Siblings that share or Pass the Bucket

I wasn't sure what to title this post. 

 When you are traveling, away from your own home, without your washing machine, with just the luggage you packed, without your pine-sol, away from your own bathroom and spending hours in the van without a bathroom, and 11 of your 12 children get the stomach flu,  you have to find someway to laugh (while holding your breath or nose).

It was definitely a trip we will most likely remember for a long time. 

We certainly made some memories.

We left our home early Tuesday afternoon to head down to Cabo.  

We stopped at Walmart in La Paz so I could buy some pull-ups (don't want any accidents during the night when staying at someone else's home), shampoo, and wipes for the trip (great for washing up hands and faces or any other sticky situation while traveling.)

Those wipes and pull-ups came in handy much more than I'd anticipated.

We arrived in Cabo that evening, and Pastor Alvaro took us to our host's home.  Hno. Leonardo had 2 spare bedrooms all ready for us, so we unloaded our blankets and pillows and went straight to bed as we had to be up and ready by 6:45 am for our blood tests.

The children did GREAT for their tests!  Knowing that a few of our crew have a significant fear of needles, we tried to prepare them ahead of time.  I gave out many, many tiny, little pinches when asked over and over again, "Mommy, show me how much it will hurt again."  

We emphasized how much less it hurts when you don't tighten up all your muscles and cry (or scream or try to escape).  

I thought it would be wisest to go oldest to youngest as I knew the older ones would be fine and therefore bring security to the younger ones.  As Timothy went in for his test, he teasingly whispered, "Hey, Mommy, want me to scream really loud?"  ha!  

He was a champ and when he walked back out into the waiting room with the eyes of 11 younger siblings staring at him he gave them his winning smile and said, "Hey, that was really fun!"  He let all the little ones see how the hole was so small you couldn't even see it.

So we made it through without hardly a wince or whimper.  

 Apparently we were suppose to do a first morning urine sample as well, but since we didn't know that and most everyone had already used the bathroom,  we brought the containers home with us to do the next morning.

We went to Pastor Alvaro's house for breakfast and then Daniel and the 4 oldest boys went to go help him pour a cement roof for a man in their church while I visited with Hna. Diana and the other children played. 

Later that afternoon, after the "men" got home, we had a spaghetti lunch.
Daniel and Pastor Alvaro went over to the church and then the fun began.

First it was Samuel.  He'd laid down for a nap a few minutes prior.  But he was now up, standing in the room, crying with that look.  Somehow I knew he was about to get sick, so I just scooped him up and ran him into the bathroom just in the nick of time.
Hna. Diana gave me a bucket.  I sat near Samuel on the bed to help him avoid any unnecessary messes.
Less than an hour later, it was Noah.
And then, poor Rebekah.  It hit her hard.
And then Susannah.

We got back to the house where we were staying with only one "mishap".  With no way to really clean up, it was just sort of get everything into a garbage bag, tie it up, and deal with it later.
We got everyone settled into bed with the bucket near by.
Every cough, hiccup, whimper, sound sent me sitting straight up in bed ready to act.
Finally, around 2 am, I fell asleep.
And then at 3:15 am, Josiah woke me up.  "Mommy, Benjamin's sick."
Yep, it was mishap #2.
After helping Ben get cleaned up, new blankets, new pillows, and another garbage bag, I crawled back into bed close to 4 am.
Daniel was suppose to take the "morning" tests in at 7 am, so I set my alarm for 6 am and it felt like just seconds later it went off.  I woke each child up, one by one, and helped them back to bed.  Daniel took the samples to the lab and most of the kids just stayed in bed all morning and slept.
Elijah woke up around 8 am and went right back to bed saying he didn't feel well.
Nehemiah got the bucket around 10 am.
Timothy was feeling so-so.  And I couldn't tell if I was getting sick or just feeling sick from everything.
Finally, by later that afternoon, things had calmed down, and the doctor wanted to consult with Daniel and I.
After that visit, we decided to start heading north.  We had to be at the immigration office in La Paz Friday morning to begin the process of renewing my visa, and Cindy (the lady who runs the camp where we take our church for family camp each year) offered to let us stay in the dorms there for the night.
It was a 2 1/2 hour drive.
Isaiah started to feel sick.
And then Abi needed the bucket.
Thankfully, it seemed to only be a 12-24 hour bug.
By the next morning, everyone was up and playing/walking around the campground...well, everyone  but Eliseo.
It was his turn, poor guy.  He was the 3rd and final time someone missed the bucket.
Somehow, Josiah managed to completely miss out on all the fun.

Well, today, Daniel is back in La Paz with the youth of our church (4 of ours included).
The children are back to normal (ha!).
And I spent my day doing laundry.  A lot.

The doctor will be going over our tests this coming week and be calling us.
Praying for wisdom for her.
We'll be going to La Paz again on Tuesday for my visa.
Monday, Daniel will be out preaching in Ensenada Blanca.
Oh, last week, a lady there accepted Christ as her Savior!!
Our church here is getting more and more involved in reaching the people out there, too.
The last two weeks, 9 people from our church went with Daniel...2 complete families and a man with his son.
Well, it is late, Daniel and my "big kids" will be home soon.
And I have a bit more laundry. :-)
In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.