Our Last Day in Reynosa

We had our last day in Reynosa on Tuesday May 13th. We had just returned from visiting Tampico and had dinner with our friends the Gonzalez family. Here is a video of us at their house before eating. Most of it's in Spanish so be ready! After eating, we went to Marisol's cousin's home to pay them a last visit and spend the night before our long trip to Mesa. Joel...quisiera haber hecho unrecuerdo de ese día con ustedes supongo que estábamos ya muy cansados. Ya sabes que los apreciamos mucho.

Mother's Day in Mexico (May 10th)

On Saturday, May 10th we celebrated Mother's Day going to Marisol's Grandmother's house in Tampico. We ate tamales and listened to a trio of guitarists sing for an hour. It was a good experience to have just before going over to the U.S.A. We'll probably be there on May 14th or 15th because we have to wait until Monday to get a part in the van changed. Here are some pictures of today's get together.

Ward Farewell

On Tuesday we went to a farewell party our ward put together for us. There were about 40 people there and there was a short program. Members were invited to share their thoughts and wishes for us. Some thanked Marisol for her good attitude and example she gave and said they were going to miss her a lot. A sister thanked me (evan grande) for getting her grandson interested in coming to church and having his white shirt and tie ready (I gave classes to Valients a few weeks). About 8 people shared some things about us and then Marisol and I got up and it was our turn. We said we had learned a lot from being in the ward and we would take the best of our experiences with us to Arizona. Even though its not exactly the safest city in the world, we believe the Lord brought us there for a good reason. We hope to be in Arizona before the 15th.

We can all cross now!!!

On March 31st, of the year 2008 AD, Marisol Vance was presented with an official instrument which is to be exercised for purposes of navigation to and from the United States of America.

Ok, I'll write normal now. After a long, long day of standing out in the sun for 6 hours, they finally called Marisol's name and she was interviewed and deemed worthy of (sorry) her visa to work and live in the USA. YYYeeeessss!!!!!!!

Special thanks to: Thomas D. Vance, Cheryl Vance, Mercedes, the kids, her interviewer, Marisol, and i guess me too (big Evan). Here's a short video, hope you like it! And some pictures.

P.S. We just went all together for the first time to McAllen, Texas to Target and Taco Bell. Here are Marisol's words...Marisol, write something -- Now I feel free to go to the States without any worries and I can't wait to begin living there with all the family in Arizona.

Little Evan's Birthday Party

Yesterday we had Evan's birthday party at Grandma Sanchez's house. It was a fun one. Evan had a Train Pinata and got lots of toys. He blew out the candle all by himself. His real birthday is the 28th, but we had the party earlier because we'll be going to Ciudad Juarez on that day. Here are some pictures and video of the party and of the Ocampo family.

Tampico trip

On Friday, March 14th, we left Reynosa at 11:00 pm and arrived after traveling all night through fog to Tampico, Marisol's hometown. We were able to leave the kids with Grandma Sanchez and go through a session at the temple. We went to the beach and to Dairy Queen for some treats. Here is a picture of us with Grandma in her house.

Chef Evancito

Today (Thursday March 6th), Little Evan and Mom cooked "Milanesas de Res" (it's breaded steak) for the sister missionaries. They are scheduled to eat lunch at our house on Thursdays this month. Dad has to eat at work (in the Maquiladora) in the cafeteria so he didn't enjoy lunch as much as everyone else. Right now it's 9:30 pm and luckily there was one milanesa left so mom cooked it up for dad, YES!