Beads and Books

Some school pictures...

Benjamin 11th grader

Rebekah 10th grade

Jacob 5th grader

Abigail 8th grader

The Peru girl cousins enjoyed spending a morning together. They had a jewelry making party.

First Sunday Back at Victory

Ben with one of the young ladies from church

Delcious potluck of peruvian food

Tons of people, including new faces to us, at the potluck

We made it!

Thursday at noon we left the hotel, arrived at the airport and found out that our check-in bags arrived in Lima several days before we did. We hoped they were still there and unopened (they were). At 3 PM they announced our boarding would be delayed until around 6 PM, we started laughing...so many delays, missed flights, etc...what would be next. At 5 PM we began boarding, at 6 PM we actually took off. Can you say excited? The flight was awesome with free headphones to use the personal movie/game screens at our seats. The children even played Battleship against each other (all my men were in row 17, us ladies were in row 8). We landed in Lima at 12:30 AM, flew through immigrations and picked up all of our bags. We now had 26 bags in our possession (carry ons and check ins). Off to the national airline counter to recheck in the checkins. We found out that now they allow 2 bags per person since we came off an international flight, woohoo, we only had to pay for the 2 extra bags!!! What a blessing. By 2:30 we had had some chicken and were waiting at our gate for our flight to Trujillo. Jacob slept through most of the wait. By 5 AM we were on our plane flying to Trujillo. It was a blessing to get home. Several of our youth group members were at our home cooking us a breakfast of pancakes and fruit salad. Too bad we had eaten on the flights and in the airport, we weren't too hungry. It is great to be home, today we saw many of our friends and church members, lots of huggin' is going on today. Several of our bags are unpacked, the rest will wait until next week. David is at the youth meeting right now, having a great reunion I am sure. Thanks to everyone for your diligent prayers for us.

Happy people waiting in the Lima airport for the last leg of our journey.

Jacob sacked out in the airport

Beautiful sunrise over the ocean on our flight to Trujillo
Our pickup packed with some of our bags

Dad's pickup with more of our stuff

Some of those who greeted us at home with a breakfast

Wednesday

Here are a few pictures from today so far...

Yes, we are using lots of sunscreen.

It is 104 outside with the heat index, we don't stay out long!

My pool man!

We have a grocery store about a block away so that has been helpful.
We haven't had to eat out all the time.

While We Wait

As many of you know, due to a storm on Friday we were delayed by 2 1/2 hours from landing in Houston, TX. Our flight to Lima left without us (and 30 other passengers). For 2 days we tried to get on the plane by being on standby but to no avail. We do, now, have tickets for the Thursday flight. We will land in Trujillo at 6:15 AM on Friday, only 7 days later than expected! We are using these days to reach out to those we come in contact with. Many are frustrated and yes, angry that they aren't on the plane but we are trying to be a testimony to them. It has also been a time of growth for our children, they REALLY want to be in Peru, NOW!. They have been disappointed for 3 missed boardings, but do understand that God has this in His perfect plan for us. Does that mean it is easy? No, but it does mean that we are not in this alone, God is here with us, He loves us and wants the best for us, even if that means waiting. So...what do we do while we wait? We are thankful for this Econolodge that has given us a fairly good discount for staying several nights and being in a "distress" situation as they call it. A block away is a Kroger grocery store where we can buy food so we don't have to eat out all the time. Our hotel rooms each have a microwave and fridge! Our home church gave us a gift for travel expenses, God had it all planned out for us. There is a great pool right across the parking lot too! Since we just came from the Stilwell family reunion we even have our swimsuits and play clothes with us. We are thankful for many things, many prayers from others and that we are together and safe. We also have great beds to sleep in! Here are some pictures of our few days here.

Supper by the pool, Church's chicken, Yum!

Fun in the pool

Rebekah and Abigail working on Sudoku

Ben trying to wait patiently

Flying from Chicago to Houston (via San Antonio) We sat in San Antonio for 2 hours while the storm cleared or they fueled the plane, we aren't sure which is true.

Girls on the plane