MY FATHER'S FOLDER: We Nailed it!

We Nailed It!  We Finished it!

Our "Contractor", Jose Maria

MY FATHER’S FOLDER
I have been combing through our family history memorabilia trying to find out more about how our house in Cuautempan came about.
There is very little written in Dad’s journal that give any details and his memory has faded. My interviews with him concerning the building program remains somewhat sketchy. The property was purchased from Dona Emilia, our landlady, who let us live in her house when we first moved from Zapotitlan to Cuautempan.
I have had to rely on the slides I scanned with bits and pieces from a copy of an Annual Report that I unearthed.

From the Annual Report for 1957 that the mission required of each field:

Sawing the wood into beams

Transporting The Beams

“BUILDING PROGRAM (Cuautempan)  the Lord has helped us realize a big step forward on our much needed house.
The gravity water system was put in, in April
and in May Mrs. Ediger’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wedgwood of Washington state came for a three-week visit and helped with building plans.
During the summer  before the heavy rains came we were able to erect the dining room and kitchen.  We hope to finish this next year. (1958)”

Adobes Drying in the Sun

The house was built in sections, and when we moved in, I was around nine years old.
The house was not finished at the time and we first three kids slept in an unfinished, dirt floor living room with rough boards propped up against the door at night.
 (I have vivid memories of one night, a wild dog decided to give us a wild scare and sent me scrambling up to the top bunk with my brother, screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to figure out how to get my baby sister out of her crib.  Thankfully my Dad at hearing the commotion, scared the dog away.)  A beautiful tile floor was later installed in that room, replacing the dirt floor.
The kitchen, dining room, and one bedroom had concrete floor while the back bedroom and the office had the red brick tile.  (totally unpractical for high humidity weather).

Mixing the Mud & Morter, Ed & Ruthie

Our house was made out of adobe, made the typical way of the area, soil, sand, and pine needles.  They were formed and set out to dry in the sun on the building site.
Dad mentioned to me how my brother enjoyed getting involved in the process making the adobe and joined in the stomping and mixing of the mud to make the adobes.

A View of The Valley & Roof Top of Our House

I loved that house! The view of the surrounding valley was awesome.  We had a view of the main road, or more like a widened, bumpy cow trail and would watch my dad driving and follow that speck until it reached the church where we parked (there was only a thin trail up to our house at that time.) and then I would dash down to greet him.
Our yard was surrounded by trees with several of them being avocado and an orange tree. 
The fence surrounding the property was lined with yucca plants as stumps with barb wire threaded through it which later those stumps rooted and bloomed with a white flower. 
The sword-like leafs were sometimes used as toy machetes.
The mountains surrounding us was filled with pine trees, spaces of winding paths, open windy patches and random spots of neatly hoed corn rows dotting the country side with cottage- like huts (near the corn) with spirals of smoke.
We could see the town center from our front yard.

The Kitchen

The Dining room

In Front of The Unfinished Living Room