Christmas 08 in Mexico

There might have been a little monkeyin' around...but for the most part, we all worked hard.

Buddy and Daniel's first lesson on laying block. Then we had to build the house.

We had to move alot of block around for the guys who were laying it.

Hal was always concerned that it was not straight! (and he was right)

The kids had to keep turning the mud and keeping these boards full for the block layers.

Dane actually got to try laying block. No one in America would let kids on their work site - let alone give them a tool...the kids learned a lot and can really appreciate the hard work and talent that goes into building a home.

Cade filled bucket after bucket for most of the day. He is such a hard worker.

Christmas 08 in Mexico was amazing. We were not sure what expect, but our plans were to not give our kids any gifts this year and instead take them to Mexico to help build homes for the homeless members of the church in Mexico. When we went to church on Sunday at the branch, there must have been 150 visitors that had come to work on the same week from Utah and Arizona. They asked if Dane and a couple other boys who were with us could pass the sacrament. We were happy to help. The boys had a hard time keeping track of where to start and continue after they had to keep getting new trays of water. After the meeting the boys told us that they were reusing the sacrament cups each time they brought the trays back for more water. It really made us realize that helping to build these homes were no small thing. These sweet people could not even afford extra sacrament cups, let alone a home. Our efforts along with all the building materials were all donated. I'm not sure how it was all done, but I know Ralph Pew heads it up through his company. They have spent many years building several homes in the area. All they ask of the members is that they help build the next one.

Well it was not hard to enjoy the holidays in this beachfront property. What made it even more enjoyable was the company. Curt and Alison Brown and family, the Cowley's, and the Allen's. With our family, there were about 40 of us that shared this house. It was huge and beautiful. When we were not playing on our own beach or deep sea fishing, we spent our time building homes for some local LDS families.