El Faro Lighthouse

This morning, about 7:30, Greg hiked to the El Faro Lighthouse here in Mazatlan.

El Faro was built in 1879 and is the best known lighthouse in Mexico. Famous for it's spectacular views and is one of the highest lighthouses in the world. It's 500 feet above sea level and has incredible views of Mazatlan.

It took Greg 20 minutes to climb to the top. He said in the beginning the path was challenging with gravel and lots of ruts but then turned, about half way up, to stairs. He mentioned he didn't run into any banditos but lots of tourists, since this is Easter week here in Mazatlan.

Enjoy the pics he took from the top of El Faro. In case you don't know, Faro is lighthouse in spanish.

Looking north from the lighthouse.


Road to the path, Pacifico Brewrey in the distance and Old Mazatlan.


Port of Mazatlan where the cruise ships dock.


Looking south to Stone Island and Estrella del Mar.

El Faro Lighthouse. 500 feet above sea level.

Easter Week (Semana Santa or Holy Week)

As we make our plans to leave Mazatlan the week of April 12th, we find ourselves in the middle of Semana Santa (Holy Week) or Easter week.

This is a popular time for families from all over Mexico to take a beach vacation. Mazatlan is getting very crowded right now and there are live bands along the Malecon and a general party atmosphere. They figure an additional 40,000 people will be in the city this week. There are many umbrellas starting to go up on the beaches, as families enjoy the ocean.

With the violence that has recently hit Mazatlan, many had thought families wouldn't come this year, but it's looking like they're coming anyway. The government has sent in additional military, ie Army, Navy, Municipal Police, Federal Police, lifeguards and other entities to help keep the city safe. However, we continue to hear of incidents on a daily basis.

We just hope and pray the families will be safe this week and be able to enjoy their beach vacation.

Happy Easter to you all.

Change of plans

We're headed back to the states earlier than we had planned. With the rise in crime and violence here in Mazatlan, we've decided we'll leave very soon. My sister and her husband have cancelled their trip to see us in May which allows us to leave sooner. We're very sad we won't get to see them and feel so bad this changes their vacation plans too. Maybe in the future, when the troubles in Mexico improve, and we feel safe to return to Mazatlan, they'll plan another trip to see us.

We don't plan to return next year. We have rented our condo out the months of November through February of next year. We'll miss Mazatlan but this will actually be a very good thing, as we have 3 more grandbabies on the way this year, making a total of 9 grandchildren. It will be wonderful to be able to spend more time with them.

Our family just keeps growing.....

We've had some very exciting news this past month. We're going to be grandparents again this year, but 3 more times!!

We found out at the end of last year that Joel and Joyce are expecting a baby girl, Jenna Mae, May 26th. Jordyn is getting a baby sister, how exciting for her.

We just heard Josh and Kristi are expecting September 30th. This is wonderful news - Lucas is going to have a brother or sister. They won't find out until May.

We, also, had a confirmation just this week that Jackie and Jake are expecting a baby, October 17th. They had an ultrasound done on Monday, March 1st and Jackie is 7 1/2 weeks along and due October 17th. They heard a very strong heartbeat and we are so happy for them.


We couldn't be more excited at this news and happy we will be back in Washington when all of these blessed events happen. This will make 9 grandchildren for us. So as you can see, our family just keeps growing. How fun Christmas will be this year!!!!

Update on FloreSer

We've also kept our days busy over the past 3 months here in Maz with visits to FloreSer. In case you don't remember, this is the teenage girl's home here in Mazatlan. Please click on this link for a little info on the purpose of the home.
http://www.orphanagefunds.org/pdf/09/FloreSer.pdf

We've been spending time helping them with their English. They're like little sponges, so eager to learn. They do take some English classes in school but not one-on-one. So they have an opportunity with us to ask questions on what they really want to know in English. Like for instance, today, they wanted to know if boys were beautiful. Of course, we said they were not. We explained the word in English was handsome or guapo in Spanish. So it's been very interesting working with them and so rewarding too. We've even been learning some Spanish ourselves. Also, today, Greg put up a volleyball net for them. The home, they moved into recently, has a tennis court in the backyard but they had expressed they'd like to play volleyball. After quite a search, Greg found a sporting goods store that did have a net and ball. They were very surprised and happy when Greg put it up for them today.

This is a recent picture of the girls in their new home.

From left, Jenifer, Lupita (0ldest), Azucena, Sra Lucina, Alexa (youngest) and Rosario.