Mission Trip to Rincon July 22-July 29

Sunday, July 22
We arrived in Rincon and unloaded all of our stuff.  We established room set up and ate lunch.  Got ready for work and I pretty much set the rules with the kids.  There wasn't a whole lot of space for them to play that wasn't in the sun and wasn't anywhere that didn't make me a little nervous for them to go without supervision. Later that evening we took kids to the ocean and got to swim around.  The kids really like it!

Monday, July 23
Today hit me hard.  I pretty much used this as my re-coop day.  I stayed in the room almost all day.  I think the idea of all of the changes hit me hard and I really didn't want to be around anyone, try to speak Spanish or understand what little I could, and didn't want to deal with all of the stuff that was going on in my head. Leyton and I took a nap and I slept through lunch--it was fish:(  The kids liked the fish, which I was surprised because it was the whole fish--head to tail! YUCK!
After lunch Bruce and I and the kids went down to the ocean, just by ourselves--it was nice to just be the four of us.  Emme also tried snorkeling--she took to it VERY QUICKLY! She was able to breathe through the snorkel after a few tries! After that, she was staying in the very shallow water where she could float on her belly and crawl on her hands at the same time! She really enjoyed snorkeling! Over all it was a tough day for me, but after that, I felt a little better--just wanted to be able to work and not have to worry about the kids and deal with all of the problems that continued to come up!
Tuesday, July 24
The focus of the work while we were there was the roof and the electrical.  Along with the huge trusses, all of the metal roofing had to be painted, the old church floor had to be dug out, an electrical trench had to be dug out and the gutters and trenches for that had to be dug as well.  Because I wanted to try to stay close to the kids, I started helping painting the church benches, they had to be primed and then painted a pretty green color.  The workers started to put up the huge trusses and started to mix concrete for the new church floor.  Later in the afternoon, we went back down to the ocean and let the kids swim.  Emme started snorkeling in deeper water by herself! She learned how to float on top of the water and still be able to breath through her snorkel.  She only took in water a few times!  She did awesome!!  We also found the hermit crab beach.  There were thousands of hermit crabs all over the shallow shore--from teeny tiny to about the size you would find at the mall--the kids (and me) really enjoyed playing with them! 

After lunch, Bruce got to go iguana hunting again.  This time he got to use his machete to hit the iguanas on the back of the neck to kill them completely.  One of them he hit so hard he chopped the head right off! EWW!!  When the tica women started cleaning the iguanas, Leyton sat there and watched the whole thing--yuck!  Emme watched for a little bit, but said she didn't like it!  After dinner, Bruce and I went for a walk and a swim in the ocean by ourselves.  It was good to have it just us.  We talked and swam and just reflected on everything that had happened in such a short amount of time.  On our way back from the ocean, we saw a monkey.  We didn't get a picture, but it was a black howler monkey and looked just like this in the picture below:

Wish we would have gotten to see it closer, but it probably would have eaten our face off!! Overall a good day!
Wednesday, July 25

(125 degrees and 10:30am) Wednesday started off with heat, humidity and bugs.  Sitting at breakfast the bugs were bad and then low and behold, the sun came out--and it was hot and out all day.  The sun made us realize that we had pretty good weather the first few days, but now this is what Rincon will be remembered for!  I started working on concrete, shoveling, and helping with the electrical wiring.  I was pretty much out on the work site all morning, the most I had worked the whole trip and right before lunch, Eliel, one of the tico workers from the Abraham Project, ran up to me and said, "su hija" which means your daughter.  As I was running to check on her, one of the interns said she cut herself.  As I got to where Emme was, one of the tica women was holding her hand and she was crying.  As I was walking toward her, I saw the trail of blood to the sink where she was.  My heart sunk.  She sliced open her thumb on the second knuckle of her left hand.  When I got to her, she told me she cut it on one of daddy's knives, which really surprised me.  At home, she never played with them and when she found one she always carefully carried it to one of us.  I called for Bruce from the work site and he came running and looked at it, then Steve Thomas came and looked at it and we all decided that she probably needed stitches.  So Bruce, William, Steve and Emme all headed to the clinic.  I stayed there with Leyton and waited for them to return.
Before she left, she confessed to the whole story.  She said her push pop sucker fell on the floor and the spring popped out.  She wanted to fix it, so she climbed on the bench and grabbed one of Bruce's knives to fix it.  When she was trying to fix it, the knife slipped and she cut her thumb wide open.  Luckily the knife was very sharp and it was on the outside of her thumb--no serious injuries and the doctor sewed it up real nice.  Bruce said they were really nice and did a good job. Emme watched the doctor put in two stitches--she was a real champ! That is Bruce's daughter!

After that situation, I pretty much stayed close to the kids.  I wanted to work and I felt like I was being lazy a lot of the time, but I didn't want something like that to happen again!
In the evening, we had a small worship/devotion.  Eliel played the guitar and we sang a song in Spanish--sorta! After that, the ticos sang a traditional Costa Rican song of friendship and when people leave.  It was nice, as always, to fellowship with the ticos.
Thursday, July 26
I helped painting the tin roof, everyone worked on concrete, there was a lot of welding, shoveling, wheelbarrowing, etc.  A lot of work still had to be done, and we were fighting the rain with the painting.  Bruce got shocked twice- once on a wire and once on the welder.  All of the guys were welding with sweaty, wet clothes and standing in a puddle of water.  Can you say, "NOT SAFE!"?  But I guess it had to get done, so they did what they had to.  Micah took several good shocks as well!  Ask Pappy for the video! :)  We got to see a lot of the wildlife--we heard howler monkeys, and looked at the toucans through the binoculars!  The kids really liked that!  And later that evening, Bruce was asked to be a part of killing the pig for our supper.  He got to kill it and shave it.  You'll have to ask him about that, because I was no where to be found!  But when they made the pork chops and everything else, it was sooooo good!  Fresh pork tastes soo different AND better!

Emme and Leyton got the ride the pastor's horse--Thanks Sara!

Friday, July 27
Had to do a lot of painting today.  All of the rafters were set in place and the purlins were finishing, so all of the metal roofing had to be painted.  But of course, we were fighting the rain!  Which makes waiting for the paint to dry=long time!  They finished the church floor, the stage and continued to have to shovel for the gutters and weld. The kids really had a rough day.  Josua (Eliel and Rode's son) punched Emme in the eye, Emme and Leyton both have heat rashes, they both got bitten by lots of mosquitoes and ants.  The kids were tired and so was the whole team.  Steve Thomas, William, Jonathan and the interns all left in the morning, so everything that had to be finished was on us (finishing the roof, painting, shoveling and electrical).

We got a call from our big brother and he said he found us an apartment.  We were supposed to go look at it Monday when we got back to San Jose.  He said it was a smaller 2 bedroom, but it was on a dead end street.  We were very excited about that--safer for the kids and a place for them to play.  We were very excited that God found us a place to live--WHEW!!
Friday night we had a HUGE rain/thunder/lightning storm.  It woke up everyone up, except my kids!  It was the strongest, loudest, brightest storm I have ever experienced.  You could seriously feel the electricity! It knocked out electricity for a short time, and it probably rained 5 inches in a matter of seconds.
Saturday, July 28th
Today we fought rain on and off all day, but we managed to get all of the big pieces of metal roof pained.  Everyone was working on the roof-painting, nailing, welding and electrical.  In the evening, a group of us went fishing.  Bruce and Leyton had just showered, so I was stuck going fishing with Emme.  She really wanted to go--I didn't, but I wanted get to have the experience.  So I put on my big girl panties and went!  We actually had a lot of fun.  She caught two fish and I baited my own hook!

On the way back to shore, we saw glowing organisms in the ocean.  This occurred when something ripple the water, our hands, the motor, etc.  They said it was plankton--I was unsure, so I researched it myself.  Here is a website:
What's Glowing in the Water?
They were right!  It was really neat.  Emme actually got one on her hand, she wanted to show her daddy.  She kept it all the way till we got to shore, then it lost it's light.:(
Sunday, July 29th
Our last day there and it was all about trying to finish everything.  We finished painting all of the metal roof, finished all of the electrical, got all of the metal roof laid, except for the very top, middle of the roof, finished the rain gutters, and finished the church floor and stage.  Of course we wanted to finish everything, but we did a lot in just one week.  We ate lunch and started to pack up.  Before we left, the pastor and his wife, along with all of the workers all prayed.  Of course there were tears of joy and sadness--we didn't want to leave again.  But as Flori, the pastor's wife said, "we will see each other again."

Before

After
Although we didn't want to leave, I was happy to be getting back to San Jose to get to our apartment and start to have somewhat of a regular routine.  I can't wait till we go back to Rincon and see the completed project.  It has been almost a year in the making! So blessed to have been a part of the church rebuild! Gloria a Dios!

Our journey through Immigration...

Friday, July 20th-Saturday, July 21

After the going away party at church, we came home and finished packing.  We were up all night--did not sleep at all! We had A LOT to do in a little bit of time.
During the packing, we had several friends stop by: Dan, Michael, Scott and Linda, not to mention Bruce's mom and younger brother, my parents, and of course--Pappy, Sara and Micah, it was nice to see everyone one more time.
We finally finished packing at about 2:30am and we left for church at 3:00am. There were many things that were left behind because there wasn't enough space or time! I hope to bring some of it the next time we are home.
Arrived at church and loaded everything into the church trailer. The kids were 1/2 asleep, we were tired and by this time had been awake for 19 hours.  We said our goodbyes and we were off to the airport. 

We arrived at the airport and unloaded all of the luggage. We could have up to 32 checked bags and we had 34! But God was apparently there, because the man who was checking our luggage did not charge us for any extra luggage which would have totaled $280.00.  PRAISE GOD!
The flights were good. Kids slept and I tried to-but could not comfortable!! When we arrived to Houston we ate and just hung out. Then off to San Jose. 

When we arrived in San Jose, we arrived at Immigration.  We were the last people to go through Immigration, and we were stopped.  They asked us for proof of leaving the country and why we were here.  We told them to study Spanish at the Institute. We showed them the letter of acceptance, and the bus tickets to Panama. She looked at them and said, "these bus tickets are dated for 3 days ago and are no good." (7/18/12). Then she started asking us different questions that we tried to answer, but nothing was coming out right.  She said the bus tickets were scanned, so not acceptable, then they had the wrong dates, so not acceptable, then lastly we wrote our own names and dates on the tickets, so not acceptable.  She told us we would probably have to buy airline tickets leaving the country.  We were being kicked out of the country before we even got in! But we were praying and we found out our team was praying as well. We walked over to the Immigration office and sat down and waited while she called her supervisor.  She told us that whatever he decided was the final answer.  She talked to him for a short time and finally came back and said he approved our passports for a 90 day tourist visit.  Which she told us that if we don't leave within the 90 days we could receive a negative status and not be able to return to Costa Rica.  Needless to say, we said, "no problemo!"
THE POWER OF PRAYER WORKS!!!
By the time we were through Immigration, all of the bags had been cleared and were being loaded on the bus. They had no problems with any of the bags except the 25lb bag of rice that looked suspicious, but when they saw that it was just rice, they let it through!  After all of that, it was onto Casa de Franco (the bed and breakfast) where Leyton and I took a nap and Bruce and Emme went to Jason and Kerby's to go through some of the bags to find stuff that we needed for Rincon.  That night, we ate dinner, showered, and were in bed by 8pm--by that time, we were basically for 36 hours, except for the little cat naps here and there on the airplane! Then we had to be up again at 4am to leave for Rincon by 4:45am!

Casa de Franco

Today....

Well, today has not been the best day of them all; I went to bed last night not feeling well, slept awful, stayed in bed most of the day, haven't eaten or done anything today.  But as the day went on, it got better and better.
We got to talk to our parents, Jason and Kerby, Pappy, and the Mayes'.  It was really nice to talk with all of them. Really felt like we were back home--or closer to home.  The kids got to talk to their friends on Facetime.  The kids really enjoyed it.

Then we had a nice rain--a lot and really loud on the tin roof-I'm going to have to record how loud it is...but so relaxing!
Then we had a visitor-Paul, who used to live with the family downstairs.  He came up and introduced himself and invited us down for cafesita (coffee).  We did, and it was nice to just talk with people--they shared what they were doing and we shared what we were doing--the kids got to play with new people, which is always a good thing!
We watched a little bit of Spanish cartoons-nothing beats that; had supper-which I didn't eat because I was still feeling not so good, ended the night with a game of chicken foot and got the kids ready for bed.
Although that sounds like a pretty normal day, after all of that, I sat down and looked at Facebook. I saw that our friends Sara and Micah Waddell-who have been with us the whole step of the way- started a new edition--Flat Crawfords--so we don't miss out on everything going on back home.  Here are some of the pictures:

Dan Hitchcock, Ben and Anna Waddell, Matthew Riley, Ronnie Ping.

It was so sweet, and we were so humbled--not only that we missed Wednesday service at our home church, but that they were praying for us and taking time out of their night to take a picture with "Flat Crawfords".  Thank you Sara and Micah Waddell for thinking of us and sharing all of it with us! Love you!
In Him,
The Crawfords AKA "Flat Crawfords"

Settling in....

For those of you who have been following our blog, we are finally updating.  It will be a short one, and I will start catching up from previous weeks without internet service.

We are alive!!!!!!  We are in our apartment. A very quaint (small) upstairs 2 bedroom in San Francisco de Dos Rios, San Jose, Costa Rica.  We are about a 12-15 minute walk to school.  The family that we live above is wonderful-husband (Leo) and wife (Maribel), 2 daughters 13 (I think, forget her name), 11 (Sofia) and a son, 8 (Luis). They have 2 dogs, 1 bird and fish. They have been so nice and welcoming to all of us.

The last couple of days has been a whirlwind of buying stuff for the apartment, start up things, and trying to remember the cultural differences in the needs of everyday items (for example buying a three prong adapter to be able to plug in all of our stuff!)

Last night we ate cold pizza left over from the previous night when the team was still here, that was a blessing to have that pizza because if it wasn't for that, we would not have had anything to eat! This morning I made instant oatmeal for the kids using luke warm/hot water from the shower because I wasn't brave enough to try the stove just yet (it looks a little sketchy:/).  Needless to say, we limped through our first night and first morning!

The kids are doing ok.  Leyton is really having a hard time. We have regressed in our potty training efforts and him just being down right difficult--fits, arguing, fighting, ignoring, crying and saying "I want to go home".  Emme is doing better, but she has had her issues as well.  They are both having problems with the language and I think that is the biggest struggle for them (I know how they feel).  They also have become very clingy to us--which if anyone knows our kids, that is not normal! But I completely understand that they are unsure of their surroundings and feel safest with us.  Tonight was an improvement, Leyton called this apartment our home and both Emme and Leyton got to play with the kids downstairs and Emme said, "I can't wait to learn Spanish."  Hopefully that attitude continues!

This week we are going to map out our walk to the Institute, find our pulperia (mini store), find our panderia (small bakery), and just get our bearings in our neighborhood.  Next week we will be heading to the project to work on some small projects that Steve Thomas has planned for us--he is getting Bruce as much as possible before we start school! Ha Ha!!

We start school with orientation August 28th and will find out all of the details about classes, schedule, kids information, etc.  Can't wait for that! 

Other than that, that's about it for us!  It has been tough, but today definitely has been the best so far!

Will catch up on posts of the last 3 weeks--shew! I really need to get better about this blogging stuff!  PS- for all of you, I'm not good at this, so please be patient until I work this into my daily or weekly schedule!

Love to you all!  Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

In Him,
The Crawfords

PSS- If anyone has skype and would like to add us our user name is: thecrawfords519  Would love to video chat with anyone!

VBS- week 3

Ok, continuing the deeply compressed weeks to try to get caught up.... onto week three-the week of July 8th.

Sunday- Finally returned to Pappy's house and tried to "get settled" which didn't really amount to much, because we were trying not to put anything into drawers, cabinets, etc, because we probably would have forgotten them when it was time to pack! :) Bruce had VBS play practice, and it was his only real run through before the first night of VBS because we were in Indiana the whole week before--talk about stressing him out!

Monday- a pretty normal day, started to try to go through the various boxes and start sorting piles- going to Costa Rica, getting rid of, and storing--temporarily.  Monday night was the kick off for VBS.  I also found out that VBS and all of the kids had chosen us to sponsor--which means that all of the money that the children and workers brought was going to be donated to us and our mission of going to Costa Rica--what a blessing.  So, instead of packing every night--like I had planned--I felt I needed to stick around and make sure I was a part of something bigger than packing.  I mean, after all, they were sponsoring us. How else could I show my appreciation than by being a part of VBS and making sure that I was building relationships with people who believed in what we were getting ready to do?  And I am so glad I did!!! WHAT AN AWESOME VBS!! By far the best so far!  So happy that Emme and Leyton were able to be a part of that before we left! They really, really, REALLY enjoyed themselves!!  I also got to watch Bruce in his play--he was awesome and funny, of course!

Tuesday- Emme and Leyton stayed home with us the whole month of July and this was the first time since we got back from Indiana that I didn't have to work and the kids stayed home with us!  It was a transition for all of us.  The kids are used to being outside and playing and eating every 2 hours...and with everything going on and being at a different house and needing to get back on some type of schedule with sleeping, routine, etc.--needless to say, the kids were getting cabin fever and we had to adjust! Emme and I went to have a Mommy and Emme day and we visited our dear friend and hair stylist Sheila.  We got our hair cut and I had to go back to more of my natural hair color since I know I won't be able to (a) find another hair stylist like Sheila and (b) be able to afford the awesome red, blonde highlights and low lights that she gave me!  So back to brown, but she added a few 'peek-a-boo' highlights and will grow out without really visible roots!  Thanks Sheila for everything!! We will miss you!

Wednesday-I was informed late Tuesday night that Bruce would have to make his last trip to Indiana to have our birth certificates--our last paperwork--to be apostilled.  That was fine, he would go up and come back in time for church, etc.  However, he told me he would not be back to be able to present at one of the speaking arrangements he and a friend set up, so he asked me if I would be able to do it alone.  I had no idea who I was presenting to, what to talk about specifically, or what to even say.  But I accepted and met one of our friends from church to speak at the Harrodsburg Rotary Club about our mission to Costa Rica, what God had been doing in our lives and about our future.  It was really neat and I felt so honored to be asked!  God really took over, because I only had about 20 minutes to talk about everything that has happened with us over the past 3 years or so, and it was perfect! I really enjoyed it and felt blessed and honored to be a part of that night! While I was presenting, the kids got to go and visit and play at their 2nd home (and school) God's Treehouse.  I was able to get lots of stuff accomplished and errands ran and presented at the Rotary Club, and the kids were able to run, play and see their friends!  All in all, a good day!

Thursday-Bruce and I ran errands all day, I can't even remember what, who, or where, but we were running.  Kids went to our dear friends' and former neighbors house to hang out and play while we met with our insurance agent for lunch.  He also has become a great Christian person in our lives.  Who knew that your insurance agent could also be such a good friend, accountability partner and awesome brother in Christ.  Thanks for lunch Jack Williams! And if anyone needs insurance needs, check out Jack Williams at State Farm in Danville (that's free advertising!) :)

Friday- The last night of VBS and all week, Steve and Terry (Southside's children's ministry) have been collecting money and if they raised $750.00, then Steve would take 2 pies to the face.  Well, after and awesome week at "The Incrediworld Amusement Park" the kids raised about $800.00+!!!! That is awesome!! But on top of that, there was an anonymous donor that would match up to $500.00 if the kids raised $500.00+.  So that was $800.00 + $500.00 =$1300.00!!  UNBELIEVABLE!!!  But no, then another anonymous donor pledged $250.00.  So that is a total of $1550.00+ raised for us at VBS!!!  GOD IS AMAZING!!!  We were completely honored, humbled, amazed, thankful and appreciative of being picked as the mission to raise money for during VBS!!  There are lots of other missions that they could have chosen, but this proves that not only Southside, but children, workers and some people who have never met us believe in what we are doing!  All the Glory be to GOD!!!  And of course, Steve had 2 pies to the face!  That was priceless!  Thanks everyone for believing in us and our mission!

 After VBS, it was time to decompress which means--START PACKING!!!!

Saturday- Was a day of rest.  It was Bruce's last Saturday men's study and it was quite an emotional one!  We are really going to miss the bible studies, services and just everything about our home church!  But one thing is for sure...we know that we have a family at Southside, and we know that they believe in us and most of all pray for us during all of this!  Thank you Southside and everyone who has become a part of our family!

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Fort Wayne Trip--week 2

So, to continue the catching up process, here is the continuation of the week 1:

Week 2- July 1

Sunday- We went to church in the morning, came home and finished cleaning, packing last minute things, and lastly we turned over keys to the new owners.  It was definitely bittersweet, but everything went well.  We left Chestnut St. and headed to Pappy's house to get ready to leave for our trip home to see family in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Monday- In the morning, we packed the car and got ready to drive to Indiana.  But first, we had to deal with a few things before we left.  One was to take one of our cats to their new home--Nick was adopted by one of my co-workers! Thanks to Rita, he is very much adjusted and doing very well.  As for his sister, we had to take her to the vet.  She is not a cat that would have adjusted very well and she would have been miserable any where.  She went peaceful and we love and miss her very much, but know that it was for the best.  We love you Nestra Sue! See you on the other side!

Tuesday- We arrived in Fort Wayne late Monday night and stayed at Bruce's brother, Brian's house.  We stayed there long enough to sleep, woke up the next morning and headed to have family pictures with my family.  It was hot, we were sweaty but we were really glad we did it!

After we finished family pictures, all of us, my mom and dad and my brother Steve and his fiance, Fran, all went to Adams Lake to spend the day with my Uncle Al and Aunt Beth at their lake house.  It was really a good time and I am so glad that the kids got to see what I experienced when I was younger and spent time at the lake.  We played, swam, looked for "sea shells" (mussel shells), went on the wave runner, and finished the evening with a really nice pontoon ride around the lake.  The kids really enjoyed it and it was nice to just hang out with family.

Wednesday- We had lunch with Emily Kennerk (Donlan) and Colleen Winters (Donlan).  The kids got to play and we were able to play together and we were able to catch up!  We were so excited to hang out with the Donlans!  After lunch, they invited us to go to Mr. and Mrs. D's house (their parent's house) for a July 4th cookout.  We headed over there are hung out with Mr. and Mrs. D.  It was really good to see them and just to hang out with the whole family! There are no other people from my elementary and high school days that I would want to hang out with!  They have been a huge part of my upbringing and they are still important in my life today!  That is over 30 years! Thanks Donlans!

Thursday- We hung out at home and just had a lazy day!  Well worth it!

Friday- We went out to Brian and Kathy's house for a Crawford cookout and get together before we left.  It was really nice to get to hang out with all of the family.  The kids got to play with their cousins, jump on the trampoline and see all of the family one last time before we headed out!

Saturday- We got up Saturday morning to Kathy cooking everyone breakfast.  After we ate, we got everything packed and headed out.  When we got to Indianapolis, we stopped in to visit friends and their new baby.  We all got to meet baby Levi James Payton.  He was such a good baby, and Emme just loved him!  Leyton really could have cared less--but he definitely loved Kona-their black lab. It was really great to see Jennifer and Jason and to finally see their new addition to their family.  On the way home, we stopped at Edinburgh outlet stores to look for some stuff for Costa Rica.  We finally arrived home late and hit the bed for our real times being homeless and living in Pappy's basement and begin the process of packing and everything else!

Although it was a whirlwind trip it was nice to see everyone and the kids got to see all of their cousins and family!  Week 2 is complete!

Catching up week 1.....

Since we are so behind on our blog posts, and so much has happened, I am going to have to condense into weekly recap posts.  Then maybe everyone can get an idea of what we have been through these last few weeks!

Week of June 25

This was the last week of work for me.  I worked really hard to try to get everything finished--but didn't.  But that is to be expected!

Monday- I worked, Emme and Leyton went to school, and later in the afternoon, Leyton had a dr.'s appointment.

Tuesday- I took off work to take Leyton to the dentist to have his front tooth pulled.  He fell last summer and it was starting to die, so the dentist thought it would be best to pull it before we left the country.  He did awesome! hardly any bleeding and no complaints AT ALL from him! And if you ask him what happened to his tooth, he comes up with all kinds of interesting responses-it fell out, his daddy pulled it, the tooth fairy pulled it--and he loves to show you this:

Wednesday- We drove to Frankfort to sign paperwork to close on the house.  We were planning on having to write a check for our share of the closing--which would have wiped out our checking account, until we received our check from selling the house, but when we got there, signed our name thirty thousand times, we actually didn't have to write a check and walked away with our own! God is good!  After we walked out to the parking lot, we both got really emotional.  We asked the new owners when they wanted to take possession of the house (we assumed July 1st, but we were going to try to ask if we could have another week because we were planning to go to Indiana and that would give us more time for packing, moving and cleaning.  But they wanted July 1st ...so that meant we had exactly Thursday, Friday and Saturday to pack, move and clean before we gave possession on Sunday and then drive to Indiana on Monday. WHEW!

Obviously, we did all of that--barely, but we pulled it off!

Also during that week, we started all of our official student visa/residency paperwork.  So for that, Bruce drove to Indianapolis and back--TWICE and to Frankfort and back TWICE, and then found out he had to order our birth certificates on -line and wait for them to come by mail.  Once that happened, that was a trip back to both Indianapolis and Frankfort to get the official apostille seal (which means official business).

Thursday and Friday-I worked and my co-workers threw me a "just in case" going a w we packed and cleaned and started to move out of our house to Pappy's basement.  Pappy is a guy from our church, who is an amazing, selfless, Christ-like man who, without him, we would be no where and have nothing in this time between selling the house and leaving for Costa Rica.

Saturday- we had our yard sale and sold or got rid of everything we owned.  It was well worth it as we did not take anything back into the house and made a really good profit!

It was quite a busy week, but we survived and onto the next two weeks--the condensed version!