A Ghetto-fabulous Birthday!

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