June 29th Wednesday
So today we left for our vacation at 4 pm Winnipeg time. It was tough to leave work as things got a little busy and unexpected before leaving. My Dad, Shane and the kids picked me up at work and we all went to the airport. We flew to Calgary with Kendra and had dinner at Harvees and then onto LA. We rented a Hertz car which was great as K and H have to go for some doctor appointments in the am. We got to the Hilton at 1 am which is 3 am our time so we are tired. Great hotel though. They may have remembered us from our last experience which was with our trailer and laundry baskets so we are currently already making a better impression!! So looking forward to seeing Kevin and Henriette!
June 30th Thursday
A bit of a sleep in. K and H are at the hospital for the tests. Very concerned and worried for them. We are going to IHop for breakfast and then to Universal. Kevin and Henriette’s friend got us free tickets to Universal which is so wonderful. We met Kevin there at Noon as he had to get us in. Henriette still in hospital so Kevin will spend the day there. Universal was very fun and enjoyable. Kids loved it. It was hot in there but there was a Curious George water area so Tyler got soaked. Great attractions and rides. Jessie and I went in the Horror House and both just about didn't make it out!! Heart pounding terribly! We met Kevin for supper at the soup plantation.(delicious) We are tired and so is he but Henriette is still in hospital at least overnight depending on what the doctor says. We went back to the hotel and the kids had a quick 20 minute swim and then to bed.
July 1st Friday
We slept in again! We went to the grocery store to purchase some breakfast, lunch and snacks. Then we had lunch around the pool, swam all afternoon....very hot. Henriette is experiencing some difficulties with her kidney and so she will need to stay in the hospital for 3 days and get pulse steroids to try to reverse the rejection concern. Very upsetting to both Kevin and Henriette and we are so upset for them and are praying that things begin to get better. The kids relaxed in the room a bit and Shane napped and I still sat at the pool. We then went downtown to the hospital and met Kevin for dinner. Very nice time but he is tired and so worried about Henriette. Shane, Kendra and the kids went down to the Hollywood and Highland area and Kevin and I went and visited with Henriette. It was so great to see her. She is in good spirits and I am praying very hard for her and her kidney. It was so wonderful to visit and to hug her!! Back to the hotel after a 2 hour visit and 2 hour walk around downtown. The pool is closed much to Jessica's dismay....that kid could live in a pool.
July 2nd Saturday
Slept in again.,,,10 am...good thing we do it now because we are not going to be able to do that when we are in Mexico. We had a bit of a swim and then packed up. We drove around looking for the Hollywood sign and it was so funny because the GPS was giving us instructions to go where the roads were closed. We eventually found it and it is the highlight so far of Tyler’s trip! Photos were taken so all is well. We went to the hospital cafeteria and had lunch with Kevin and then he and I and Tyler went to Hen’s room. We then all visited for a couple of hours in the 7th floor lobby. It was great for the kids to see Henriette and it was great for Henriette to see the kids. I think it lifted all of our spirits. We left at 5 and started our drive to SD. Coffee Bean (Love the Caramel frapp) in tow we arrived in SD at 8 pm. Checked into the hotel and then off to the campground which is where the Scouts group from Winnipeg were going to be and they are our traveling group for the next 7 days while we gear up to build 4 houses together in Mexico. Aside from some bus issues the Scouts arrived fine and we visited a bit and they are all in great spirits. Returned the rental car and off to McDonalds for dinner and then to bed!
July 3rd Sunday
Left the hotel at 8:30 am...Andrew arrived with the bus at 7:30 from Vegas. Poor guy. (The original bus had a breakdown do the Scouts arrived on a different bus). We loaded up the Scouts and off we go to Vicente. Bordeer no issue and then to the lookout where there was nothing to look at as it was so foggy. We continued onto the town of Ensenada where we stopped outside of the town to eat lunch. The Scouts made us a delicious lunch and we rested and stretched. We were on the road again as everyone was very exicted to arrive in Vicente....actually the town is Zapata. I felt so at home as soon as we drove up. I have missed being here very much and am so looking forward to being here. We right away went to meet the 4 families which was wonderful. Our family is mom and Dad and 6 girls....13, 12, 11, 8, 6, 3. Beautiful family with tons of energy and very social. They are so excited to have us come back tomorrow. It was so great to see Santi and Julia....and to finally meet Edwin. What a cutie. 1o months old but he has a cold. It is so hard to believe that it has been 2 years since we have been here. What a great feeling to be back. Pizza for dinner, a short orientation and then we are moved into our new home...Angelina’s house. Julia and Santi cleaned up the whole house which is awesome. We have 3 beds and a kitchen, living room and bathroom.; How wonderful. Excited to begin building tomorrow.
Monday July 4th
Up early as breakfast is early and the idea is to get to our job site at a good time. Shane and I are assisting from the Hero Holiday side of things with running errands, helping Julia with cooking and prep and whatever else is needed but this week as well we are part of the build of the 4 houses with the Scouts that we have been fundraising with for over a year. And what a group they are. They are on time, help with everything and generally a wonderful group. We have met so many great people so far. Shane and the kids off to the build and I stayed back with Julia to make lunch and so some laundry. Loved hanging the laundry on the line! Met all the groups at the Pemex gas station for lunch that we brought and heard the excitement in people's voices as they began to describe their morning. I spent the afternoon at our build and the 6 girls in this family are so sweet and friendly and I am trying hard to remember my Spanish....little as it is. I have discovered something TERRIBLE> There is a mouse in my house. I am terrified of mice and hence Tyler has also become terrified of mice......we set some traps but tonight for sleeping I am very concerned that we will not sleep. Oh ya and we had the most amazing and delicious burritos for dinner courtesy of Julia and her friend Reina who assists.
July 5th
Shane is off to SD. It turns out that Andrew needs to fly to Saskatchewan to get another bus to then bring back to SD to drive the Scouts back to Manitoba. So Shane drove him to SD to catch a flight and was gone all day. The 4 house builds continued and the highlight today was getting all the walls up. For the family of 8 we are with this was so special as they could see the reality of what was soon to come. The 6 girls continue to bond with all of us and especially Jessica is having so much fun with them. Tyler is at another build and has bonded with young Glen who is 6 years old. Tyler's family has 9 dogs, 20 rabbits, some goats and chickens. The dogs are there to mostly guard the area and are not super friendly yet. Tostadas for dinner and a bonfire....Happy to report there is one dead mouse.
July 6th
Yay....2nd mouse dead. Still hard to sleep at night. We have 2 beds that we have pushed together and sleep the 4 of us. Very tight but none of want to be alone where the mice might see us!! Ridiculous I know but I can't help it. I can at least breathe when I go in the house now. Today we saw Angelina and her 3 kids who we got to know last time we were here. We are living in their home as they live at Angelina's work which is the orphange so she can be close to work and plus she is studying to be a nurse so it is closer to her schooling too. Her 2 dogs live outside our house now,,,,named Blackie and Chica!! 2 very sweet dogs but they are not allowed in the house. The build today was great. Roof is on and our family had to tear down their old house as it was too close to the roof of this new house and so was in the way. I felt badly as I think they wanted to keep it up but I later learned I think they will move it forward a bit and rebuild and maybe cook in it. The youngest daughter is 3 and has taken a liking to Shane who teases her all the time. Off to the taco stand and the candy store! Delicious!
Thursday July 7th
No more dead mice…….all quiet and no squeaks! Up at 6 am to cook Mexican eggs with Julia although by the time I got my ass to the kitchen they were 90% done…delicious with guacamole and tortilla. Off to the houses at 8:45 as some homes have a fair amount to do and others are almost complete. Each family is anxiously awaiting their new home. Sharon and I and Santi went to exchange some money. After a discussion last night where we understood that the family with the store (this is our family with the 6 kids) was behind in their land payments we decided to pass the hat this am and then go to the land titles office and see how much each of our families owe and then try to help. Once at the money exchange we ran into Charles and a few who were going shopping for furniture so we joined up with their group, stopping first at Mikasa for fancy coffee and then to Sammy’s to pick out beds, dressers, couches and kitchen table. After some serious bartering by Charles….he got them from 22,900 to 19,000 pesos and they will deliver in the am no problem. He drives a hard bargain. After Sammy’s we stopped at the greenhouse to buy our 20 fruit trees….Oh ya I forgot at Sammy’s we also ordered the chickens which will be delivered in the am as well. The fruit trees we had a choice of 13 different kinds….we ended up with 25 and then they donated 2 extra which Cindy asked if we could get for Santi and Julia…..and we shall give them to them. The greenhouse was wonderful and smelled great. We then went to the Pemex for our lunch….today Charles went to pick up the lunch and Shane picked up the group at house 4 and we all met at the Pemax for lunch….sandwiches etc. After lunch, the groups went back to complete the houses….likely very little to finish now. Santi and I and Sharon went to the land titles office and discovered that all 4 families were behind….1 family was behind to Dec 2010 and their payment is 250 pesos a week and another family is behind to December but their payment is only 150 pesos per week and another family at 250 pesos per week are behind to March 28th and the last family with 2 lots has paid until June 1 andd each lot is 250 pesos per week. Wow…..so we as a Scout group passed the hat and raised 752 US dollars which is amazing and we ended up helping each family with 2000 pesos and then the family who was most behind we helped with 2350 pesos..
We then returned to the sites and helped all 4 teams comlete all the homes. How exciting!!Back to the house for burgers and dogs and then to Mikasa for more fun coffee and our debriefing. We have been debriefing as a group every night around the fire so this was a fun change.
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