A Collage of Typical Costa Rican Houses - Hannah

The Town of Puriscal - Hannah

We've been meaning to take a few pictures around Puriscal, and finally got around to it.

The police station where I went to report Dylan missing when he ran away

The Red Cross building, where I went to pay my utility bills
until I discovered I could also pay them at the grocery store.
Also, an ambulance like the one seen here once pulled
up to our house to deliver the phone book.

One of several car places we have been to,
which all tend to have cheap labor but expensive parts

The bakery where we get our bread every couple days

A newly built playground across from the bakery

The Mercado--basically a shopping mall with various produce, meat, and
 clothing vendors. We were happy when we found a vendor here who sold cocoa.

One of the vendors inside the Mercado

One of the many little produce stores around town.
This one has good pipas frias (coconut water). 

The entrance to Julia's school

The photo store where I got passport photos of the
 kids--needed for school registration

"Kinkos," where I get copies, lots of construction paper, and other office supplies

One of a couple pizza places in town--way overpriced for the product

The municipal building where I've had to pay a couple parking tickets
before I figured out where I could legally park

The boys' school, with the guard in front who lets the kids in and out

The small church next to the boys' school,
where Catholic class is taught

The post office.. Who would have thought, right?

The electronics store

The eye store, where I once took my glasses to be
repaired (they needed a new screw), and the woman
repaired them on the spot for no charge.

Our church, where we have met many great people

The much larger Catholic church across the street.
On Easter, we got to see a Catholic procession go by
while we were having Sacrament Meeting, complete
with a brass band and burning incense.

The hairdresser, where I recently received my first ever professional
hair color treatment for only $35

The large, deserted Catholic church, that like many other
Latin American towns, marks the center of the town.
This one is gated up and crumbling.

The plaza, a park adjacent to the large church where
many of the towns' activities take place

I hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of this colorful little town!

Donations for a Missionary - Hannah

We have an opportunity to help out a missionary-to-be in our branch.

Wagner is a fairly recent convert to the church, has served diligently alongside Michael in the Young Men's Presidency, and is a very nice guy. He recently received his mission call to the South Dakota mission, and we're very excited for him.

We're especially excited because he received permission to come to Utah a week before he's to report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo. He'll be able to stay with us when he comes in August, and we get to show him some sites, practice English with him, and help get him used to American culture.

We also get to help outfit him for a mission. Wagner's family doesn't have the means to purchase what he needs, and with the branch being as small as it is, their funds are pretty limited as well. He can get better quality missionary clothing and supplies for less money in Utah than in Costa Rica, so we were hoping to go shopping with him when he comes to visit.

If there are any blog readers out there who would be able to help us fund this, we'd love any donations on his behalf. If you are able, please comment below or send us a note!

Muchas Gracias!

Playa Esterillos - Julia

Last Saturday we went to Esterillos, our favorite beach to go to that's about two hours away. It might have been our last beach trip since we only have two Saturdays left and on one we're going to the temple. I hope it wasn't the last time because I cannot get enough of that beach. Since it might have been our last time we made sure to take a lot of pictures.

We saw so many scarlet macaws when we were there.
They were just up in the trees eating. At one point
they all took off at once for whatever reason and there
were at lease 20 macaws flying above our heads.

The boys' giant sand volcano, we called it Arenalita (after the volcano Arenal)

Babies - Caleb and Dylan

This Tuesday, we were playing outside and Dylan was climbing a tree and saw a bird's nest, so he climbed up to it and looked inside and saw this:

Then Caleb came up too and saw it.

Later that day, when our mom got home from something and told us that there was a baby bat outside.