Rancho La Hermosa Dec 26th

After three days of beach time it was time to head into the hills and be off the grid for a few days.  We started by cleaning up our work site.  Big piles of garbage and wood everywhere.  Mice had lovely homes made inside the piles.  We picked up garbage and nailes.  Sorting the wood into burn piles.  We could see the orphanage across the ravine but didn't get to go over there until later.  

 

Our task was to finish a bathroom area for all the volunteers.  Base coat, Greenish paint, orange paint, Put in windows, get water and electricity to the building, install toilets... plenty to do. 

We also worked on organizing a shed and all the garbage around it.  Drying out insulation, burning garbage, smoothing out piles of rocks, fixing wheelbarrows, 

A bonfire that night to burn trash.  Figuring out how to bend pvc pipe to fit with the toilets.  Then off to bed in our door rooms.  

Rosarito for Christmas, December 25th

The kids all did white elephant gifts on Christmas.  That was our gift-giving.  We had a neat devotional in the morning and enjoyed a beautiful day all together.  Emilie made a beautiful collection of art.  I don't create things like that but I appreciate the talents of others.   

We had a wonderful Christmas lunch with delicious Mexican food.  

Rosarito for Christmas, December 24th

Christmas Eve Morning.  What a beautiful place to wake up to.  We got to go to the local ward.  It was pretty neat to have enough Spanish speakers with us to translate for all of us during church.  It was a beautiful sacrament.  There was a beautiful feeling in that building.  I loved the plants outside and couldn't believe how big the succulents were.  

We found a lunch place close by where we could all eat some amazing tacos.  

We stopped by the Tijuana Temple which was closed.  We hovered around the gates long enough that the temple president drove up and let us come in and wander around.  So much busy traffic and garbage everywhere outside the gates but inside the gates were beautiful and clean.  

Then back to our VRBO to play on the beach.  Emily made some beautiful artwork on the beach.  Darren went out trying to surf with the wetsuits on.  We finished the night with a Christmas Eve devotional by Valree and Jared.  Then games and a bonfire.  We were lucky to see some fireworks on the beach too. 

 

Charlie the Elf

 Somehow we are lucky enough to have Charlie the Elf show up at our house for December.  He seems to make a bit of a funny mess every night.  But he leaves a yummy treat.  Abby wakes up bright and early every morning to find where Charlie might be hiding that day.  Charlie even appeared in Rosarito Mexico to say goodbye until next year.