Yesterday, Conor and I had the wonderful chance to go to the temple here in Oaxaca. Starting next week, it will be closed for 2 weeks. We were so fortunate to have this chance offered to us by a family in our ward. They picked us up, took our daughters to their home to be cared for by their older daughters and then we went to the temple! I had to laugh when I saw for myself that the Oaxaca temple is the exact same as the Spokane temple! They are the smallest temples ever! The biggest difference were the palm trees and poinsettias in the garden of the Oaxaca temple. 

I loved listening to some of the temple ceremonies in Spanish. The Spanish language is so beautiful. 

I feel as though we have just soaked up so much kindness here in Mexico. It is non-stop! For some reason, people want to have us over for dinners and do kind things for us. I'll forever be grateful!

We really love having a bunch of kids living in the same apartment building as us. The family above us has 8 children, and while most of the older kids work, the younger three are home a lot because there's no room in the public schools. The are three very happy, very energetic boys and my girls love to play with them! The youngest, Carlitos, has my heart. He is so cute and has the biggest grin! Whenever Maeve hears him, she says, "friend, friend," and wants him. For so many people living above us, we hardly ever hear them. In fact, I think we are noisier than they are!

Last week, the kids had a little play time together. We had our friend, Santi (in the olive shirt), with us too. The girls blew bubbles and the boys smashed them all. It was a really sweet and tender moment for me. 

We visited the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca and the space was so beautiful. The inner courtyards were really gorgeous with so many plants and the perfect amount of life. There were many rooms filled with design books and some art on display. The art primarily addressed abuse, global warming, repression... all more serious matters. It was a sobering and inspiring visit. 

My Mom wants to see more pictures of what we're eating. This post is for you Momma! There's lots of good food here, so many combinations of beans, cheese and tortillas that are so satisfying. Here's one dish we tried recently - enfrijoladas. Crispy tortillas, smothered with black bean sauce and topped with cheese. So simple, so delicious! And the bonus ambience of our local mercado and the friends we've made there. The eating space is so tight that each time we've eaten at the spot, we've struck up conversation with the table beside us. I love Mexico! 

No surprise, there's lots of dogs roaming the streets here. Holly is the most afraid of them for some reason, but really, they are harmless. One surprise for us, was dogs on rooftops without edges! There's nothing like walking down the street and being barked at from above. At what point do the dogs jump onto our shoulders to bite us?! Not my favorite thing!