Welcome Home

Thankfully LeRoy is back to his normal self, and the rest of us have not been hit with anything more. We have spent this week with more unpacking, organizing, some cleaning, more shopping and getting to know the city, and taking time to relax. Yesterday we went to an annual Mennonite festival and we found the perogies after we had already had lunch. But we found some salami and yellow cheese which cannot be found in a Mexican grocery store. There was not too much to see, but lots of booths to look at and get an idea of what the Mennonites offer just outside the city. Next week we'll head through all the Mennonite stores with Dallas & Tara and see what other goodies we can find.

E has been teething some more this week which has made her a bit crabby, but she has slept lots which has been nice for us. B is slowly getting more relaxed and learning to put more trust in us. She has been quite scared at bedtime, needing us right close as she falls asleep. Completely understandable with all she has gone through. This morning she even started playing school all by herself, and not needing us to entertain her. One of the first since we've moved here.

And yesterday we made our Welcome Home cake that my mom sent along with us when we moved here, including some icing and sprinkles. The girls had lots of fun making it, and even more fun eating it. Thanks again mom!!!

Tomorrow we'll be going to some new friends' place for supper. Some of you actually know them as she went to SBC with many of us. Ed & Sylvia live right close here, and today invited us over. We're quite excited to do some visiting in English and so our girls can play with their girls who are about the same age. We haven't found any kids their age yet, so tomorrow evening will be a treat for them.

Our House

To see a video of our new house click on our Pictures link at the top of this page. Then click on Our House in Cuauhtemoc. Hopefully it works. And sorry but the video is a bit shaky, I am not very good at taping while moving. But it should give you a good idea of our house:)

Tummy Aches

Saturday morning we left for Delicias for the day to help out Dallas & Tara, only to hear after 15 mins. of driving that B's stomach was really hurting her. So I climb to the back of the van so I can comfort her, and she throws up. 2 more times of that at Dallas & Tara's and we head home while she's saying she's feeling much better. It seems she had less than the 24 hr. bug or just getting used to the food here. We think it's the newness of the food and water. Thankfully she was 100% better after a LONG night's rest.

Then, this early morning I hear LeRoy get up so many times. It seems something has really hit him now too, so he's still in bed. I really hope he's feeling much better when he does try and get up. It's definitely hard having someone sick in the house, while hoping and praying me and E don't get anything and that B doesn't get it again. So maybe today will be a bit more relaxing than we had planned, and we won't go buy those few large items we want yet. There's always tomorrow:)

First Sunday in Anahuac

This morning we took our second trip to the city of Anahuac (Elvira took us there on Friday to show us where the church was.) It is with this group of believers that we will spend quite a bit of our time, we expect. It was a wonderful experience! Praise the Lord.

We decided to leave 10 min. early because I wasn't totally sure that we wouldn't get lost. Well, we didn't, and therefore we were 15 min. early and there was still no one at the church. We cruised around town for a while and then when we got back there were a few people there. First we met Jenny and Carlos, a wonderful couple our age. They were so friendly, showed us around and we got to visit with them before church. They were so excited to have us finally come. In the entrance of the church there is a picture of our family, as well as a picture of Dallas and Tara's family, as families to pray for. How neat is that. At the end of the service, around 1:30pm we were asked to come up front so they could pray for us as well as each person in the congregation had to introduce themselves (there were about 20 people in attendance this morning so it didn't take too long.) In their prayers it was very humbling to hear them thanking God for our arrival, because they've been praying for us to come and help them.

Overall it was an excellent experience for us. Brooklyn enjoyed Sunday School (there were only three kids, including her and Emma) and said that next Sunday she wants to go up during the service to say her memory verse, and it is a great feeling to worship and be in a place where you are loved and welcomed.

L.

PICTURES

I have posted some pictures from our time in El Paso as well as some from Mexico here including some pictures of our house. Once we're a little more settled we want to take a video and walk you through our new home. But for now enjoy the pictures:) The Pictures link at the top will take you there, and then just click on August in Mexico.

And thanks to LeRoy's hard work we now have a couple pictures on our walls to help it feel at least a little like home. It'll take awhile for it to really feel like home of course, but it sure helps to see your own stuff in a house instead of someone else's.

Unpacking

We are busy slowly unpacking what we can, while at the same time Alvira packs up to move out. I just finished the kitchen stuff, so now we'll also have a better idea of what we don't have and need to buy. This morning we purchased a bunk bed for the girls, and a bed for us. So now we have all the things we need as soon as Alvira has all her stuff out of here.

On Sunday we attended Ebenezer church and met Walter & Chapina, the couple who we will work with, and they will be our mentors. Later in the day all the staff, minus Elma, were together for supper and we found a really yummy pizza place. I was shocked to find out they have Hawaiian Pizza here:) You can't in the States so I was really excited about that. And the kids love it there too as it had a swing set with a slide as well as 2 self inflatable bouncers/slides. So we know we'll be going back there more than once.

In awhile we're heading to the Mennonite strip as you head out of Cuauhtemoc, to check out 1 or 2 stores, see that area, and have supper out there. It's now a bit difficult to cook here, and at Alvira's new place with all the packing and moving. So it may mean some eating out the next few days. That's okay with me:)

Our First Days

We have now been in our new city and house for 3 days. Yesterday we met our first neighbor Gloria. She was so excited to hear we'd be here for 3 years, rather than a family only here for a short while. She right away made sure we knew that if we needed anything, had any questions, we could gladly come to her for help. She's an elderly lady with grandchildren ranging in different ages, but one granddaughter is Emma's age. So maybe there's a potential playmate for Emma sometime.

Yesterday we also went to visit Vista Hermosa, the area of Cuauhtemoc where we'll be working with alongside the Ebenezer Church, which is one of the church's part of CEMM. They rent a small house in that community to use in their ministries. This week Alvira was leading a DVBS program so we went to see the house and meet the kids that we'll see lots of and hopefully make many strong connections.

Also yesterday we had some appliances and furniture delivered that we purchased the day before. Dallas and Tara were so helpful in keeping the girls for us, so we could go with Alvira and do some shopping. After a few stores we found our stove, fridge, table, chairs, washing machine, and 2 love seats. It's a good feeling to have some of these things taken care of. There'll be more things needed to be purchased, but for now we're okay. Hopefully on Monday we can find some beds, or at least some mattresses, before Alvira takes hers out of here to her new place. We're hoping for some bunkbeds for the girls, but so far we haven't seen too many options. So we'll keep looking.

This morning we went up to the top of a hill here, a park with no grass, and had a picnic and enjoyed the view of Cuauhtemoc. Quite a big city of about 150,000 people.

Tomorrow we'll be attending the Ebenezer church and meeting Walter & Chapina, our mentors. We look forward to finally meeting them and begin building that relationship.

Now since it's still naptime and quiet in the house, I'm going to take advantage of that and have a nap myself. Or maybe read a book. Hard decision.

Rubbermaid

We can use Rubbermaid containers for anything even as a bathtub. Brooklyn is just too big for this idea, but it works perfect enough for Emma.

Are you sure about this "tub"?

You're right mommy. It is lots of fun.


We have about 7 rose bushes in the front of our house, and about 4-5 different colors.

Praise the Lord

We have arrived safe and sound in Cuauhtemoc. The girls are asleep in our house where we will be living and it feels good to have finally made it here. Except for a few wrong turns in Chihuahua, and a red light crossing the border, there were no real issues. I (LeRoy) have been battling something in my stomache and didn't eat for 24hrs and then got terribly nauseous. It feels somewhat similar to what I had last year, but it seems to be clearing up. PTL. Until next time, see you later.

Off to our Final Destination

Tomorrow morning sometime we will be saying goodbye to the guesthouse for now and heading down into Mexico to our house in Cuauhtemoc. We will be living with Elvira Friesen until Monday or so while Dallas & Tara stay in her house close by. Then at the beginning of next week we will be in our own house, and start making it our home. We are looking forward to this final leg of our journey and don't even feel nervous for the drive down tomorrow...yet. I'm sure the nerves will kick in every time we see the possibility of a check stop. We really don't want to unload our van. It is packed to the brim, and the girls won't even be able to see each other while we drive down because we have so much stuff. And it sounds like a few different people are making the trip from El Paso to Cuauhtemoc so all our stuff may be with us in a few weeks without us needing to come back to El Paso to get it. That is a relief.

Because of going into a new country and having no clue how slow things work to get going, we don't know when exactly we will have internet. We're hoping it doesn't take more than a couple days, but we'll have to wait and find out once we're there. So if you don't hear anything from us tomorrow, that means all went well and we're safe and sound in Cuauhtemoc.

God is Good ALL THE TIME!!! All the time GOD IS GOOD!!!

Uneventful Trips

Saturday we took our first trip into Juarez, MX which is just across the border from El Paso here. We went with the mission of getting our tourist visas as well as get our van permit which allows us to safely drive it in Mexico. Now we know how easy of a process it is to get our tourist visas. So when you all come and visit us we can help you get yours:) LeRoy had his first experience driving in a Latin city, and he was very thankful we had wonderful help from our guesthouse hosts here. They know exactly what we need to do before heading into Mexico, and without them we would have been completely lost.

To get into Mexico you just pray you get a green light and you're good to go. So far we've been okay. If we'd get a red light we have to pull over and then be asked questions and possibly have a the van and contents fully inspected. So when we make our trip in on Wednesday we really hope we don't get the red light. We'll have our van packed as full as possible and we will not be too happy if we have to unload it all. So it's very easy going south, but if you forget your passport you will not be coming back. Thankfully we didn't experience that either. Coming into the States is about an hour line-up, at least, so the movie player came in handy during that wait.

Yesterday we headed into Juarez once again to attend one of the church's there that is part of CEMM (Conferencia Evangelica Menonita de Mexico, the EMC's Mexican conference). We were able to meet CEMM's concerence director and his wife, a wonderful couple that we look forward to getting to know more the next couple of years. So, in 2 days we had 2 uneventful trips into Juarez.

This morning LeRoy and I were able to get out for a few hours by ourselves to go for coffee, and a bit of shopping that we needed to do. It was nice to get away from the kids for a break. I'm also looking forward to getting out with Tara this afternoon for some more shopping.

So when are we actually going to Cuauhtemoc? We will be finally making our final leg of our trip on Wednesday to Cuauhtemoc and will be living with Elvira Friesen until Monday or so. That is when she will be moving to another apartment and we will have our house to ourselves. It will definitely be nice to start making a house feel like our home after sharing living spaces with others for the past 2 1/2 months. Please pray with us that our trip on Wednesday will be worry free and that we can enjoy the drive down. We believe it's a 6 hour drive, so with stops and border crossing it will most likely take the majority of the day.

A great outlook

After a morning of business, we got to go up and through the trans-mountain road, and along scenic road (where these pictures are taken). It was beautiful and very windy. From there you could see East and West El Paso, and Juarez, Mexico. Tara put it very well, saying "It looks so peaceful, and yet we know it's not" It was such a different perspective, being there at the top.

Please pray for us tommorrow as we go into Juarez to get our vehicle permits and tourist visas. Jake and Judy B. here at the guesthouse have been super good and helpful, and they'll again be helping us out tommorrow. We'll also be visiting Nuevo Pacto church where we will be attending on Sunday, and seeing Elma J.'s house.

Good Morning Y'all

We have arrived in El Paso, TX and with the realization that there's a time change. So we are now on the Mountain Time Zone, same as Alberta. We arrived yesterday mid afternoon with the rest of the day to rest and visit with the guesthouse hosts here as well as Dallas & Tara who arrived yesterday too. As we pulled up here we were trying to decide who was more exhausted, us or our van. haha I don't think we came to a conclusion. So it was really nice to get into bed last night, knowing we are here for a few days and almost to our new home.

Today will be, hopefully a relaxing day, but also filled with some "to do" things. We need to unload our UHaul trailer, and decide what we have to bring into Mexico with us now, or what can wait about a month when we think we'll come back to get the rest of it. I hope it's not a hard decision of what to leave and what to bring. The guys will also be going to get our van insured under Mexico and research some of the vehicle stuff to see the best way of going about insurance and stuff. Like, does the Mexican insurance cover us enough into the States that we don't need to keep our Manitoba insurance? We'll see.

Well, the girls are now up, after giggling in bed with daddy, and it's time to slowly start our day:) Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

ONE MORE DAY!!!

Yes it's true, we really only have one more day of driving until we finally arrive in El Paso. Today was a much better day of driving with the girls due to me being able to sit in the back with them. With pulling a trailer we were able to move some of the stuff from our van into the trailer, giving us more space as well as putting more weight in the back of the trailer to keep it more balanced.

We are in Sonora, TX tonight and the drive here was gorgeous. We felt like we were in an old Western movie, that kind of scenery. No crops because of so many trees and dry land, and yet not forest either. Different than we're used to seeing and beautiful. It was a little too hilly for our liking with pulling a trailer but the van made it slow but surely.

We are excited to get to El Paso, be done driving, and meet up with Dallas & Tara who are on their way there as well. Brooklyn keeps talking about meeting Carter in "Paso". We'll be there for a few days at the guesthouse doing some business like getting Mexican van insurance, meeting church leaders from Juarez (just across the border from El Paso), and familiarizing ourselves with the area.

Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety, we feel truly blessed that we have not had even one small problem with the van.

New Pics

I have now had a bit of time to update our pictures. So there has been many more added to our "Summer in Manitoba" Album. Enjoy.

We made it to RGBI

We have arrived safely back to Edinburg, TX where we are staying at the RGBI guesthouse. It feels so weird being back here, almost like "home". It's familiar, and the girls were so excited to see their ark playground, daycare, and where they're friends lived during the past year. So I'm sure I'll have to be out in the heat with them as they will want to run everywhere. Since they've been forced to a carseat the past 4 days, I better let them run.

Emma was mostly happy while driving as long as she had her lutch and something to hold onto like her baby. Thanks Grandma Reimer for the baby blankets, they loved them.


We stopped for a break one afternoon and Brooklyn loved it that we were having a picnic with our juice. Emma loved it too, but refuses to sit even for a minute to eat or drink anything when we stop. She just has to go, go, go.

Today to celebrate having 4 safe days of driving and now having a break, we went to Chuck e Cheese for supper. The girls could run, ride, and be a kid. What a great place, and what great pizza.

We had a relaxing evening and now we're ready for bed. Or for emotions to really hit home and let the tears come once again. Tomorrow LeRoy will be busy picking up the UHaul trailer, doing a bit of business we have left here, and then loading up the trailer. We have a friend coming to help so hopefully it won't take too long as the heat is almost unbearable if you have to work in it. Us girls will hang out, and hopefully have fun.

We are missing family and friends tons already. One other thing that makes it really hard on us at the moment is that my (Faith) brother got really sick right after we left which put him in the hospital yesterday. He was released today with pain meds and an appt. to get a scope done will hopefully be coming soon. He hasn't been able to eat or drink much for the past 3-4 days because it hurts so much. So knowing my brother is sick like this really makes us want to be home even more. It's really hard being away when someone you love is hurting.

Wichita, KS

That's where we are tonight. LeRoy and Brooklyn are swimming a bit before bed, and Emma and I are chillaxin'.

We left yesterday morning from my parents' place, with many things going through our heads. It was extremely hard saying goodbye, not knowing when we'll see them again, and not really knowing what we're going into. At times we feel numb just not knowing exactly what the next few months look like. A new culture, new way of life, so many new people, and still somehow keep life somewhat "normal" for the girls. A lot to think and pray about.

We have had safe driving and our moods have been alright. It's exhausting when you have such an emotional day like yesterday, and then try and stay relaxed and happy so your kids stay happy and relaxed too. But it's been nice to be done driving and settled in our hotel so we can re-energize ourselves for the next day.

Our plan for the next week:
- get to RGBI in southern Texas Monday evening
- spend Tuesday packing a trailer with all our stuff (and Dallas & Tara's stuff)
- Wednesday start driving to El Paso
- Thursday evening arrive in El Paso to spend the weekend

Thank you all for you prayers and please do not stop praying for us. We couldn't do this without those prayers.