To ease your suspense.... It all DID fit!! Steve did an amazing job of packing. By the end we were just shoving things into any "hole" we could find. He did such a good job that I think we'll make a run by Tonala on the way out! (Ask me what Tonala is sometime.) So we're packed up, sleeping at the Engage house and ready to take off tomorrow morning. Well, most of us. Cole had a rough night tonight and when I tucked him into bed he said that he didn't want to leave. Please be praying that our transition back is just as easy.

Here's what out car looks like, stuffed with a bookcase, about 6 decorative vases, rugs, a coat stand, aquividora (?) and 2 pinatas they brought home from school today. It's loco!!

Here's what we didn't bring (by choice): Cole's and Lydia's craft collection or should I say recycling bin.

Last night as we were getting a head start on packing, pretty much our whole Punto group showed up at our door with tons of wonderful, homemade food (Mexican of course)for our last good-byes. It was a surprise and it made our night. And even though a hangout in Mexico can mean all day, thankfully for us, they came at night and took off only a little after midnight. It was well worth getting nothing done last night. We will miss them terribly.

We got a little picture happy towards the end.

Finishing up

Even though things have been winding down, we've still been pretty busy. Update on the car: Got it fixed and back to us in 3 days costing $450 and got the check from the insurance company within a week to pay for it. Pretty stinkin' fast. We were amazing and grateful since we only had about that time to spare.

We leave Mexico in just a day and half. It's flown by but we are ready to go. Emotionally, that is. We are still praying for a packing miracle to fit everything into our truck. I keep telling Steve- it'll all fit. But he doesn't think leaving a couple junk sheets behind will compensate for the few things I've accumulated since we've arrived. It'll fit. Maybe we'll post a picture of the packed tight/puzzle fitted explorer when we're done. I'm banking on Steve's ingenuity to figure it out.

We had our last Punto meeting on Tuesday. It was sad. We've grown to really love these students. The praise part is that we really feel good about how we're leaving the group. We had some rough spots in there where we weren't sure who was going to commit but the Lord has answered our prayers and everything we hoped to accomplish while we were here has come together. We feel great about the number of students who are totally on board, their connections with each other and Angela's ability to lead this group where it needs to go next. We're now looking forward to heading home.

Here are some pictures of our Christmas party for Punto de Encuentro. All but the last are taken from Paola's phone so the quality isn't the best but oh well.

We had the party at the Engage house since it was already so beautifully decorated for Christmas. Everyone brought a gift to exchange- the biggest thing you could buy for 50 pesos or less ($5). Let's just say there wasn't a lot of stealing going on!

Adrian ended up with a big board of wood. He made the most of it and had everyone write things on it and it is now a nice wall display in his room.

Here's the group and their lovely presents. They are a great group of students. We'll really miss them.

Our plan is to pack up our car tomorrow while the kids enjoy their last day at preschool (Cole cried about missing school on Wednesday when I took the kids to the Zoo!!!) and then spend the night at the Engage house with our loaded up car safely parked behind their gate. We'll head North on Sat morning and 20hours later we'll be in El Paso (with a few breaks and hotels in there). We then head to the Denver area to spend a wonderful Christmas with my family and then to Ohio for our SALT conference which we've got a great group of WSU students going that I can't wait to see!!!! And Steve, like usual, is helping out quite a bit, but it gets us a nice big suite to entertain our family and students in. Please excuse my run-on sentences.

So since this may be the last blog for awhile due to lack of internet while we are driving and a lack of anything interesting to say... Merry Chrismas!!!

Thanks for reading, praying and missing us while we've been down here. We look forward to seeing you in just a little while!

Getting the full experience of Mexico!

This last week, we´ve experienced a little more of Mexico than we were hoping to. Last Wednesday, we parked behind a line of cars and went in search of some clothes for the fam. When we got back, all the cars were gone and ours had a parking ticket on it. They give you half price if you pay it within the first 3 days. - so we saved $7.

Then on Friday, on the way to pick up the kids, Liz was sitting at a red light when a really young looking kid ran into the back of her. Steve got a call, "A car just hit me. I´m in front of the Kinder." By the time Steve got there from CUCEA, the police and the preschool director were there. The light, the bumper, the hatch, the muffler and the corner are all damaged. In the States, it would probably cost $1200-$1500 dollars to fix. But here in Mexico - $500 for everything.
This is what the other car looked like. They had to get a tow truck to haul it away.

Explorer - 1, Jeep - 0.

Trying to figure everything out was a bit hectic and nerve racking. We were really impressed with the police and insurance guys. We´ll get paid $600 this Friday for the damages - just in time for us to pack up and take off for Colorado.

(Additional ironic info below)

When we bought the Explorer, it had a dent in the hatch that would have cost us $600-$800 to fix. But down here, it only costs $200. Well worth it for the resale value. We planned on waiting till we were about done here, but apparently not long enough. We had just got the truck fixed and returned the day before all this happened. The body shop didn´t know that I meant it when I said to them a day earlier, ¨Hasta luego¨ (See you later).