First Days In Peru

After a busy weekend of good-byes and our commissioning service, we headed for Detroit.  We flew out of Detroit on Tuesday afternoon.  Our layover was in Atlanta.  There were some fairly bad storms in the area and once we landed, the airport closed for almost an hour.  We were very fortunate to have made it in.  Our flight for Lima was delayed of course, but we arrived safe and sound.  Our luggage however must have sat on the tarmac in Atlanta because it arrived in Lima soaking wet!
We finally got to bed around 4:00 a.m..  The next day, Wednesday, we spent with Robbye as she educated us on some of the ins and outs of finance here as well as helping us get a phone to use locally here.  Today we went to Interpol to be fingerprinted and then we had the opportunity to meet the SIM Lima team.  What a great bunch of people!  Afterwards we went to a shopping center for lunch and to look at mattresses.  Tonight we eat pizza (yes!!) with another missionary family.    Tomorrow we leave for Arequipa.  The airlines here only allow one checked piece of luggage.  So, most of our luggage is being sent down there today via bus or truck.  Praying that it all arrives!!
                                           Here are some photos of our first couple days. 

So, I know many of you were wondering….this was all our luggage

Waiting in the jetway.

Good -bye to the good ole U.S.A. and life as we know it.

Settling In For The Long Flight….side note…after the first half hour of flying Gracie said "I don't know why I was so excited for this plane ride.  There is nothing to do but sit!"  Yep.

Trying to sleep while blocking out all the light and city noises.

First Breakfast In Lima: Eggs, Ham, Bread and Papaya Juice.  And Yes, Coffee.

Thank goodness eggs are universal in taste.  Well, for the most part at least.

Squishing in for a taxi ride.  The smiles lasted only a few minutes before the reality of driving in Peru set in.  

A view of part of the city and the shopping plaza.  

One Last Time

Lately I have been feeling unprepared for all the good byes we are having to say.  I tend to tuck it aside to deal with and "feel" later.  It helps get me through the moment, but my psychologist friends/family  would probably advise me otherwise.  :)  I have had many small private moments of grieving though.  I know there is more to come as we see people we care deeply about and say farewell.
People aren't the only things we need to say good-bye too though.  Part of the good-bye process for us includes saying farewell to those places that have meant a lot to our kids, and places they have great memories and will miss after leaving the country.  So, we have begun our farewell tour.  First stop was Chuck E Cheese.  Our youngest REALLY wanted to go here one more time.  She had a goal to win enough tickets to get large round lollipop.  Mission accomplished!

Our second place we visited was the Georgetown Ice Rink.  The boys especially enjoyed this.  They enjoyed sliding on the ice as much as skating I think.  They also got a kick out of watching how good  and fast their dad is on the ice.

And of course, we must include ice cream in this list of good-byes, so we made a trip to Little Dipper.  Over the years, we have biked there for ice cream and other treats.  There will certainly be ice cream in South America, but there is nothing like Hudsonville Ice Cream.  Hmmm… I wonder how well it would ship.

Moving Day

Well it's official……..We finally moved.  I'll admit,  I had a hard time letting go of this house.

It was my favorite home and one we had planned on staying in for a long time.  However, I knew almost two years ago that God was asking me to prepare to give it up.  And that day has finally come.  Even though we are sad to leave this house, we are very thankful that we were able to sell it now so that we can now focus on Peru.