Hava does all kinds of things!

I just realized that Hava is doing all sorts of stuff and I keep forgetting to fill you all in!
-she puts the toy phone to her ear and says "ah-o" - "alo" in portuguese for "hello."
-she blows kisses with her hand
-she turns off the lights
-she knocks on doors
-she kisses our cheeks as well as all her stuffed animals :o)
-she dances to music
-she hides under and around the furniture from us and waits for us to "find" her
-she "reads" her own books (in "havanese") :o)
-she signs "finished" when she's done eating
-she tries to sign "sleep" when she's ready for a nap
-she pats her legs in the car to the beat of the music playing
-she gets her own jacket when she's ready to leave

Anyway, I'm sure she is no child prodigy, but we think she pretty cute and smart! :o) We have been pretty swamped lately with this and that, but we hope to get some videos up shortly of our little einstein. :o)

Hava's Newest Feat

Well, she is now not only walking, but running and evidently ready to "climb every mountain!" She's been trying to climb everything for the past week or so. Today we found her getting off the bed like an old pro....feet and legs first, then a little scoot down and she was off!

We are so proud of her and glad she is growing as the L-RD sees fit. We are a bit concerned with having her on the plane in June...it will be over 28 hours from start to finish of our trip in June and she will be 17 months old. She is already having trouble staying still and doesn't like to sleep in our arms - only in her bed or with a stranger (oddly enough) - so please pray for us and for her that we will have a good trip.

Would you like to be a stop on our way to the Amazon?

Well, we have officially bought our tickets to Brazil and are now planning more of the details of getting from DFW to Miami and back. We will be traveling by car and would love to stop and see you! If you are not too far from our route and would like us to drop in and say hey, please contact us either here or by email (leitefam@yahoo.com) as soon as possible. Here's our plan:

DFW - I-20 to Shreveport, LA
Shreveport - Hwy 49 to Lafayette, LA
Lafayette - I-10 to Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge - I-12 to Slidell, LA
Slidell - I-10 to Lake City, FL or to Jacksonville, FL

if: Lake City - Hwy 75 to Ocala, FL - Hwy 27 to FL Turnpike to West Palm Beach, FL

if: Jacksonville - I-95 to West Palm Beach, FL

We will be in the West Palm Beach - Miami area from around the 9th-16th of June.

The last leg of the trip (to Lake City then south, or to Jacksonville then south) will depend on who wants us to come by! :o) We will be traveling on the weekend of June 6th - so check your calendars and let us know. If you live in the WPB/Miami area, plan on sometime between the 9th and the 16th and let us know what works for you.

This is just our first video trial, but here is a little bit of Hava walking - and siking me out like she's coming to me.

Tooth # 6

Yep, the other canine came through. That would explain a certain fussy nature. :o)

TOOTH #5-

I think it actually poked through a couple of days ago, but it was there for sure today - upper right (Hava's right) canine. The other canine looks not too far behind. They had both been showing for quite some time now, but I guess they were hard ones to get through. Yay for teeth!!!

YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME

I know, I know, you're all gonna kill me for having forgotten to mention that: HAVA STARTED WALKING!!!

Yup, she gets up to 5 or 6 steps in now and then and is pretty content with herself when she does - she claps after (and sometimes before) she takes off! She is also very vocal, although we don't always understand her. I think the 2-language thing slows her down a bit, but she'll get there. She can show you where her nose and mouth are in English and Portuguese, say Mamae (momma in Portuguese), NO (but we still can't tell if she's saying it in English or Portuguese) and a few more of her own words she has made up. She understands the concept of YES - she can nod her head to you nice and dramatically!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

We were thinking the other day about the passages in scripture:
"Ask and you shall receive, if you ask in my (YESHUA) Name."
Yeshua=Salvation
"You receive not because you ask not."

So, we decided we should "make our requests known." We asked the L-rd to bless us in order for us to "go out into all the earth" and "seek first the Kingdom" - salvation of souls. In order for us to do that, our bills here at home would need to be covered besides our travel needs. We also had been praying for Hava's paperwork to come through smoothly.

On Friday, we were blessed. G-d heard us and has blessed us with offerings and it looks like our stateside bills will be covered while we are traveling this summer. On the same day, Hava's paperwork started to arrive. Although we still have some needs (mostly financial) in order to travel this summer, we PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH! He is sovereign; the King of ALL and He reigns from on HIGH. What a blessing to be children of the KING - our Protector and Provider!!!