Mexico

So, we made it into Mexico! What a crazy event that was! We got a green light at the border which meant that we could drive through without having the border guards go through all our stuff. There were militarty personel standing by and they decided that they would like to check us out. Unfortunately, they did not speak any English! It was a riot. They were more amused than anything, as they tried to ask us questions about our destination and the contents of our van. We played charades and figured out most of the questions in spite of our poor Spanish. At one point, the soldier looking through the van found a small container of loose catnip that he thought looked fairly suspicious. Knowing what he was thinking, I had Eden pass Evinrude to the front so we could demonstrate that it was for the cat! Evinrude was distracted by the chaos and wasn't interested at first, but finally, he chowed down on the catnip and the guard was satisfied that it was "No por hombre!"
After the border, we had to go through customs which took about an hour and a half. Laine waited in the van with the kids while Steve and I filled out the paperwork for visas and temporary import of vehicle permit. Again, no one spoke English and we were again faced with the challenge of communicating with minimal Spanish! I tell you, we have learned way more Spanish in the past 3 days than we have in the last year! We miraculously got everything we needed and with a little help from our GPS, carried on down the road. On our way out of town we passed 4 rebel vehicles with scary masked men and guns mounted on the top! All the cars moved to the side to give them lots of room so we did the same! They passed by and we drove on, hearts in our throats!
The first night we found a quaint little motel with secure parking which they probably charged us double for! We started brushing our teeth with bottled water and tried to remember not to flush the toilet paper. (Guatemalan plumbing is poor, so we are practicing now so we don't plug the plumbing later!) Our travels through Mexico have been full of new sights. We have seen tin shacks, road side cafes in the back of a pick up truck, scraggly dogs, people begging for money at frequent speed bumps, crops of oranges, mangos bananas and bamboo, farms and orchards on many hills. I think when God made Mexico, He made a people that can do anything! There are many people here that love Jesus! On the road today we saw some people in a white van waving at us. Later we saw them at a gas station and they had a Jesus fish and a dove sticker on the back of their van too!
We haven't had good a good internet signal since we've been in Mexico. I must admit, I did feel a little isolated yesterday when there was no internet and I couldn't speak Spanish well enough to ask how to use the phone! I'm good at asking for more towels though! " Qiero cuatro toallas, por favor." We have been speaking Spanish to each other, practicing on everyone we get a chance to speak to; it is amazing how much we have picked up since we crossed the border.
We have been waved through most policia and militia road blocks. Today we were pulled over at a military check point and they attempted to search us but they couldn't communicate so they gave up! I asked to take a picture and the guy in charge nodded but gestured that I couldn't photograph the Hummer with the machine gun mounted on top! The soldier requested that my "Muchacha" should be in the picture with them, so Laine got to pose as well!
We have always felt very safe with the military personel and the Policia. They have been very curteous and good to deal with. Pray that we don't pass by any more rebels though. We have heard that they avoid the toll highways because they are heavily patrolled by policia and we have found this to be true. God is our source of peace, our refuge and our strong tower.
Our hotel tonight was a gift from God. It was getting dark quickly so we went into the nearest city hoping to find a place to stay. It was a maze that we quickly misplaced ourselves in. Suddenly, before panic set in, we found an ATM and just across the park we saw a Hotel. It was big and we thought it would be expensive, but desperate for a safe place to stay, we went in. They gave us a great deal and then they even gave us back more money. It has almost been the cheapest place so far! (Not cheaper than the one I wrote about before with the dirty tub!) Laine has her own bed tonight; she usually shares with Eden, and the boys don't have to sleep on the floor either! Earlier we heard singing comming from the street below and the van is safely parked in the courtyard. I deffinitly feel like our Heavenly Father prepared this place for us tonight.
It has been difficult to break through the language barrier to share Jesus with anyone in Mexico so far, since we are always just passing through. Autumn has broken through a few barriers with her rays of Sonshine and Cole has captivated the hearts a a few people as well. We just keep praying that God's love will cross the divide!
Our prayer requests are for continued saftey as we travel and for us to learn the language quickly.

My favorite slow cooker meal so far:
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. mexican rice side dish (any brand)
1 chopped red pepper
1 small onion
1 jar salsa
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans mixed beans, drained
taco seasoning
cumin powder
Mix it all together in the slow cooker and add anything you'd like to make it your own, then turn it on high for 6 hrs, give or take. Spoon into tortillas, soft corn tortillas are best, with cheese and eat! Mmmm....delicioso!

Border-town

We spent 2 nights in San Antonio, Texas, to tune up the vans cooling system because it was starting to get hot at high speeds on the highway. Speaking of heat, the temperatures are getting hooter as we head south. All motels have pools, but most of them are not open till May, even though it is 80 degrees Fahrenheit, which is aprox. 24 Celsius.
We are in Rio Grande City tonight. Tomorrow we will cross the border into Mexico. We have heard a lot of fear from local Americans about travel in Mexico as they are having a political feud right now and Americans have been targeted for hate crimes in Mexico. We continue to pray as we travel and continue to feel peace and comfort in the calling and safety of being obedient to God. After all, Jonah wasn't very safe when he chose a scenic tour to tarsus! As long as we don't look American, and I assure you, we do NOT blend in travelling through the U.S.! Do pray with us as we cross the Border and as we travel through Mexico. Steve will be driving and I will navigate and pray us through!
Travelling for hours on end has gotten a little easier. The kids have all gotten used to the routine and there are always lots of new sights to see. The scenery is really starting to show it's Hispanic culture. The houses all look very Mexican and the signs are mostly in Spanish even though we are still in Texas! We have been practicing our Spanish by speaking it to each other and looking up all the Spanish words that we see if we don't already know them. Please pray that we will be able to communicate in Spanish as we travel and when we arrive.
I want to give glory to God for a miracle that I hadn't even realized at first. When we were in Redding at the Bethel church, there was a call for healing of muscle related issues. I have always experienced problems with my back, neck and shoulders and was concerned about the effects of travelling. I had struggled with a pretty painful bout of shoulder pain just prior to leaving Vanderhoof. Steve prayed for me that night at Bethel because I was feeling pain and the tension went away and I have not felt it since. I wasn't sure right away that there had been a healing, but after travelling for 2 weeks and not having any muscle pain or tension, I know that God has definitely done a physical healing in my body! Hooray God! Thank you! It has been such a relief to be free from pain during this trip.
I really have to get some sleep now. We have travelled two time zones and with daylight savings, we have lost 3 hours! Bedtime has arrived!

Three cheap motels and a whole lot of miles later, we are in Van Horn, Texas. It is amazing how the scenery changes a the miles go by. Even the types of cacti change from mile to mile; Prickly pears, barrel cacti, joshua trees, yuccas, saguaros, and many other types of desert plants. Beautiful! There are many changes to note as we travel the I10. Steve notices fuel prices; 2.55/gal. is the cheapest gas so far. He refuses to pay over 2.80! Laine and I venture into the various markets to shop for groceries. The wildest store we've been in so far was in Blythe, Ca.. The closer you got to the meat department, the stronger the smell of raw meats! There were various 3 gal. jars on the counter with raw shrimp, chicken pieces and several unidentified items floating in brine. There was a tiny dairy section with no half and half cream for coffee or yogurt. We managed to find some of the items we were looking for, but there were so many strange things that we had never seen before. I'm sure that shopping in Guatemala will be a lot more complicated even than that!
The motels have been very interesting too. The last place we stayed was only $45, but it wasn't very clean. I fell asleep thinking that we must be real missionaries to sleep in such a place!
Funny story: today we were at a rest stop and Cole immediately spied the snack machines and began asking for a Quarter. I was putting it off and putting it off. Finally I saw Cole skipping towards me with a bag of skittles. Steve had seen a fairly disgruntled man at the snack machine and we figured that Cole had probably jumped in and punched the numbers after the man had put in his money and then just taken the candy! Since we didn't realize it in time to approach the man, we just prayed that he would be able to forgive Cole and wouldn't harbour bitterness!
We were craving chicken today so we bought a whole chicken, cut up, and cooked it with veggies and Tandoori, mmmm.....good!
Blessings! See ya down the road.

Pacific Coast

Had such a great layover in Redding with the Harpers. We had waffles for breakfast every morning and Dave's famous homemade salsa and guacamole in the afternoons. They took us out to Shasta Dam for the tour; one I took as a child with my own parents. We managed to catch the very last tour of the day, so when the security guard proclaimed that Laine would not be able to attend the tour unless she first returned her bag all the way out to the van, Dave came to the rescue and ran over a km. to the parking lot and back, nearly missing the tour himself. We gave the security guard a hard time since sweet little Laine is hardly a threat to Homeland Security. He agreed to pose for a picture, and it turned out to be his Birthday! Shasta Dam is a historic monument for my Dad as he had a very memorable experience there when he was very young. My kids were excited to hear tales of Grandpa Bambauer when he was a child like themselves!

With hugs and more prayers, Dave and Maryann sent us off again this morning, another 9 hours of travelling. (including all stops.) Our first stop was Corning, olive capitol of the world, for a picnic lunch and olives of course. We chose Steve's favorite, pimiento stuffed, and a new selection for all of us, herbed cheese stuffed olives! Mmmmm...even Laine, a self proclaimed non- olive appreciator, didn't mind them.

We reached the ocean just before dark. We had a picnic dinner, chicken and rice, hot out of the slow cooker before heading down the winding coastal highway. We had reserved a room at a motel in San Simeon that would allow us to use our own sleeping bags and squeeze into 1 room instead of 4 to a room; twice as much money. With about 70 miles to go, there was a warning sign of night time Hwy closures ahead. Uncertain of where these closures were in relation to our motel, we continued on. When we were about 50 miles past the last possible place to stay with 20 miles still to go, we encountered the dreaded sign; Road Closed. Hmmm... well, I'll tell you what we did, but you have to keep it a secret! We drove around the barricade (quite easily, I will add) and carefully drove through the "closed" stretch of road with out discovering any reason why it would have been so! On the other end, we drove around the barricade again and advised some tourists on the other side that we had not encountered any problems travelling through. We won't share this story in church! Ha ha.

After checking in at the motel and unloading all the children and suitcases, Steve decided that unpacking the sleeping bags from on top of the van was too much work; Any of you would have agreed as it involves untying, untarping and accessing the load on top of the van. So he came up with a very Stephenish idea, all 5 kids could fit sideways in a double bed. Well, I don't know if Eden thinks they fit, but there they are; Eden, Cole and Evinrude (his cat), Jalen, Zeke and Autumn, like peas in a pod!

We are all tucked in here now, Laine has a cot in the entry way. I hear a few little snorers and the furnace kicking in from time to time. Goodnight, and blessings till next time!

Slow cooked Chicken and rice

When I was a kid, my mom used to make a fantastic dish called "Chicken Hurry." I don't have the recipe with me so I made up a similar dish for our dinner this evening. Heres what I did.

4 chicken breasts, cubed

1 pkg. onion soup mix

2 squirts Worchestershire

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 med cans tomato sauce

1 c. rice

salt and pepper

Mix it all together and put in the slowcooker on high for 6 hours. It is helpful to stir part way through so the rice cooks evenly.

Redding Bethel

Just a quick report on our church experience in Redding. Yesterday we went to the Bethel church with Dave and Maryann. They have been experiencing revival at Bethel for many years and counting. We saw a woman healed from firomialgia, a woman healed from a bone deformity amongst other muscle and tailbone issues. Check it out at ibethel.org . It is always encouraging to see God moving in peoples lives in that kinda way! Blessings! Talk to you all again down the road.

All the way to Redding, Ca.: March 6th

Over 2,000 kms later, we have arrived in Redding, Ca. at Dave and Maryann Harper's family home, which has palm trees in the yard! We are here until Monday morning when we will head on down the road through California, Arizona and Texas before crossing the border into Mexico.

Crossing the border into the US was fairly hitch less. We were pulled over on account of a small box of manderines. Once inside the building, Cole reacted to the intimidating environment and pitched a record fit like even I haven't seen in years! There was flailing and screaming that disrupted the entire office! As I observed his display, I realized that it was a blessing in disguise. The border guard quickly went over the produce regulations with Steve and after throwing out the oranges and dumping the dog food, they sent us on our way as quickly as they could! Hooray, Cole!

Once across the border, we enjoyed the American scenery as we drove through the countryside on our way to the I5. It was dark by the time we reached Seattle and the kids squealed and exclaimed at all the sights!

I brought along Cole's weekly schedule off our fridge, so I wrote him a brief schedule for the day. I wrote, ride in the van, eat dinner, meet new friends, sleep at friend's house.

Our final destination on the 4th was Battle Ground, Wa., the home of Tom and Rhoda Hilman. The yard was packed with the vehicles of all the family that had come to greet us when we we arrived. Hugs all around and hours of good fellowship. The first thing Cole did was run to their fridge and put his schedule on it before finding half a bottle of root beer inside it and pour himself a glass!

Redding weather has been fantastic! The first morning here, Zeke woke me up with, "Mom! They have a pool! And palm trees!" Though Californians wouldn't dream of swimming at this time, my kids have all been in the pool several times. Before we hit the road, I will have to repack our travel suitcase with shorts and sandals and put away the sweaters! It is supposed to be 70 degrees here today. I don't know how to convert that into Canadian temperature, but I know that it feels like summer out there!

Guatemala trip: March 3rd

We have successfully navigated the journey to Kamloops, where we arrived at 6:45 p.m. last night. We did not encounter any difficulties along the way; the only dismay was the rise in gas prices which remained consistent all the way. It was such a blessing to have an extra pair of eyes and hands in the back seat of the van! Laine has been such a blessing; we have all really enjoyed her company.
In preparation for the long trip, Steve and Pete Knowles wired an inverter from the battery, making a "kitchen" behind the driver seat in the van. We have a slow cooker and a coffee maker in the kitchen and a borrowed plug in cooler to keep our groceries cold. We saved 8.10 on day 1 just on coffee, not to mention the Timbits we'd have likely bought if we'd gone through the drive-thru.
It was exciting to cook our first dinner in the slow cooker and by the time we got to 100 Mile House, the chili was starting to smell delicious! We had dinner with Steve's family at Brent and Bonnie Bylsma's house. (We missed Erin and Malaki who were getting ready for Malaki's trip to participate in the B.C. Winter Olympics in Terrace.) After the overwhelming introductions to 5 families and all of the children, Laine fit right in to the big family gathering. I think that she must have had some practice growing up in a large family!
On the agenda for today, Cole has an Occupational Therapy appointment and an IEP ( Individual Education Plan) meeting to help us stay on track while we are away. We need to find a pair of soccer cleats for Daniel, one of the boys from Joy Filled Homes who has Cerebral Palsy, who loves to play soccer. The rest of the day we will be enjoying more family. Steve has gone with Dad to his Eye Specialist appointment while Laine and I visit Mom and catch up on our Blogging and Facebooking.
Tomorrow morning we will head further south, crossing the border into the U.S. and travelling to southern Washington. We will be staying overnight with friends, providing that Steve actually gets around to calling them before we show up on their doorstep!
Please pray for travelling safety and mechanical stability of the van. If you are an ambitious prayer, you can also join us in praying that the van has a miraculous reduction in fuel consumption for the duration of this trip! As always, we need prayer for wisdom in following God's leading and for our health as Steve, Autumn and Zeke are still coughing quite a bit.
Blessings to you all!

Bylsma Chili
2lbs. ground beef
1 med. onion
1 red or green pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chick peas
1 can mixed beans
1 lg. can tomato sauce
chili powder, cumin and tandoori

Brown the meat and add the onion and pepper. Add drained tomatoes and drained, rinsed beans and chick peas. Add tomato sauce and spice to taste. * the secret to great chili is in the spice. More is always better! I use a fairly even amout of all three spices and a tsp. of brown sugar gives the chili a friendly disposition. Put in the slow cooker on low for 5 hrs. Garnish with sour cream and serve with affection!