Leaving for the Dominican Republic!

HI GUYS!!!!!!! First off, I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping out financially for Cam and my trip to the Dominican Republic! You guys have NO idea HOW helpful you all were!!!! I am SO humbled and appreciative of your financial support and prayers!!!! If there is EVER I can do for ANY of you, please let me know! Until then, I have kept each one of you and your families in my prayers.


That said, I am letting you all know that we are leaving first thing tomorrow (Thursday the 21st) morning!! We are VERY excited….but also a bit anxious! Okay…A LOT anxious. I can’t fib…my dad is reading this….he knows how much of a basket case I have been! It isn’t so much even the trip as it is the preparation for the trip….making sure I have everything I need for myself and Cam, etc. You know…if we are going on vacation somewhere and forget something, we go to the nearest Walmart….if I forget something on this trip, I just have to do without and that scares me!! On our packing list it said, “Toilet paper, optional.” I called John Alford and asked him, “John…do we really need to bring our own toilet paper?” He said, “Well…it says optional on there.” I said, “And what is the other option?” He said, “Leaves.” Um…I am thinking I am packing toilet paper! It’s not like I have never camped and used leaves before…but I don’t want to do it in a third world country where I don’t know what kind of leaf I am using! :-~ That’s the LAST place I need a rash!
I also have been concerned for Cam….well, and I guess me as well. Jake and MaKenna had a cold this week. It was only about a two day cold…but one of those days was pretty miserable for them. Cam tends to get colds and they never stop there. They turn into something a lot worse because he has immunocompromised lungs. Soo….I called the doctor, and even though he has no symptoms right now, they put him on a preventative antibiotic and then I will bring the nebulizer and hope I have an electrical outlet to plug it into should we need it. I am worried about getting sick too…because I am also more sickly. I tend to get a cold and have it turn into more also….BUT….as a mother, I am more concerned about my babies then me! So…if you would keep Cam and I in your prayers for health and well being that would be FANTASTIC!!!
So….we will be flying into Santo Domingo after a LONG day of flying. We fly to Chicago, then to Miami and then into Santo Domingo around midnight. We will stay in a “hotel” in Santo Domingo the first night since we get in so late, then first thing in the morning we will head by van to San Juan, which is about 4 hours away. There we will hike to the village we will be at. Each day we will hike another 45 minutes to the actual village that we will be doing Vacation Bible School at and helping lay concrete slabs in some homes, fetching water at the well for people and doing home visits with evangelizing. At the end of each day we will hike another 45 minutes to our base camp. We will be there 10 days. On Saturday, the 30th we head back to Santo Domingo for another stay at the “hotel” and then on Sunday the 31st of July we have another LONG day of flying…but should be home by 6:30pm or so Sunday night.
It will be an exhausting 10 days, but one I am sure Cam and I won’t soon forget. Jeff if you are reading this…I know you have been with the other 3 kids for 10 days and will be ready to hand them off to me…but I could sure use some rest when I get home I think! At least Sunday night!  Speaking of which, if you would all keep Jeff in your prayers too as he will be providing for the kids, working from home, and being “mom” and dad. Thanks to Deana Ramsey who is keeping the kids two of the nights I am gone, and Scott and Melissa who will also be taking them from time to time. Also thanks to Dad and Jan who MIGHT take them camping one night! I know they’ll enjoy that…the kids anyway! 

I have a blog I will be posting on after we get home…that is www.nebraskafillemans.blogspot.com.
Thanks again!! Love and Hugs!!

Tonya and Cam