Monday March 30th

Katie and I played golf yesterday. We thought we might play 9 holes, but after nine we still wanted to play so we played another 9. We pretty well had the course to ourselves the second 9 which was really nice.

We came home, had supper, and then went for a walk. Steve and Janet were on their deck, so they invited us for a drink. I had a rum and coke which was very enjoyable. They told us their experience at the Valero Open in San Antonio on the weekend.

We had some good conversation and some laughs, then Katie and I walked over to Al and Bonnie, and I had another rum and coke. We had some good laughs there as well.

Katie and I walked home, relaxed for awhile, then it was bed time, a little later than usual.

and so ends another great day in the valley!

more later...

Sunday March 29th

Katie and I were dog sitting today. Al and Bonnie went to San Antonio to watch the Valero Open. Al's dog "Katie" is no trouble to look after at all, just like my "Katie".

We went to the driving range, and Katie just stayed close to us, we were the only ones on the range at the time so their was no danger.

We went shopping for some groceries, so we put her back in Al's place while we were gone, then picked her up again.

Al and Bonnie came back early, as they were tired from two days of walking around watching some of the best players in the world.

My Katie and I just relaxed and went for a nice walk in the evening.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Saturday March 28th

Today is the surprise party for Erika. Katie and I have no idea how Livario and the kids are going to pull it off.

We went to the Pharmacy for 4PM. Lenny phoned Karelly to come and get us. We were surprised when the van appeared on the main street and Edith who is 16 or 17 was driving and Karelly was with her. What we discovered was that Edith is a very good driver.

When we arrived at the house, Erika was not there, she was at a friends, and everything was set up for the big surprise. The house was all decorated inside with balloons, and tables and chairs set up for people to eat later. Livario and Karelly, and Joanna's brother, and some other friends were busy, and they brought a barbeque on wheels and they already had it going and had a small pig in it.

Many of Erika's friends started arriving, and pretty soon everyone was ready for the surprise greeting when Erika came home with her other friends. Here was the result when Erika walked in the door and everyone yelled "surprise".

Erika was in tears, and you could tell she was really "surprised". Edith is the girls in the while T with red on the front.

Of course, confetti is very popular and the kids get a big kick out of it

What a great job Livario and the kids did on the decorations and set up!

This is dinner

After dinner some posed pictures...the girl on the right is named "America" what a great name, she goes to school in McAllen and she speaks very good english as does her brother on the left. America's mom is also in the picture.

Enrique and his wife later gave us a ride back to the US and our car, we appreciated that!

Joanna's brother and his little guy on the left. He always has a smile on his face

Joanna and her new husband Danny. They got married in February

If I don't put names...it means I don't know them

Edith's mom is in the center...Katie and I really like her, she is always smiling and very friendly

We found out it is Erika Ivonne

Time for cake!

Time to wear the cake!

my precious little one!

Great picture of Katie and Erika

Livario and I

Livy was full of energy

I think you know these people

Later on there was some dancing. Livario likes to dance, so he and Erika started it. Then it was Livy and I, Karelly and I, and Livario and I. Yes I said Livario and I, and I had to try and follow not lead. I was having a hard time, so I purposely gave him a little kick to his foot. Katie laughed so hard she had tears streaming down her face.

Later on, after the cake and fun, several people decided to leave about the same time. They went outside but within a few minutes, they were back inside and saying that gunfire was heard. It was amazing to see, almost all of them got on their phones and started phoning people they knew, or family members to find out what was going on. Katie and I were going to leave then also, but one of the ladies told us that we should wait, until they knew it was over. 

One could tell the kids were frightened, Livy sat on Katie's lap and never left it. Karelly indicated to me that her heart was beating faster. Livario said that he wanted to get his family out of here and be somewhere it is safer.

It didn't take too long for them to determine that the shots were not in Nuevo Progreso, but somewhere outside of town. Rio Bravo is only about 20 minutes away...and sounds carry well at night.

Not to long after, it was determined it was safe to leave, Enrique and his wife graciously invited Katie and I to go back to the US with them. We went to pick up their daughter first, and she speaks English as she goes to school in Weslaco, and they live there.

Oh...how Katie and I wish we could get the family into the US legally, and have the kids go to school so they could also learn English well. It would give them such a leg up on life. We will go what we can to help them do that, but getting a US visa legally is not a very easy process, and often impossible.

Enrique dropped us off at our car. Katie and I drove home.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Friday March 27th

Katie and I decided we would go and hit some golf balls in the afternoon at Palmview. We like the range better there. Katie was back in form and hitting really great shots, me not so much. My driver is fine but struggling a bit with my irons. I am hitting them on the heel pretty consistently, so will have to find a way to try and hit them more on the sweet spot.

After that we decided to go out for dinner, and we went to one of our favorite restaurants "El Patio" to have the fantastic chicken strips. We were disappointed! They were not that tender and smaller. Previously you couldn't eat the whole thing, would be able to bring some home and have two or three meals of chicken salad. What a shame, we were looking forward to it.

Afterwards, seeing we were in Mission, we decided to take a drive through the first park we ever stayed in. The park is called Canyon Lake, and we stayed in a small trailer with two tip outs. It was ok, but nothing compared to what we have now. We had to get an air mattress from Wal Mart as the bed was so hard, and then we would almost bounce each other out of the small bed when it was time to get into it.

The reason it is called a lake, is because there was a natural spring which filled up a large area and turned it into a so called lake.

Wow what a difference! The lake is almost totally dried out, it was pretty before. There are all sorts of empty spots, so it looks like it is slowly on the decline. We would not want to go back there again and are thankful for what we have. Mission seems to be much busier than what we remember, and lots of traffic and hustle and bustle. We like Pharr much better.

We came home, and later on went for a nice walk.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Thursday March 26th

Katie and I went to meet Sister Maureen at her residence around 2:15, so we could go to Mexico.

Just before we left there was one heck of a storm which started east of us. Apparently they had some hail of 3 inches. We had huge winds and rain all of a sudden, which lasted about ten minutes, and then like someone flicked a switch it stopped and the sun came out. The streets were pretty much flooded but drained well.

Off we went then, met Sister Maureen, and she dropped us at the kids house. Today is Erika's birthday she is thirty four. Katie and I took a carrot cake which we had decorated with birthday wishes and Erika's name. We also had a card in Spanish, we always get someone in the stores who speak English and Spanish to translate the card for us so that we are saying what we want to say. That always works well.

The kids had these eggs with thin shells that are full of confetti and they just crack it over your head so the confetti goes all over. It really should be an outdoor event, but they were doing it inside. There were lots of eggs.

At first only Karelly was home from school, then Erika went to get Livy. While she was gone Katie swept the tile floor, but as soon as Livy came home, she went crazy with the eggs on Katie, Erika, and me. Katie said "so glad I swept the floor". There was confetti all over.

We had some tacos with guacamole, they were good.

Again we had lots of fun with the kids, until Sister Maureen came to pick us up.

There was a bit of a lineup at the border, but we got through with no problem.

Katie and I came home, had supper and watched most of the 2nd period and the 3rd period of the Jets game. They always have trouble with Montreal, but not tonight. Pavlec played very well again and I have to give him credit. Our recent additions were excellent again, and big Buff was back after injury and scored the first goal.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

Wednesday March 25th

Katie and I went shoppin, as Katie had to get some supplied to make Taco Salad, as we were invited to Remi and Dana's. Dana had a whole mess of perogies and wieners she wanted to get rid of before they go home.

Katie made the salad and off we went. They had a good crowd of people, all of which we knew, with the exception of one couple who we met for the first time. As usual it was lots of fun, and lots of good food and drink.

A woman who we hadn't met came over to say that a friend's trailer has sprung a leak in a pipe and their trailer got a lot of water as a result.

She was looking for a fan to aid in the drying. We have a 20 inch box fan, so Katie took her in our golf cart to go and get it.

We left the party around 8PM and came home.

It was a very good day, and another great day in the Valley!

more later..

Tuesday March 24th

Mea Culpa...fell down on my job of writing the blog...

Katie and I went to the driving range and hit balls before playing golf in the afternoon. It was slow because the Canada vs US Rio Grande Valley version of the Ryder cup was being played. Both Katie and I didn't play all that well, not sure why. It was a very hot day, and the game seemed long.

We came home and just relaxed, as we were hot and tired.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...