The San Diego Zoo

 Our trip to Mexico was actually a Thursday-to-Thursday trip. We flew down to San Diego early Thursday morning, met up with our group at the airport, and then took two 15-passenger vans to the orphanage. Crossing the border in Tijuana was a very interesting experience- It was basically 10 lanes of traffic slowly moving across the border. Our van got pulled over, but the border patrol just opened up the side door of the van, asked us where we were going, and said 'Have a nice trip.' 

On the way back, we went to a different border crossing because it takes a lot longer to come into the US. After waiting in line for nearly 2 hours, we made it to the airport and dropped everyone off. Bill and Jenn then dropped us off at our hotel. 

We decided to stay in San Diego for two nights before heading home. One of the Christmas presents that the girls received was a trip to the San Diego Zoo. We figured out how to use Lyft to get around and spent all day Friday at the zoo. At the recommendation of the ticket-counter gentleman, we started off with the bus tour around the zoo, and then rode on the air tram before the lines got too long!

A Donkey and a zebra...who knew they have donkeys at the zoo? 

Pretty views of downtown!

By mid-afternoon, everyone was getting hot and tired and we thought we had seen just about everything. But we rounded a corner and ran into people we know! Elias and Malachi were at the zoo with Jack and Diane. (All the adults knew this, but it was a surprise for the kids!)

We wrapped up our spring break with some swimming at the hotel, a few games of cards, and an early night to bed. On Saturday, our flight home was delayed, but I was actually able to get us on an earlier flight and there was no line to check in, so things home were very smooth. Grandpa and Grandma met us at the airport in Seattle and we made it home with time to relax!

The Last of our Mexico Trip

 We had one more outing that we went on. There are several migrant camps that Bill and Jenn visit, bringing food and clothes as needed. Many of them live in tents and have no running water/electricity. We stopped at the grocery store and bought things like rice, oil, toilet paper, and several other things and assembled them into bags that we handed out to each family. Bill and Jenn bring a game with them, and the kids all know that whichever one can kick the soccer ball through the hole first wins the soccer ball!

After this, we headed over to the coast to a place called La Bufadora. It is a very touristy place where lots of vendors try to sell you all sorts of trinkets. The ocean was beautiful, but the rest of it felt very odd.

We ate lunch at Lidias!

Lydia taking a little nap on Reese's shoulder

Our group

The ladies, with Patty and Hilda-our wonderful cooks for the week

Lydia and Patty

Patty and Hilda with Bill

This trip was a really great experience for all of us. We didn't know what to expect, and both Kyle and I agreed that even though we didn't know what we were expecting, it was different than what we expected. God is doing great things there, and it is fun to hear how the vision is changing and relationships are forming. I didn't hear the girls use much Spanish, but others told me that they were using it, which is also really fun! Who knows if we will go back again, but we were glad to spend the week here this week!

Still More Mexico

 On Saturday afternoon, we hosted a community event. We grilled hot dogs, played soccer, gave away clothes, and had a few other little activities for whoever wanted to show up. Bill and Jenn, the couple that runs the orphanage, really have a heart for the community and are really trying to build relationships with them. There was a good turnout of people and everyone had a great time!

On Sunday, we visited a church in the nearby town of Maneadero. The pastor had to drive around and pick up people and his car broke down, so he was thirty minutes late and there were only a few others at the church, but it was still one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. It's pretty incredible to worship in a church in another language! 

Despite all the work projects we tackled, there was still a lot of time to relax and enjoy the beauty around us. We were able to hike up this hill on the orphanage property and the views were incredible. 

Restaining- we ran out of stain with one board to go!

That's me doing a little power-washing!

Kyle relaxing on this cool rock/chair

Learning a few self-defense moves