By Donna.

July has been a hot one, with temperatures in the 30 degrees plus and humidity in the 90’s all month. We are extremely thankful for air conditioning, swimming pools and occasional rain, without which we would be of all men most miserable! Through it all we have stayed strong, all except for Jorge that is, who was attacked with a powerful virus. This put him out of action for about a week with fever, cough, sleeplesness and nervousness to top it off. Thank God he is pulling out of it now! This illness has pushed us to take steps to be more diligent in preventing dehydration, as it is easy to forget to drink enough water in this hot climate. Also, tweaking our meal plans in order to maintain a healthy diet has been a priority.  We thank the Lord for His abundant mercy and power to heal! We thank  everyone who has helped us to fight this battle with prayer and practical health tips! Teamwork!!

At last we were able to celebrate Gloria’s High School Graduation! The commencement ceremony was held at home and we were blessed to have the entire family together, many of whom are distinguished alumni of the Soares’ Gateway Homeschools endeavor! Gloria has worked tirelessly the past four years, and in particular her senior year in order to fulfill all her high school requirements, take college entrance exams and make college applications. She has also been a tremendous blessing to the ministry, not only Wordproject but various other projects over the years in Africa. On top of that, she is a critical element of our home’s inspiration, continually contributing with her culinary skills, piano music, artistic and inspirational ideas! It has been  an amazing four years and we wish her a blessed and fruitful future in her pursuit of medical studies wherever that may lead her!

Sweet little Isabel, aka Bel Bel has turned two ! How the years have flown!  She is already singing up a storm! Some of her favorites are “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” , “Incy Wincy Spider”,  “Rain, Rain Go Away”, and of course “Happy Birthday To You”! She is so enthusiastic about life, it is contagious! It is a pleasure to hold a conversation with her and she has no qualms in stating whether or not she likes something!  We pray that she has a blessed year and a safe trip to Portugal with mom and dad this month!

All at Gloria’s Graduation

Bel Bel’s Birthday

Emanuel and Mandy and sweet Bel Bel (2)