Traveling Thursday

Hello, hello!

Well, I hope to catch you all up to date with pictures now that we are getting the internet situation worked out! Sorry to keep you all in waiting! We have really appreciated all your prayers.

Kids climbing in the van, ready to go and saying goodbye to their grandparents!

Our whole family at the church! So excited that our dream is comming true!

Everyone gathering and packing up the last of the supplies and "carry-ons". This took a little longer than I thought it would and we even started off a few minutes late. There are a lot of little last minute details that have to be worked out and making sure that everyone has everything and all the walkie-talkies are ready to go!

Trailer is completly full.

Everyone (and some family members) gathered around to go over some important details.

Ken sayed a prayer for our team to send us off! Thank you to everyone for your prayers!

Here we go!! The kids were so excited to finally get into all their travel goodies! They kept trying to get a peak at them in our bedroom the past week!

Our little caravan...we're following the leader, the leader, the leader, we're following the leader wherever he may go...Mexico hopefully!

Tim loves to drive and plan our trips, so he is excited to be taking a "road trip"! (Look at the snow in the background as we left the area.)

Having fun and getting creative (the pipe cleaners were one of the favorites! Mommy and Daddy liked how quiet that toy was too! lol!)

Goodbye beautiful Oregon.

Traveling at night...we had a couple of flashlights, but the kids LOVED the glow-in-the-dark bracelets/necklaces from Lissa!! Michelle and Merry joined us for a bit, which was really helpful as it was dark and the kids enjoyed some new entertainment...mom and dad aren't that exciting! lol! =) I did have to sneak back to the front row seats during this part of the drive and nurse Hudson while he was still in his seat. He did so well the whole drive and the kids have been awesome about waiting to go to the bathroom when we come to a reststop...we do have to encourage them to hold it, but they are troopers! =)

Overall the kids did really well...the new toys were a big help! We pulled into Redding, CA and stopped to stay the night at a church just outside of town. We arrived around 11:30 or so and quickly unpacked what we needed for the night. The team was spread out in about 4 different rooms and our family was blessed to have our own room.

The kids had fallen asleep before our last stop, so they were still full of energy and excitement for the trip. It took them until around 12:30 to fall asleep. We did have a bit of Wi-Fi and I tried to post some on here, but it bumped me off, and I was too tired to keep trying to post, so I hope you don't mind me playing a little catch up!

Our van does seem to be having some troubles...we have two gas tanks and after the front one was empty, Tim switched to the back and found that it isn't working very well...possibly something to do with the fuel line? We have a few guesses. We did have to make an "emergency stop" at the closest gas station after we switched to get more gas. Thankfully we didn't run out! The Lord is watching over us...even if it is a bit stressful for a momment!

I feel really good on this trip...the healthy way we are eating has helped me not feel quite so dizzy or yucky while traveling. We are all still super excited, but getting a bit tired after a busy day. We hope to catch up on our sleep soon...(if that's even possible on a mission trip with a family!! lol!!)

The team is really working together well, I am thankful for all the extra hands and eyes for my kids and even though there have been some unexpected delays, everyone seems to be understanding and loving. Lots of fun going on!

Keep praying! More traveling to come!

(ps...please pray for good internet connections to keep all our family and friends up to date! It also helps when it is fast so I can spend less time on here and more time being involved. And you must know that I love you all as I am doing this fast and just putting the pictures online SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera), so please excuse any darker images...its all just the raw truth of real life!lol!)

Road Trip Treats

I am getting really excited for the fun things that the kids are going to get to do on the road!

A sweet friend of mine (Melissa, or Lissa online) sent the kids a whole package of goodies to keep them busy:

• Personalized folders with printed out games (included are some awesome road games!), coloring book, crayons, mechanical pencil and stickers.
• Coloring book for Hudson (little kid version)
• Word games for Tim
• Scrapping and crafting magazines for me
• Silly Puddy for each of us
• Glow in the dark bracelets/necklaces....a set for each of us and each package has 15!

Then I went to the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things (I also knew that they would come in handy for homeschooling stuff-but I still only spent $25!)

I got them:

• Bucket and Shovel (multi-purposeful: garbage bucket for each of them, puke bucket if needed (yes, we have to plan for this! lol!) and we will be going to the beach as a team on the last day, so it will be fun!
• Pencil holders (to keep some of this stuff in!)
• Mini clip-boards
• Glue sticks...cuz, really-can you ever have too many???
• Pipe cleaners (they are quiet and you can create so much with them!)
• Googley eyes
• Mini staplers (I had one as a kid an LOVED it!)
• Magnifying glasses (we have old maps we are going to give the older kids to keep track of where we are...if they want...but who wouldn't?! Maps are awesome! Can you say co-pilot? =)
• Bible Game Cards
• Clip on reading light (this was for Keaton in case he wants to read or co-pilot while it is dark)
• And yes...I did give them band-aids...these are a treat for our kids (I think most kids, right?!?)...they just love to stick them all over themselves. =)

THEN my mom just sent up a box of tons of activity and sticker books too! They are going to have so much fun! (And yes...if there are any "big kids" who will be on the trip with us...you can ride with us...we will share! Just tell everyone that you wanted to give Tarena a break from all those kids and are "crowd control"...we won't let them know that you really just want to play with the Silly Puddy! lol!)

The coolest part of all this (besides the wonderful generosity of Lissa and my mom-thanks you guys!), was while we were in The Dollar Tree an older man came up to Tim with the kids (I was in a different isle trying to keep their road trip toys a surprise), and said that he wanted to give him $5 in memory of his son who had passed away.

I feel like that is just one of those "George Mueller" moments (you'll have to read an earlier post if you don't know what this means)...God is so faithful and provides for this trip (and every part of our lives) in so.many.ways.

Thank you Lord.




Serving Him,
tarena

Working On The Van

Working on the van a bit before it's ready to hit the road...

this may be more difficult than we anticipated.

Pray for us! 

Serving Him,

tarena

Letter from Brandon

Brandon sent out a Facebook letter:

"Can you believe it is less than 6 months until our next mission trip to Mexico? I promise not to start a count down (yet).

Anyways, I want to get some very important info to those of your that were unable to attend last week's informational meeting.

First of all, the dates of the trip are: March 22 - April 1, 2012 (March 24 - March 30 if flying).

Cost is $450 per person 13 y/o+, $350 per 6-12 y/o and $65 for 5 y/o and under. There is a price break of $50 for anybody who commits to go on the trip by December 4, 2011 and makes a $100 deposit ($50 deposit if 12 y/o or under). The discount doesn't apply if 5 y/o or under. This cost covers all trip expenses except food on the drive down and back, and hotel costs if you choose to not stay in the free churches along the way. Of course if you choose to fly, that will be at your expense also.

We have come up with this pricing structure to make it affordable for families to be able to participate, and to encourage early commitments so we can get a jump start on lining up vehicles. There will also be optional fund raising opportunities made available to reduce the amount required, for those that want to participate.

I hope all of you have had the opportunity to visit the mission website at www.gomissionstomexico.com - if not, I encourage you to do so.

Please prayerfully consider joining us for Spring Break 2012. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

In His Service,

Brandon Chase"

Great info to keep in mind...shocking how inexpensive it is to go! (There are a few additional costs: passport if you don't have one yet, $20 to cover lunches for the week as the church we are helping is going to cook for us, meals on the way down and back and some spending money if needed!).

I'm going to have to figure our costs out a bit differently as our family will be driving our own vehicle and paying for our own gas...it comes out about the same per person...so we are looking around $3,000.

Depending on gas prices. Oh, gas prices-why do you rise???

Serving Him,
tarena