Downsizing Part III

Almost every day now, a message comes from Mexico. A text, an email, a phone call. These encourage us to keep pushing forward.  It's a little lesson to me about approaching the shores of eternity. What an uplifting thing to receive encouragement from the other side!

And here is evidence of the continued support we receive here at home.  What a huge boost to have Auntie Marlene, Grandpa Harry, and Joe, Sharon, Shea, and Lane come a couple weekends ago. We were able to paint all the bedrooms, part of the basement, put up handrail, patch a section of roof, replace exterior light fixtures, and much more.  The kids had a wonderful time together.

Here is our little group for our last Sunday morning meeting.  Very bitter sweet to let these guys go and the wonderful fellowship we have shared. Aaron, Donna, Dana, and Riclyn & Braxton (not pictured) will always have a very special place in our hearts!

As last week flew by in a blur, Monte graduated from kindergarten, Keith and I celebrated our 18th aniversary, Boyd celebrated his 8th birthday, and Dana helped us stay motivated painting trim.

Our little house is officially on the market! It is slowly emptying out and the garage is filling up.  So on Saturday, we will open up those garage doors and have a big sale.

We snuck away this weekend to Cody preps! They had the elderly ladies sleeping quarters all made up for us, so we spent Sunday night and enjoyed a good work day on Monday. Another little boost to keep us going in the right direction!

Visas In Hand

Securing our temporary resident visas for Mexico has been an interesting process.  To make a long story short, we used google and a website called mexperience.com to get us started in the right direction.  Then we worked with the Mexico Consulate in Salt Lake to figure out all the requirements.  Keith worked so patiently on this project, making sure we had the stack of applications and documentation needed for our family of six.  We lucked out and the consulate came to Jackson one weekend. We were able to turn in our papers and do our interview without leaving town! They said everything looked fine, so we scheduled an appointment with them in Salt Lake to have our photos and finger prints taken and then to receive the visas.

We drove down on a Thursday morning, stopped at the consulate for our photos and fingerprints, and then went for lunch and a tour of Temple Square.  Here we are in front of the auditorium where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practices and performs.

As far as buildings and gardens go, this was a very beautiful place.  I heard somewhere that they try to make it look as close to heaven as they can.  I don't know... is that even possible? Anyway, it was interesting to see.

Then finally back to the consulate and our visas were ready! When we get to Mexico, we have to exchange these for cards.  Then we are legal to stay in the country for up to one year.  At that time we can renew the temporary resident visa for three more years. The benefit to having a temporary resident visa is that you can do business in the country just as a normal resident can.  We will be able to buy and license a car, open a bank account, and enroll our kids in public school; things we may have had difficulty doing with only tourist visas. So, we're happy to have these in our sweaty little palms!

Downsizing Part II

This photo was taken Sunday, after our last gospel meeting with Brandon and Kendall.  Brandon leaves for Chili just three days after we depart for Mexico.  We're gonna miss these guys!

Our preparations have taken two major directions these days.  One path leads to finishing and selling the house, the other to getting rid of stuff.  After returning from Seattle, Keith rented a mini excavator and dug into the yard.  He tore out the rest of the deck, garden boxes, and tree roots and leveled the yard.  Then we hauled soil from the back to the front, spread gravel in the back and planted grass along the south side and the front.

We continue to work on the inside of the house, organizing, cleaning, and de-cluttering.  Friends and family have been so helpful in these areas. A big thanks to those who have agreed to take our possessions. Somehow it's comforting to know they will be used by people we know and love.

Two weekends ago we took a trailer load up to Toston, MT.  So fun to spend time with Keith's sister and family. The boys enjoyed playing in the dirt, getting re-acquainted with Odie, and Auntie Kay's good cookin'. Uncle Todd also had Tyler drive his pickup which had him feeling all grown up!

Then we drove into Bozeman for Boyd's lacrosse tournament.  Mom met us there too! Boyd tried the goalie position for the first time and surprised us with his determination. Saturday evening we drove to Idaho Falls, got a motel, and enjoyed a beautiful Sunday with mom in Blackfoot.

Back home we started in on house projects again. I had my wisdom teeth extracted during this particular week, so it was wonderful to have mom's help.

Thursday we loaded mom's car and the trailer again for another trip to Montana.  We met up with Keith's aunt, sister, and brother and their families at Lewis and Clark Caverns.  The cousins had a blast exploring this underground wonder!

Back in Bozeman we enjoyed a wonderful evening with Udo and Damaris complete with miniature cups of coffee for the kids with desert. Fun! We stayed with Brandon and Tiffany and were treated to a royal breakfast buffet the next morning with Stuart and Trish on the Manhattan grounds.  Then on to Tyler's lacrosse tournament.  Great games; Tyler saw lots of action and enjoyed his usual position as goalie.  Then out to Buffalo Bump pizza with the gang, before we hit the road for Idaho Falls again.

We spent the night in the same motel and had another beautiful Sunday with our Idaho friends.  It was topped off with a going-away potluck for our workers (see the first picture in this post.)

These days are full and bursting with activity, but we are so thankful for a very real purpose and meaning in it all. We are so grateful for the support of family and friends and the chance to spend time catching up.  Everyone is busy and working on a journey. We hope for the best for each of them.

And now, it's back to work on the house.....