~Part 2 of our trip to Uruguay!~

THANK YOU for praying for Phillip as he spoke to the Chinese young people on Sunday.  God really helped him.  To see a picture of the precious group of young people go to PHILLIP'S BLOG!
www.dickinsonjourney.blogspot.com  
(I just added NEW PICS FROM SUNDAY to his blog!)
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One of the reasons our kids were excited about going to Uruguay is that they could "swim/play" in the Plata river there.
BUT...in order to get to the part of the river where the kids could get into the water... we had a 2 MILE WALK ONE WAY from our hotel!
WHEW!  This preggo mother was about WORN OUT by the time we got done with that walk.  =)
Here the boys are "rip sticking" on their "funny skate boards."
Elijah had just learned to "wiggle on his rib board" that very day (normally he would just stay close to walls, doors, etc. and push off of those, and couldn't do "open spaces" very well, but once he learned to "wiggle" he could do more open spaces.) Noah was being KIND and "towing his baby brother" so Elijah didn't get too worn out "wiggling" for 2 miles straight.  =) ~

~And of course, if we are going to WALK all that way, Phillip and I wanted Yerba Mate (a special natural tea very popular here in S. America that helps give one Energy) to drink while we sat and watched the kids play in the water and sand. (For remember I still had 2 more miles to walk to get back to the hotel. =) ~

~The fam entering the water.~

~Baby and I "vegging out" with our Mate.  =) ~

~This Yerba Mate tea is so popular!!!!  This isn't a fad, this tea has been "the thing for your health" for YEARS here in Uruguay, in Argentina, and southern Brazil too.~

~5 of our precious children!~

~Mary and Elijah~

~Kimberly brought her volleyball as well.~

~The 2nd evening we got to the water for the kids to play TOO LATE.  =(  The tide had gone out and it wasn't really safe for them to go far out in the water.  So, they just played in the sand and the edge of the water.  And before long it got dark on us.
Once we decided that we were ready to go...we looked for Mary's other WHITE SANDAL and couldn't find it anywhere.
When I asked Mary where it was, she said that she had BURIED IT in the SAND  SOMEWHERE!  =(
The picture below was taken with flash...It was NEARLY PITCH black out there and we had to find a little white sandal that was BURIED SOMEWHERE!!!  HELP!!!!
So, we prayed, and started looking around.
THANK THE LORD, Sarah found it buried under the sand a few minutes later!!!
God is good! ~

~My Sweetheart, baby and I.~

~While on the beach the first night we met this man named George.  He had these flags from Uruguay and the USA with him not knowing he was going to meet some Americans that night.  =)
He was very kind and Phillip enjoyed visiting with him. ~

~On Friday afternoon we headed back to Argentina.  These are some pics that Noah snapped out the window of the landscape of Uruguay. ~

~Of course the tractor caught Noah's attention.  =) ~

~Mary, Mommy, and baby in the bus.~

~Elijah and Sarah.~

~Kimberly~

~Phillip and Noah.~

~Mary and her baby looking out the bus window.~

~Mary wanted to take a picture of Mommy.~

~Elijah in the boat.~

~Phillip took this pic of us in the boat.~

~Pulling into Argentina.~

Jesus gave us a wonderful time.  But this pregnant mother was exhausted after:
taking a 30 min. taxi ride to the bus station in Uruguay,
waiting in the bus station for 1 hour and 45 minutes,
riding the bus for 2 + hours,
then going through customs and riding a boat for an hour.
Arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 
Then walking 10 blocks to catch the LAST train at 10:30 P.M.
and riding that train for 45 mins. 
Then walking 10 more blocks pulling suitcases and pushing a stroller and we finally got home at 11:40 Friday night.  =)
And when we walked into "our home" loaned to us by Uncle Charlie and family....little Mary said, "NO, I don't want to be at THIS house!"
I think she was SAD for "vacation" to end...but the rest of us were HAPPY to be "home!"  =)

~Here we are pulling suitcases and bags to walk the 10 blocks to catch the train.~

~Noah cracked me up how he "rip boarded" pulling a suitcase the whole way home. =)  ~

~Elijah fell asleep on the train.  This is how we ALL FELT! =)  Happy, but exhausted! ~

THE TRIP TO URUGUAY IS TO RENEW OUR ARGENTINE VISAS!
~The reason we have to go to Uruguay is that when we enter into Argentina we only have 90 days before we have to leave their country so we can get another 90 day pass.
(If we DON'T LEAVE, we would be illegal, and we will lose the privilege of coming back into Argentina again!)
Our 90 days weren't quite up yet, but since FALL is in the air here...we knew it would be WARMER to go NOW than a month from now!
That way our kids could play in the Plata River without their teeth chattering.
We will be flying back to the USA before our next 90 days are up.
Thank you for your prayers.  Jesus gave us a good trip to and from Uruguay. ~