Tuesday March 3rd

Today is the day we get to see our girls!

Very overcast and wet here this morning but forecast for the day is 82 degrees. Katie and I still trying to get organized and we're both still tired from the trip.

We met Erika at her friends' pharmacy on the main strip in Nuevo Progreso at 1PM. It was so good to see her! She told us the girls were in school until 2:00PM. We went to their house and when the door opened out came our girls into our arms! Surprise! They hugged and hugged for a long time, it was great. Then dad Livario came in and it was great to see him too.

Last year we gave Karelly, the oldest one, a tablet. She loved it, and took it everywhere with her. One day during the year she told us that she had accidentally dropped it and the glass broke. She kept saying she was sorry and she was sad. We told her that it was not that important and that it was simply an accident. Easy for a child with smaller hands to drop a tablet.

This year we brought her another one, and I put a rubber case on it, so that if it falls, it is much less likely to have any damage. It also allows one to have a very good grip on the tablet. I had fixed it up with lots of music videos that the girls like, games, learn English apps, pictures etc. Karelly was so happy.

Then Katie got the camera ready, because we did not tell Livy that we got her one as well. Now she had her own. We wanted to capture her reaction when she saw it.

She was one happy girl! Both of them are so smart they figure things out right away with little help from us.

We like to chat with them on facebook, it helps us when we know we are not going to see them for a whole year when we leave. I got them a phone that I set up as a hotspot on Telcel, so that they can connect  wirelessly with the tablet, with 3 gigabytes of data for the first month. After that I can add more data as needed from home in Canada.

The girls started to take pictures and playing their music videos. Livy really likes the video "all about the bass" I also put videos that we took last year and it was fun watching their reactions.

The whole family enjoying the tablet

This is little Eric who was very sick when he was a baby...but look at him now...he is a bundle of energy

Karelly did this on her tablet...took her about two seconds to figure it out

Shortly after a friend of the family named Lenny came over. He works at another pharmacy about two doors down from Erika's friend Yazzmine. He speaks very good english, so now we could put away our translator apps and he translated for us. Much easier this way. We are grateful that he was there as we can get a lot more accomplished with much less effort.

He was telling us that things are not as great in Nuevo Progreso as they used to be. Less tourists because of the reports of violence. We learned the girls were not in school the last two days, because they closed the schools as there were reports of gun shots just outside the town. He said they always felt safe there, but not so much anymore, as it seems things are always happening on the periphery. The towns people are not as friendly as they used to be because they are afraid. Erika said if they could get visas or if the US would take them as immigrants because of the danger they would go to the US or Canada. What a shame...all because of drugs, money, and egos.

Enough of that...too depressing...later on Livy wanted to go for a walk, so we all held hands and walked around for awhile. There was a stiff breeze but Katie and I enjoyed it because it was warm, and we had not experienced that for quite some time.

Pretty soon it was time to go, so back to the bridge we went. Lots of hugs and see you Saturday for sure. Then we walked across the bridge. No lineup at customs as there often is, and we were through with no problems.

Back to Paradise Park, and our friends Bill and June Bradwell were hosting a happy hour, which Bill invited us to the previous day. Lots of people there, most of which we knew from previous years, and Bill and June outdid themselves as they always do, with food and drink, and lots of good conversation and laughs.

Katie and I stayed for a couple of hours and then walked to our place to relax for the rest of the evening.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

Here is the video of Livy finding out she is getting her own tablet

http://vid574.photobucket.com/albums/ss187/jimb492/2015-03-03%2013.17.40_zpsyfshtyq1.mp4

more later...