Well Worth It

Two weeks ago, we ventured out...

Rain -lots- of rain,

Muddy, slippery roads making our tank-truck slide like a toddler on an ice patch,

A three year old vomiting from the de-worming medicine,

Momma with fever and testing for malaria (thankfully, with negative results),

A hotel room with a queen sized bed for the 8 of us...

NOTHING was going to stop this crew from making the 10 hour trek 

to pick up our MUCH-MISSED Grandma and Granddaddy!

Truly, the trip wasn't all bad.

We got to see the Nile along with a  bunch of baboons...

We did get pulled over for stopping to take these pictures, 

but Tyler begged for no ticket, and God gave us favor!

No car seats.

Roads are so narrow,
we have to drive on the muddy shoulder any time a bus or truck comes by.

Rough day to be driving.

We were BLESSED to borrow a DVD player that worked for half the trip.
Notice the jerry cans Abigail is leaning on.
We had to bring enough drinking water for us for 5 days.
No drinking hotel water... and buying water bottles for 8 gets pretty expensive!
Take a look at the mud-caked back window!!

Sleepy little sick girl.

Our brave Commander in Chief.
Check out the lady with the basket on her head
...behind the crack in the windshield.
Women carry everything on their heads.

This guy was fascinating!
Tyler stopped to check out a rattling noise on the car.
This big bull was just wandering.

Old Faithful needs a bath.

When we finally reached the city, got some rest, got over a bit of city-culture shock, spent hours in the US Embassy to get Samuel a birth certificate, we found a quiet restaurant with tire swings. A refuge!

No malaria this time. Thank you, Jesus.
We bring the tests and meds everywhere we go.

Improvise!
Does't everyone bring a few extra tents on a trip to the city?!
Notice Samuel's little baby tent behind Tyler.
We need to be all enclosed to sleep because
mosquitoes are really dangerous.

After 17 hours on a plane, and 6 hours of sleep, 

the brave grandparents endured the 10-hour trek back, 

with now 10 of us crammed in the vehicle, lots of extra luggage, 

no drive-thrus or bathrooms along the way, stiff necks, and sore bottoms. 

I guess love makes people do crazy things. 

When we were about 3 hours away from home, we pulled over because something sounded really bad under the car. About 30 seconds after pulling over in the middle of NOWHERE, this nicely dressed man stopped, talked to Tyler for a minute, got under the car on the dirt road with his fancy pants and shirt with trucks flying by. He fixed whatever the problem was, and was on his way. 

Tyler said, "That guy might not have even been real."

I believe in angels.

THIS!
This was my favorite thing the grandparents brought us.
An envelope full of encouragement from some really special people.
A little story about this:
The night they arrived, Patty gave me a few bags of beef jerky
that Pastor John and Cathy sent for us.
Just seeing Cathy's handwriting on the Ziplock bag,
"Hugs and Prayers" made me think...
Wow,  I'm so happy to see her handwriting...
THEN!
The next day, Patty said, "I forgot to give this to you last night!"
This envelope full of handwritten letters was a special blessing.
You praying people cheering us on helps on the days we forget why we're here!

Playtime hasn't stopped yet!
We're all soaking up every minute.