Embracing the Redneck Within

So a very popular event in Idaho is the Monster Truck Jam. Shocking, I know. Ethan and Jonah, or "Wiggles" and "E" as Brownyn has started to call them, decided we have to partake of this cultural experience. For a special daddy-sons outing, after a long few weeks of anticipation and hard work to earn the opportunity, this past weekend the boys finally got their wish. They attended the Monster Truck Jam. Thankfully we all survived, probably with a few less brain cells, but we survived. Monster Jam 2010 pretty much met my expectations. And the way the crowd was yelling and screaming and spilling their beer all over their heavy metal t-shirts partially covering their beer bellies and dribbling it down their beards (and those were just the women), I think it met their expectations as well. The idea of a larger-than-life truck smashing smaller probably foreign vehicles is what it is all about. And to do it with the gas pedal to the floor, an oversized muffler while popping wheelies, is all the better. We thought the show was just for fun, but appearently it's a competition.  The boys loved it.  For days afterwards we had to watch YouTube videos about massive trucks named Robosaurus, Captain USA, the Gravedigger, the Kirstie Alley and El Toro Loco. All joking aside, we had a lot of fun. Ethan and Jonah were very excited about going to Monster Truck Jam in person. I just liked being out with my sons. E and Wiggles worked hard to earn it. They are now eagerly anticipating the opportunity to see a crash-up derby, preferably one that doesn't involve Mommy.

Dinner - Yum! Yum!

This is proof that the Elders will eat anything!

I just had to put in one more thing about the customs and eating. Before us and the Elders left Choibalsan, not knowing if we were coming back, they wanted to have a Sheep's Head. Yes, a real sheep's head! The Elders had had it before and knew what it was like. The Mongolian Elders really them. They bought it at the Zaa, all cooked and ready to eat, thank goodness, I wouldn't have cooked it! They called and ask if they could come to our house to eat it. They bought 3 of them!
I just had to try it for their sakes and to make Loren and the Grand kids proud of me for trying a new thing! I tried a really small part of the cheek. It tasted OK, like regular meat. But notice the face I'm pulling!

Dad was braver than I was, he tried some of the cheek and also the tongue! They had to peel away some of the tough parts and the middle of the tongue was quite tender, he said!

Here Elder Willoughby is taking out the eyeball, it has to be done very carefully, so it doesn't break open! They all ate one! I don't know what it would taste like and really don't want to know!

Left-Overs!

They cleaned them up pretty good! Not any left-overs for the next day! Thank goodness. They bundled it up and took it with them. I did make a cake, actually that was the best part! Dad did take a tooth out with a pair of pliers, we will keep it to prove we really did eat a sheep head!

Hope we didn't ruin your dinner!

Love You, Ovoo and Emaa

So Much for Tummy Time

Joshua has never liked lying on his stomach for some reason, and he has expressed that to us in no uncertain terms whenever we try to do tummy time. As his parents, we hope that we will always do what’s best for him whether he likes it or not. So, despite how noisy and tear-jerking it has been, we’ve insisted on twenty to twenty-five minutes of tummy time daily. Well, Joshua outsmarted us. He’s learned that if he doesn’t want to lie on his stomach, rolling over will get him out of it. The first few times were an accident, but now he’s learned to roll over at will. For better or worse, Joshua will now stay on his stomach no longer than four or five seconds at a time. So much for tummy time.

A Threat or a Promise?

As you can probably guess, this delightful group of sister missionaries holds the record for having the fewest number of baptisms during the years of 1900 through 1920.  Most never married.  Many became horders of cats and empty Kerr canning jars.  BTW, although we know their views on the Word of Wisdom; don't even think about asking them what they think of Hillary Clinton.

Tsagaan Sar - 2

Every table at Tsagaan Sar has a center piece something like this, this was a colorful one. There is always an odd number of layers, representing "happy - not happy - happy" always ending with "happy". These stay on the table until the last 2-3 days and then they are eaten with hot milk, to soak the pieces in. We grew up with hot milk and toast! It is a staple here. You could eat the candy or sugar lumps or the curds from them, but not the bread itself. They are very pretty. Some are all white and some very large and some small. The layers have to do with the age of the people, the higher the bread, the older you are. I saw some 7 layers high.

Some tables were very simple and some very elaborate. This table was very nice, but simple. The food tasted very good. Their rice is very good, with butter and raisins. The buuz are in the front, they always had buuz, some very interesting, with all parts of the sheep, all parts!

This is Shinnbaatar, he is the Elders Quorum President in the Branch. He has a daughter in Australia, very nice people! He invited all the Branch youth and the missionaries over for the afternoon. They love coming here, he is very kind. There is a nice center piece and he is carving a piece of meat, it may have been antelope. Custom says that everyone has a piece of the meat and the oldest one first - yep, us!

This is the meat he was carving. They like every bit of the meat, there will be nothing but bones, when they are done! After everyone has had the meat then they serve the salads and relish and Salomone and rice. Their salads and rice are very good. I had a hard time with Salomone at home.

This is a picture of Damdanjorg and his family. They all dressed up in their deels and notice the little boys hat, it is a traditional Mongolian wrestling hat. There are some very fancy hats and deels! I have been very impressed!

Most of the homes we were in are very small - as big as our living room and kitchen - that is the whole house. This family live all together in that kind of house. One corner is the kitchen with a metal stove and an outhouse and they roll out their beds at night. They have no privacy or other rooms. But this house was neat and clean.

We love all of you and I sure appreciate America and our home and our family! I have truly been spoiled and we have so much to be grateful for!

Right now we are in Korea, waiting for our visa's. It will be another few days, we went and bought some groceries. We think of you often and love you all!

Where in the World are Ovoo and Emaa?

As if Mongolia weren't an exciting enough place to be, Ovoo and Emaa have decided to throw a little twist into the story and head to Seoul, Korea (and hopefully back to Mongolia!)  We all hope you enjoy your time there, and we are all hoping the situation resolves soon so you can get back to Mongolia.  I am sure you already have quite a love for the people there.  Enjoy the sights!

Tsagaan Sar - 1

We want to keep these in order so I'll start at the beginning. Tsagaan Sar is Mongolia's Thanksgiving. And very family and friend oriented. Two or three days before the holiday starts they clean their homes. They beat the rugs, clean their houses and we noticed some getting new furniture - New couches and chairs on a horse cart. These rugs are hung over fences the weather is maybe -10 or -15 c. Another thing they do before is to make Buuz (pronounced bodes). Many of the women will make several hundred! Also, all the businesses close for the 10 days of the holiday. (That is why I had no internet, and then found out we had to leave)

These young kids are in our home alot. When they found out Dad bought a Deel (pronounced dell) they wanted to see it on him so they dresses up Dad. Tieing the sash was so funny. The men wear the sash around their hips and pull the Deel up, so it hangs over, he looked kind of fat! But, they thought he looked so good! That is a traditional Mongolian hat. The young man in the white shirt, Bayarsaikhan, is being baptized this Saturday, March 5th, we will miss it. I'm sad! He is a cute young man. I will talk about his later.

This is a picture of us in our Deels. This is the first day of the holiday and we are getting ready to go out and visit. The Deels are made the same, the women wear more color and wear their sashes aroung their waist. One of the Mongolian Elders taught us a song and we sang it a few times, about a mother and the different Deels she had through her life, one of them was a green deel. The Mongloian music is very pretty and they sing alot about their mother's, father's and families.

Elder's Willoughby and Naisbitt in their Mongolian Shirts

It is a Buddist Prayer Tradition.

They find the hight place around where they live and tie a prayer shawl. It was very windy and cold,but a fun place to see. They also use these shawl to greet and show respect at Tsagaan Sar. We were the oldest at several of the homes so they would respect us first. The young man in the first picture (in the white shirt). Wanted to honor me and then gave me the shawl! I was so touched!