Tornado Warning

Oh snap! We've been moving so fast there's a tornado watch where we're at!

Or maybe it's just mother nature.

Either way, we are taking time to settle down and recap what's going on. (And don't worry we decided to stay in a hotel tonight because our tent trailer probably wouldn't withstand high winds or possible "baseball sized" hail!)

El Paso - It's about five miles from Jaurez, Mexico. We had heard a little bit about the drug cartel situation, but it all came to life in El Paso. Before we were leaving we could see a huge fire that was going on in Jaurez. Many of the children have a lot of family and freinds in Juarez, and the sitaution defintely is affecting their lives. However, the club is doing amazing work in El Paso. They take a proactive approach to their community and are really working to bridge the gap between parents and children. The club offers GED classes, family events, Aerobics classes to the community and parents...FREE of charge. The first day we arrived we hung out with the kids at the club, playing basketball and pool and enjoying some authentic Mexican food. The next day we hung out with the kids at a skatepark behind the club. It was a blast and lots of kids came! They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that's true, especially their hearts. Art, Isabel, and the countless volunteers and americorps workers....Thank you! You really inspired us with your selflessness and positive attitudes.

Odessa-I'm not going to say which football team I support, but know that football is king in this town (their HIGH SCHOOL stadium has a jumbo tron!) PLU in Tacoma doesn't even have one of those! We started out by enjoying some really good burgers some of the guys had BBQ'd. We then hid eggs for the Easter egg hunt. The girls at the club taught me how to battle...hula hoop style. Ben was feeling sick and so one of the staff members Miss Tamara Farris took Ben to the emergency room(it was the only place open) and turns out he was diagnosed with bronchitis. Good thing he didn't listen to me! I thought he was just trying to get out of skating for the day and told him to suck it up. Kelly, the CPO, gave us a tour of Odessa for the rest of us. As we were leaving I realized I had accidently left the lights on, but a nice man helped us by giving our van a jump.

Now we are relaxing and watching the Ten Commandments. Ryan just commented that Moses is pretty BA. I agree!

Ben says he is "star *cough* ing to *cough* feel bette *cough*r"

Mike is getting Ben his Vitamin C and water out of the car in exchange for a blizzard.

Jerry is enjoying the smell of rain. So am I! We haven't had rain since Washington!