We're Here

The kids and I got up at about 6:30am on Thursday morning. ( I meant to get up at 6am, but fell asleep after I turned the alarm off.) We rushed around to finish packing and load the car. We opened presents with Charlie during breakfast (it was his birthday; good thing he doesn't understand) and tried to cram those into a bag somewhere. Somehow in the 4 days we spent at my parents, my stuff multiplied. Anyway, we drove to my friend Juli's to get a ride to the airport. We got there with plenty of time to drop our luggage with skycap and check-in. Unfortunately, Skycap doesn't do international flights and for a minute I panicked that I would have to lug 7 bags, 2 carseats and 4 children into the check-in line. The Skycap guy must have seen my panic and offered to help (with tip, of course). Getting onto the plane went smoothly and the flight was good until Charlie got tired. After 30 minutes of crying he finally fell asleep about 30 minutes before we landed. Milli did too. We got off the plane last and I dragged the very cranky and bladder-filled kids through the Visa line. No problems there. I didn't even have to show them the Notarized permission slip Dave worked up for me. Next was getting luggage and Customs. After a bathroom break, I again panicked a little when I couldn't see anymore luggage carts. Hoping she understood English, I asked someone that worked there about it and she got one for me. Everyone had been so nice to me. Customs was a breeze too. Being very last in line might have helped too. Finally we exited into the terminal and saw Dave waiting for us. I can't tell you how glad I was to see him. And he looked so handsome in his new mustache and goatee he was growing. (I'll somehow snap a pic for you). Dave got the car and we were officially in Mexico.
I'm going to try to catch up one of these days so I can actually write about something that happened that very day, but not today.
More later! Love and miss you all!

Dave made it! He said the trip went smoothly and customs was a cinch. I think he took the Nothing to Declare option. He got to Ajijic in the evening and our rental agent met him to give him keys and show him the house. He said though sparsely decorated, it is fairly new and clean. Drawbacks are the backyard is made of cement and backs up to the construction site for the new Walmart. Oh, well. Finding a house to rent had not been as easy as we would have liked. With Ajijic being a sort of retirement community for expats, the norm in housing is 2 bed, 2 bath. So finding something with 3 bedrooms has been hard and most owners don't want to rent to a family with 4 kids. (I don't blame them, we were willing to lose money renting our house to a couple with no kids). So we found this place in a part of town called San Antonio that is close to town center and has 3 bedrooms. The kids like the fact that it has a pool we can use in the subdivision. We signed a contract for 2 months, and will look for a more permanent rental.

The kids and I gave up the keys to our house to the Brownes this morning and made a last trip to the community swimming pool. We'll miss Highland and all our friends, but look forward to this experience and the chance to show the kids that not everyone is as lucky as we are in Utah.

Dave supposedly went over the border into Mexico early this morning. In my last post, I wrote that Dave arrived in New Mexico on Saturday night. Sunday he drove a long day and got almost to Laredo, TX; only 4 hours away before he had to stop. Monday, he drove to Laredo and finished most of his paperwork early so that the crossing into Mexico might be easier this morning. He had to get an FMT (tourist visa) and a sticker for importing the car. He said those two things took him 1 1/2 hours, so hopefully this morning was much faster. My only concern was for customs. We've read conflicting reports about how to go about customs with the stuff Dave has in his car. As I understand there are two lines, To Declare or Not to Declare. Officially you are supposed to declare anything new you bought in the U.S. over $1000 (I think) or any goods you have for sale. We have only our personal items, but unofficially we have heard they will tax any desktop computers or items that seem unneeded on a tourist trip to Mexico. Dave, of course, has a desktop and two screens. Checking is also random, so he might not get checked at all. But if he does get checked, and he's in the Nothing to Declare line, they might hit him with an extra fine. But if he is in the Something to Declare line, they will tax him for sure. In Laredo, Dave got the oil changed on the car and happened to sit by a U.S. Customs worker, so he asked him what he thought. The guy said if it were him, he'd take a chance in the Nothing to Declare line. We'll see how lucky we get.
As for me, I've got a few more hours of cleaning on the house and some last minute errands to run and we're ready. The kids spent yesterday with some good friends, and I got a lot done. Thanks Deb!

Dave left this morning to start his 4 day roadtrip to Ajijic. We had a fun week visiting with friends and family and packing up the house. In fact I'm still packing it up. I kind of thought that it wouldn't take me very long since we're not taking very much and we're storing most of our stuff in the house, but I was wrong. Besides the fact that I haven't cleaned almost anything but dishes for 2 weeks, so the house is a disaster. We are renting the house to Dave's cousin Cam and his new wife, Sarah, and they'll be using all of our furniture. We're packing all the other stuff into the unused bedrooms. I suppose I'll spend most of Monday and Tuesday cleaning.
Dave had made it this first day to New Mexico. He says the Sienna is taking the trip well. By the way, the car has been another part of our story. We decided that since we could only take one car to Mexico that we'd trade in the Grand Caravan and the Infiniti at the same time (and save some sales tax) for a new van. We did this about a month ago, so we've been a one car family for that long. It actually hasn't been too bad and we expect it to be even easier in Mexico.
The kids and I are now at my parents house in Alpine till we fly out on Thursday. Boy I'm glad we decided to fly everyone but Dave. 4 days in the car with 4 kids, not my idea of fun. But I am nervous for Dave. He is usually the primary driver on our family roadtrips, but he has a tendency to get drowsy after lunch. I'm usually there to keep him awake. So pray for him, please.
Look for Dave's comment after this post.