DJ's home!

Here is DJ as she came off the airplane. She arrived safe on December 18th. I took the girls out of school early and we headed to MN to pick her up. She had an early morning flight - she left Texas around 6 in the morning and made it to Detroit. There she changed planes and came into MN around 11 a.m. In my old age . . . . I'm getting sappy . . . . it was heart warming to see all the soldiers reunite with their families . . . . .

Here's the girls . . . . .happy to be together after a long 5 1/2 months!!

And the boys were also very happy to see their sister again! DJ suprised the Gavino and Vanessa and visited their classrooms last week in her uniform!! The kids had lots of army questions for her!! Both Gavino and Vanessa were proud!

CHRISTMAS 2009

Look at all the kids!!

Gavino, Cristo, Mateo, Selene, Diego, Emilliano, Andres, (then going to top row) Vanessa, Sophia, Miriam, Damion, Manuel, Artur

More Mexico

Fighting bulls in the corral

Jimmy's dad made a hand crafted bit for the horse. Every chain link was hand made. He has made hundres of these by bending the metal into the desired shape. He then finishes them off with adding pure silver designs to the side. The blend of metals make this a beautiful piece.

More Mexico

Gavino . . . . playing on the tractor.

Lunch at Uncle Cresenco's house.

Gavino handling the cattle. He loved every second on being on the back of that horse . . . . and even worked with the lasso.

More Mexico

Tia Maria - washing clothes . . .

I'm not even going to ask the question that I don't want to know the answer to . . . . . so as far as mom knows . . . . no he wasn't really driving.

Gavino relaxing at Uncle Cresencio's house!

Tia Maria - washing clothes

More Mexico

Gavino's favorite part of Mexico was riding on Uncle Cresencio's horses . . . . he is a natural. Although . . . . after a few days of riding, he had a little trouble walking!

Gavino and his grandma!

Uncle Cresencio - with his corn.

Grandma and Gavino in front of their house.

Back from Mexico

Jimmy and Gavino made it home safe an sound on Sunday morning. They flew into Chicago on Saturday and spent the night in a hotel, then got up early on Sunday to fly into Minnesota. Here are some pictures from their trip. Above is Jimmy with is mom in the kitchen . . . his favorite place in the whole world!

Here is Gavino and his Grandpa . . . . true cowboys.

Gavino and Jimmy help Uncle Cresencio take care of the crop of corn.

Warming up after the parade

After the parade - we went to Miriam's business, and internet cafe, to warm up!! She had hot coffee and hot chocolate for everyone~!

Diego and Mateo being silly!

Raquel & Damion!

Here is a picture of Miriam's baby - Ana Sophia. She is the most beautiful little girl with her mom's dimples!

2009 Christmas Parade

Tonight was the annual Christmas Parade in town. The kids had fun filling costumes. Adrian and Oscar were good sports and helped out on the Aladin float. Mateo was one of the Seven Dwarfs. He was rather worried about being in the parade - but he loved it. The weather was pretty good this year - a bit on the cold side; about 20 degrees, but actually perfect for the parade committee to not have to deal with mud!