Monday April 6th

Today we were supposed to go with Sister Maureen to Mexico. We were going to see Michelle who is sponsored by my brother and sister-in-law. We were also going to see Ruby who is sponsored by Durga who works with Katie.

We learned that Sr Maureen was taking a couple of couples who were going to see their kids, and they had to be back to catch a plane.

We decided we would be better off going with her on Tuesday instead.

We watched the Jets game at night...great game...great win!

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Sunday April 5th

Happy Easter everyone!

At 12:30PM Katie and I went to the Echo Hotel in Edinburg for the Easter Brunch. Dana had made reservations for a whole bunch of us from the park. This hotel has a very good reputation for their food and their reasonable prices. The brunch price went up today from it's usual $8.95 to $20, because it is an Easter Brunch.

There are several rooms, and the main room has huge windows which overlook the pool area. It is very bright and very large.

There were a lot of people there, one man said he has been coming there for 20 years and this is the most people he has seen yet. Word of good places spread.

Katie and I got to our reserved table first, then the others arrived.

We had iced tea, then went to the salad bar. Even though the lineups seemed were long, they moved pretty quickly. After salad we went for the meat section. Ham, Roast Beef and many other items were on the buffet line.

The food was very good, and we enjoyed it. Good conversation at the table as usual.

After the buffet, Katie and I ran some errands, some stores were closed but others were open...of course Walmart was open and very busy.

Later at night Katie and I went for a walk. It was a full moon and shining brightly, a beautiful sight!

We walked by the pool area...

No one in the pool and one man coming out of the hot tub. It was a beautiful night, and normally there would be more people, but a lot of them have already left to go home.

Katie and I finished our walk, and then headed home to relax.

And so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Saturday April 4th

Mexico today to see the kids. Raining all morning though which is going to make walking from the car somewhat more difficult, especially considering we are carrying all the food that Katie made to take.

On the way to the bridge, it was raining slightly, then harder, then slightly. By the time we reached the parking lot on the US side of the bridge, it was slightly.

We carried the large container of stew that Katie made as well as a large carrot cake.

I was not smart to wear my Crocs, as right over the bridge, it is tiles as a sidewalk and very slippery. I almost went down a couple of times, even the Mexican men trying to sell things on the street were telling me to be careful.

Shortly after we got to the pharmacy and talked to Lenny who phoned them, Erika's sister, who is visiting from Monterrey, and the kids picked us up. Erika's mom is also visiting.

Katie heated up the stew, and Erika's mom made rice with carrots and corn. We also brought a couple of loafs of french bread and butter.

It was a great meal, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Then it came time for desert. Erika's sister Kathy had made two cheese cakes. Katie and I each had a piece and it was really good. Of course, we also had to have a piece of Katie's carrot cake, and it was delicious as well. Kathy and Erika's mom both said they can't get carrot cake like that in Monterrey.

Apparently Kathy has a US visa so Katie and I were going to take her to Walmart in Weslaco, where she wanted to get some things for Erika before she goes back to Monterrey. It kept raining though, and then a friend of Erika's, the same one that picked us up on the street the other day, came and took Kathy instead.

We had lots of fun with the kids, and when the rain let up a little bit, Livario drove us to the bridge, and Katie and I only got a little wet on the walk back to the car.

Then it was relax time again.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Friday April 3rd

Katie started her day of cooking today. She decided she wanted to make a nice stew for our family in Mexico. They like their meat and potatoes, but the cuts of meat that they usually have are tough and extremely thin.

We went to Costco and got stewing meat and some other things she needs.

She basically cooked almost all day because she made a large carrot cake and iced it as well.

We had made an appointment to get our trailer sprayed for termites and James from Pest Control came at 11:30. He is a good guy and does a good job, we had him last year.

It was extremely hot again today, so the air conditioning in the trailer was going hot and heavy because of the oven going all day.

While the stew was stewing, we decided to go for a walk despite the heat. Katie wanted to take some pictures of some of the plants in the park. She got some great pics.

During our walk we met Cecil and Jane who are friends of Al and Bonnie. Cecil is kind enough to plug in our golf cart once a month while we are gone to keep the batteries charged. They are a very nice couple and live in the park full time,

We dropped in at Al and Bonnie's for a drink, then came home and got the bathing suits on. There were only 4 people in the pool, and Katie and I stayed in for about an hour...it was great!

Then back home for dinner and relaxation for the night.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Thursday April 2nd

I don't quite know how I did it, but I fell two days behind. Now I have to ask Katie the question "what the heck did we do Thursday?"

Katie said "not too much, we went for dinner with Al and Bonnie". I guess that "not too much" is quite ok when you are on holidays.

We went to Cheddars where we went last year, because we loved the ribs so much. There is always a wait but if they say 15 minutes it is usually 5 and they give you one of those devices that vibrates and lights up when a table is ready. Sure enough, we went to the bar expecting a 15 minute wait, and 5 minutes later the device let us know our table was ready. We just carried the drinks to the table.

Both Al and I had the full rack of ribs, while Katie had a half rack, and Bonnie had Tilapia. We were not disappointed, the ribs were just as good as last year.

Katie had a headache, she either gets a headache and no migrane, or a migrane and not the same type of headache. We just came home as a result, and Katie couldn't shake it the rest of the night. I feel so bad for her when that happens.

We just relaxed for the rest of the night.

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Wednesday April 1st

No April fools jokes this morning for us anyway. Only the thunder and lightening that were not in the forecast for this morning.

We decided we were going to go golfing with Al and Bonnie at 10:30, as it was quite overcast but we thought we weren't really going to get any more rain, and that turned out to be a good decision. It was quite windy though.

Still...we had a very good game, Katie changed her swing a bit, and she hit the ball really well. I had a very good game as well. We had a lot of fun with Al and Bonnie as usual, and they came over for a drink after.

We went to Walmart to get some groceries, and some mosquito repellent...the little buggers are still out.

We didn't go for a walk last night, both Katie and I have a sore knee from skipping with the girls the other day. We both said, next time skipping is an option..."DON'T LET US DO IT!"

We watched our favorite show...Justified which sadly is coming to an end!

and so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...

Tuesday March 31st

Ah yes! We're going to see the girls today!

Katie and I walked over the bridge, down the street and into Barbie Pharmacy for 1PM. Lenny was there and he phoned our family to come and get us. There was no answer to the phone. Katie and I waited a bit, then gave Lenny my cell phone number so he could phone us when they showed up, this had been pre-arranged. Stupid me! No good in giving Lenny my Tmobile number which does not work in Mexico.

Katie and I didn't feel like Pizza, so instead we headed to the Red Snapper down the street. We ordered a cheeseburger and fries. When it came, we found the cheeseburger was really good, and we ate the ten french fries on the plate no problem. I don't know why but Mexicans do not seem to like to put a log of fries on the plate. Who could complain though? $3.50 for the plate. The other thing that is interesting is that in most of these restaurants, the waiters are dressed in black pants, crisp white shirts and black bow ties. They hover close so they can take care of whatever you need. When you pay your bill and walk to the exit, they escort you and hold the door open for you. North American service personnel could certainly take a lesson.

We started to walk down the street, and we heard a car horn honk. There was our little Livy waving us over to a car we did not recognize. It was a friend of Erika's driving, and she took us to the house.

Erika was home with some of her friends, and the girls are off school this week and next, which works out perfectly for us, as we are down to 10 days before liftoff.

We had a blast with the kids, playing Mexican style bingo, with Mexican words and pictures, skipping rope outside with the kids, and going for a walk with Livy, who holds our hands the whole way. That child is amazing, and I can tell you that no matter what child we were lucky enough to sponsor, I can guarantee that there would be no one that could match her for being fun loving, being affectionate, and being sensitive and considerate. She is Awesome! When mom was driving us back to the bridge she was sitting in the back seat with me, playing with her tablet, and all of a sudden she is kissing my hand over and over for no particular reason, just for fun and being affectionate. Funny part is that Katie does the same thing from time to time.

I wanted to find out if Erika's phone which is on the Movistar network would function as a hotspot for the girl's tablets. Just couldn't get it to work though.

The phone I got them on the Telcel network, functions as a hotspot pretty well, but the data is expensive. I have not decided what to do about this issue yet, but better get it sorted out pretty soon.

Katie and I came home and watched the Jets game. Pretty good game but disappointed that they lost with a little over 3 minutes to go in the game.

And so ends another great day in the Valley!

more later...