Monday and a trip to Mexico (long)

We had quite a lot of donated school supplies, 3 donated laptops, a donated printer, and gifts for some of the kids.

Thanks to everyone! It will all be put to good use I can assure you!

We sorted things out in the morning, so that we could take some things on more than one trip.

Miserable morning weather wise, but not complaining compared to back home.

We met Sister Maureen, Ken and Vickey, and a very nice lady named Dena, at Sister Maureen's residence in Progreso Texas on this side of the border. Off we went in Sister Maureen's red truck, and crossed the International Bridge into Progreso Mexico. Suddenly....this is what we saw!

Our little ones Karelly on the left, and Livy on the right, holding up this massive sign. The letters are made out of material and we can only imagine how long it took for them to make it. Basically brought us to tears, and filled with joy! Katie and I were in the back, so this picture was taken through the front windshield by Vickey. Mom Erika was standing over to the side of the bridge, watching her little ones with pride.

We found out from Sister Maureen, that she already knew about this surprise, and when we made arrangements to meet her, she made sure to tell us that we had to meet her and not to go into Mexico first as we had done in the past sometimes. We were still not clued into what awaited us!

How great was this to the start of our afternoon!

We then drove to what was supposed to be their new temporary hacienda, but we could see that no one was there. This house is in what originally was supposed to be a gated community for the upper class, which included a guard house at the front gate. What we saw instead, was no guard, and several nice looking houses that had no one living in them. The house that Erika's family is to occupy had several broken windows, and a door that does not function properly, but is supposed to be quite nice inside.

As Erika and the kids were not there, we went to their old place which is just down the road and across the street outside the gates. They were there, obviously preferring to stay there, instead of the new place...but...they will have to leave there, as it is to be torn down by the owner. We were told the place sold for 130,000, around $10,850 Cdn. It was in pretty bad shape, but the lot is a pretty good size.

to be continued....

We got lots of hugs when we got there! Sister Maureen and the others went to the church as they were distributing money for the neighborhood kids.

We got to spend a couple of hours with the kids, we brought a tablet for them, and I had loaded it up with games, music videos, books, and english learning programs. Karelly was in their like a dirty shirt examining everything...she is super smart.

When Sister Maureen came back, we got Dena to do some translating for us with Erika. Apparently the house behind the gates is not only owned by one man, he owns the whole complex. Apparently his daughter got killed, and he is now somewhere in the United States, but no one knows where, not even his secretary. The option for Erika and the kids to live there for no longer than two months was arranged by the secretary, but she says she has no control over the property and longer than that.

Katie and I are trying to find out if Erika can find a place to rent, but apparently most don't want to rent out their places, they would rather sell. Erika may have a line on a place for 60,000 pesos, around $5,000 Cdn dollars. We want to help her one way or another, if she wants to stay in Progreso. Apparently Erika would rather go back to Monterey because the schools are better, while her husband and the girls want to stay in Progreso. Katie and I want her to do whatever is best for the family, even if that means we don't get to see the girls in person anymore.

Another way we communicate with Erika, is that I write her a letter, translate it on the internet, and then we let her read it on Katie's tablet. The translation is not perfect, but close enough for her to understand.

Before we left Erika's we made arrangements to take them out for Pizza on the main street in Progreso, so Erika would meet us there with the kids.

We went with Sister Maureen to see our other little one..Vicky. As soon as we drove up we saw that her house was gone. Turns out they had moved across the back lane. Vicky came flying out and into our arms as usual.

 It was very cold yesterday, and the house if you can call it that, was cold. We gave Vicky some gifts we brought for her, and Mom made some coffee on the stove which is powered by propane with the line going through the wall. The concrete floor is all uneven and cracked, but at least they have a place unlike Erika and the kids. The other kids in the pictures are Vicky's brothers and sisters, pretty easy to tell with the dimples on their cheeks.

After we had coffee it was time to go...so off we went to the border. Katie and I were the only ones not American, we all handed over our passports. It took awhile then the enforcement officer came out and asked Katie when she left Canada. She said Tuesday, and he said she was flagged on their new automated system, because we left Canada Tuesday and were in Mexico on Monday. They then made us pull over and went over Sister Maureen's truck with a fine tooth comb. That Katie....she is so suspicious! They didn't even question me at all, and we were in the same car!

Then it was back home for some relaxation...

more later and another great day in the Valley.