Summer fun!

I'm finally getting to the one posting I missed last year.  I had to go through about 1000 pictures from our Mexico trip and that was not a task I was wanting to do. 
It was an amazing experience to go on the mission trip to Ensenada and we had a little fun on the way.  On our drive down, we stopped at IFly so Ainsley could finally use her Chrismas gift.  That was lots of fun to watch and someday, I think I would like to do it.  She really enjoyed it! 

A little squirly initially:

She figured it out pretty good by the end:

From there we went to Solvange, CA (also known as the little Denmark) and spent a night there.  The kids had some pool time and we explored the town.  It really felt like we were in a different country!

We stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch and played a little volleyball before heading to Aunt Jeanne's for dinner.  Traffic was terrible but we finally made it and it was fun to see there place and get the tour of their community...so cute!  We stayed in Balboa Park and didn't think through things all that well, but it worked out!  Ryan needed his car for work, so we had to hoof it everywhere we went, so the location of the Worldmark was great....less than a mile from all the museums which we probably would've never gone to otherwise and it ended up being a lot of fun.  We hit the Air and Space museum, Natural history museum, Fleet science center, and Railroad museum. 

 Virtual pilots

After that we went to the beach, even though the weather wasn't so great.  Khalif and Ainsley spent a lot of time in the water and Ryan and Reggie played football. 

I spotted some dolphins super close to shore and that was quite exciting!!!

The next day we met our team of about 40 and boarded the bus to head to Ensenada.  Thankfully, there were a couple other families with kids and Reggie's good buddy, David, so it didn't take long for them to branch out.  We had no idea what to expect and we were pleasantly surprised.  We pulled off the main road and there was a very run down and half exposed hotel and I told Ainsley that is where we were staying and it turned out that we were!  But, part of it was finished and very lovely.  Our room was huge and the food was amazing. 

We did have to get used to not flushing the toilet paper!  It was the first time in a long time that the kids had no devices and the first time ever that Ryan didn't have his phone or computer!  Ryan thought it would be more difficult to be without work but quickly relaxed because he had no connection.  It was amazing!  He thoroughly enjoyed it and we were busy with group sessions and building the house, so I don't think he missed it at all.  It took Reggie a bit to settle in, but he finally stopped asking for my phone.  I didn't realize we were going to have speakers and reflection time and team building activities.  It was awesome and Khalif asked Jesus into his heart!!!!

We jumped right in and Ryan and the kids did a skit for a local church on Sunday and I gave my testimony (our group leader was very adamant about us getting out of our comfort zones!).  We were all stretched a bit...

 Practicing the skit

The next day, I went to an amazing medical facility that we were helping get ready for its grand opening.  Such inspiring stories about how it all came together to support this community that was in desperate need of medical and dental care.  Siloe is going to bless a lot of people! 

While I was there, Ryan and the kids were building.  Well, Ryan and Reggie were building and the other 2 were playing with local kids and the family puppy. 
This is the family and the home they live in:

 Lots of tears from Ainsley when we said goodbye

 2nd bedroom

 What an amazing thing to be part of.  It was so cool to change this families life.  I didn't even know they made a propane stove...what a great invention for this type of need.

Praying over the family and sharing our good wishes for them.

After we finished the home build, we visited an orphanage and did some work and played with the kids.  Those kids were extremely lucky to be at that facility.  It was beautiful and they had lots of activities, schooling and were very well taken care of.  The other half of the group ended up at a not so nice orphanage and they were disturbed by their experience, so I'm grateful we went where we did.

The kids will remember this trip always.