Be Nice!

Whoever coined the phrase "terrible twos" was obviously thinking of our precious yet destructive Bronwyn Susan.  Bronwyn Sue has hit the "terrible twos" spot on.  She is very adept at leaving a path of destruction throughout the house.  Few hurricanes can claim such prowess.  She especially loves to destroy any homework she can get her hands on.  She loves to grab the boys' school papers and rip them up before they know what has hit them. If they yell, all the better.  I'm certain Ethan's and Jonah's teachers must think that we are harbouring Godzilla in our house.  (As I write this she is throwing quite a loud tantrum because we are going to go feed the ducks instead of going swimming.  I should have cleared my plans with her - my bad.) 

In addition, Brownyn won't allow any board games to be played in the house.  Daddy has narrowly escaped many a sound thrashing by the boys in various games of Rummikub, Disney Bingo, Qwirkle and Memory because Brownyn snuck in and destroyed the game before we could catch her.  To put it mildly, she is a handful.  We really haven't known what to do other than hope she grows out of it. But seeing as she is part Viking, we may be in some serious trouble.

Now it is a scientific fact that children do not hear 99.99% of what parents tell them.  However, we do have evidence that Bronwyn Susan actually heard us one time.  For Christmas the boys recieved a Screature Interactive Dinosaur from Uncle Ryan.  The dinosaur is pretty cool.  He can snap his teeth, growl and spray water.  He works by motion sensor so anything that moves in front of his face gets a snarl or spray of water.  The boys love it; Bronwyn does not.  When she first saw the dinosaur and what he does she screamed "nice", as in "be nice".  She then ran away.  We had been telling the boys and Bronwyn Sue to be nice.  Not that it works, but it is clear she heard us.  Bronwyn Sue screams "nice" whenever she sees him.  So we named him Nice.  Bronwyn tells him to be nice but refuses to get close to him.  Ingenious yet desperate parents we are, now when the boys do their homework or we are playing a board game and their little sister is lurking around, we pull out Nice to keep an eye on things.  Nice works rather, well, nice.  There have been no Bronwyn related homework and game night destructions since he took charge.  Sure Bronwyn will probably have to explain it all to a therapist someday, but we now know she can at least hear.  Listening may take a while. 

100 Years of Scouting

As many of you know the Boy Scouts are celebrating 100 Years of Scouting. Last weekend our ward hosted a dinner and that honored those who have participated in Scouting over the years. I took the blanket that Mom made for Shawn and also the Eagle that Grandpa Brady made for him. We received several complements on them both. I love the blanket, but it spends most of its life in the closet.

It was a wonderful event. It is good to see what so many have done for the Boy Scouts of America! I know that Shawn greatly enjoys being Scout Master. They went to Klondike Derby last weekend and was a little wet, but not too cold. Shawn said his boys did really good.

I have enjoyed watching Shawn and all that he does for the Boy Scouts in our ward. I hope they appreciate him.

Brady seems to enjoy Scouts too. He did a skit that night. It was called "telephone", where you repeat what the other person said. He was talking on a play phone and telling his friend what he was packing for Scout Camp and he would put the item in his bag. His friend would repeat what he said, but it would be a different item. Such as Brady said "I am taking a pair of shorts" His friend said "You are taking quarts?" They did a great job!

I love having these wonderful Scouts in my life. I think it truly helps them be better people. Thanks Mom and Dad for working with your boys so they could achieve so much! Love to everyone, we miss you all! Shawn, DaVette, Brady, Kory and Erik

Growing Like a Weed

Joshua and Ryan woke up from their Sunday morning nap today to find Tracy sitting in the baby’s room almost in tears. She had decided to go through all of Joshua’s clothes and pack away everything he’d grown out of. We were surprised at how big he’s grown, and it was heartbreaking to put away the tiny little outfits he’d looked so adorable in.
Not to worry. He’s still as cuddly as ever, and he’s even picked up a few habits that make him even more adorable. For instance, when he’s tired of sitting in his swing or bouncer, he’ll lift his arms out to you and yell at you in a high pitched squeal until you pick him up. He’s getting good at reaching and grabbing, so anything dangly has his instant attention, like daddy’s hoodie strings or mommy’s hair. He’s decided he likes to stand much more than sit or lie down. Since he can’t stand on his own, we’re getting an arm workout regularly. And, if you sing to him long enough, he’ll start to sing with you.
He’s growing so fast, and we’re both happy and sad about it at the same time. So, we smile and wipe away tears while we’re storing all his old things. We’ll keep them in a safe place for when Joshua’s ready to be a big brother.

Joshua wanted to help mommy organize.

The Machinations of Mr. J

Recently, Jonah has developed quite the imagination.  Actually, I should probably say both the boys have rather strong imaginations.  Ethan claims his turtle taught him to speak "Turtle".  He now understands what they are saying and why they do what they do.  I had no idea turtles were so opinionated and disapproving of most things I do. 
Lately Jonah's imagination has been in overdrive.  He has kept us laughing.  One evening, we kept on hearing a repetitive banging in the front room.  It sounded like something heavy was being dropped.  On inspection we discovered Jonah holding onto a few balloons jumping down the stairs onto the floor.  He was trying to fly away like the house in Up!  He only had a few balloons so didn't get very high.  However, he gets high marks for his never-say-die spirit.

A few nights ago Jonah exclaimed he figured out what to do if our house is ever attacked by "evil snowmen".  He has a plan.  If those not so jolly and not so happy souls attack us, we can beat them with subterfuge.  We can act very friendly towards them and invite them into our kitchen.  Mommy will make some hot chocolate.  We will then serve the evil snowmen the hot chocolate.  When they drink it they will melt from the inside.  And unlike Frosty they won't be back again someday.  You can see the beginning and end result from Jonah's illustration.  Oh! His plan contains gratuitous violence and is scientifically sound. Needless to say, Jonah is now our official evil snowmen repulser. Jonah is either very impressionable or very creative.  Whichever it is, evil snowmen don't have a chance. 

This Past Year

Eldon, Kye and I have been reminiscing about all of our blessings and new experiences we have had this last year. We moved into our new home, we have been given new opportunities to serve in our ward, we bought a bigger car, Eldon has had new opportunities to grow at work, Kye got a new bed, Kye has had the opportunity to hang out with Joshua, and we have been able to watch Emaa and Ovoo serve a mission and a be great example to all of us. We are so excited that we will be having a new temple built in our neighborhood and we will truly be blessed. This year we will also have a new addition to our family and we are very excited about this great news.





P.S. Yes, to those of you who guessed, this is the official statement. WE ARE EXPECTING!!!!!!!!

Artist's rendition of what our new Payson Temple will look like?

The Ger - Another Family, Part 2

Next door to the Ger we visited, is a little house, which is one room, with a fireplace/stove, two small beds, chest of drawers, with the TV on top and a small kitchen cupboard for preparing food. The table was a fold up table that sat in between the beds. I don't think these people are members, but they were so fun to visit! They invited his wife's brother over, when they knew the missionaries were coming. He plays several instruments and sings. This is like a fiddle, he held it just as you see in the picture, and moved the bow back and forth.

I thought of Jackson when he pulled out this flute. He made it sing so pretty! (I hope you're still practicing, Jackson). The man in the back is the brother, his wife in next to him. They sang with the music. The people in Mongolia have no hesitation about asking you how old you are, I'm starting to get use to it. (Dad tells them he is 29, and they all laugh)! My grey hair throws them, they all color their hair. But, guess how old the man playing the instrument is......? He is 67, two years older than Dad! The missionaries teased Dad, that is what he will look like in 2 years!

He played the accordian, also. His sight isn't very good so all of it is by memory.

We are sitting on the bed. I don't know how these people live. Life is very simple, but they are kind and giving. I feel so rich and so spoiled! I know in America we don't have alot, but by these standards, we are wealthy! I think they think all Americans have alot of money. We've had Church members ask us for money quite a bit. (They gave us strict instructions not to do that, but send them to the Branch President).

Elder Willoughby, Elder Odbayar and their grandson, in front of the outside door.

The grandson lives with them, I'm sure he helps them alot, with the fire and other things. He walked us to the gate when we left.

Elder Odbayar decided we as missionaries are going to learn a Traditional Mongolian song for Tsaagan Sar, because they will ask us to sing. He has taken it upon himself to teach us a song, in Mongolian! He doesn't know what a task he has undertaken! (They all know it but Dad and I). The Mongolian's love music and they are good singers. They know their country's songs and traditional songs by heart. I have ask several of the people and kids we teach English to, to sing it for me, they can and do.

We love you all!!

Take care! Thank you for the love and support you send to us!

Remember the Church is true and that God lives and loves

all of us!

The Baptism That Almost Wasn't ... But Then It Was!

On February 5, 2010, Ethan entered the waters of baptism and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He then quickly jumped out of the waters because they were kind of cold. In truth, he actually entered the waters twice because Daddy didn't say the baptismal prayer correctly the first time. He was almost joined in this special ordinance by his little sister, who at the sight of the biggest bathtub she had ever seen, started to undress for the "bath." Thankfully she only had her arms out of her dress before Mommy stopped her.

As you can probably guess, Bronwyn Sue hates to be left out of anything. One of her first words was "me." She yells it whenever anyone else is doing something that she thinks she should be doing. We had a special Family Home Evening where we spoke about the importance of baptism and why we are baptized. Bronwyn Sue was right there in the middle of it, practicing for her baptism, which, unless we go Catholic, is still far away. According to Tama, no one is going Catholic in this family, three children is enough thank you very much. 

Ethan's baptism was pretty darn special, but not only because he became a member of the Church and received the Holy Ghost. It was also special because family was there to enjoy this special occasion with him, including his Daddy and Mommy, little brother Jonah, little sister Bronwyn Sue, Papa Mike, Grandma Sue and many caring uncles, aunts and cousins. It meant a lot to have them there.

It was really a special occasion because Ethan was baptized with his cousin Kale. An entire program dedicated to Ethan and Kale. Ethan and Kale both share January birthdays and as Kale puts it they are "practically twins." (Photographic evidence seems to agree with Kale's theory.) Sharing a special experience such as this will hopefully make them really good friends. 

The baptism almost didn't happen on the scheduled date. The night before, Jonah was in the hospital with an illness attributed to either his appendix or salmonella. Since he claims he never licked the turtles, that we know of, the medical professionals decided to work on ruling out his appendix. That in and of itself is ironic because just a few days before Mommy and Daddy were getting excited about paying off the bills from Jonah's hospital stay last year. That will teach us. Thankfully after some sleep, medication and three IVs little Jo was back to his normal sweet self. He recovered sufficiently enough to travel down to SLC.  The Andersons drove it in record time without a single vomit event, a rarity for us, and a sure sign that the family is growing up. The boys and little Bronwyn Sue watched movies almost the entire way down. When they started to fight or complain, I encouraged them to take that passion and distract/annoy sleep deprived, speed adled, morbidly obese men driving 20-ton tractor trailers, so that I didn't have to hear them. Also a sure sign that we aren't ready to grow up too much.

Ethan's baptism was memorable and everything went better than planned. What Ethan chose to do was wonderful and a testament to what a good young man he is. We are excited for him and the decision he made. And, I really like being able to hold his baptism over his head. "Is that how someone who was baptized into the Church should act towards their brother?" "What do you think the Holy Ghost says about not eating your dinner?" As a Mormon, he will learn the power of guilt quite well.

A Real Ger and A Sweet Family!

We were able to go with Elder Willoughby and Elder Odbayar to visit a family that lives in this Ger (different than the one I mentioned earlier). It was 7:00 at night, and about -20c below! We were able to take a taxi out to her house, but walked home - about a 25 minute walk. I thought I would be colder than I was but we were moving, so it wasn't too bad - other than we tromped through a couple of snow drifts, about a foot deep, and climbed over a water pipe, about 2 feet off the ground, I just pulled up my coat and skirt! The family dog is next to my feet.

The older Sister is the member, her daughter and grandchildren live with her. She was one of the first members of the Church, in Choibalsan. Her name is Sister Tsetsegdelthger, which means "Flower blossom", or something along that line. The baby, a boy, is about 3 months old, I thought of Joshua. They didn't have a diaper on the baby, I don't know if it is because they can't afford one or it is just what they do.

Notice the fabric walls, and the little yellow, square decorations, we see them all over, they must have some meaning.

The furniture is what you can see. Dad thinks the Ger area is about 12 foot round in diameter.

The Mongolian people are so kind and hospitable, they always feed you, even though they have so little. She fed us kimbop, a Korean roll up, made of seaweed wraps and rice with salami or some kind of meat...and yes, we both ate some, our first! Some bottled salad, which had shredded carrots, cabbage and pickles, and a vinegar and oil dressing on it. Fruit drink and little cookies. I think her decorations were for Christmas and also Tsagan Sar, coming up.

The Ger's are portable and can be taken down and moved. The ceiling is also fabric, with wool on top of it, and then canvas on the outside. Many people in the summer move to the Country, to work, and take their homes with them, they just roll up the fabric, and take down all the poles. The poles are painted very brightly, and then tole painted, it is quite pretty.

This is the kitchen, they kneel for everything, they are preparing the food for us on the board. There is no running water, I would guess there is a well or they haul it from the city, I'm not sure. The white-looking box to the right is the fireplace/stove, it is about 2 feet square and flat on top, to cook, you can see part of it on the previous picture. Above her head is a rag, which is hanging on a clothes line. They had several lines around, for drying their clothes.

She is giving the baby a bath, then she used the water to wash some clothes. I don't think they waste anything! Elder Willoughy told us that you never say that their babies are cute, you tell them that they are ugly. Superstition says they will grow up to be ugly if you tell them they are cute as babies. So, very nicely, tell them they have ugly babies! (I really don't know if they would understand the English we would speak to them, anyway). But, he is a cute baby!

Our Mongolian is better in some ways and we can pick up a few more words, but when we go to a store we're still pretty lost.

This is only part of our night, I couldn't fit it all on one blog, so I'll do the rest later.

We love you all!

Thinking of Kale and Ethan with their important day, tomorrow!

Give each other a hug!

Joshua's First Tooth

Joshua turned four months old this past week and celebrated by getting his first tooth. We’ve been trying to get a video and/or a picture of it, but he refuses to stop sticking his tongue out at us to give us a clear shot. We think he’s just toying with us. He’s doing great, talking up a storm, squealing at us at 5:00 a.m. to come get him up, and generally being the cutest baby either of us has ever seen.