The Marshall Zoo: 2015

The Destinations were wonderful.... getting there and back - not so much!

Now that I have explained how great our Mexico/Disneyland trip was, let me write about our adventure in getting there and back. To say it was an adventure is a true understatement.

We left Christmas night to head to St George to break up what was sure to be a long drive to San Diego. We left in the middle of a huge snow storm and although a little scary at times, we arrived safely in St George to spend the night at our condo.

We woke up the next day and headed out towards Las Vegas and on to San Diego. Well, what should have taken 6 hours, took us 10 1/2 hours. Right outside of Las Vegas, we hit stand still traffic. Apparently everyone else was headed to California as well. It was slow going and after hours of being stuck in traffic, we got off the freeway to find something to eat. After we ate, Aaron started driving. No more than 15 minutes later and cruising at about 65 MPH, the traffic suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Aaron slammed on the brakes and narrowly missed hitting the car in front of us. We however, were not so lucky. The car behind us and 2 cars behind them all ended up getting hit. Plus, 2 cars in the lane next to us slammed into each other. So, as Aaron is trying to pull to the side of the road, the car that hit us sped off, leaving the scene of the accident. Nice! We finally pulled over and got out to assess the damage. We had some damage to our bumper and side panel on our truck, but we were all okay. The other cars (minus the one hit and run) all had to be towed away as they were undriveable. What a blessing it was for us to all be okay and be able to continue on our journey. It was a teachable moment for my kids as I reminded them that we had prayed for a safe journey and showed them the hand of the Lord in our lives as we were protected.

The rest of our journey to Mexico went on without incident. However, as we left the orphanage 5 days later, Aaron announced that we needed gas in our truck. After passing several gas stations (ones I pointed out), Aaron decided to exit the freeway in downtown Tijuana. To set the scene, it is now 10:00 pm on New Years Eve in downtown Tijuana - not a place I ever want to be again. We were on empty and needed gas quickly. We finally found a station and the gas attendant (you cannot pump your own gas in Mexico) asked what we wanted. We told him "Magna" because the handle was green which signifies Diesel fuel in the US. Well, Magna is not diesel in Mexico. Aaron quickly jumped out and shut off the pump. Regular gas in a diesel truck is not good. It will seize the engine. We now had nearly a gallon of regular gas in our diesel truck and this particular gas station did not sell Diesel. We were screwed! Just then, a man pulled up to the tank beside us, and after much pleading agreed to take Aaron to find a gas can and diesel gas so we could dilute the gas now in our truck. He was there with his mom, so she climbed in our truck to stay warm while Aaron left with this stranger to find gas. After an hour of waiting and a few panicked thoughts of my husband being kidnapped, Aaron and the man finally came back. They had quite the adventure even trying to find a gas can and a gas station that sold diesel. They put in the 5 gallons of diesel fuel and then agreed to follow us to the other gas station to make sure everything worked okay. It all worked out. I recognized this as yet another blessing and tender mercy from the Lord on this trip. One that our truck still worked, and two, that this man, who spoke English, agreed to help, was able to find a gas can, and helped us get the gas we so desperately needed.

The incident in travel that finally broke me down to where I was hysterically laughing and my family thought I had gone crazy was at Disneyland. We had parked in downtown Disney while we enjoyed a few hours at the park. Upon leaving the parking lot, you have to stop at a pay station and pay for parking which we did. The attendant handed us our change and the receipt and Aaron pulled forward.... before the attendant lifted the gate. As Aaron pulled forward, it sounded as if we had run over something. We both looked at each other dumbfounded until I turned around and saw the attendant with his arms in the air and yelling "I didn't lift the gate yet." He told us to drive forward and as we cleared the gate I again turned around to see a limp parking gate hanging in the air with the attendant telling us "Next time, wait until I lift the gate." I absolutely lost it and started laughing so hard i had tears rolling down my face. The kids thought I had lost my mind, but within minutes, they were laughing at how hard I was laughing. I call it my comic relief after everything we had been through.

All in all, we made it home safe. We have quite the story to tell and realized the tender mercies of the Lord and the answer to pray of safe travel.

Disneyland

We ended our very rewarding service trip to Mexico with a stop at Disneyland. We had such a great time running through the park and riding as many rides as possibly could. I'm so glad my kids love Disneyland as much as I do. We loved exploring Cars Land, riding Tower of Terror, California Screamin' and having competitions at Midway Mania and Buzz Lightyear to see who could score the most points. It was great being there during the Christmas season to see Disneyland all decorated in tinsel and lights. It truly is a magical place.

We went to help the orphans... but they gave us so much more.

A year ago, we learned about a foundation (A Child's Hope Foundation) that takes humanitarian trips to an orphanage in Mexico. While there, they help the orphanages with various service projects that benefit the orphans that live there. As we learned more about them, Aaron and I knew it was something we wanted to do with our children. We felt it would be a great way to teach our kids about service and how to help others who were less fortunate. So we signed up to go over Christmas break.I was filled with a little apprehension as we crossed the border between San Diego and Tijuana for the first time but things went smoothly and proceeded to follow our caravan the short 50 minute drive to La Mision where we would be staying at an orphanage campground named Door of Faith. As we pulled the gates My eyes filled with tears as saw many of the kids running around and playing outside. These are kids who are not with family for one reason or another and are living/growing up here. It made me thankful for my three kids.

Although we stayed at Door of Faith orphanage, most of our service projects were done at another orphanage, Casa De Paz, about 30 minutes south of Door of Faith. Door of Faith told us that because they get so many volunteers, they coordinate projects with other orphanages in the area. We also spent time with another orphanage, my kids favorite, due to the awesome interaction we had the kids there. That orphanage was called Buena Vida. Buena Vida houses 26 orphans and are currently in need of relocation. They are losing their lease in 2016 and are looking to buy new land to rebuild. So, because of that, we did not do any service work with Buena Vida. We did, however, get to spend our evenings with these kids and came to love them.

Our service projects at Casa De Paz had us taking down a rusted barbed wire fence and replacing it with new chain link fence, painting bunk beds, laying down tile, building a wall to subdivide a room including mudding, taping, sanding, and painting, and painting a mural on a gathering room wall. The work was long, hard, and at times boring but I was extremely proud of my kids who jumped in and helped without complaint. Adam learned how to mud and tape, Alex learned how to apply grout to tile, Abbi learned how to paint bunkbeds without dripping, and Aaron and I learned how to put up a chain link fence. The favorite thing the kids did though, was paint the mural. They loved it! It was hard work but very rewarding to know we were helping better the lives of these kids at Casa De Paz.

One of the mornings we were there, we drove up to a church located in the dumps of Tijuana that serves breakfast to the children that live there. This is most likely the only meal these kids eat that day and we were extremely humbled to see how these kids lived. The church is located in literally the dumps of Tijuana. It is here where people live and scavenge to support their families. The sight and smell of the dumps was very sobering. Homes are crudely built along the hills of garbage; no running water, no plumbing to most of these homes. To know that the children we were serving that day lived in these conditions was sad, to say the least. However, they were so thankful! We served them pancakes and oatmeal and as some of the kids came up and asked for seconds and thirds, I wanted to stuff their pockets with as much food as I could. We gladly served them food and they graciously ate.

This trip was an amazing experience not only for Aaron and me, but also for our kids. They loved serving these kids and experiencing life outside of Utah. We loved it so much, we are planning on returning in November 2015.