Toothless

I think Brianna is trying to get rich from the toothfairy. She has lost 3 teeth since we've been here. This particular day she lost 2 molars in one day!! She has paper towel in her mouth, and the two teeth in her hand. Lucky for her, the Mexican toothfairy pays in pesos. She got 70 pesos for the 3 teeth.

Chinas Poblanas

Last week (July 20) we went to a city called Puebla where we went shopping in a well-known area for finding Mexican artisan items. I bought the traditional Mexican dresses for the ninas called "chinas poblanas." We got Laurel a different Mexican dress that is more fitted and looks beautiful on her. Here is Brianna in her dress. And here's Ellie in her dress with the little guitar we also bought there. I bought each complete outfit for about 10 dollars!

Big Day for Tessy!!

Last night Tessy took a quick breather from her blanky and thumb and told me, "Mama, tonight is the last night I'm gonna sniff my blanky with my thumb. I'm just gonna sniff my blanky with my nose. I won't suck my thumb anymore after tonight." So far today she hasn't sucked her thumb! She wanted to a couple times, but she stopped herself. She told me she has only just sniffed her blanky with her nose a little bit. =) What a big girl. She decided this entirely on her own. In the picture she posed all by herself so that all can see she's not sucking her thumb!
She also cut off pieces of her blanky and gave them to Abuelito. He asked her if he could have her blanky. She said no, but agreed to give him some pieces. He pulled from his pocket a handful of blanky scraps that she had given him! Pretty cute. You can see abuelito's scraps of blanky on his shirt that she cut off for him.

Cooking class

Susy (Maho's sister) and I had the great priviledge of teaching a cooking class to some sisters in Abuelita's ward. Abuelita called up 10 sisters in her ward on Friday and asked if they'd like to come to a cooking class Saturday. All of them came!! We taught them how to make wheat bread, whole wheat tortillas (they rarely eat flour tortillas here; just corn), and chocolate chip cookies. Can you believe not one of these sisters had even tried a homemade chocolate chip cookie before, let alone eaten one!! They were thrilled to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies, and to try them for the first time!
It was delightful to spend that time with this group of women. I realized again that women are the same everywhere. There was a sisterhood shared here that was as strong as any ward I've ever been in. And they were all eager to learn. We sent each of them home with some tortillas, a loaf of bread, and some cookies.

Hotsprings Waterpark

Parker on Jacob on Maho.

Camille, Kelly, Josh, Maho, Ellie.

Jacob, Helaman, Maho, Molly, Luke, Tessy, Crystal, Parker, Lulu and Mar.

Ellie and Camille.

Ellie

Ellie coming down the waterslide.

Maho in the "gruta," or cave where the hottest water pours in. This felt like a hot tub.

Maho giving Parker an atomic wedgie.

Las Grutas

After visiting the pyramids in Teotihuacan, we ate dinner in this huge cave, or "Gruta." What a cool experience!! It cost more than we are used to paying here; more than we're used to paying in the US, even. It was pretty awesome, though.

Teotihuacan

Before there was light

Before there was day
When there was still darkness
The gods met in council in Teotihuacan
(Florentine Codex AD 1566)

These pyramids were incredible. Enormous, as you can see. This is the Sun Pyramid.

In this pic we are all standing on the top of the Sun Pyramid, and you can see the Moon Pyramid behind us.

Sun Pyramid

Brianna with her new bow and arrow. She haggled with one of the vendors there and bought the set for 10 pesos, which is less than a dollar!

Mar and Kelly and thier fam.

Maho and ninas with the Moon Pyramid behind.