Construction Day #2

The next day we started where we had left off. As we went, doors and windows were framed and the interior walls were started. The goal was to complete 5 more rows and do a second bond beam. Everyone is feeling pretty good about their wall building skills. Jesse and Camille made a good team and Seth and Brittani worked on their exterior wall. Here's some pics.













The second day the scaffolding was assembled as the walls were built taller. Windows and doors started to take shape too.








































When our work was finished, we got cleaned up and went out to dinner at a great little restaurant called Ramone's. The Finlayson's had been here before & recommended it! It was great food & great company! Ramone's is famous for their fish & chips, they were yummy!


Here's our job foreman, Rick and his wife Alicia, great new friends!!


Nothing feels better than a hard day's work and a full stomach! We enjoyed the hot tubs back at Las Palomas. Another good day's work done! To be continued...

Construction Day #1

We arrived at the church at 8a.m.,were assigned our work groups and headed out for the construction site. This is what it looked like when we got there. The corners had been blocked up and the foundation had been poured before we arrived. Look closely, you'll see that some stray dogs walked through when the cement was still wet. Those will be there forever. The floor will be cement, no carpets or rugs.



This is the pile of block that was moved into the house by each cement palette by a huge human block moving chain.



Some started assembly on electrical conduit and electrical boxes for outlets and switches. Caleb and Liesel helped sift sand through a screen and fill buckets with sand to be mixed in the cement mixers.











































































Next the block and cement work began to construct the walls. Even Caleb got in on putting cement on the end of the block so that Bro. Hyatt could put them in place in the wall. Thanks Bro. Hyatt for being so patient with your 'lil helper.














































This is the Mesa's house that they are living in now. It's really not much more than a shed. The one room has a bed in it and the other is their kitchen.






























This is Sis. Mesa, first on the right, with 2 of her daughters & one of her grandchildren.
















By the end of the first day, we had completed 5 rows of block walls on the exterior.
The final work of the day was the bond beam. Re-bar is lined all along the outside walls and then filled with cement to make it sound. It was a soupier mix that we used to fill the bond beam. The mortar for the blocks was a lot thicker. It was a good day's work. We had all learned so much.






































































Both Mike and Jesse learned how to use the block saw. It was a pretty 'manly' power tool!We all went home tired and proud of what we had been able to accomplish. Tomorrow, Construction day #2...P.S.Seth was hiding from the camera today. I'll be sure to include some pics of Seth at work in the next post.

Our Mexico Weekend

One day at the beach, Caleb was determined to write the entire alphabet, upper and lower case, in the sand. We started it several times and then would come to a place in the sand where there was a rock or a hole, so he'd start over. He kept busy at it for a long time. I think we made it to Mm.



On Saturday, we had the whole day to just ENJOY! We played on the beach, tried digging for clams, with no success, those buggers are elusive! We collected all kinds of beautiful shells and played in the pools and hot tubs. The older kids and adults, had a long game of beach football. Their muscles were sore the next couple of days, but it was WORTH IT!










On Sunday we attended Sacarament Meeting in the 1st Puerto Penasco branch. It was all in Spanish, but Mike & I thought we could understand about 40% of what was said. The missionaries serving there were the speakers that day. Liesel went to Primary just for a few minutes and because she was a visitor they sang the 'Welcome Song' to her.
"Hola! (Hola!) Hola! (Hola!)..." It was fun to see the Primary children fidgeting and busy, just like in our Primary.

Sunday afternoon we went with the Finlayson's on a Sunday drive out to the beach houses that they had stayed in last year. The Nyman family were staying out there this year.The beach out by the beach houses was amazing! This is where we found whole sand dollars, big & small, sea cucumbers and some other fun shells. We just walked along the beach for what seemed like forever, soaking it all in! Tomorrow morning we begin work on the houses; the real reason we are here, although it sure has been nice these past few days!




This fish needs some serious dental work! This was the treasure? that Jesse found!Nathan & Caleb show off the squishy, slimy sea cucumbers they found! Tomorrow...Day#1 of construction.