Well, this morning we got our little ones up at 1am to get ready and head to the "tica bus" station. As you can tell from the pictures they were tired, but still very excited to go. Our dear friend Jose Antonio came and took us t
o the station with ALL our luggage. When we got to the station our day of waiting in lines began. We waited in line for 45 minutes to get our luggage put on the bus. We had 4 pieces over our allotted amount for the bus and were prepared to pay and beg and plead, however, our first blessing of the day happened. Not one question about why we had so much luggage and not one penny paid, we were allowed to take all the luggage. Then we headed to another line where we waited to load the bus. As many of you know, our children are very prone to motion sickness. Well, our seats were in the very back of the bus and we still managed to make it the
entire day with no one getting sick. Once we arrived at the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border we got off the bus and waited in a line to do our exit paperwork for Costa Rica. The kids had fun pushing around a log that you see them sitting on in the picture and playing games. After we received our stamps to leave we proceeded to the Nicaragua side of the border where we had to take all our luggage off the bus and wait in yet another long line. At this stop is where they can keep us from taking things into Nicaragua or make us pay duties on our belongings. With the overwhelming amount of luggage, extreme heat and heavy theft at the border, Ken had a plan. I was to watch the kids and our backpacks and go get in
the "line" as quick as possible while the other passengers were removing their luggage from the bottom of the bus. Ken would take care of ALL the suitcases. Well at every boarder crossing there are always people there to carry bags, but not necessarily 14 bags at 70 pounds each. What happened next has to be one of my favorite travel memories in a long time. Ken gets off the bus and steps into a massive crowd of people. It is very noisy and in a loud voice he says in Spanish "I need 3 men, only 3. I need you to get all my luggage, carry it through the line and into the customs office, help me through customs and then return all the luggage to the bus when we are done." Then he says, "there are 14 and they all have this on them" and he held up a huge roll of red tape. When those men saw him hold up that red tape, they went flying. They spotted that red tape and rushed all those bags straight into a side building. Before I knew it, the kids and I had only been in line for 5 minutes and Ken's trusty fr
iends were waving us into another building where they had went and gotten the head customs agent to clear our belongings. They had all the bags lined up side by side in a Looooooooong row with all the luggage opened so the customs agent could quickly go through all our belongings. He spent about 10 minutes going through them and only asked us 1 question. "Is your clothing new or used?" After, he went through the last piece, he looked at us smiled and said "It's all good". Once again, everything made it through and not a penny paid. So, out the door, trip after trip the guys went again, returning it all below the bus. When they were done, Ken tipped them for all there hard work and then Ken hung out with them and chatted for awhile as we waited for our bus to load. God is so faithful! Many things could have been complicated during this part of our trip. Not only did we get through problem free, but we had a blast doing it. Thank you for your prayers. Some of our friends and family had e-mailed us today saying that this morning in church our family was lifted up in prayer. Thank you!!!
The ride through the small towns as we approached Managua were beautiful. When we arrived in Managua we were joyfully greeted by fellow Missionary's, Matt & Eva Barlow and Jon and Wilma Hall. God's continued faithfulness and protection is a continued blessing. God is so good! Over the next week we will be searching to find a safe place to live and clearing our shipping container that arrives Wednesday. Please continue to pray for God's direction and favor.
Well, this morning we got our little ones up at 1am to get ready and head to the "tica bus" station. As you can tell from the pictures they were tired, but still very excited to go. Our dear friend Jose Antonio came and took us t
o the station with ALL our luggage. When we got to the station our day of waiting in lines began. We waited in line for 45 minutes to get our luggage put on the bus. We had 4 pieces over our allotted amount for the bus and were prepared to pay and beg and plead, however, our first blessing of the day happened. Not one question about why we had so much luggage and not one penny paid, we were allowed to take all the luggage. Then we headed to another line where we waited to load the bus. As many of you know, our children are very prone to motion sickness. Well, our seats were in the very back of the bus and we still managed to make it the
entire day with no one getting sick. Once we arrived at the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border we got off the bus and waited in a line to do our exit paperwork for Costa Rica. The kids had fun pushing around a log that you see them sitting on in the picture and playing games. After we received our stamps to leave we proceeded to the Nicaragua side of the border where we had to take all our luggage off the bus and wait in yet another long line. At this stop is where they can keep us from taking things into Nicaragua or make us pay duties on our belongings. With the overwhelming amount of luggage, extreme heat and heavy theft at the border, Ken had a plan. I was to watch the kids and our backpacks and go get in 
the "line" as quick as possible while the other passengers were removing their luggage from the bottom of the bus. Ken would take care of ALL the suitcases. Well at every boarder crossing there are always people there to carry bags, but not necessarily 14 bags at 70 pounds each. What happened next has to be one of my favorite travel memories in a long time. Ken gets off the bus and steps into a massive crowd of people. It is very noisy and in a loud voice he says in Spanish "I need 3 men, only 3. I need you to get all my luggage, carry it through the line and into the customs office, help me through customs and then return all the luggage to the bus when we are done." Then he says, "there are 14 and they all have this on them" and he held up a huge roll of red tape. When those men saw him hold up that red tape, they went flying. They spotted that red tape and rushed all those bags straight into a side building. Before I knew it, the kids and I had only been in line for 5 minutes and Ken's trusty fr
iends were waving us into another building where they had went and gotten the head customs agent to clear our belongings. They had all the bags lined up side by side in a Looooooooong row with all the luggage opened so the customs agent could quickly go through all our belongings. He spent about 10 minutes going through them and only asked us 1 question. "Is your clothing new or used?" After, he went through the last piece, he looked at us smiled and said "It's all good". Once again, everything made it through and not a penny paid. So, out the door, trip after trip the guys went again, returning it all below the bus. When they were done, Ken tipped them for all there hard work and then Ken hung out with them and chatted for awhile as we waited for our bus to load. God is so faithful! Many things could have been complicated during this part of our trip. Not only did we get through problem free, but we had a blast doing it. Thank you for your prayers. Some of our friends and family had e-mailed us today saying that this morning in church our family was lifted up in prayer. Thank you!!!
The ride through the small towns as we approached Managua were beautiful. When we arrived in Managua we were joyfully greeted by fellow Missionary's, Matt & Eva Barlow and Jon and Wilma Hall. God's continued faithfulness and protection is a continued blessing. God is so good! Over the next week we will be searching to find a safe place to live and clearing our shipping container that arrives Wednesday. Please continue to pray for God's direction and favor.
