An Update from Tom

Hi everybody!

It's my turn to write to all of you and let you know the latest from the Puebla front. There is a lot to talk about since I last wrote three weeks ago.

September 16th, Independence Day - Jenny mentioned this in her latest e-mail. We celebrated Mexican Independence day with the ward. It was really fun! We ate some very unusual things like corn on the cob with mayonnaise and cheese, posole, and my favorite, chalupas. The chalupas were originally created in Puebla many years ago. They cooked them in a really cool set up. Think of a tripod with briquettes in the center and the cooking surface above. The cooking surface looked like a big, 3 ft diameter upside down sombrero with hot grease in the center. Around the outside they put corn tortillas and warmed them up. Then they would put different kids of meat and cheese on them and slide them into the grease for a minute. Then they would return them to the outside and add more stuff. After doing this a couple times they were ready to go, They were delicious! I'm sure I got my fat quota for the year, but they were good. The party lasted until late at night with plenty of music and dancing and more food.

It was really cool.

Teotihuacan - The next day we went to the ruins of Teotihuacan, which are between Puebla and Mexico City. This city is amazing! It has two huge pyramids, the temple of the Sun and the temple of the Moon along with dozens of other structures. The city was built around 400 BC.

It was amazing to see the structures, the carvings, and the murals.

We also got to see a couple dozen live dancers, in full dress, doing ancient Mayan or Aztec dances. We'll have to get pictures on the blog. It was very cool. A Sister in our ward, whose father is an archaeologist who dedicated his life to studying the ruins in the area, believes that this city is Bountiful in the Book of Mormon.

Work - The job is going fine. We were fortunate enough that our results in September were the best of the year. That helps build confidence in the team I'm creating. So far, so good in October.

When things go well I have a lot less pressure from Corporate.

Mostly, so far, the changes I've made focus on putting the right metrics in place so leaders can see what's going on in time to do something about it, and ensure the leaders clearly understand what they are accountable for and what resources they have to work with.

In addition, we've organized the improvement projects so they have solid leadership and are adequately resourced. We then follow up on them to ensure each leader is meeting their plan - we can't let things slip. Anyway, there is much more to be done but we are off to a good start.

Siemens - We had the company Siemens come in and do some work in the plant on September 4th. Well they messed something up which caused our main control room to lose power for about 10 minutes. As a result of that our main oven became unstable and we damaged seven platinum/rhodium bushing (each is worth $1 million). The bushings can be repaired, but the bottom line is that their error cost us about $850,000. We we're going after them. We really don't have much of a basis for a lawsuit because our contract with them does not include consequential damages. Regardless, it's my job to convince them that they owe us a bunch of money. I've had one meeting with them in Mexico City already. They're a tough bunch. But we're going after them! We'll see what happens.

Brazil - our last two shipments to Brazil arrived with several pallets of product missing. We have another shipment leaving the plant tomorrow. We we have a private investigator firm ready to follow the truck from the plant to see if the driver off loads some material before taking it to the port in Veracruz. It would be great to catch whoever is doing this and get them in jail. If we get them I get to be the one to head to the police department to file the formal complaint. I've done this kind of thing before and it rarely pans out, but we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Church - We like our ward. The members are terrific! Every week I'm so impressed by their faith as well as their knowledge of the gospel.

Even though the church has grown quickly in Mexico, the majority of ward members were baptized many, many years ago. I've been called to teach the single adults in Sunday School and I've was set apart today as 1st assistant in the High Priests Group. Julie was just called today to lead the music in Relief Society and to be the choir director. They don't want to start up the choir until January. I'm very impressed by the single adults. Several are returned missionaries and virtually all of them were baptized at 8 years old.

They come from good families. We have about 10 sisters and 3 brothers in the class. All very sharp.

In addition, Julie, Jenny and I are singing in a stake choir. It's a good sized choir that will perform in Stake Conference in November. We don't sound very good but we're trying!

Jenny - As you know Jenny got her hair cut. She looks fantastic!

She's doing good. Her Spanish is improving daily. She likes her school and is in the school choir, art program and the school play!

Julie - Julie continues to impress me with her Spanish. Her lack of fear is helping her to progress quickly. She continues her Spanish classes three days/week, two hours per session, which are taught one-on-one in our home.

Napa - We had a great time last week in Napa. We were really busy all the time so it was not a vacation. It was great seeing everyone! We were able to get our visas, Jenny's documents apostlled and have many of our belongings packed up and on their way to Puebla. It was also great to get my bike! I'm amazed at how much fitness I've lost since my last event in mid-July. Oh well, at least I know how to get it back.

The bank - I really, really hate Mexican banks. They are so inefficient you'd think they were run by the government. Julie and I went to the bank on Friday morning to open a checking account. We can now do that since we have our visas. After waiting for a long time we finally got our account set up. The problem is that they don't give you temporary checks so we have to wait for the printed checks to arrive. And when I tried to deposit money from my savings account to my new checking account they basically said I can't but that I had to

do it in the branch where I opened my savings account. They are only

open from 8:30 to 4pm so to go I have to miss work. And then, once this was done, for some reason they froze my account so I can't get any money out of the ATM. So tomorrow I'll take off from work and try to get it cleared up. Waste of time!

Yesterday - We had a good day yesterday. I went for a bike ride in the morning near the Puebla airport. It's a nice stretch of road that has a smooth wide shoulder and is about 5 miles long. It felt good to get out and ride albeit slowly. On my way home I saw a large group of people marching along the side of the street carrying religious banners. I thought it was some kind of pilgrimage. When I got closer I noticed they were also carrying a casket! At the back of the crowd was about a 25 person brass band playing. It was very cool to see.

Later in the day, Julie, Jenny and I went downtown to look around. We visited this large outdoor shopping area that was full of people and small shops selling all kinds of things, mostly designed for out of town visitors. We marveled at the cool buildings. Most were built in the mid 1800's and look very French with the small balconies on each level. We also visited a couple of cathedrals. They were beautiful both inside and out. The main one was completed in the early 1700's and is just huge. We then ate dinner in an outdoor cafe along the main plaza in town. It was all really fun.

Vonage - As I was trying to disconnect our phone service with Vonage, it turns out that by taking the equipment to Puebla we just transfer our service. We brought it on the plane and hooked it up. Now our phone service is just the same as it was in Napa. Anytime you call our Napa number, it rings in our home in Puebla. The charges to the calling party are the same as if you called Napa, and our charges are a fixed $20/month with unlimited minutes. You've got to love the internet!

Next week I have meetings in North Carolina, so I'll get to see Laura and Tyson on Sunday!

Anyway, we really love and miss all of you!

Take care,

Love,

Dad/Tom

Tour of House in Mexico

So, I walked around and took pictures all around the house, so you can see where we live.

This is what you see of our house from the street. Our front wall door is open and the garage door is to the left.

Here is our street, cobblestones and everything.

The front entrance

This is our backyard.

The propane tank in our front yard

Here is our carport with my car - the Honda CRV - which I think is a fun little kick around car. I like it.

Here is our front door.

The front entrance

This is looking out the kitchen window.

Side Yard

Backyard (very unimaginative)

Here is dad's car.

Living Room

Dining room

Family Room

The Kitchen

another view of the Kitchen

This is a view of the Kitchen looking in through the outside window

Pantry

The kitchen entry with the water bottle dispenser and water pressure tank

Guest Room ~hint ~hint ;-)

Guest Room

Guest Room bathroom

Lying on the floor looking up through the spiral staircase to the skylight

Spiral staircase by the front door

View of the spiral staircase

This is the upstairs stair landing computer area.

Jenny's bedroom

This is Jenny's bathroom.

Jenny's closet

My art room

My art room bathroom and cupboards

Mom and dad's bathroom

Mom and dad's shower and ...

This is looking out my bathroom window across the street.

Mom and dad's bathroom sink.

This is looking out mom and dad's bedroom down the hall.

Mom and Dad's bedroom

Mom and Dad's bedroom

Mom and Dad's bedroom closet

Here is the access to the roof from the laundry area.

This is looking down the maid's staircase from the second floor.

This is the outside-upstairs patio that opens to the laundry area.

This is my washer and dryer - with Spanish directions.

From the upstairs hall to the laundry room/outside patio.

haha MY point of view --Update from Jenny

hey every peoples!

well, just a little update on me, i have cut my hair and i love it. i'm going alright overall, i cant complain n_n i hang out with a group of about 9 kids every day which is so totally fun, i can finally order my own lunch without a translator, most of my teachers are human, i'm taking 4 spanish classes a week, and i just finnished all my homework! yaay! Mexico is so different!! it's weird the 2 strangest things about it is that:
-everyone has to say "muy bien!" whenever someone asks them "como estas?" And it doesn't matter if you are sick or sleepy! you have to say "muy bien!"
-and every where you look you see perfect well trimed plants every where! can't people do something more productive that snipping trees? why don't they fix the water or fill the potholes or repaint the houses! DUH!
Anyways, i really miss the cats (even the fuz), my friends, my school, brandons wi,all of you guys, and brandons wi. jk

About two weeks ago we did lots of stuff, on monday mom and i bought 3 mexican mustaches, 2 skirts, 2 shawls, a shirt for dad, and something else i can remember. Then the three of us got all dressed up for the party that evening. mom even braided my hair into two braids. we took our pictures with our big black mustaches and then we headed out for the party @ the church. after realizing that no one had really arrived yet and the people that were there weren't dressed up, i started freaking out. i told dad that i do not want to go if im the only one with a poofy skirt and a shawl. i'd rather stay in the car for 3 hours. so dad and i dropped mom off to go set up the food and stuff, and she would call us when people started comming (and if they were dressed up or not). so we went back home and just hung out. 2 hours later mom called and told us that it would start in like 15 minutes and that people weren't dressed up.
When we were all settled in our seats this lady started talking about the history of Mexico in spanish. 40 minutes later we were able to start eating. the food was REALLY good. they had a couple of strange on the menu though, like pig jaw (teeth included!) and a corn with mayo and cheese (it was really good). and after a game of spanish bingo we went home @ around 11:00 but the people were still going strong! anyways, that was our independence day.

funny facts: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words


-Jenny

Update from Dad

All,

Here's a quick update on things. I'm not sure what we've already told you and what we haven't. So if I'm repeating, please forgive me.

This was kind of a tough week for us. Both Jenny and I got sick with colds (Jenny has a sort of flu). We're both feeling fine now. Julie has been fine all along. I"ve been eating in the cafeteria for lunch every day. I don't think my system likes it. I'm going back to bringing my lunch next week. I think each of us was fighting some homesickness this week as well. Things are starting to settle into a pattern, and get easier, which provides for more time to think about how much we miss all of you! We're feeling pretty good now, but I'm sure it will come and go.

Julie started Spanish classes this past Monday. She attends for two hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She likes the school, doesn't like homework, and is sure that 'ser' and 'estar' are of the devil! Other than that, she's doing fine. I am so impressed with her willingness to go up to anybody and start speaking Spanish. She really is great! Julie likes having a maid three days/week. The house is always super clean so either she's really good or Thomas was a whole lot messier than we thought! Probably a bit of both. She does our laundry every time she comes, so I think I keep wearing the same three pairs of underwear and socks every three days. I also get a kick out of hearing Julie say 'just leave the dishes in the sink, we'll have the maid wash them in the morning'. We don't have a dish washing machine, but no complaints.

Julie has also become very adept at the DVR. She now has all the English programs recorded and about any movie that comes along in English is recorded. We've been married for 29 years and this is the first time Julie has taught me how to use the remote control. It almost feels like a blow to my masculinity (I'll get over it!)

Jenny continues to impress. She's working hard at school. I even catch her doing homework every once in a while. She's got a great attitude. Thankfully she still thinks american boys are cuter than mexican boys. We'll see how long that lasts! She's thinking of cutting her hair a bit, but she's nervous. I'm sure she would love to hear your suggestions. She's been practising to participate in a play with thousands of kids in central Mexico to celebrate the rededication of the Mexico City temple. The event should be attended by the Prophet.

I'm doing ok. I'm just getting fat! I ran yesterday about four miles at about 9 min/mi. I can't wait to get my bike. I keep working to join a athletic club that is within about 3 minutes of the house. I still need to get physicals for the three of us, letters from two current members attesting to our trustworthiness, our visas (which we don't have), $3,500 dollars/not pesos, a statement from a current member that wants to sell their ownership, and my first born son. Anyway, we're working on it.

The job is going fine. There is just so much to do. I just can't believe how many things there are to fix. It's definitely a big project. I hate the commute, but I like the people I'm working with. They are talented and dedicated but lacked the direction they needed to really succeed. I haven't been able to spend any time on the sales side yet. I have to get this plant running well before I can afford to spend much of my time on other things. But it will come.

We are so proud of you kids, and we love all of you so much. We miss you and are looking forward to this Christmas when we can spend some time together!

Love,

Dad/Tom

We have internet!

It finally made it, and it doesn't seem all that fast, but it's here!

Things are doing fine. We'll have to update everybody soon. We had an open house at Jennifer's school tonight. It was great. Everybody is very, very nice to her and very, very helpful. They are doing several special things to make it successful for her.

Anyway, we'll send more later!

Love,

Tom/Dad

Internet Coming on Wednesday

I just spoke with the family down in Puebla, and here's my update.

GENERAL INFO:
* They are in the equivalent of the US central time zone (so 2 hours ahead of CA)
* They have New Cell Phone Numbers:

* Dad said that Mom and Jenny's phones worked OK down there--but he wanted to ensure Mom and Jenny could call each other and him if they had any questions or problems--so they've got Mexican phones. Dad's cell phone will be turned off within a week or two.
* Calling cost - it's only about $1.50 per 15 minutes for them to call out on their cell phones, I believe. It could be very expensive for us to call them. I've read that calling to a cell phone in Mexico can be expensive (they should have a home phone number on Wednesday when they get their internet).
* Mom will update a blog with pictures for everyone.
* They'll experiment with using Skype for cheaper internet chat, once they get internet access.
* I tried figuring out how much it would cost to call down there. Let me know your experiences with this! I'll try calling today and update.
* They will be getting internet on Wednesday!
* Their new house is very echo-y! Still missing furniture, and with most rooms open without doors, I could hear echoing footsteps as Dad walked around the place. When I asked to talk to Mom, I could hear him calling for her as he walked down stairs when she was replying from upstairs! He didn't realize she was actually upstairs due to the echoing.
* The clouds and weather are very cool! Due to the location and 7,000+ ft elevation, the cloud formations are spectacular, according to Mom. It often rains just a little bit every afternoon/evening. As we spoke, Mom could hear thunder getting closer in the distance and said some rain was approaching. Mom also said the volcano you can see in the distance is quite awesome, too. (It erupted as recently as about 8 years ago, but is really far away.)
* The tap water is extremely hard, leaving hard water stains on everything. (any suggestions to clean?)
* Dad bought an electric piano with weighted keys and full size for Jenny to play, which sounds cool as it echoes throughout the house.
* They've got a cleaning lady coming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
* They are still figuring out when they'll return for their Visas.
* They've got uncomfortable and poor looking family room furniture Mom said Dad and Jenny picked out--which they'll be replacing ;) They've got dining and living room furniture on its way. They still are sleeping on mattresses on the floor, but got furniture on its way.

DAD UPDATE:
* He says he will really love the work. He's still running plants, which he loves, but said the sales aspect will be a kick. He just found out that he's not just responsible for Mexico but all of central America, several South American countries, and the Caribbean, I believe. He's met everyone and thinks he's got a good team. He's eager to actually have time to get a full week at his local workplace this week. (Last week, he was in Mexico City for a couple of days).
* He's been extremely busy. He's trying to get everything set up and ready to ASAP. He says that nobody's feeling homesickness yet--everything is so new and exciting. So he's trying to get everything as comfortable as possible before it starts to get hard being far away.
* The town is very neat--some dilapidated buildings but many very nice areas as well. Several very nice malls. Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Blockbuster (which they've got a membership to), and many other stores.

MOM UPDATE:
* Mom said that "the place is just so different--it's like a totally different country!" (in typical Mom style)
* They've got the washer and dryer hooked up, a dishwasher, toaster, iron, microwave--all with buttons and words in Spanish--so that's taken some getting used to.
* A security guard at night rides around their gated community blowing a whistle every 30 minutes. Dad says that's so the robbers know he's coming so they can hide ;)
* Since the house hasn't any carpet, Mom bought one of those huge wide dust mops from Home Depot ;)

JENNY UPDATE:
* School - favorite class is English. She says the teacher is excellent and loves teaching. Weirdest class is Philosophy in Spanish (her friends help her by translating into English). Says the teacher isn't as good and the topics are just weird! Since she met all the youth at 3 wards by now, she recognizes people from Church at school.
* Spanish - She said she's learning lots. Meeting the missionaries at Church, seeing one Mexican and one American, she greeted the Mexican with "Hola, como estas?" and the American with "Hey, what's up?"--which cracked Dad up. She said her biggest phrase she's used yet is: "Como se dice _(glasses) en espanol?" (How do you say ___ in Spanish?)
* After telling her about foreign language missionaries learning another language, she said she was excited to label everything at home in sight with the Spanish word for everything.

WARD UPDATE:
* So the 8am ward wasn't right, but were in the 11am ward. The next week, at the 11am ward, they found out they are actually in the 8am ward. So the next week they went back to the 8am--and found out they were really in the 10:30am ward! Each ward gets better--with lots of youth, lots of people who speak English, etc. Church, though, will probably be the hardest thing for Mom and Jenny since it's all in Spanish.


Hope you enjoyed this!

-Mike

Which ward is which?

I spoke with Mom and Dad and Jenny tonight. They are all doing well. They moved into their new house today - and the refrigerator is now plugged in, but the washer and dryer is not hooked up yet. They don't have their box springs yet so they are on mattresses on the floor tonight. Jenny really likes her school and already has lots of friends. 3 or 4 of her classes are totally in Spanish and so her friends are helping her by translating and stuff. She said that church
was really weird because she couldn't understand anything. Also, they went to the wrong ward last week. Dad was a little late to the 8am ward and he was talking to people outside (because they had already closed the doors - for Sacrament I think?) and the told him he is supposed to be in the 10am ward, so they went to the 10am ward and at that ward they said, no that they are supposed to be at the 8am ward. So this Sunday they will go to the 8am ward which is their correct ward.
When I spoke to Mom she was Really Tired - she had a long day which ended with going to Super Walmart with their helper lady and buying groceries. It was raining and thundering and lightening-ing ;) when I spoke with her at 10pm her time (8pm here). They have access to
a guide-lady for a total of 8 days that the company is paying for which Mom loves because the lady knows where everything is - who to talk to, and everything.

Anyway, I just wanted to update all of you!
~Corinne