Monday July 25th

Woke up today again after a bit of a sleep in. It is amazing how tired we are after the week of building and assisting with hosting the group. So fun but so tired. We did an inventory of the kitchen in preperation for the next group and then headed off to a pool for the afternoon. Shane, the kids and I went on our own after lunch. Most of our trip has been with others so it was kind of cool to go the pool as a family. I did not know there was a pool here. I would have thought it was too dusty for such a thing but sure enough right near the Mission orphanage in VG there is a pool. In fact it is a large one and there are 2 small ones that were not filled. It cost 3.00 per person to attend and so we spent the afternoon swimming and playing. It was a hot hot day and the kids had a ton of fun. They played in a plastic boat for the better part of 2 hours which is hilarious! Shane and I sat on a towel at the side of the pool until a couple of chairs became available. We enjoyed our time there. We arrived back at the house late afternoon and we decided to have a fiesta. Today is Santiago's birthday and because they were busy yesterday we did not see them for Tyler's birthday. We had burgers and potatoes and carrots all on the bbq and Santi and Julia bought a cake which we all sang to Tyler and Santi and enjoyed the cake. Rose's boyfriend Pedro was over as well with his 2 daughters so it was quite the night. The evening ended with a round of tequila shots to celebrate!!!

Sunday....Tyler's 13th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you Tyler....Feliz Cumplianos to you. We had a nice sleep in as the group left at 6:30 am and we did not get up to see them off. We decided to rest and then we needed to get packed up again as it was time to move back to the big house because the group was leaving. We had wished and sang happy birthday to Tyler this am at his time of birth which is 12:09 am. We had just gotten to our beds and so the timing was perfect. We wished him again and went over to the big house. Our first job of the day was to order a birthday present for Tyler. One of our presents to him was tickets to go see Shrek the Musical while we are in LA. I tried ordering the tickets online yesterday to no success so this am I needed to call Ticketmaster. Unbelievable but the guy on the phone selling me the ticket was in Winnipeg so we had a good laugh that I was in Mexico, trying to go see a show in LA but lived in WPG and got him from WPG on the phone. Well it was funny if you were there. Anyways off the the big house and we had delicious left over french toast for breakfast. Well it was more like Noon but it was still our first meal of the day. We continued to relax and decided that Tyler would like to spend his birthday at the beach so off we went. We went to a beach we had never been to before. It was close by our house off the road that IDT has their head office at. A short 10 minute drive and we were at the beach. It was a gorgeous beach with lots of sand, sand dunes and very little seaweed. We jumped in the waves for a few hours.....even I got in the water too. The waves were beautiful, not too harsh but still good waves. The water though is cold so it takes some getting used to! Prior to going to the beach we headed to Mikassa for a smoothie! Delicious was to begin the afternoon on the beach! Another of Tyler's birthday presents. We so enjoyed this beach and Tyler declared it the best beach we have been to in Mexico. After the beach we headed back to the house to get ready for dinner. We are taking Tyler out for dinner for his birthday to a nice restaurant that has seafood and other items. We gave Tyler his birthday card and he is getting Shrek tickets and Wicked tickets and money towards a camera. He was thrilled. Off we went to dinner where Tyler and Jessie had spaghetti with a fettuchini sauce and Shane had a variety seafood plate and I had shrimp stuffed with crab and cheese wrapped in bacon...wow delicious. The waiter then brought us some fried ice cream and a free one for Tyler and we sang Happy Birthday in English, French and Spanish. We went for dinner with Rose and Pearl which was very awesome and very nice for Tyler to be able to celebrate.

Another visit to the volcano

We drove gus to the volcano today and we took Gus because we needed an extra vehicle to accomodate those who are ill today. We are hoping they can last the day but it is hard to say because the ride in is bumpy and there are no washrooms anywhere. The sand dunes are our toilet! Again its a long ride in....nice highway ride but not so nice 18 km ride into the beach area with the washboard roads. We arrived to a still cloudy morning so the group took the opportunity to do the volcano climb first. Jessica, Shane and Tyler all did the climb while I stayed back and visited with some of the group as well as Santi and Julia. Then Julia and I prepared lunch for the group. As you remember the walk into and up and down and out of the volcano is around 2 hours. After lunch the sun came out which was a huge blessing because today we were going to witness something awesome. 6 young women from Calgary Grace Baptist are being baptized today in the ocean. Their pastor Doug will do the baptizing. Last night in front of the group they each needed to do a testimonial which was very interesting to hear. The girls range in age from 12 to 17 I believe. Then today they did a video testimony which will be played later for the remainder of the congregation who are not here in Mexico. They then began the baptism. In the Baptist church young adults or I guess any person of any age decides to dedicate their life to God by becoming baptized rather than parents deciding baptism for their kids. What a great thing to witness. They also practice full immersion baptism so the young women were dunked completely in the ocean. We were very pleased and honored to be able to be a part of such an experience and appreciate very much being made to feel a part of the group from CGB. We returned from the volcano to the house and went to the taco stand for the group's last night in Mexico. A lot of fun as we visited and ate tacos together and one last stop at the candy store, our kids went to the ice cream store for an ice cream. Lots of fun. Back to the house for a last chat together and a lot of hugs good bye. This group from CGB is a very special group and we will miss them very much. They will be leaving Sunday morning at 6:30 am and driving to Barstow California where they will spend the night and then drive straight through to Calgary. It will be very quiet around here as Trish and the kids are going to San Diego to hang out until Charles returns to SD on Tuesday night. They will then spend Wednesday in Legoland and return to VG on Thursday. Looking forward to our last week in Mexico. We will help with some things for the next group and have some vacation time for us after a very busy week.

Dedication Friday with Calgary Grace Baptist

So Friday is dedication day. We had the opportunity to sleep in today because the shopping has been completed and the houses are built. We had breakfast at 9 am and then while most of the group organized the donations a small group of us left to go and buy a bunk bed. We headed out to San Quintin to look for bunk beds and after viewing about 5 we settled on the one we liked and the price we liked and the mattresses we liked. We found it at a market and we were able to enjoy some very fresh fruit while we were there. We then grabbed some lunch at the Pemex as we had missed lunch at the house and we then met the groups at the homes. Each group spent some time putting together the homes for the families and we looked forward to the dedications. We began at the home built by Dallas and the gang. The group that built the home stood closest to the family and the remainder of us stood in the back and listened. The second home we dedicated was the home we participated in for the build and then the last home was the home that Rose and her gang built. All of the dedications were beautiful....each family sharing the experience they had with the build and the group and then each of the group were able to share their experience with the family. There was a lot of love and tears and heartfelt statements about how people felt this week. It was very obvious the impact on the families and then even more so there was an incredible impact for the group. At the last dedication the family had prepared some food of salad and chicken and tortillas. We thought it was to be for the group that built but it turns out there was enough food for everyone to take a little bit. The groups headed back to the house while I took a small group to Martin's house....we built with CGB there 2 years ago. We were bringing him some photos the group took when they were there the other day. It was a great visit as we could see how improved things have been for them these past 2 years. Their oldest daughter is going into her 2nd year of law school. Both Marisol and Rosa look great. We then headed back to the house for flautas compliments of Julia! A last debriefing with this group and lots of emotions after a very busy and emotional day. We are headed home to hit the pillow!

More from Calgary Grace Baptist

What a wonderful group from Calgary. They have embraced us as if we were a part of their group and this is so appreciated. We are into our 3rd and 4th build day and the houses look wonderful. Our family is still very shy but the youngest gal about 1 year old has seemingly warmed up to us slightly. Beatrice who is seven is painting, hammering and joining in all the time. Manuel who is the neighbor age 14 is a huge help and having a wonderful time trying to learn more English as each day progresses. We are fortunate because Shane and I and the kids are kept busy helping in any way we can. Today, I left the site early to drive one of the ladies back who was ill and then helped Julia in the afternoon prepare for supper. We had Tostados and they were awesome. Thursday we had Pecole soup which I had not had before. It is a chicken broth base, with corn and then you add your own toppings such as chicken, tortilla chips, salsa, cabbage, cheese etc. Quite delicious. Thursday night we did something very neat. We went back to San Quintin where we are house building in the evening and we set up a movie screen on the side of the school.. We showed Rapunzel in Spanish with English subtitles. About 60 kids showed up and we all had popcorn and watched the movie. It was very breezy so many kids including ours were under sweatshirts and blankets. Much fun and entertaining.
Thursday we also spent the morning shopping for furniture at Sami's and then shopping for a bike for one of the dad's and then the propane stoves and then the groceries. All done a day early this time in getting ready. Wednesday was a finish at 6 day as the group stopped to visit a family from 2 years ago....Martin and family....daughters Rosa and Marisol.....I missed it as I was at the house with the ill folks. Then Thursday was a bit shorter day of working but also a stop to visit the families that the group built for last year. It was nice to see their home and all the wonderful new things added to it. As we were leaving that visit a man stopped Tyler and I in the street to say hello and it was Rafael and Augustine....from our build 3 years ago. Remembering we say Alberta and Carolina a week or so ago but Augustine and Rafael were not home. We visited a bit which was awesome to see them. A really great 2 days....early mornings and late nights but great. Each night when the Calgary group debriefs they sing hymns first which I love. Tomorrow (Friday) is dedication day.

A new group arrives

So today was a great day.(Sunday) We greeted the group from Calgary Grace Baptist Church. We met a few of them 2 years ago when we were here so it was great to see some familiar faces. It is also great to see that there are others who keep wanting to return here as we do. This group is 42 people who took the bus from Calgary. They are all family units with parents and kids so a great mix of ages. We spent the day cleaning in anticipation of their arrival. It was a busy day of making beds, sweeping and mopping and laundry. Much fun. We had Jumbo pizzas and salads for dinner which the group enjoyed. We met the 3 families for whom we are building. The family where we will be spending our time is Mom Celerina, Dad Vellario, 2 daughters Beatrice age 7 and Elizabeth I think maybe 1 year. Very shy family but you can see their excitement. We will be learning from Charles in terms of building and leading a house. We did it before but it was a long time ago and we will take better notes this time!! We can assist and then Charles can go to the other 2 sites to assist. We will be there to fill in as workers whenever needed. We sat around the fire and the group sang some hymns and shared some first impressions. A very beautiful day.

On Monday we were set to work! Both Tyler and Jessica put their work clothes and and Jessica within minutes was assisting with the painting. She painted the better part of the day which takes great focus. Tyler hammered a bit, took some pictures and wandered between sites visiting. Shane and I worked with Charles to learn which we did and was much fun. The morning was a bit cloudy and cooler which was nice but the afternoon became very warm. We worked till about 4:30 and returned home for Julia's delicious burritos.....WOW can she cook. We enjoy her cooking so much!! Again a nice evening, chores done, people visiting, and a nice debriefing,. We left part way through the debriefing as we were one tired group!!

Tuesday.....bright and early to assist with making breakfast of pancakes and sausages. A good start to the day. Today we put the house up...all 4 walls and the remainder of the day was spent painting, and painting and painting. We had a young helper today named Charlie who was a neighbor to our family. he lives in a wheelchair and came over to help. He was a huge help and painted for most of the day. He also has a developmental disability and enjoyed spending time working very hard. Hero Holiday built a homme for his family last year so it was nice t see him wanting to continue to help even after his house was built. There is another young man on site again a neighbor. he is 14 and named Manuel and works very very hard and has a bit of English. He is enjoying learning more English as we work together. There was a huge soccer game going on in the community for a while in the afternoon and the kids loved it. We are showering and relaxing a bit and then off to Smokies taco stand for tacos....then maybe a trip to the candy store for more chocolate....I ran out after our last stop at the candy store.

Friday and Saturday!! Not work days!!!

What a great couple of days. We did a tiny bit of work, for example laundry, making up some beds for the next group but the remainder of the time was more relaxing and resting and visiting. With Becky and Mandy and Rose and Pearl here we have had some great times just hanging out. Friday after some making of beds and a quick lunch we headed off to the Costo Bravo beach again so the kids could so some more wave jumping!! So much fun for them as the waves today were fairly gentle so they can go out a bit further without us being too worried. The wind is still blowing a fair bit so it is quite cool on the beach but I still love the beach.....the sun and sand and water!!! After the beach the kids played in the sand....we went to the beach with Trish and the kids, so they all have other kids to play with. Oh ya.....went grocery shopping in the am so we will have some food and snacks for the next couple of days until the group arrives. I should not have gone hungry as I came home with more than we needed. Upon arrival home we were delighted to see Becky in full cooking mode. She was making dinner for the whole group of us. We had to call Santi and Julia to come as they had fallen asleep and we were wondering where they were for dinner!!! We were treated to a delicious supper of shark on the BBQ with a pineapple salsa that the pineapple also was cooked on the BBQ. As well as a wonderful shrimp rice dish, a tossed salad with fresh cheese...(there is no better cheese) and a great walnut coleslaw. What a treat. The kids were not really interested in shark so we made them cheeseburgers and turkey dogs. What a fun night!! Thanks Becky for the great meal. She is going to Culinary school soon and will make a wonderful chef!

Up about 9 am on Saturday.....wanted to enjoy it as when the group arrives on Sunday it is 6 am wake ups for the whole week. We threw in more laundry and I made french toast for breakfast....yes it really was me who made it. I even made enough for tomorrow. We set off at 10 am....all 14 of us in the grey van named Gus and Trisha's Yukon which by the way drives much better than the grey van or the truck or any of the buses!! We drove to San Quinten to the market which is kind of like a flea market with some new and some used stuff. We bought school shoes for Tyler and a couple of jerseys for Shane. Not a huge selection at this market. Kids bought some fresh fruit to eat....delicious and I bought some fresh coconut to eat and a tomale. We then went to California Hot dogs for lunch for the kids but it was closed so we settles on Nachos and cheese from the Pemex gas station. We then drove to the sand dollar beach where we were met with Rose's boyfriend Pedro and his 2 daughters, his dad and a couple other young gals. We had met Pedro and his daughters last night for Becky's dinner. We arrived at the beach which has gorgeous sand, gentle waves, almost no seaweed and sand dollars everywhere and sand dunes for the kids to play in. For the next few hours the kids alternated between the sand dunes and the waves having a great time. Pedro spent over an hour in the water clamming.....or should I say catching our dinner. He caught 8 dozen clams in just over an hour....what a talent. Rose and Pearl joined him for a bit and caught 2 but both were too small. We arrived home about 6 and Pedro arrived shortly after with clams and various other grocery items.....he cooked us an Iron Chef dinner of clams.....clams 3 different ways......clam soup, clam cerviche and clam creme.....all very delicious. he was in the kitchen for about 2 hours slaving away so we could enjoy the dinner which we all did. What a treat again....we could not have gone to the store and bought clams and made anything close to what we ate tonight. How wonderful. Off to bed as tomorrow is clean, clean, and more clean for the group that will arrive. And we need to move out of the big house to make room for the group. Good night all!!