let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

being back in a land where it snows is so exciting!
being here with 2 brazilians who had NEVER SEEN snow makes it that much more entertaining.

gabriel, my cousin, at first contact with snow said, "hey, it's fluffy like i imagined it would be"
the fact that flakes actually look like miniature stars has also been fascinating!

tomorrow we leave for NYC -- New Years at Time Square!
we will then proceed to Washington DC to visit Mark's brother and wife.

unforgettable memories in the making...
much love!
ali

feliz christmas!

we are in columbus, ohio! home of the buckeyes! and the kaisers...
as you can imagine, mark treasures every moment here!
we are off to Scott and Laura's - brother and sis-in-law - for the family celebrations.

we hope you have an incredible day with family and remember what this day is all about - Love came down.

much love from the kaisers to your family!

Fun from Houston

This is a peek at one of the adventures we've had on this trip - when we were in Houston we got to meet up with Carol's mom and sister Marlene (Carol interned with Ali and I in Itu for a year). We've loved meeting the fam of our favorite little Mexican!



Then we embarked on a whole new adventure with Amanda (who served as an intern alongside Carol). Our dear friends Jonathan and Jessica run an annual fair trade show to provide economic opportunity for refugees in Austin amongst others around the world. The show was to take place the next day. When we talked to Jessica she mentioned that there were 150 lbs of African purses stuck at the Houston airport needing to arrive in Austin, so we asked, "where can we go to get 'em?"

The warehouse guys doubted me, but the pictures show that it can be done, in a Kia, with three passengers!









Ali sat in the back amongst all the purses. I'm pretty sure I could've rolled the call and she wouldn't have felt a thing. :)

But what bothered her the most was not the lack of space, it was the warehouse guy's warning, 'If you see any black spiders crawl out of the purses... you better get out.' She didn't find that nearly as funny as he did!

saturated

we have been in the States for 6 weeks now!

we were not ready to leave for so long. we first planned on coming in mid-december and being here for a TOTAL of 6 weeks. so considering 10 was quite overwhelming.
our prayer became, "if 10 weeks, then allow us to learn and be inspired and dream bigger"

and we are still overwhelmed. overwhelmed by the response of our ultimate provider and inspiration.

we have received books, we've had conversations, we've met amazing and generous people, we have listened to dreams that include Itu, and we have continued to be amazed and curious at God's incredible creativity.

here are some pics that tell some stories.