We've been home for about a week and a half now. Our trip to Mexico was incredible and I can't wait to go back! The day before we were scheduled to come home, we really felt like Conor needed to be in Calgary with his family. Jim was in the hospital and was transferred to the ICU. I'm so glad we made that decisions, it was the right choice. We spent 12 days apart, which is the longest we've ever been separated and Conor came home last night. I flew home with the girls by myself and really, it couldn't have gone better. Everyone was in good spirits and we had lots of help in little ways.

Our dear friends, Claudia and Sergio, drove us to the airport. Angela was there waiting for us and after checking in, Angela, Claudia and my crew enjoyed a little bit of food in the cafe together. That was a really hard goodbye for me. Really, really hard. Angela and Claudia quickly became close friends and I'm so grateful that I met them! They are incredibly generous and thoughtful. 

And now we are home in an impressive amount of snow. Every time, it feels so good to come home. 

On our last full day in Oaxaca, I took a cooking class with my friend Valerie. That same morning, we received a phone call from Conor's Mom, because Conor's Dad, Jim, was being transferred to the ICU and was in rough shape. Together, we made the decision to fly Conor to Calgary immediately. He left at about 5:15am and I wasn't able to go back to sleep. I reached out to my friend, Claudia, and asked her to help me with my girls, which she did so willingly and so I was still able to attend my cooking class. 

It was a lot of fun, but it took me probably an hour to relax into it because I was feeling a lot of stress. We cooked on a traditional oven with all organic food. We made a few warm drinks. We made an amazing soup. We made tortillas and quesadillas and memelas and mole with chicken. It was pretty incredible. I would love to do this again! I ate so much delicious food. I had no hunger for the rest of the day! This was such a worthwhile experience and I'm so glad it worked out for me to still go. 

I had to take a photo of where we bought our tortillas every morning. This is Alisia and we bought almost always 3 pesos worth of tortillas. Alisia's son works with her and we met his wife and two daughters. I loved our daily exchanges. Whenever we left the neighborhood or returned we always waved hola and adios to them. They made our experience so awesome! On our last day they gave us a parting gift of queso de Chiapas and Horchata mix. So yummy! I know I keep saying this, but we were so blessed to have so many incredible people come into our lives in Mexico. It was such a rich experience!

A few times Maeve was grouchy and Alisia gave her tortillas. Sometimes we would pass by when they were making more and would receive fresh made (and HOT) tortillas. It was dreamy.

A photo of my girls with their good friend Santi. He only lived a few blocks from us and the kids spent a lot of time together. I hope they are forever friends!

Here are some photos of Maeve with our friends' energetic dog Pamphila. Pamphila and Maeve developed quite the love/hate relationship. Maeve so wanted Pamphila, but Pamphila would jump up and hurt Maeve. Oh gosh. At the airport, Claudia gave Maeve a stuffed pug that looks exactly like Pamphila. So, so cute! And Maeve likes to pretend to be a puppy and we call her Pamphila and tell her, "down, down."

I am so grateful for the wonderful friendships we made in Oaxaca!