Ya think there may be a reason the roads down here are shot??? Yes those are 2x12 extra tall side boards on that truck and it is loaded with wet sand and the tarp is kinda keeping it from running off the sides. I would guess at least 1.5 if not 2 times the legal limit for the States...

Right after I got in the bus just as we were leaving the pier. In the back, Carole, Dan and Keith. Second row is Eric, Sharon and my Great Aunt Hellen. Closest is Kay and Ken. Mary is sitting right next to me to try to keep from getting sick on the smooth straight roads we have down here:)













Aunt Hellen and me at Walkerswood Spice Factory getting ready for the tour












The Whole Kloter Crew at Coyabe Botanical Gardens. Kieth, Carole, Dan, Mary, me, Great Aunt Hellen, Sharon, Eric, Ken & Kay

So I am a little behind on the updates... I arrived in Mobay on Friday, stayed overnight and then picked up Marc and Leo at the airport on Saturday and as we were getting ready to leave town got a call from Delta that they had my bag and wanted directions. We met in Montego Bay so it was No Problem!
These last couple of weeks have flown. First was the quarterly board meetings, then on Friday the 23rd I went to Ocho Rios and picked up Kevin and Rachel(Clough) Strong and brought them up to JDV. It was great to meet Kevin and we went to the infirmary Friday late afternoon and then I drove them to Mobay on Saturday. Sunday was my day to drive the church bus, so I left here at 9:30 and made 2 trips and after Church drove twice into Mandeville and then dropped Delroy off at his home... Way out in the bush about 45 minutes past Knockpatrick! On Monday Chad, His son Paul and I went to Kingston with Mr. Jones to the immigration office. They processed the first part of my Visa on the Jamaica end and I registered as an alien(yes I am officially and alien), and they kept my passport to give to the Ministry of Labor. Lord willing Wednesday coming we will go back to pick up my passport and go to the Ministry of Labor to finally get my Visa!
On Tuesday, I had the awesome opportunity to go to Ocho Rios and meet up with family! My Great Aunt Hellen, Kieth & Mary, Eric & Sharon, Ken & Kay, Dan & Carole all were on a cruise that had a port of call in Ocho, so I was able to spend the day with them! It was a blast and meant so much to me! Pictures coming...
The rest of this week has been... well, I glad it is Saturday!:) My job has been putting out fires and fixing equipment for the most part. One big Praise report is that devotions went well this week! Praise God for that!

Travel...
Praise the Lord for great friends! Thursday Jared drove me up and dropped me off in Elgin at Jason and Karen's.(thanks again Zobe!) Schambach hospitality was once again awesome:)... I must say that I am royally spoiled when I go there!
Jason got up at the unreasonable hour of 3am to drive me to Ohare for my 5:50 flight... and once again the flight stories of Warren continued.
My connection in Atlanta I knew would be tight... 30 minutes to be exact. We arrived in Atlanta 20 minutes early so I was breathing a sigh of relief, however there ended up being no gates available to we didn't get off the plane until 9:15 and my connection was 9:30 departure. Other than the brief help from the train, I was at an all out sprint(man am I out of shape) across the airport and as I rounded the corner to concourse E, I heard the last call for my flight. They had to re check me in at the gate because they had closed the ticket scanner. Whew, Just made it!
Customs and Immigration went great! I was hardly even questioned about me paperwork, Praise the Lord for that!
When I arrived in Mobay I found one bag, but my hard to miss red plastic tote didn't make it:(
1 1/2 hours later... I had completed the lost bag claim and hopefully will get my bag sometime this week. Pray that it arrives with everything in it!

God thing...
Friday I was scheduled to fly down to Jamaica, but because my Visa papers came through(Praise the Lord!) I ended up needing to fly back to IL to have them validated. I cancelled my Friday flight and booked a flight for Saturday morning to Peoria. Because of that change, I was able to go into work with Uncle Darryl on Friday and give a presentation about CCCD to 8 of his co-workers!! Totally a God thing!
Saturday, I flew into Peoria at 9:45 am, stopped at Fedex right there at the airport and picked up my Visa documents, Dad took me to Walmart and I got Passport photo made, went home and printed out the last form online and then jumped in my car and drove through the snow up to Chicago! I had arranged for a 4pm appointment at the Jamaican Consulate and arrived just after 3. Waited a bit and decided to go into the building and wait in the lobby. Walked in and sat down about 3:15 and almost instantly the Consulate looked out his office and asked if he could help me. I explained that I was there for a 4pm meeting, but because of the snow drove up early to make sure I arrived on time. He said, No problem, Mon, I will be with you in a few minutes. By 3:20 I was in his office and by 3:50 was heading back to my car with all my papers/passport stamped!
Praise the Lord for that! Totally unbelievable!!
Now I will just need to go into Kingston and pick up my Visa there. The Consulate sends the passport photo's and his stuff down and they make the Visa in Kingston, so hopefully I can pick that up soon!
I just booked my flight down for Friday of this week! We have a team coming in on Saturday so the transportation on the Island will be best if I waited until the end of the week. In the mean time, I am enjoying a couple more days with friends and family!

Yesterday I got to stop at Ring Power Cat to see Uncle Darryl at work and I got to 'play' for over an hour!!! I had never operated a dozer before, so they put me in a D-6 to try it out. Totally Awesome!!

After dozing up a ramp into the pile I swapped out for a 315 Excavator. Fred, the guy that made sure I didn't get stuck, was a little nervous for a bit while I did a few things with the hoe. Didn't know I had operated one before:)

Pulled up the ramp to make a big drop off and then walked the hoe off the edge to quit.

Monday I flew to Florida(supposed to be on my way to Jamaica, but that is another story) and visited my Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancy for 2 Days. On Tuesday Uncle Jim took me to Fantasy of Flight, a private collection of War birds from WWI and WWII. It was absolutely awesome!!

Uncle Jim and me standing in front of a P-51. In the background is a B-26

This picture is the nose of a B-17 Fighting Fortress. That chair is where my Grandpa Rinkenberger sat as the bombadier for 13 missions over Germany. So cool to walk through the plane and have Uncle Jim tell me history of it and stories of Granpa!

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Sun Down skiing with Fuel, the highschool youth group from Harvest.

We took a break at 6 for a pizza party and then some of us went back out for an hour of night skiing. It was a total blast!