting down the days until Michael comes. We miss him very much and can't wait for him to get to meet his new brothers and sister. They are all really excited about meeting him too. I hope everyone had a great Easter. We really missed being at church, but enjoyed getting to watch it on line. It was nice not having to worry about what to wear. And I can promise that no one wore the same Easter outfit as me. Other than that, everything is going good here in sunny Curitiba, Brazil. We love you all and really appreciate all your love and support. Your prayers are definately being felt here and we couldn't be doing this without you.

Love ya'll,

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

No new suits, fancy dresses or new hats here. Only t-shirts, shorts, flip flops and baseball caps. It really didn't feel like Easter at all. I know that sounds bad but it feels like we are in some type of time warp where we are out of touch with the rest of the world. We were able to watch about an hour of 2nd service on-line though. As soon as Pastor John told everybody to clap thier hands, Robert dropped what was in his hand ( I think it was the stick to a lolly pop he just finished ) and started clapping like Pastor John. Our kids are going to love our church! It was good to hear that the Easter Outreaches went well yesterday. I'm glad we're part of a church that thinks outwardly rather than inwardly. Mary Jane came to me after lunch and gave me some great news... she said, "we will be half way through this thing this coming Wednesday!" That is awesome. We are so ready to come home. This is a huge sacrifice being here. Or is it? You know I was thinking today about the sacrifices we are making right now and the sacrifices that we will be making when we get back... and this is nothing compared to the sacrifice that my Saviour made over 2,000 years ago on the cross! He sacrificed everything for me so that I could have a way to have access to the Father. The least I can do is sacrifice a measley portion of my life for something He wants our family to do. And really that's all it is... a very small portion of our life... in light of eternity that is. As it says in the book of James, "our life here on earth is but a vapor." It is here one minute and gone the next. But, the things we do here carry eternal significance. That's why we're doing what we're doing. I need to keep reminding myself of that! It's easy to lose focus sometimes. But we're pressing on. OK, enough preaching. That was really for me anyway... back to today. We were able to have our first meal together as a family, where we didn't have to eat in shifts. It was really cool, actually. The kids are doing good. Of course it rained again today so our outdoor activities were halted. We were able to watch a local Soccer match on TV. I'm really starting to like this soccer thing a lot more. The kids really love it. I have to go back to the doctor in the morning for a check-up. I feel tons better but there is a little bit of swelling still, nothing major. I'm still not going to have surgery in Brazil, no matter what the Dr. says. Well, that's all for today. We miss you guys so much. Thank you for your prayers. Mary Jane will be blogging tomorrow so check back with us!

Love Ya,

No Easter Bunny in Brazil

Did you ever wonder what the Emergency Room in Brazil looked like?

2008-03-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder what it was like going to the Emergency Room in a foreign country where they couldn't understand you? Well, let me tell you it is just like you would expect. It looks like a bad game of charades. Let me start from the beginning... on Thursday afternoon we had an appointment to take all of the kids to the consulate doctor so that they could have thier medical examinations done. It was basically a total physical that had to be performed on all of the kids. It was funny. They went oldest to youngest. The doctor took Marlon back to the exam room and in about 2 minutes Marlon comes out saying no, no, no... with the doctor walking after him. He didn't want to take his clothes off for the doctor. So, I went back with him and he, very hesitantly, let the doctor do his thing as he laid there in his underwear and held his hand over his eyes laughing... because he was embarassed. Then Mary Jane went back with Ana Carolina and I don't know what happened. Then it was my turn to take Diogo back. When the doctor told him to take his clothes off he looked at me and I nodded OK and he modestly took his clothes off and I placed him up on the exam table. After Diogo it was Gabriel's turn. All he had to hear was take your clothes off and before the last syllable was out of the doctors mouth, Gabriel was butt naked up on the exam table, on his back, doing what looked to be snow angels! Was this really happening! I told him he didn't have to take his underwear off but he just laid there laughing and smiling. Anyway, after that was Robert and he is only 2 so he didn't know what was going on. Everyones exam went good... no major problems... praise God! But on the way home I started feeling strange. It was becoming hard to swallow and difficult to breathe. As the night progressed and it was time for bed I told Mary Jane that I was getting concerned because it was becoming difficult for me to breathe. It felt like my windpipe was being restricted and very little air was getting through. I don't think she was taking me very seriously though because she wasn't giving me any sympathy... oh yeah, that's right, she's my wife and she doesn't give sypathy to me when I'm sick (oops, did I say that?). Back to the story... I woke up in the middle of the night and was totally freaked out. I looked in the mirror down my throat and I could see that the right side of my throat was totally swollen shut. You know that thing that hangs down in the middle of the back of your throat? Well I couldn't even see it because the inside of my throat was totally swollen almost shut! I got back in bed and told Mary Jane that I couldn't swallow, could barely breathe and I was worried. She said she was sorry and dozed back off to sleep. I laid there for about 3 hours praying, trying to figure out what was going on, going through my mind to see if I had all of the materials to do an emergency tracheotomy on myself if I had to. It was serious! As the sun came up, it was worse. I tried to explain the severity to Mary Jane but she said I needed to get better or she was going back to Georgia. I think she just thought I was trying to get out of helping with the kids or something. Her Mom came in and talked to me and went and found a nurse here on the property. She looked at it and said I needed to go to the hospital. So, off to the hospital I went with this sweet older lady and my father-in-law. When we got there it was slow, thank God, because it was Good Friday and I guess most Brazilians don't get sick on holidays. When they examined me they didn't have all of the right equipment so they coudn't see all the way down my throat. They said they needed to send me across town to a specialist. Man, that is not what I wanted to hear! I needed relief and I needed it now. But I went ahead and paid the fee for them 'not' being able to examine me and we were off to the specialist. We drove to the other side of town and arrived at the specialists office. It was a very nice building and there wasn't anybody there. I think because of the whole Brazilians not getting sick on holidays thing. We went in and within 5 minutes I was in this fancy examination chair. This office was the bomb. He had a scope that had a tiny camera attached to it. He put it in my ear, and if you think that it looks like you have a lot of hair in your ear when you look in the mirror... then just try having the inside of your ear projected live up on a 42" LCD TV right on the wall! It was kind of gross actually. I thought I was going to see some exotic Brazilian insect that had migrated into my ear while I was sleeping or something but I didn't. Just a bunch of hair and wax! He then turned off all of his high tech equipment and told my father-in-law and the lady who brought us that what had happened was this; when I had my tonsils removed as a child, the doctor had left a small portion of one of the tonsils still attached. This small portion somehow became infected with a bacteria while I was here in Brazil and was so full of puss (gross, I know) that it was cutting off my airway. Great! Now how do I get better? He prescribed 4 medications for me and said that he wanted to see me again on Monday. If it wasn't better by then they were going to have to perform surgery. What! Surgery? There is no way in hades that I'm having surgery in Brazil! No way! So we left. The lady who brought us took us to the phamacy and there I learned that pharmacists give shots. That's right, pharmacists give shots right there in thier store. One of the prescriptions was a shot. And a big one. Did I ever tell you how much I hate needles? But at this point I didn't care. I just wanted to breathe again. He gave me the ginormous (?) shot in the arm and off we went. When I got back I went to bed and slept for about 4 hours and when I woke up I was already starting to breathe easier! Praise God! When I woke up this morning I was breathing perfectly normal. My throat is a little soar but that's it. So that means 2 things. I'm not having surgery on Monday and my wife isn't leaving to come home early! Praise the Lord.

Today was a good day. We are finally beginning to see a lot of progress in the kids and in us as thier parents. We are really going to miss not being at church tomorrow. Church is what we do. Just being able to be a part of a seeing peoples lives changed each week is an honor and a priveledge. We love you guys. We hope you enjoyed hearing from my in-laws, Maryssa and Matthew. It has definitely been a journey we will never forget. Next week we will try and do a few video blogs so be sure to check us out. have a great Easter Sunday!

Love ya,

Able to breathe in Brazil

I didn't know that I was going to have to share EVERYTHING!

2008-03-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Matthew. It's my turn to blog today. I want to share with you things I like about Brazil and things I don't:

Things I don't like

1) I have to share everything. Pants, shorts, shirts, socks and even

underwear!

2) The kids wake us up at 6:00 every morning

3) Cold showers

4) No airconditioning

5) I like beans and rice but not everyday!

6) Not that much to do here

7) Portuguese TV

8) I can't talk to people because they don't speak English

9) You can't flush toilet paper down the toilet

10) My little brothers don't flush the toilet at all

Things I do like

1) Get to play soccer a lot

2) We go on a lot of walks

3) I have a fan at night

4) My Dad doesn't have to go off to work

5) It doesn't seem as hot as people say it is

6) The park next door is fun

7) There is a kid named Michael that we play with

8) I get to help Mom with laundry

These are just a few of the things abouit Brazil that I like and dislike. One thing that is different here is the way we do laundry. We carry our laundry down to a room in the basement. We sort them out. The ones that have dirt that you can see have to be scrubbed with a brush and soap. The ones with invisible dirt we put in this barrel then turn a switch. It wets them then it spins around for about 10 minutes. Then you put them into a differnt barrel and it spins around for about 5 minutes to get water off of the clothes. When it is time to stop you put your foot on this brek to stop it from spinning. Then you rinse them in the sink and then put them back into the one that spins. Then we have to hang them outside on the line to dry. Pretty exciting stuff.

I am glad that I have more brothers and sisters. I really like playing soccer with them. Marlon is good at soccer too. Well I am going to go play a game now. I miss everyone back home a bunch.

Matthew

Real World: Curtiba

2008-03-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody this is Maryssa. All we lack here are tv cameras, and we could have our own show. We could call it The Real World: Curitiba. Even though it's boring here we could keep people entertained because all the crazy things that happen here. For instance today 2 of the boys were trying to get my Dad to smell Gabriel's underwear. (of course he refused) I don't think there is any way to explain our boredom here. Everything we do is very limited. You can play soccer with our volleyball, you can hit the beach ball over the net... oh wait they popped that, watch Woody Woodpecker in portuguese, color in Christmas coloring books, or you can change poopy diapers. Which would you pick? Meal times are crazy. You sit in this cafeteria for breakfast and lunch and for dinner you have to do your own meals. Kids are getting out of there seats, throwing things over the table to the next, dropping silverware. If they don't like certain food on there plates they put it on yours. My mom actually makes them peel there own bananas so it keeps them occupied for a few minutes. That's pretty sad. Then for dinner. I don't even like thinking about it. Can you say ham and cheese? That's pretty much what you have every single night. Plus your stuck in the tiniest kitchen you have ever seen in your life. We all have to eat in like 3 shifts. Laundry is also pretty bad. You have to do everything by hand. And with lot's of little boys it takes a while to scrub everything off. Like dirt, mud, and skidmarks in there underwear. Then you have to put everything on a line to dry and have to watch out for the rain and stuff. Then when you put them on they are so stiff and wrinkly. I can't wait to have a washer and dryer and neither can my parents. I hope everybody is thankful for thiers out there. The kids just love tv. The 3 older ones can just sit there for hours watching it. And all there is on is Woody Woodpecker. The 2 little ones can sit there and watch it for about 30 seconds. My brothers already feel like my brothers because I already want to hit them in the face. They sometimes just aggervate you, I don't know if they even know that they are but they do. Robert is just the cutest thing you have ever seen. He still has a pacifier and the only thing anybody can unerstand from him is more and right here (in portuguese). Earlier my Dad was changing him and said, " Eww there's that poop I just love." It was really funny. You also have to watch him all the time. Or he will be gone. I mean gone. Gabriel sucks his thumb and is very photogentic. He always wants you to give him a kiss and put your hand on his face. That's how he falls asleep at night. He looks like my Dad alot. Diogo is so sweet but can have meltdowns. He has the cutest smile with his 2 bottom teeth missing. He likes to sing and be silly. Ana Carolina I like because I actually have a sister. She likes playing with her baby dolls that she stole from the suitcase. Today I was listening to my ipod on my bed and she didn't know I had turned it off and she was singing to her baby doll. Then she realized I was watching her and just covered her face and started laughing. Marlon really likes to play with Matthew and loves my parents a whole lot more than I thought. He is always hugging and kissing them. He is sometimes aggervating and bossy to his little siblings and they listen to him. My dad wanted me to tell everybody how great he is so there you go Dad. No, I'm just joking. My parents are doing awesome and I really appreciate them a whole lot! My grandparents are helping us out a ton too. We wouldn't be able to explain anything to the kids without them. I'm so happy that they came. I know my Dad has already told everybody but they wake up at 6:00 a.m. They are up and ready to do something too. And they are hungry so we have to keep them occupied until 8:00 a.m. that's breakfast time in the cafeteria thing. At night it takes a good hour and a half to get just Robert and Gabriel to sleep. You have to lay down with them and hold there hand, scratch there back, rub there hair all that kind of stuff. Everybody's favorite part of the day is shower time. That's when we know we almost made it through another day and they are quite and love it. And that's the only time that nobody bothers you. But the bad part about the showers is that the water isn't really hot. And only little trickles come down. You also have to walk everywhere you go. And your most of the time afraid to cross the street because people drive fast and totally crazy. Taxi prices are horrible too. People are lazy and really laid back here because most people close there stores between 12:30 and 3:00 so they can go home and take naps! That would never ever happen in the States. When you walk into stores you just want to bust out laughing because people aren't talking, laughing, or even smiling. I think people are afraid to look you in the eyes too.

Marlon and Diogo came running into the room today trying to tell my Dad that Gabriel stunk like pee pee. And my Dad made up this phrase and you will have to read it slow a few times before you get it but here it is.... "you know a kid stinks when another kid that stinks says they stink." Did you get that? If you didn't read it again. I just thought that was so funny. Ok before I end this I wanted to tell everybody how much of a change these kids have gone through. Before they wouldn't listen at all, they didn't understand 1 word in english, and never thought you were serious. Now they listen tons and tons better, understand and are even talking some english. They are learning more and more each day. Well have to go! It was fun writing this blog! See ya in 29 days!

Love,

Maryssa

The Drill Sergeant Speaks

2008-03-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my son-in-law compared me to a drill sergeant in an earlier blog! But believe you me, I made him pay for it. Howard and I count it a priveledge to be here in Brazil with Jim, Mary Jane, Matthew, and Maryssa. You only catch a glimpse of how things are going here by reading the blog. We are able to experience first hand how the kids and the Dunns are bonding. We get to see Jim's bald head, little Robert running to his Mom or Dad, Gabriel looking more and more like his Dad, Marlon and Matthew getting along better and better each day. Mary Jane has blown my mind by how she has given up Michael, her home, and her dogs to come and make these 5 children part of their family. Jim takes seriously his role as Dad and is giving the kids real boundries. They spend all day everyday trying to make these children feel loved and are doing a great job at it.

Grandma and Papa are enjoying the retreat center where we stayed last year when we came with Carolyn and Brad to get their 4 children. The people here are so good to us and are amazed at what our family is doing. Thanks for praying for all of us. We need God's wisdom each day as we show his love to the people who work here and most of all to our 5 new grandchildren. You would be proud of Matthew & Maryssa as they help with the kids and share their parent's and grandparents.

Boa noite (good night),

Howard and Marilyn

Hey guys! My mother-in-law didn't say anything about it but they have been a huge help to MJ and I. It would be very difficult without them. My father-in-law speaks fluent Portuguese so he is our lifeline when it comes to the major communication stuff (like, your dad says to put your pants back on! and stuff like that.) And they are a big help at mealtimes because we have to split up between two tables (they take care of the bigger kids). They also walk to the store every night and get our evening meals for us. Most of all they've put up with all our our emotional stuff (mostly Mary Jane... LOL!) and all of the uncomfortable moments as we try to blend these children into our family. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming with us. We know that this isn't how you wanted to spend part of your retirement, but you have and we are forever grateful. We love you. Although I know that you being able to see me at the pool with my shirt off made the trip worth wild. No seriously, we could never thank you enough. You're the best!

Well we've got to go but check us out tomorrow... Maryssa will be blogging.

Love ya,

The world's greatest son-in-law, Jim

Marlon David Dunn

2008-03-18T16:52:00.001-07:00

Well we've finally arrived at our oldest of the fab 5. Marlon David Dunn. Marlon is 11 years old and is a great kid. We were expecting to experience issues with Marlon but much to our surprise he has turned out to be an amazing little boy. He is extremely affectionate and longs for attention. He loves to play soccer and is really good (so we can hire him out for any U12 teams out there, so bid high!). He loves to joke around and picks on everybody. He makes his own bed every morning without being asked (we're hoping this will rub off on Matthew). He is very responsible. He is a lot bigger than we were thinking. So, to say the least we came unprepared. He and Matthew are sharing the same clothes... right down to their underwear! He really hasn't been any problem at all. Oh yeah, we did have a problem with him whistling at girls in the very beginning. The first time he did it I thought it was a joke then he did it to one of the staff workers here at the center and we had to put a stop to it. Mary Jane told him that he wasn't even allowed to look at girls until he was 25! He agreed. I wish there was more gorey details to give to you about Marlon but he really is a great boy! We know that God has special plans for him and we are honored that God chose us to be his parents.

Well, today was sunny! Yeah! We were able to play outside for several hours. Maryssa was sick today so she stayed in bed most of the day. She is so sweet. Things went pretty smooth all day except for after dinner when I was trying to get Robert asleep. He was screaming and I was laying down with him. Then Mary Jane came in and started criticizing my method... so I asked her if she wanted to try and she said, "no." So, I told her to ,"step off!" (FYI, this isn't a good thing to say to your wife after a long day. )Well anyway I asked her to forgive me later and she said she did. She then asked me to forgive her for what she said to me under her breath when i told her to "step off." Of course we laughed about it. What else can you do? We definitely have learned not to take things too seriously. Well tomorrow my in-laws will be taking over the blog so it should be pretty interesting. We love you guys!

Love ya,

Marlon's Mom and Dad

Ana Carolina Dunn

2008-03-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today's blog is about our daughter Ana Carolina... that's cat-o-leen-a not car-o-lin-a. We don't have anything against tarheels that's just the way it's pronounced. Ana is 7 years old. She is all girl (i.e., she likes to get her way, manipulative, likes to be the boss, will make you miserable until you give in to her, you know... like all girls do). She is also very sweet. She is thoughtful of others. She was the first one that called us Mom and Dad. When I was in bed sick Sunday she would check on me periodically and come and kiss my cheek everytime she came in. She likes to go to bed early every night. She speaks to you in Portuguese like you understand Portuguese... and I just look at her, smile and nod yes, like I understand. She could be cussing me out for all I know. I don't know if you remember but she was the one who said that she thought her new family was going to beat her up when they met her. Tonight she pulled Mary Jane aside and was speaking to her (in Portuguese, of course) and Mary Jane couldn't understand what she was trying to say but could tell it was serious. So we had Mary Jane's dad come in and translate for us. It seems as though Marlon told Ana that if she didn't act right we were going to leave her behind when we came back to the States. This really upset her. So, we explained to her that she was with us forever no matter what. She smiled real big and said she understood. As far as Marlon goes, my idea is to tell him if he ever says that kind of junk to any of his brothers or sister again, then we will leave him behind when we go back to the States... well, maybe not LOL. We are actually going to meet with all of the kids and tell them that there isn't any reason to fear about being left behind because we're a family, period! We're together forever because that's what real families do.

You know, this whole adoption thing has been very exciting but it has also been very difficult. Not being able to be at home with our friends and family has probably been the hardest thing. But it has caused us to really lean and depend on the Lord. There have been several times when we've questioned God since we've been here in Brazil because it's been a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. But even in our questioning we know that we're just doing what he's called us to do and sometimes it's not going to be easy. We've been walking with the Lord long enough to know that the things that seem to be the biggest struggle in the beginning are the things that are going to have the biggest reward in the end. This is just one of those times where we are having to say, "Lord, we trust you" and just keep doing what we're doing. We love you guys. Thanks for your prayers.

Love ya,

Ana Carolina's Mom and Dad

My wife is awesome!

2008-03-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not blogging last night. It was suppose to have been on Ana Carolina but around 7:00pm I got really sick and i didn't get out of bed until around 7:00pm tonight. The reason I am saying that my wife is awesome (besides the fact that she is) is because she had to take care of all the kids by herself today. That may not seem like that big of a deal to you but it is huge. That's getting 7 kids up, downstairs to the dinning hall by 8:00am, taking them to the park, having them back in the dining hall by 12:00 for lunch then entertaining them by herself for the rest of the day. She only had 2 injuries too (1 bloody nose and 1 skinned leg)! She didn't even complain about it. Although she did wake me up around the middle of the day and said she was going to hurt me when I was feeling better. I have truly been blessed with an amazing women. She is the love of my life and my best friend. I will pick-up the blog tomorrow as scheduled on Ana Carolina. Please continue to pray for us.

Love ya

jim

Diogo Isaiah Dunn

2008-03-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today we are highlighting our son Diogo. His name is pronounced Jee-o-goo, not Dee-o-go as Pastor Tony calls him. But since Pastor is my boss I guess he can call him whatever he wants. Anyway, Diogo is 5 years old and is hands down the easiest of all of our children. He is Mr. Cool. He is his own man and doesn't need anybody to encourage him as far as self esteem goes because he is supremely confident in himself. He is so sweet. He sings alot and is Mr. jokester. We've made the comment several times that if all the kids were like Diogo this would be so easy! He knows how to make people laugh and has a great attitude. He's also a cheater. Yes, you heard me right... a cheater! Anytime we play cards he cheats. Not like the other kids (they all cheat) but like a real life hustler. His slight of hand moves are so slick that you can hardly believe he is only 5 years old. I'm thinking of getting him into some underground card games when we get back to the states to make some extra cash. "Come on, it's a joke!" But a great idea though.

Diogo was in the orphanage for most of his life. As you may know his mother was a prostitute and was living on the street with him when he was with her. It's hard to believe that he had such a rough start in life when you're with him. He really is a great kid. The only issue we've had with him is that he's had nightmares a few nights, but that's it. He is so easy going. Today he told Mary Jane that he loved her in English! It was so sweet. You guys are going to love this little guy. We can't wait for you to meet him.
Today it finally stopped raining and we were able to go outside without totally getting trashed! Thank the Lord! We were running out of indoor activities. I'm pretty creative but I was beginning to draw a blank on new ideas. One of my best ideas was having the 2 and 3 year old stand at the top of the stairwell while I was at the bottom. Then I would take a tennis ball and try to peg them as they tried to dodge my throws. If I missed them it would hit the wall and come back down to me. If I hit them they would laugh and throw it back down to me. Either way I just had to sit there, which was good. Yes, I'm bored. Only 35 more days! We miss everyone. Thanks for continuing to pray for us.

Love ya,

jee-o-goo's Mom and Dad

Gabriel Howard Dunn

2008-03-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today we want to introduce you to Gabriel. As you may have noticed, his middle name is Howard. That is after my father-in-law, Howard Moore. We did this in hopes that it would get us some free babysitting later on down the road... we'll have to wait and see I guess. Just kidding, Mary Jane's dad is a mighty man of God and we couldn't think of anyone better to name him after. Gabriel is 3 years old and is very energetic. When we first met him at the orphanage he ran up to us and hugged us. He then took my camera away from me and started taking pictures, lots of pictures. When I finally got my camera back he went to Maryssa and took her camera away from her and started taking pictures. I remember thinking, "oh my goodness, this kid's going to be a handfull!" And we were right. The first few days we were constantly on the run after him. He wouldn't listen to us until he realized that we meant business. Then when he knew he was in trouble he would put his big smile on, run up to us, pull our face down to his and plant a BIG kiss right on our lips! Like this was going to make everything OK... well, it did work I guess (and it still does, just don't tell him). He is just so cute. He obey's so much better now. He still tries to escape every once in a while but for the most part he listens very well. Even though he is only 3 years old we have caught him sticking up his middle finger to his brothers and sisters if he gets frustrated with them. Now I realize that we are in Brazil but I'm pretty sure that doing that still isn't a good thing!? Unless of course he is trying to say, Jesus is #1... i don't know. He is very giving and is willing to share without even having to be asked. He shares everything... even candy! If I give him a piece of gum and one of his brothers are in the area he will tear it in half and go and give it to them. He is a trip when it comes to meal times. He will eat just about anything. Do you know what 'floaters' are? That's when someone takes a drink out of a cup but they had food in thier mouth and in backwashes into thier cup... and when they set the cup down you can see things floating in thier cup. That's floaters. Well, to say that this kid's cup always has floaters in it would be an understatement. I've seen snow globes with less stuff floating around in them. Today he dropped a thing that looked like a hushpuppy into his glass and let it desintagrate. Maryssa had to move to another table because she said she was going to throw up just looking at it. But he just chugged it down and enjoyed it! That's our little Gabriel.

He has such a sweet personality for someone with such a rough background. They told us that his father used to carry him around by his feet, upside down. He would do this all over town, When people would try to stop him he would tell them that it was his son and he could do whatever he wanted to. Thank God Gabriel was taken away from that environment. I have the priveledge of putting him down for naps and at night and he loves to snuggle. He also loves to be sung to as he goes to sleep he is a sweety. I can't wait until you meet him.

Well, we've been stuck inside for a few days now. It rained AGAIN! But today was a good day though. We seem to be getting the hang of this thing (plus a lot of people are praying for us, thanks!). Not to say that we aren't seriousely bored and ready to come home. One of the State social workers came by and met with us and the kids today. She was very impressed with how well the entire family was blending together. Praise God! Well, that's it for today. Thank you for reading our blog. It really helps us feel connected with you... even though we're so far away.

Love ya,

Gabriels Mom and Dad

Robert Joseph Dunn

2008-03-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

Well, as I said yesterday, we are going to highlight one child per day over the next week. This will give everyone an inside look at their personalities and how they are fitting into our family. I figured I'd start with Robert because he is the youngest and the most challenging. He turned 2 in November. When we first met him at the orphanage and he held out his hands for me to take him... my heart just melted. Then he took his little hands and used them to pry my mouth open (you can see it in one of the pics) so that he could remove the gum from my mouth and put it in his! That's Robert... our 'I'll eat anything' little man. He eats dirt (which FYI comes out just like it goes in), drinks from mud puddles (today!), crayons, gum that was stuck to a park bench, pine cones, sticks, and the list goes on. He can eat 2-3 bannanas in about 3 minutes (this may be a world record, I will check with Guiness later). He also has a huge personality and he is so cute... and he knows it. This kid is so smart which is good and bad. Good, because smart is good, right? Bad, because this kid figures out stuff that you wish he couldn't. He will find a way to get dirty when it just isn't necessary. He will look at me from his crib, with his pacifyer in his mouth and give me the 'thumbs up' before closing his eyes to go to sleep. He is constant motion which really wears on me. He has no fear. He climbs a cargo net faster than most big kids or adults for that matter. He is always getting into something. I get exhausted just thinking about all the stuff he gets into. His smile can just melt your heart and make you forget about all the stuff he does wrong.

Now I need to make a confession. I had to repent today. Robert was very challenging for me today and I made the comment to Mary Jane that, "I could leave him here and just take the rest back to the States." I was just totally burnt out on everything that we have been going through here and Robert seemed to be the biggest challenge. Even though I wasn't serious, I still should never have said it. You guys know that I'm very sarcastic but I should have never said this. Later, when I was in the shower, the Lord convicted me and really dealt with me. You see I was also adopted. Not by earthly parents but by my Heavenly Father when I was born again. And I do stuff that I know frustrates him... but he never even thinks about leaving me behind. For me to even say something like that was wrong. Little Robert can't help being the way he is. He hasn't had anyone to really love him and shape and mold him into a godly kid. As a matter of fact when the police took him away from his father, his father was holding him at knife-point. That's the kind of life he's used to. So, as frustrating as it may be... he's my son and I love him. Mary Jane and I are committed to stand with him through whatever challenges arise. I believe the enemy can identify destiny and purpose in peoples lives. Just think about some of the great people in the Bible and how satan tried to snuff out their destiny when they were young. I believe my son Robert has destiny and purpose on his life and we are committed to pointing him in the right direction. So, pray for us. Pray that God will give us wisdom and patience.

I'll close today's blog with this story. It rained all day again... praise God! Anyway, it stopped around 4:30 so we told the kids we were going to take them outside. We put play clothes on everybody and started down the hall and down stairs. The kids ran ahead of us, like always. When we made it outside and turned the corner around the back of the building, to the field that we play in, none of our kids were there! It was so surreal. You could actually here crickets churping because it was so quiet. Mary Jane and I looked at each other and just busted out laughing. We had managed to lose not just 1 of our kids... but we had just lost all of them! But then after a few minutes, we could here this voice in the distance..."Mom, Dad" (in Portuguese) coming from the direction of the hotel entrance. It was our little Robert. Leading the pack with all of his brothers and sister following him. Marching down the hill coming to the feild to play with Mom and Dad. That's our Robert. A leader even at the age of 2.

We love you guys!

Robert's Mom and Dad

"We are being held hostage!"

2008-03-11T17:18:00.001-07:00

The only thing worse than being stuck in Brazil for 46 days is being stuck in Brazil INSIDE because it is raining! It was almost comical... if we weren't bored enough already. When we got up (at 6:00am) and brushed a bunch of teeth, washed a bunch of faces and then looked out the window and noticed it was raining, we thought, "what in the world are going to do now?" But to our surprise we were able to entertain everyone until breakfast (8:00) and then we watched DVD's until lunchtime(12:00). This was a miracle because the little ones usually can't sit still for more than 30seconds! Literally! Either I forgot what having little ones was like or these little guys are trying to torture me on purpose. I am beginning to think it's all part of their sinister plan. I believe they team up on me... one will run one way laughing then when I corral him and get him back, the other one runs the other way looking over his shoulder laughing at the big fat white guy trying to catch him. This goes on pretty much all day. Anyway, late in the afternoon the rain stopped and we were able to go outside for a while. We played volleyball, soccer, climbed trees and jumped rope trying to pass the time away. As we were playing we noticed that Robert was in the sandbox eating handfulls of dirt. Not just one, but several! It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. He was so happy eating dirt. Then my mother-in-law told me it would probably give him worms? I thought for a few moments then decided that even though this was very entertaining, this probably wasn't a good thing and we better stop him. That was the highlight of the day (you know you're bored when dirt eating is entertaining).

Just to let you know, starting tomorrow we are going to highlight one child per day on the blog. We will describe each child to you on his/her day so that you can get to know them like we are getting to know them. This will give all of our family and friends an insiders view of these awesome kids. We're also going to let my in-laws (don't believe anything my mother-in-law say's about me if it's negative), Maryssa and Matthew blog over the next week or so. So be on the lookout.

I'll close with this... I usually put the 2 youngest to bed each night. I'll set a chair next to Robert's crib and hold his hand until he falls asleep (which is usually only a few minutes) and then I'll lay down with Gabriel until he falls asleep. He always sucks his thumb and makes me hold his hand and sing to him until he falls asleep. Last night as he was falling asleep I put my hand on his little chest and I could feel his heart beating. It was one of those things that makes you realize that this is a little life that will either serve God or serve the enemy. And, we as parents have the responsibility to raise our children to make sure it isn't the latter... so i just started speaking the Word over him right then and speaking words of life. I encourage you to do the same over your children. I can't wait to see what these kids are going to do for the Lord! It's going to be good, I know! Well as I'm finishing up here it has just started to rain again ( and hard ) so please pray that we won't be prisoners again tomorrow!

Luv ya,

Held Captive in Brazil

Watching someone work definitely puts the pressure on!

2008-03-10T16:25:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been just minding your own business doing your job, when all of a sudden you realize you have someone watching you? But then you realize that they're not just admiring your handywork... they are wanting you to hurry! This happened today to some poor pool guy across the street from where we are staying. We promised the kids that we would take them swimming today so when we got there the lady in the office said we could swim after the man finished cleaning the pool. She said, "it would be about an hour." We decided to wait even though it was only a few blocks from where we were staying. We decided this because we had just successfully crossed the street without anyone getting run over. If you've ever seen how people drive in Brazil you know what I mean. So we decided to sit and wait for the man to finish his job. Rather than sitting with Mom and Dad, the kids decided to stand at the gate and watch this man work. Well them watching him worked because he finished in about 15 minutes!

We got to the pool around 9:00am and we left at 12:00 for lunch. We then returned around 1:00 and stayed until 5:00pm! It was awesome. The kids had a great time and everyone kept thier clothes on all day(it's a miracle!). We assumed before we came to Brazil that the kids might not know how to swim so we came prepared. We brought little arm floats and inflatable rings from Atlanta. FYI... if you pay $1 at the dollar tree for a device that you are believing will keep you above water... there is a good chance it won't... nuff said. Anyway, the kids are doing great. We are seeing huge changes in thier attitudes. Sometimes we take it for granted how blessed we are to have raised our children from birth. These kids have been so abused and emotionally scarred because of thier birth parents so now we are having to step in and bring healing and closure to all of thier past hurts. It's difficult because you want to just shower them with love and affection but we also have to discilpline them and it's hard. It's funny though... the other morning I was in the bathroom, with my 4th diahreah attack of the day, reading my Bible and I asked the Lord to please speak to me... I usually don't do this but flipped open the Word and I was in proverbs. So, I just put my eyes down on the page and they landed (kind of like a roulette wheel, LOL) on the scripture where it talks about the rod of correction driving destruction far from a child and that it won't kill them even though it isn't pleasant. So, I started beating my kids in the name of the Lord! Come on! I'ts a joke! Seriously though... we've had to spank thier little butts several times and it's hard. They haven't had any loving disciple that we know of. It's so cool though, after we discipline them, we love on them and kiss them. I think it is blowing thier minds to see the two things working hand in hand (love and discipline). But just like the Word says, " whom the Lord loves he chastizes" so as parents we have to. Well that's all for today! We love you guys! We miss all our family and friends. Please continue to pray for us.

P.S. "Get out there and start spankin those youngins!" just kidding

Love Ya,

All wet in Brazil

"It feels like basic training all over again."

2008-03-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

First of all thank you to everyone who is following our journey through this blog. Also, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is praying for us. We truly covet your prayers. And finally a big thanks to everyone who has emailed us and left comments on our blog. Just knowing that others our standing with us is huge! Ok, now to today's blog... Tonight as I was laying across the bed, after I got Robert to sleep, I was thinking... "man, the way I feel right now seems very familiar." I am sore all over and I am spent physically, mentally and emotionally. Then it dawned on me... this is the way I felt in 86' when I was in the ARMY. I had my basic training down at Ft. Benning and this is the way I felt way back then! There are so many similarities. Let me share just a few:

1) Upon arrival everything you have is taken away

Army- They took all my clothes, toiletries, everything.

Brazil- The airline took all my clothes, toiletries, everything. But at least I got them back.

2) My head is shaved

Army- They shaved my head on the 2nd day of bootcamp. It's the military way.

Brazil- I shaved my head on the 2nd day. It's so hot, there's no AC and I'm sure we're

closer to the sun here.

3) Being yelled at and told that everything I'm doing is wrong

Army- The Drill Sargeants are always yelling at you and telling you you're wrong.

Brazil- Ok, I'm here with my wife and mother-in-law... need I say more?

4) The food is totally different than what I was use to

Army- Some of the food was unrecognizable... and who ever thought of an MRE

Brazil- Most of the food is unrecognizable... sometimes I'm afraid to ask what it is?

5) The Mess Hall is a place of stress

Army- In bootcamp you had about 3 minutes to eat your entire meal or you would definitely

be in trouble. No time to fellowship or talk.

Brazil- Here at the retreat center we have about 3 miutes to eat. Not because anyone is

making us though. Have you ever tried to feed this many little kids at one time? When we finish our meal it looks like there was an explosion of black beans and rice. There is definitely no time to fellowship or talk... we're on a mission just to feed everyone without breaking anything.

6) Going on road marches and carrying a heavy ruck sack

Army- When we went on road marches we carried all our gear in a ruck sack on our back.

It weighed about 70lbs. It had our stuff... shelter, clothes, bedroll, etc.

Brazil- When we leave the building, which is everyday, we carry a very heavy backpack. It

has everything in it from wet wipes to water balloons. It also has 11 water bottles in it

all ranging from big to small and all are different colors. Everybody has thier own

color. Why, I still can't figure out because everybody is drinking out of mine!

7) There are a lot of tears and snot flying

Army-In basic they took all of us to the gas chamber. They then made us breathe CS gas
(tear gas) so that we would know what it was like if we encountered it in combat.

There was a lot of tears and snot slingin goin on.

Brazil-From day 1 there has been a lot of tears and snot slingin going on. And I'm just

talking about the adults!

8) Your body is totally broken down and tired

Army- You start your day by running and PT (physical training). You march to hours on

end. You are being pushed every waking hour. You are so sore and the first few weeks

there you don't think you'll make it. And you think your body can't take it but you

perservere.

Brazil- We start our day by running after kids and PT (potty training). We are refereeing

and trying to train our kids to hours on end. My body is so sore from see-sawing,

pushing kids on swings, playing soccer, running after kids that are constantly in

escape mode, climbing on monkey bars, helping them up and down the slide, etc. I

even tried to do a cartwheel and I think I pulled something. We are being pushed

every waking hour. We've only been here a week and sometimes I don't think we'll

make it but we perservere.

But then I think about the payoff. After a while in the ARMY your body got stronger

and all the physical and mental stuff didn't effect you any longer. Actually it was the struggle

in the begining that gave you the power to be effective in the end. I believe that the things we

are experiencing right now are only going to make us stronger and more effective in the end.

These kids deserve a chance... just like every child does. I know that what we're doing right

now is only making a small impact on the orphan issue globally (there are currently 143

million orphans worldwide)... but, I also know that what we're doing for our 5 is going to make

a huge impact on thier lives forever.

I only cried 2 or 3 times today (this is an improvement). The one I will tell you about as I end

today's blog is this... Mary Jane and I were able to catch a little bit of one of the services live on
line today. As we were watching, it was very emotional for us because we miss our church

family so bad. But, as we were watching Diogo walked up to us as we were veiwing and we told

him in Portuguese that this was our church, his church. You should have seen the smile on his

face! He just sat there totally glued to the screen as worship was going. Just then, Pastor got

up into the pulpit and was singing and then let out a 'hallelujah' and as soon as he did Diogo

said, "halleujah" with a thick Portuguese accent. We just sat there amazed at what we had just

heard out of the mouth of our 5 year old. He said it with conviction too! For some reason that just helped bring things back into focus for me. We aren't just rescuing children from an

orphanage. We are raising mighty men and women of God who are going to have an impact on

thier world. As far as how I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally... bring it on because

we're on a mission from God and NOTHING will stop us!

We love you guys!

Battered and Bruised in Brazil

"I am finally getting my chance to tell the story!"

2008-03-08T17:09:00.000-08:00

Jim is finally giving me a chance to blog (he always likes to tell his story) so here goes... It looks like we've made it through the first three days with our kids. Boy has it been an emotional rollercoaster. I have been either laughing or crying the entire time. Laughing, because I can't believe this is my life....crying, well because reality is, this is my life!!!! I thought I came totally prepared to take on the world, little did I know what a huge undertaking that this would be. I am such a home-body and this has put me totally out of my comfort zone. I miss my son (Michael), my dogs, my bed, my family, my church, my friends...you get the idea. Actually today wasn't that bad. I only cried four times. At breakfast Jim and I looked across the table at each other and broke down in tears. Meal times are very hectic with the younger ones. The positive side is that by the time I get to eat, I'm usually so stressed out that I hardly want to eat anything. I may just loose some weight before this is all over. We are on the go from 6:00 until 9:30. Yes, you heard me right, 6:00 am. I have no idea why anyone would want to get up that early but they do...every single one of them get up early. I packed my straightner and my curling iron, now I wished I would have saved the room in my luggage and left them at home. I'm lucky to get my hair 3/4 of the way blow dried before someone needs my help. So basically I am a walking frizz bomb and I don't like it at all but there's really not a whole lot that I can do about it unless I shaved my head like Jim. Believe me, if I could get away with it, I would do it. For those of you who know me well, you know that I like things clean and smelling good. Well, there's nothing clean and smelling good about seven people (six of them being males) sharing one bathroom. I had forgotten what it was like having little boys pee all over the seat. Last night I was quickly reminded of that fact. I went to sit down on the toilet and it felt a little sticky. I was so tired that I didn't even have the strength to hover (for those of you men that don't know what I am talking about, just ask your wives). I guess there are just some things that aren't important anymore, like having a clean toilet seat.?? Did I mention that in Brazil, you don't flush your toilet paper (they say that the pipes are too small)? No, it goes in the trash can right next to the toilet. Now you can imagine how pleasant that is with seven people and no air moving around.

But seriously, today I was thinking about how incredibly blessed that we are to have been chosen by God to be the parents to these precious little children. They truly are great kids. Today we were able to go to the park next door. It was so nice to have something different to do. The kids loved it! We overheard Anna Carolina "bragging" to another girl at the park about her family and how she was going to be living in the United States. She was so proud of all of us. Tonight there was a group of girls her age outside our window playing so she asked if she could go play with them. I went to check on her a few minutes later and when I looked out of the window she said "mom, come down here." I said I would but then I got busy doing something else. A few minutes later she came upstairs and grabbed my hand and said, "please come down there with me." I told her I really didn't want to because I felt ugly because I had been crying. She said, "you're not ugly, you're very pretty." She then looked at Jim and said, "isn't mom pretty?" Now how was I going to say no to her. She grabbed my hand and took me downstairs to show me off to her little friends. It almost made me cry (unfortunately I had already reach my crying limit for the day). I realize how important it is for these kids to have a family. They were so ready for us. It has truly been an amazing journey. Thanks to all of you for your love and support. We feel your prayers. Well it's time for bed so I guess I'll close for now. We love you!

Mary Jane

"And they were naked and unashamed"

2008-03-07T17:14:00.001-08:00

No, I'm not quoting something out of the book of Genesis...what is it with my kids and them wanting to take thier clothes off? Todays challenge was trying to keep clothes on all 3 of our youngest boys! It's hot here but give me a break. I'm not exagerating when I say that every time I turned around when we were outside (which is most of the day) they were stripping down! And did I forget to mention that they aren't circumcised and that freaks me out? Anyway, today was another challenging day. The family is getting along great but we are so bored. There are only so many water balloon fights to have and only so many times to kick a ball around before you wonder, "what are we going to do for the next 40 days?" Please pray for us! I was so bored that I let Matthew shave my head completely bald today. Yesterday was just a buzz cut but today I'm Mr. Clean. Maryssa told me I looked ridiculous and that if anyone saw it they would laugh in my face... thanks Maryssa for that vote of confidence. One little tidbit of info I'd like to pass along; The 'wedgy' isn't just an American phenomenon, it is a universal way of torture for younger siblings. The older ones do it to the younger ones here but they add a little extra zing to it... after they pull the underwear up, they pull down the shorts on the outside to reveal what now looks like a g-string in the back! Even though it's funny I tell them "no" because I'm so responsible, right? Anyway, I can't wait for everyone to meet the kids. They are truly amazing. They definitely aren't perfect but I can see why God chose us for them. Even though it is going to stretch us spiritually, emotionally and physically it is going to be worth it. When Diogo (our 5 year old) prayed last night at dinner one of the things he prayed (it was in Portuguese, but my father-in-law interpreted for us later) was, "thank you God for my family." Man, when I heard that a lump rose up in my throat and tears came to my eyes because it truly humbled me. God is so good.

We miss church! I know we have only been away 1 service so far but it doesn't feel natural. We love H&L, our Pastors and all of our friends! Well, it's late so I'm off to get my sleep before the kids get up at 6:30 (that's 4:30 Atlanta time). We love you guys. Mary Jane will blog tomorrow so be sure to check back with us.

Love Ya!

10 people bored here in Brazil

"God definitely has a sense of humor!"

2008-03-06T16:29:00.001-08:00

Well, we made it through the first 24hrs with no injuries (it's a miracle) and today was definitely challenging. I'll start today's blog with a little explaination first. We are all staying at a Christian retreat center in Curitiba, Brazil. Every house and business is set up like a little prison compound with walls and iron bars around each property because of the crime in the area. So our movement outside of the center is limited. The place we are staying is very clean and the people are very nice. There are a few things that I would like to point out though... it's very hot during the day which isn't bad except for the fact that there isn't ANY air conditioning here! That's right none! If you know me at all you know I can't stand being hot. Also there are no screens on any of the windows so that means any and all bugs in the area are welcome here. I haven't taken a hot shower yet because the water is cold because they don't have hot water heaters here either. Now, that was to just give you a little background on our environment. Today we were challenged just trying to keep the kids occupied. This wasn't bad except that Robert (2yrs old) and Gabriel (3yrs old) had former lives as "escape artists!" Everytime I turned around they were gone! Oh, did I mention they only speak Portuguese? We were constantly running and refereeing all of the little ones the entire day. At one point today I asked Mary Jane, "what in the world was God thinking when he called us to this?" But then we would see little things that would encourage us. Like how much these kids crave and give affection... or like tonight seeing Matthew and Marlon laughing histerically together even though thier communication is limited (they are best buds already)... or me getting beat by Diogo (our 5 year old) in a memory game where you try to match cards together. Then having him laugh at me and say something in Portuguese ( I think he was talking trash and taunting me? Like father, like son already.) Even though today was a struggle we know that it will only get easier. Especially when we get back home to our own environment. The highlight of the day is when all the boys, even me, shaved our heads. I will post a pic of it tomorrow. These kids are so cute and we are truly blessed dispite all of the challenges. We miss everybody. Please continue to pray. We love you!

Luv Ya,

The Dunn 10

One BIG happy family!

2008-03-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning as a family of 5 and now we are a family of 10! Today was amazing. When we woke up we got showers and put on the same clothes that we had been wearing for the last 3 days. Yeah! Anyway, we ate breakfast and by that time it was time to go and meet the kids. When we turned onto thier street our hearts were beating so fast, our stomachs were in knots... we didn't know what to expect. Were these children going to like us? Were we going to be what they expected? Or were they going to be disappointed? We didn't know. But here we were turning onto thier street, then walking through the gate that led up thier house. When we walked in there they were all smiles and Robert the 2 year old just ran up and jumped into Mary Janes arms and gave her the biggest hug. Then when he saw me he stuck out his arms for me to take him. They were all so happy to see us. We visited for about an hour and a half (I've got video that I will edit and post later). It was time for us to leave and go to court and petition the judge for our new children so they all walked us to the front gate and then Ana Carolina in her sweet little voice said, "bye bye Mom and Dad see you in a little while(in portuguese of course)". It stopped me in my tracks... it was all I could do to not break down and start crying right there on the sidewalk. It just blew me away that she was already referring to us as Mom and Dad. We had been told that they would probably call us aunt and uncle or even by our first names for a while. We waved goodbye and Mary Jane and I went to the courthouse while my mother-in-law and father-in-law took Matthew and Maryssa back to the Hotel. When we arrived at the courthouse we had to meet with a case worker first. She had to go over thier entire history with us. There were a few times when she was telling us some of the things that had happened to the kids that I had to really take a few deep breaths and count to ten. I believe that if I saw thier biological father on the street I would probably put the beatdown on him (Of course I would ask for forgiveness later!) because these kids should never have been exposed to this type of heartache at such a young age. After this meeting we met with the judge and he granted our petition for custody. Now it was time to go get our kids! When we got back they were all ready to go with no reservations. When we got back to the hotel our luggage finally arrived (praise God, I'm sure everyone was tired of seeing me in my Kirby Pucket Twins jersey!) So, we took some of the toys we had packed for the kids and we played outside for a few hours. It was so much fun playing with little kids again. We had pizza for dinner and Diogo prayed. it was so sweet. Amidst bathing the kids and getting them ready for bed tonight it finally hit me... I've got 5 brand new kids! We noticed that Marlon kneeled by his bed and prayed before he got into bed... I wonder what he prayed? Does he know how much our Heavenly Father loves him? I know he will one day if he doesn't now. The icing on the cake for me was when I was tucking Ana Carolina into bed tonight and she hugged and kissed me and looked me in the eyes and said, "I love you Dad." I'm sitting here crying as I write this because I'm totally blown away that the Lord has allowed us to do this. He is so good to us. Well, I better get to bed now. Thank you for praying for us.

Love Ya,
Jim, Mary Jane, Michael, Maryssa, Marlon, Matthew, Ana Carolina, Diogo, Gabriel and Robert

We made it!

2008-03-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

Well we made it. We left Atlanta on Monday around 1pm and went to Charlotte (we were able to get cheaper tickets this way) where we had to sit on the tarmac for 1 hour while thet retrieved a part from the warehouse and then installed it on our plane. Then when we arrived in Miami over an hour late we found out that they cancelled our reservation because we weren't there on time. The agent said we could wait in line but she couldn't guarantee that we would make the flight. She found seats for us but we were all over the plane. We barely made the flight because we had to get through security and the line was looooong. But we made it just in time. We couldn't sleep on the flight (except Matthew, he got in about 3 hours) because it was so crowded but we perservered. FYI, if you are ever on an international flight to Brazil and they ask you in the morning eggs or sandwich...? go with the sandwich. Even though the meat inside isn't identifiable it is still a safer bet than the eggs because I'm pretty sure eggs aren't suppose to come in a solid block that resembles one of Mary Jane's lemon bars. Anyway, when we arrived in Sau Paulo and got over to the conveyer to pick up our luggage and... you guessed it, it never came around! The longer we stood waiting and begging God to please miraculously cause our luggage to materialize, even though the conveyer was now off, we decided to make our way over to the awesome counter known as "lost luggage". These people really moved with a sense of urgency for us, NOT! To say that they were laid back would be an understatement. As the clock was ticking we now only had about 15 minutes to get ticketed and go through security and make it to our gate. Somehow we made it! We then got to sit for another hour on the tarmac waiting to take off... all this on no sleep. Well, we finally made it to Curatiba safe and sound. Just no luggage. We met our liaison at the airport and it made all of the headaches that we had encountered over the last day worth it all. He told us that when the kids recieved our photo albums last week that they went crazy. The little ones were running all over the place with joy! They even said that "Mommy is pretty'. And you know something? I have to agree wholeheartedly with them on that! He then told us that Ana Carolina made the comment that she was afraid that her new family was going to beat her up.? That just broke our hearts to think that our little daughter identifies "family" as something that will hurt her. It's things like that, that totally solidifies in our minds that what we are doing the right thing. It's the reason why the Lord has chosen us to step up and show these children what it means to be accepted and loved unconditionally. So, tomorrow is the big day. We will go and meet the kids for the first time at 9:30am. It looks like we'll be wearing the same clothes tomorrow as we have for the last 2 days! That's awesome. I'ts a good thing that underwear has 2 sides, huh? Gotta go. Pray for us! Luv Ya!

Jim and Mary Jane

The Time is Close!

2008-02-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time! We are only 3 weeks away from leaving. It is hard to believe that we will be adding 5 more smiling faces to our family!? We are so excited. God has been so faithful and has provided everything in just the right time. Here are the newest pics of the kids.

Marlon, Ana Carolina, Robert, Diogo, and Gabriel

Just think... these kids were hand picked by God for us! And what is more amazing is that we were hand picked by God for them. Wow! Just pray for us so that we will have wisdom on how to properly integrate them into our family. Well, that's all for now. We will blog as soon as we are enroute to Brazil.

Love Ya,

Jim and MJ