Scenes from Lisbon

Here's a few shots from Lisbon:



 Scene from Alice in Wonderland was on the Subway Wall. It IS the Year of the Rabbit...

They Have these Trams throughout much of the city.















Some of the architecture.













 



"Hello Kitty" must be everywhere!















 
The cappucino is Debe's, not Mika's.

Huge Mosquito

This guy got into our house recently.  Not surprising as they do not use screens on the windows here.  It was a little unexpected as it is January, but the weather has been pretty warm lately (50s-60s).

Finally made it

Debe's Dad sent us a package, which just arrived. He sent it early enough, but due to some Post Office problems, it got delayed. Anyway, thank you so much; we all enjoyed it immensely! 

Book Review: Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore

This book is a "366 day devotional of inspiring stories from the front lines of faith"; that is missionaries and other Christian workers from around the world.  As missions is one of my passions, as well as my occupation, it sounded like an interesting read.


This book is divided into twelve topics: one for each month. Beth Moore writes an introduction for each month, which is followed by each day's reading. It would certainly be suitable as a devotional, as each page contains a Bible verse, the story, and a short prayer at the end.


The real highlight of the book, of course, are the stories. These short vignettes speak of how God is working all over the world. 


Kim Davis, the compiling editor, did an excellent job of choosing stories that share a bit of other cultures, yet at the same time are so relatable that you almost feel like you were there. The common thread that ties all the varied stories together is that as we are faithful to trust and follow God, He also is faithful to protect and meet all of our needs. I recommend this book!

I received this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. 

The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Christmas Village

Having some time off from teaching, we took the kids up to Obidos.



Obidos is a village inside of castle walls.
Pretty cool.

This time of year, they set up everything for Christmas.

Emi really wants to see snow (it was her birthday "wish", actually).

Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately) it is not cold enough to snow where we live-- to see snow we would need to go up into the mountains.

As that may or may not happen, we thought this might be a good alternative.




Emi really enjoyed ice skating.

We're not big fans of Pai Natal (Father Christmas); and the girls know what Christmas is really about.

Still, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Nick and his really weird elves.