Here we go again

11/11/14 We never would have thought that this would be our story again...to be in Argentina for the second time, but here we are.  We are so very thankful for the Lord's provision for us.  Thank you to our friends, family, and church family who have supported us with finances and prayers..they are greatly felt and appreciated.  Today we got up very early and headed to Chicago airport.  There we had a 2 1/2 hour flight to Miami.  Once we arrived in Miami we weren't sure what gate we needed to be at or where to go.  We ended up walking thru a door and right there was a lady driving a free aiport shuttle bus.  We asked her if she knew where we should go and she said, "you caught me a little off guard because  I was just coming into this hallway to go to the restroom, but your needs are greater than mine, so hop on."  We graciously did and she took us to exactly wehre we needed to be which was truely a blessing since it was AT LEAST a mile or more, that she drove us in airport that we would have otherwise had to walk.  Once getting to the gate and getting ready to board the plane the lady in charge saw that we had our hands full with our children and carry on luggage and allowed us to go ahead of everyone else in line along with those people who were in wheelchairs and crutches to board the plane.  Another God thing.  We flew from Miami  to Sao Paulo, Brazil (an 8 hour flight).  The flight was overnight but between taking care of the needs of all of our children, Nathan and I didn't get very much sleep.  They served us supper and breakfast on the plane ride to Brazil.  The breakfast was served at 4 a.m. which was really midnight our time back in the states.  The boys slept thru breakfast and Lydia, Nathan and I ate a midnight breakfast. 

11/12/14 -We arrived in Brazil at 6:30 a.m. and then had to board our next plane at 7:30 a.m.   We didn't have much time in Sao Paulo airport to wait.  Our next flight was 2 hours long from 8-10 a.m, which we all slept most of the way.  When we arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11/12/14 after going through customs and getting all our luggage (which everything of ours arrived safely) we were greeted by Elizabeth (who arrived in Buenos Aires a day earlier than us, from Illinois) and Heriberto Bueno (who lives in Buenos Aires with his wife).  We got all of our luggage packed into two vehicles and headed straight to the bus terminal to see about bus tickets to Choele Choel.  They had a 1 p.m. bus service to Choele, so we took that one.  We were very hungry by not but the bus station had told Elizabeth and Heriberto that we would have lunch and supper on the bus, so we decided to wait since the bus was coming very shortly.  We boarded the bus at 1 pm and left Elizabeth and Heriberto in Buenos Aires (since Elizabeth's luggage had gotten lost en route to BA).  We were now headed to Choele Choel where we will be living on a 13 hour bus ride even further south in Argentina.  As the hours ticked on riding the bus we never recieved lunch.  We were hungry.  By 5 or 6 p.m. at night we were desperate for some food but we still had hope for supper coming.  Nathan found some Chex mix at the bottom of our bag and it felt like a glorious feast.  It held us over but we were still hungry for supper.  It was getting dark outside now and we still hadn't been served supper.  Then Nathan started talking to a couple who were believers in Jesus and were headed to Neuquen on the bus.  They could hear our children fussing because they were hungry and they gave us all the food they had which was a small sandwich and round pieces of hard white bread.  They told Nathan that the bus would stop in Bahia Blanca and there he may be able to get out and buy some food.  He did just that at 11pm at night.  We were never more thankful for a sandwich and empanadas that tasted like a feast.  I knew we would be ok then.  Phillipians 4:12-14.  The kind couple told the bus driver our plight and they also gave us all the rest of their bottled water to drink.  We arrived in Choele then at 2 a.m.

11/13/14 Day 1
We slept in and then had breakfast at Delbert and Frieda Erb's house.  Today we spend unpacking and cleaning our apartment.  We also went with Delbert to the grocery store to buy some groceries.

11/14/14 Day 2
Elizabeth arrived this moring after retrieving her lost luggage in BA and we all went grocery shopping together.  She will be staying in the apartment right next to ours.  We had lunch at Juan and Ami Sieber's house and spend the rest of the afternoon there.  At ~8:30pm we walked to the playground for the kids to play and then to the Heladaderia for helado(icecream).

11/15/14 Day 3
Yeah!  We were brought a washing machine and baby bed for Liam.  Two things I thought that we wouldn't have while we were here.  I am so grateful for both of these things.  I went to the grocery store today to buy our food for the day and we unsuccessfully tried to take a nap in the afternoon.  The kids eating and sleeping schedule is still on Illinois time which is a three hour difference from here.  It will take some time to adjust. 

11/16/14 Day 4
I made breakfast and something for lunch this morning before it got too hot in the house to cook.  We also took a walkt to explore more of the town with Elizabeth this morning.  We found another playground and the kids played there for awhile.  Liam has been having a fever for the past two days but he seems to be doing better today.  This evening at 7pm aa of the four church zones met in the central church building very close to where we are living to worship Jesus.  Our two older children even went to the Sunday school that they had for kids.  We had a wonderful time worshipping in Spanish and seeing so many familiar faces from last time we were here.  This lasted from 7-9:30pm.