Hot water and memories

When I was younger my family spent Thanksgiving one year in Mexico. We traveled down in an RV with my family of four and my parents good friends. There was 7 of us total in the RV. It was a trip to remember. We travelled down through Utah and Arizona. I remember stopping at Beaver Campground. None of us wanted to shower because it was kinda creepy and gross. We then travelled down through Arizona and stopped and saw my Grandmother. We all showered at her house. We travelled through the most beautiful areas. It was a great time with family and friends. When we got to the Mexican border we got stopped by border patrol. We looked a little suspicious. We had an RV with 7 people and random tools and supplies trying to cross the border. We all had to get out of the RV, my dad was trying to explain what we were doing there. They finally got in an interpreter. We explained we were heading down to build a house for a disabled man. They let us through after searching the RV. We travelled through the streets of Mexico and found were we found our finally parking spot. We had to back up the RV down an alley way next to the women's shelter where everyone else in our group were staying. My brother stayed in the shelter in the men's area.

Every morning we got up and drove with the rest of the group to the middle of nowhere to build a house. The man we were building the house for didn't have legs and was in a wheelchair. He still drove, he used broomsticks for pushing the pedals. We met him the last day we were there. It was an awesome trip! We mixed everything my hand and guys would come in trucks and drop off loads of bricks. We built a house in just days. Everyday after we would come back to the shelter we would take turns showering. Who ever got the first shower had warmish water, the rest of us had freezy cold water. It made you incredibly thankful for having hot water. We would stick one body part in soap up and rinse off. If I remember correctly I gave up on washing my hair. My mom braided it for me so I didn't have to worry about it. We all cooked something for Thanksgiving dinner and had a great time.

On our way out of Mexico we ran into more problems. The traffic to get out was horrible. We were trying to maneuver a huge RV through small streets and lanes to cross the border. We got stopped again on the way out. We knew we would. We all had to get out of the RV and border patrol asks us a billion questions and searches the RV. They take our raw chicken that we had brought down to make dinner that night. You can't take raw meat, fruits or certain veggies across the border. They let us go through after a complete search. On the way home we stopped at the same Beaver Campground. We all took showers and they were the best showers of our lives. I think we all sat in the hot water forever! I will always remember that trip. It made us all thankful for what we have and what we can do for others.

A load of bricks

Mixing everything by hand. We would make a circle and

slowly walk around while mixing with shovels.

Making some progress!

Just a beautiful day!

One of the trucks that would bring us bricks. When the

truck would arrive the back end would be dragging on the ground.

I think about that adventure often. This week I thought about it more. Wednesday night our hot water heater broke. We had no hot water only freezing water. We tried to fix it but had no luck. No one in the house had showered, I had dishes to do and needed hot water. I figured oh well we will have hot water in the morning and everything will be ok. I called the landlord the next morning when I woke up and still no hot water. He called the plumbers and they said they would be here by dinner time. I have yet to figure out when dinner time is here. I am thinking that is what people call lunch up here. Anywho! Turkey and I stayed home all day waiting for the plumber. My phone went off and said I had a voicemail. It was the plumber. I called him back but he had went on a job right after he called me. The secretary told me he would call me back and be by later on. I finally called them back around 5:30 maybe 6:00ish. They lady informed me that they went on a job in the country so they would try and get to me the next day. Well this morning I get woke up by a call from the plumber and he was here within an hour. I was so excited to finally have my hot water back! They showed up and told me bummer for me it wasn't my hot water heater, it was electrical. I called my landlord and he called the electrician and of course the electrician couldn't come out for at least a week. My landlord ended driving out here to fix it. After hanging out all day and cleaning the house from top to bottom and finding things to do all day he showed up. It took him about an hour to fix the breaker box. He is a miracle worker! He fixed it and we now have hot water! After he left I jumped into the shower! It was the most fantastic thing in the world! After my shower I started to run Turkey's bath. She was so excited to take a bath. She climbed in the tub and told me half the water was cold. I felt the water and it wasn't very warm. We hadn't waited long enough for the water heater to fill up. Turkey was just excited to play in the water. We talked about how it was like the lake or the pool. She had a ball playing in the luke warm water and refused to get out. It ended up being a fun afternoon.

It was a super warm day! We played outside for a while in the sunshine for a while. I wore my sandals and Turkey went out without a coat. It was just beautiful day. James came home and was thrilled to take a warm shower.

My house is spotless, laundry is done, everyone is showered and smelling good, and we have hot water! What a great day!

Work Trip

We have officially survived our first work trip. James was suppose to have last weekend off. I dreamt of fabulous things like going to Minot for the weekend or going on a date together just the two of us. I was hoping for a weekend of adventures! Last Tuesday my cousin moved in with us to work out here. He got a job with the same company as James. He got the job on Thursday his first day was Friday. We went out to celebrate Thursday night, right before we went to dinner James phone rang, it was his boss telling him to pack his bags he was going to Wyoming for the weekend. I will admit I was bummed. He was leaving bright and early Friday morning and would be back Sunday. Turkey didn't understand that daddy was leaving for the weekend. She got to stay up a little but later then normal to snuggle with daddy and play.

James left around 6 am and our day was pretty normal. Turkey just thought James was on a rig and would be home that evening. I explained that daddy won't be back until after we go to church on Sunday. Friday night James called to let me know that the trip was gonna take longer then expected, they wouldn't be home until Monday or Tuesday. We had quite the drama in our house over daddy being gone. Turkey didn't sleep well, wait correction she slept fine once she stayed in her bed. She wouldn't go to bed until after 10 o'clock at night. She has been very moody and dramatic. She would throw a grand mal tantrum and would throw something across the room and try and use the excuse that she missed her daddy that's why she threw things. I guess I am a big meanie. I told her bummer for her she still got in trouble for throwing things. I am 100% convinced that Turkey is going to win an Emmy one day for drama. My cousin had perfect timing to come out here. It was nice to have a boy in the house while James was gone. It made us feel safe. James left Wyoming on Tuesday around 4 am. I had been checking the weather since it had been stormy. I had heard on the radio that roads were closed on the Montana side of us. I got on line and checked and sure enough all the roads the boys needed to get home were closed. I called James to let them know. They had to take a different route and finally made it home last night around 8:30. Turkey got to stay up until James got home. She was so excited to have him home. Last night was the first night in 5 days that she stayed in bed! I am so glad James is home. I know we will have to deal with work trips again. I am glad we have gotten the first one out of the way and have survived!

P.S.

Official countdown for my folks to come is: 23 days!!

Its been to long!

So I haven't blogged in a while. I have been trying to write a blog about the events of last year. It has been harder then I thought. So much has happened in the last year. I am gonna keep working on it and so hopefully it will be done in the next few days.

Lately we have been laying low up here in the freezy cold. The cold weather keeps us inside most days. Turkey got board games and memory games for Christmas so we have been playing alot of games lately. She gets very excited about our family time. We play at least one game a night. We also got a Wii for Christmas, it has been a blast. Turkey does pretty good at the tennis game and is hilarious to watch when she plays bowling. I however am not so good at the Wii. I struggle with video games in general. James and me have been playing at night after Turkey goes to bed. He kicks my butt most nights. One of these days I will win! haha!

Turkey is getting so big lately! I swear she grew a foot since we have moved here. Her hair is down her back, she is now over 3 feet tall, her pants have all become floods! We have started shopping in the big kid section for clothes! I have had a hard time getting use to that. She gets dressed by herself, combs her own hair, brushes her own teeth, bathes herself. She is becoming a very big girl, very independent. She is a great helper when it comes to cleaning the house and carrying groceries. She helps me carry the groceries to the car and into the house. I need to get some pictures so I can post them.

I haven't done much baking since Christmas. I just can't seem to get into the baking mood. I have been cooking just not baking any yummies. I have been trying to get back into the swing of things from the holidays. We haven't had very many dinner parties since Christmas. We had a few people over for dinner the other night. I made breakfast for dinner. When I was younger my mom would make puff pancakes on the weekends. They are my favorite! You bake them in the oven. I am trying to think of words to describe it. It has a ton of eggs in it and you put it in a 13 x 9 pan with butter and the sides grow and puff up. It is very yummy. Turkey loves it! I made puff pancake for dinner the night our friend and his girlfriend came over. Every one enjoyed it and we had a great time. Our friends had never had it before or heard of it. It was a fun evening and Turkey was thrilled to have one of the boys over to hang out with. Everyday she asks if the boys are coming to dinner. They are her favorite people!

Turkey has been on a kick lately that we need to go to the beach. I tell her just about every day that it is too cold to go to the beach. The other day it was about 20 degrees out and Turkey got all sorts of excited because it had finally warmed up a ton so she could go to the beach. I had to explain we can't go to the beach until the snow has all melted and it is super warm out. She has come to grips with it, for the most part. She has decided that once it is super warm we are going to the beach to have a picnic and all of the boys are coming. She names off everyone who is invited and that they have to come. I guess we might have to plan a trip to a beach this summer for a picnic! I have several long months to find a beach for us to go to.

I am very excited for how fast January is going by. My parents are coming to visit us the second week of February! I am very excited to see them.