Texas by Train...

I love to travel and seeing the land is always special for me, traveling with the family is even better. I have cris-crossed the States many times on buses, driving and flying. Each method has it's advantages and/or disadvantages. Some need the time savings that flying provides so they pay higher travel costs and endure all kinds of luggage and security restrictions. Some prefer the more scenic route with being able to travel on your own time so they drive. Some don't like to drive so they take the bus for the economy and regular schedules. Other's discover the train...

With visa's validated and all of us on the US side of the border we headed home via Amtrak... the US's passenger train line. While I have traveled via train many times before in multitudes of countries this was my first US train experience. I wasn't sure what to expect.

Tickets in hand and luggage checked... All Aboard!!!

We chose this method based on one decision alone... Luggage!!! When moving with your family and little kids you always have lots of stuff, and with 3 checked bags and 2 carry on permitted with each ticket, making this move was a no brainier. Then we discovered that for the trip across Texas we were making the train was cheaper than the bus. And the benefits just kept on going...

Alex and Julian comfy in their seats.

I was amazed at how big the seats were, the comfort was unparalleled. Being able to get up, walk through the cars, enjoy the dining car, the lounge car which had a snack bar and tons of activities to help pass the time really made the 12 hour trip very pleasant and enjoyable. I didn't feel like I was making a trip that I needed to... it felt like I was on vacation.

With power outlets at each seat gaming and video viewing was made easy.

If I have a choice in the future to a destination the train goes to, I will choose the train every time. The whole experience was great and the Amtrak personnel were kind and courteous. Five Star!!!!!  Enjoy the photos.

The Lounge Car was great for checking out the views and just hanging out when tired of your seats.

Us in the Dining Car for lunch... The boys had pizza and we had chicken soup with tortilla strips along with a nice garden salad.

 This railway bridge going over the Pecos river is one of the highest rail bridge in the US, with 322 feet of clearance from water level.

Desert Mountains.

Packing Day...

Sometimes I feel like we have been packing for nearly two years. We started this visa process in Aug. 2010 and I took our first load of storage to Texas from central Mexico at that time. We have made 5 other trips with our stuff over the past 20 months and have moved houses on 4 occasions, with Olya and the kids even having a 3 months visit in Russia during this time.

So with the suitcases, what we have been living out of for the past 3 months here in Juarez coming out of the closet, clothes coming off hangers, bedding gathered from the beds we are doing lots of washing today and packing everything up.

In a few hours we will be heading across the border to begin our trip home. Though it has taken many prayers, lots of funds and amazing support from family and friends throughout the process we are still in a state of shock that we are finally going. When you fight for something so long and hard and face continual setbacks it takes a little while for it to sink in that we finally accomplished it. But oh, how much sweeter it is.

So amid the dust, the mismatched socks, the diminishing piles of laundry and the growing stack of our suitcases... spirits are high.

Bible Code

So one more Tuesday has come and gone with no update on Olya's visa approval. BUMMER!!!

On another note I was watching a documentary on the Bible Code phenomena and so started doing some research online and ran across a site where you can conduct your own searches. Check it out by clicking here. 

As a joke I ran started running names, and when Olya's first and last name came up in the same grid I decided to see how far it would go. I then added the word "Russia" since that's where she is from, and found it also. I then added Alex and sure enough he was there, Julian wasn't found in that text but his nick name was, Juju. Besides if you ask him what his name is he will argue till he is blue in the face until you call him Juju so I guess it counts. 

So I have all three of my Russian family members in the same text. Cool! I decided to throw in the word Texas, you know just to confirm that they would all be living there with me... and was I surprised when I found it.  

My name Gabriel was not found in that text with them but Gabe was... So I am convinced my family will soon be home altogether in Texas. 

To see our matrix with our names in it click on this link.

So Close... Yet So Far...

Twenty months ago we started the application process for Olya's visa to the US. Right from the start we knew we would face obstacles as well as delays, mostly due to her being Russian and having gotten married in Mexico and applying through the Consulate here. We took this in stride and buckled down for the wait. We had no idea the ride we were in for.

We have had challenges along the way like waiting months for her police report from Russia, to her and the kids living in 4 different locations in the past 12 months. We have also been blessed by the help of many along the way, from finding a good and economical immigration's attorney to the people who have put Olya and the kids up in their home letting them live there and helping to take care of them while I was in the States.

 So we were very excited when the day came for me to join them in southern Mexico and all travel to Cd. Juarez, the Mexican border town across from El Paso Texas. All interviews for immigrant visas with applications originating in Mexico have to interview in Juarez.

Arriving in Juarez in late January.

Although we were thrilled and excited this trip was one of the hardest I have ever made. See I had thrown my back out in late December and had been completely immobile for the entire month of January. The pain I endured that day of travel was probably the worst I had ever had in my life, I was on very potent pain killers that would work only temporarily and due to my immobility learned what it was like traveling in a wheelchair.
God Bless Raymond and Esther who picked us up and let us stay in thier house for the 10 days we were hoping to be here.

Olya went to her interview and due to my being laid up in bed I did not go with her. The Consulate actually advises for the applicant to come alone so we thought it would be fine. I think the whole concept of a Russian living in Mexico marrying an American in Mexico then applying for a visa to the US was a little hard for them to comprehend. As they sent her case to Administrative Process saying it would be another 6-8 weeks before a decision would be made.

Looking at this photo right above you can see the brown fence running the length of the photo, that is the border fence between Juarez and El Paso, the sand in the front being the Mexican side and the mountains being the US side. This spot is 3 blocks from the house we are staying in. We are so so close... yet with no visa yet it still seems a world away. Please keep praying it arrives so we can go home.

Staging A Comeback...

I have been thinking for awhile now about this blog and reflecting on what it meant to me in the past. When I started it it was to help me have a place to record my journey into the new life I had found myself in right after my divorce. I wanted to have a record of the new me. I was able to do that for some time, I met some amazing people, and have developed some eternal friendship all within these posts.

Then I was introduced to.... Facebook.

And this blog died...

In Facebook I have found the social satisfaction of getting in touch with former friends and meeting new ones, of getting in touch with relatives and meeting new ones. I have gotten lost in it's world of quizzes and games and have had fun along the way, and I have probably wasted more time there then I would like to admit to.

However I haven't experienced there the depth that I felt here, I almost feel as if a year of my journey is gone. Which is sad as the journey has been a good one with lot's of up's and down's, good days and bad days. My journey has been filled with love and laughter, with a new wife and more kids. It has been a story worth telling and keeping a record of.

So I would like to announce the comeback of this blog. I hope that it can be what it once was and that no matter what your reason to stop by and visit you will enjoy seeing this side of me. If you don't then I wish you well on your journey as you experience yours.

To a Best Friend forever....

Happy Birthday... to one of my dearest friends. You have done so much for me over the years and have been a strength and friend to many. The world is truly blessed to be able to count you among it's inhabitant's. I hope and pray that you have a great and wonderful year and that friendship and love follow you closer than your shadow. Big hug.

C-mas card from Us

C-mas card from Micheal and Christy

Portraits

We did portraits just before Adrian and Jade went back to Texas and we picked them up today. Enjoy.

Julian Michael Korzh Rucker

Julian Michael Korzh Rucker

Was born June 18th, 2009
at 6:20 PM (18:20)
weighing 9.4 lbs (4.25 kg.)

HB2Y Mom

Texas Trip

Well I head out in a few hours on a trip to Texas for the last time in my little truck. Yup, it has come time to sell this one.


This truck has been a tremendous blessing for the years I have had it and has with it many memories. But with my family growing we just don't fit in it so it's time to upgrade.

I will be on the hunt for something that can fit all of us so any and all prayers would be helpful. Adrian will be my travel partner on the way up and Adrian and Jade will come down with me when I go back. It's going to be a busy trip and I might not be in touch, but I will update as I can.

GBY!

Mothers Day

Thanks Bruni

My dear love made me a wonderful Russian birthday cake tonight and organized a surprise party with the home for me. It wasn't hard to plan being I have been in bed the past few days with my back problems. I leave tomorrow for JT Board meetings so she wanted to do something special for me before I go. I love you honey. Thanks everyone for the party and for all the nice things you said... I just hope I can live up to the reputation. Ha!

Seven Months

Bruni, seven months PG.

HB2Y Jason

Happy Birthday Bro, I hope and pray that this year is a good one for you with progress in all areas. Thanks for all you have done for me and the help you have been over the years. I'll see you soon!

She's Gone

Yes Folks, she really is gone. My good good friend Celeste has answered the Lord's call in her life in a ministry that most of us could never do. We have been through a lot over the past decade, through each stage she has been a friend ready to help, through my highs and lows, my good times and bad times, she always had the guts and conviction to call it how she saw it even when I was the one out of it. And despite it all her friendship and love remained strong and true.

Cel, each one of us (your friends) who had the chance to live, work with or be friends with you have been most richly blessed.

You will be missed!!

HB2Y Adrian

Today my big boy turn's 9. He had his party last week with his mom so today I took him and Jade out to celebrate with me since I wasn't in town for his party. We went to the Magic Time Machine restaurant. We had a blast, ate in a walk in freezer with packaged meat hanging from the ceiling, and drank UGLY bubbly potions while being served by Harry Potter. Adrian had a birthday song sang to him by about 8 waitresses, which he has forbidden me to post the video of, while Jade had her face painted. Here's a few photos.

Adrian and I waiting in the lounge to be seated at out table. (photo by Jade)

Adrian with his cool birthday Viking hat.

Jade, after getting her face painted.

Jade snapped this photo of the amour.

Vacation: Day 7

Day Seven: Zihuatanejo
After spending the morning at the beach we headed into the local town of Zihuatanejo. Since Ixtapa is the expensive touristic town catering to Canadian and US tourists, Zihuatanejo is the cheaper town where almost all the locals live. It is the small fishing port and commercial heartbeat of the area. We do all our grocery shopping and things here. But tonight we spent some time to just explore the town in the cool of the evening, we got a few trinkets and took some photos and had dinner at a quant little side street resturaunt. It was a very relaxing day.

A trinket shop where we got a few inexpensive items.

The bay at dusk with table's set on it from a local resturaunt for romantic dinners.

It took us nearly half hour to get Alex to let us take his picture.

Bruni and I

Dawn, Phillip, Fran, Bruni and I at dinner. Gabo took the photo and the young ones, Lena and Alex sat at " the fun table."

Our dinner of chicken fajitas and vegetable soup.

Vacation: Days 1 and 2

Yesterday, Bruni, Alex and I headed out with 5 others from our home for 10 days of vacation in Ixtapa Mexico, A coastal town about 7 hrs drive from Cuernvaca. The Lord has supplied a nice hotel with 2 suites for us for that time. I am hoping to update with photos of the things we encounter and are able to do duringthis time.



Day One:
We spent most of the morning packing and re-packing the SUV to get all the stuff and 8 of us in it and at noon we set off for the coast. The drive was pleaseant enough considering we felt ike sardines in a can. With the excitmnt in the air of 10 days of fun in the sun, sand and sea and with the hope of much relaxation, he 7 hours in the can were endured without compliant. Arriving in the evening we stopped for some groceries and headed to check in at the hotel. Each suite has a back bedroom with two double bed and a separatekitchen and dinning foor with a living area with a second fold out double bed. So there is plenty of room for all. The hotel has a pool, tennis court, excersise equipment and ping-pong.


Day Two:
This was a lazy day exploring the town and seeing what is available to do in the next few day while being here. We spent time in the pool and went and explored the beach. Being that Ixtapa is very touristic and caters to US and Canadian tourists just about everyone speaks english. I still prefer talking to the locals in Spanish but it does make it easier for Bruni to get around.
All the hotels and big resorts here have litle stands all over town with people trying to get you signed upfor vacation packages and activities to do. Some are very relentless and will do anything to get you to come check out thier resort, after truning down about 6 offers on the way to the beach, (which is a 5 minute walk from our hotel that took us nearly an hour from being stopped by so many people) we agreed to a reservation from a big resort that was offering a free breakfast buffet to come se thier resort. So we will be doing that tomorrow morning. I will leave you with a photo of the beach.