July 5, 2009

We had first Sunday morning meeting at Granny's today then headed to Omaha, NE to see Jace, Dana and Alexis and Bree. We got there around 9 p.m. and then were able to stay a few days. On Monday, my good friends from South Dakota and Minnesota came down to the Henry Doorley Zoo and we could be together most of the day. Kyle and Danaka Kracht and their 4 kids, Shannon Graber and her two children, Linda Fisher and her two kiddos, Granny, Shari Connelly, Laverna Schwartz were all there with us. A great day and great weather. We left Dana's on Wednesday morning and headed to Indiana. It rained most of the way. We got to Bill and Amy McCleery's in time for supper and then Wednesday night bible study. We stayed the night with them and had a good time. Grady flew into Indy on Thursday, July 9. The kids had dentist appts, I had a dentist appt then we headed to Moscow, IN to stayed with our friends there. Supper and the evening at Leon and Ruthie Wagler's and then the night at Amos and Rosie Kemp's. It was a super time. Kevin and Libby Ball came in Thursday evening and it was so good to see them! We had a huge cookout at Kemp's on Friday night that included: Kevin and Brittney Crawmer plus kids, Kent and Kathy Crawmer plus kids, Kevin and Libby Ball plus kid, Brian and Lina Drew, Marvin and Miriam Troyer plus kids, Amos and Rosie plus kids, Leon and Ruthie plus kids, Jon Knockenmus, Dan Wisecup, Duane and Iris Schraw (Jon's sis), Andy and Andrea Wright, Shane and Sue Bailey plus kids. Quite a crowd! All the kids slept in the basement and 7 families stayed in that one house for the night. It was FUN!

June 14 back home again

Well, we got to go back to the United States of America for our home visit on June 14, 2009. The kids got out of school on Friday, June 12. We flew out on Sunday night for the states and Grady flew out to Santiago, Chile the same night so we got to be together in the airport before we left. It was great! We made it to Dallas on Monday morning and were able to be with Clay at the hospital. Chance came to pick the kids and me up. Clay was released from the hospital on this day so it was very momentous! I got to help give him his last bath in the hospital and then watch him put on clothes for the first time in over 120 days. He has grown so much!! He also looks great! The kids had not seen him yet, but all went well when they did. He is such a trooper. Has a great little spirit and it's amazing! Westin and Cody went down to south Texas with Grandma and then Whitney and I stayed at the Ronald McDonald house with DeeDee and Clay. He had therapy appts twice a day everyday that week. We were able to be there when he had his great big homecoming back to Olney, TX. It was quite a sight! A firetruck, the suburban, another firetruck, two ambulances and another firetruck with all the sirens on and lights flashing led the Fite's from the east side of Olney, all the way through town and south to their driveway. Very impressive! Granny (Grady's mom) came to meet us in Olney and then on Saturday morning Whitney, Granny and I headed to South Texas. We spent about 10 days there then headed to Vernon, TX for the night. The next day we headed to Quitaque, TX for the 4th of July weekend. Randy and Alana Powell, Jason (aka Bubba) and Nicole Powell, Chad and April Powell and Cara were all there at the lake with their kids. It was so nice to see them all again. Sure brought back lots of memories.

beginning of our move

Whitney was disgusted with the whole thing! The pic on the right was before we had our flight cancelled. Pic on the left was waiting to see if we could find a rental car.

April 2009 Arrived in Buenos Aires

Well, we are finally here! The kids start school tomorrow so we need to get things unpacked and ready for school. We had to go buy some school uniforms before tomorrow so we had a driver (remis) drive us around all day. The only thing in our house is peanut butter that Grady brought down on a previous trip. I had brought some baking ingredients in our luggage so our first "meal" was a spoonful of peanut butter with chocolate chips or peanut butter chips in it :) I think I got groceries everyday for the first two weeks. The hardest thing to do here is find out what is what on the shelves of the grocery store. The eggs and milk are not in the refrigerated sections, but the Coke and Fanta are. Go figure! Reading labels in spanish and trying to decide what the product is was not easy. We had lots of cereal, eggs and toast that first week. The kids adapted to the school very quickly and have not shed a tear about leaving J.B. Stephens Elementary in Greenfield. Now their mother, on the other hand, has had a difficult time. A friend of ours from the school came and got me one day to show me where to buy transformers for our appliances, lamps, etc. Another day I went with our relocation lady to buy a parking meter card, find the notary office for a special paper we have to have to take the kids out of the country, try to get a cell phone (which I still don't have), and some other things. I also have attended my first BAIN (Buenos Aires International Newcomers) meeting and have been chosen to be the Hospitality board member. Not sure what all that entails, but I am sure I will find out quickly.
The kids rode the bus for the first 8 days of school. The week after we got here it was Easter holiday then the next week was spring break. Not sure if that was a good thing or bad. Anyway, it's over and done with and all has been fine. Grady now takes them to school in the morning on the way to work and then I walk to the school in the afternoon and get them. We have a driver (remis) bring us home. It works out well. When Grady travels, which is pretty often, I get the car so that makes things a lot easier around here. I have full days when I do have the car so I try to get a lot done in one day. That is nearly impossible here in this country because NO ONE does anything quickly! Pathetic really. I am having to learn patience!

Arrival to Buenos Aires from Indiana

The trip/move was eventful to say the least. To begin with, we had sold our home in Greenfield, IN and had to move out in March of 2009. I had to separate things into what was being stored, air shipped and then shipped by boat. During all of this Grady was gone working. I was there when the movers came to pack us up. Got the house cleaned up and ready for the prospective buyers and we lived with friends in the Greenfield area for several weeks. The main problem was getting our visas completed. It seemed to take FOREVER! We got them the day before we left. In hindsight it was a good thing. My nephew had been badly burned on February 14 and I was able to go to Dallas right after it happened, then several more times before we actually moved. We had plan tickets purchased and were ready to leave on March 27, 2009 from Indianapolis to Dallas, then on to Buenos Aires on Sunday. Well, we said our teary goodbyes to our friends in Indy and headed to the airport with 17 bags in tow!! That's 4 apiece and one extra if anyone can't figure it out. Our good friend, Kevin Crawmer, hauled us to the airport and helped us unload. Jon Knockenmus and Martin Hnizdil were there to see us off. We had a quick supper with them then headed to the gate. We waited...and waited...and waited. Our flight kept being delayed. Finally, at around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. they announced that our flight to Dallas was cancelled due to weather. That wasn't so bad except for the fact that the next flight out of Indy to Dallas wasn't until the following Tuesday!! It was the beginning of spring break, NCAA basketball tournaments, etc. Talk about bad timing. Anyway....we had to go retrieve ALL of our luggage that had been checked. While Whitney and I did that, Grady and Westin rushed to the rental car area to see if we could get a car large enough to carry us and all the bags. The last rental car office and the last SUV available and we took it! We headed out of Indianapolis on a Friday night at close to 11:00 pm and headed to Dallas. Grady and I took turns driving and we made it to Dallas around 1:00 pm the next day. Exhausted!! We checked into a room, showered and headed to the hospital to be with Chance, DeeDee and family and Clay. Grady's mom, Martha, was there, too, so we got to see her before we left the country. We were able to be there all day Saturday and Sunday then had to fly out of Dallas on Sunday night. We made it! Whew!