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

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?"

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!

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!

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!"

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