The Battle

So Bronwyn Sue uttered one of her first complete sentences this week.  While under normal circumstances (if there is such a thing as normal), it would have been cause for celebration; on this occasion it wasn't.  Instead it was marred by a rather "unfortunate" event.  I thought it was funny.  Tama did not.  Lately our little girl has become Miss Independent.  She wants to do everything herself, including getting dressed.  While we heartily support the autonomy of our children in most circumstances, we have to draw the line somewhere.  Case-in-point, to the left is what happens when little Bronwyn Sue dresses herself.   Cute but a little to Idaho.  Lately, it has been a struggle to get her dressed.  What should in theory only take a couple of minutes takes much, much longer.  She is unwilling to allow any sartorial help.

The other night after her bath, Tama tried to get Bronwyn ready for bed.  Little Susan would have none of it; she refused to let Mommy help get her dressed.  She wanted to do it herself.  Bronwyn Sue was very defiant.  There was plenty of tears; however, Mommy eventually overpowered her petite but strong little girl and wrestled a diaper and pajamas on her.  Bronwyn was so mad she gave Tama the evil eye and marched into her bedroom.  A couple of seconds later she calmly yelled, "I PEE!"  Tama went into her room to discover the pajamas and clean diaper on the floor where they had been thrown off and our naked little girl squatting over a wet puddle in the middle of the carpet.  The gauntlet had been thrown down.  Needless to say Mommy was quite mad.  Bronwyn just looked triumphant.

While it wasn't the most grammatically correct of sentences, I think it got the point across.  Little Susan can play a mean, sticky game of terrible twos.  And to think we have sixteen more years of this.  If only she wasn't so darn cute ....

MOMMY'S IDEA FOR A SANE SUMMER BREAK

With the completion of a new addition to the back of our house, Mommy is now officially ready for Summer vacation.  I have a feeling the "new room" is going to get a lot of use.

THIS LITTLE GIRL KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING ALL HER DUCKS IN A ROW!

"The Light Center"

This is the gate to the Light Center Orphanage in Choibalsan, the words on the gate say "Light Center". A member of the Church runs it. There are about 13-15 children that stay here. Some are orphans and some, their parents live in the Countryside and they are staying here.

This is Ochra with some of the children. The youngest is 6 and the oldest is about 18years old. This is the kitchen area. The kids help with the fixing and cleaning up of meals. He said he is trying to teach them some life-skills.

The bedroom is one big room, with 4 sets of bunk beds. The rest of the children sleep with mats on the floor. The wardrobe is probably where they store their bedding.

He has chickens and a turkey, the turkey is right in front with his back to us. The chickens lay eggs and the children collect them everyday. I don't know how they live through the winter, but they do. He does have an enclosure for them. These people are fixing a Ger, the door is in the background.

This is the well where they get their water. He says the water is clean, you can see the electrical cord, for electricity to pump the water when needed. A couple of years ago the Church helped him dig the well. He is preparing a lot of space for vegetable gardens and he has fruit trees, that he has just planted.

It is amazing how little people can live with.

They don't know any thing different, the kids play in the dirt

and make tunnels and bridges and carry water for little lakes.

They play together and don't mind having no "space"

We are so blessed to have the freedoms and things we have!

The Lord loves his people - wherever they live!

We know that He lives! We know that he is aware of us

and will help us as we help ourselves

and are obedient to Him and His commandments!

We love each of you so very much!

Love Ovoo and Emaa

"Building-Ends" in Choibalsan

Most of Choibalsan was built by the Russians in the 1980's. These buildings are near to our apartment. This is an apartment building next to ours. I'm not really sure what it says, and neither do the Mongolians, it is Mongolian and Russian writing. They have to do with the Mere Space Station, and Mongolia and Russia working together to go into space.

This building was built in 1981, the year Jenny was born. "Inter-Cosmic" again is a space term, meaning going into space together. They look modern, but they are not, maybe what American buildings would have looked like in the 1930's.

Built in 1980. Russian hammer and sickle. Mongolia's symbol on it's flag. The Mongolian symbol is interesting. I will start at the top of the symbol and say what they are. The star at the top represents Russia, it is no longer part of the flag/symbol. The little oval is actually a flame, which represents family, home and future. Circle and half circle are the sun and moon, representing the universe and everlasting existence. Two downward arrows, a warning to enemies and a willingness to defend their country. Two horizontal bars, honesty. Two vertical bars, strength and unity together. Circle in middle (ying-yang) but is two fish who never close their eyes representing vigilance, reason and wisdom.

This is on the end of a school. "Togetherness" The children go to the same school all 12 years of their schooling. They are named: "School Number One", "School Number Two", and so on... Everyone is in their last week of school and some are leaving to go back to the Countryside to be with their families, for the summer.

We love each of you!

Have a fun summer vacation!

Love

Grandma and Grandpa

May in Choibalsan

We have some fun news...These two pictures were taken at the Baptisms of the last two weeks. OtgunErdene is the lady with her family. Bazerguud is a returned missionary in the Branch, he did the baptism. Confirmations take place in Church the next day, and she ask Dad to confirm her, everyone was surprised, including Dad! He gave a nice blessing, with Elder Onon translating.

The two young people, here were baptized on Saturday. They are Borelthmaa, the girl standing next to Sister Mandkhai, she is about 14 years old, her sister is a member of the church. Erenenbayar, standing next to me, is a young man that has been in our home a couple of times and had lessons. He is 17 or18 years old. He comes to our English classes. He is from the Countryside, going to the trade school here in town. He has had a hard life and is very quiet, but such a cute young man! The two on the floor are Gansuu, and Elder Gurragchaa. They did the baptisms. They also ask Dad to do the confirmations, the next day, and again there was a giggle that went through the audience when Dad said, "Me?" He did gave some nice blessings, though and Elder Onon translated, again.

Elder Smith left Choibalsan... We will miss him, he was a good missionary. He was so good to help us with the computer and to take us along when they made visits, it is fun to go with the missionaries, the Church members love their missionaries! All the American missionaries will be flying out of Mongolia on Tuesday morning. They will be missed and we as Senior couples are having to step up and do alot more of the English teaching.

These last two pictures are courtesy of Elder Smith, he shared them with me, I forgot my camera... The first flowers! We were out in the country all of us were so excited to see flowers! One of the Elders told us that the middle of May is still a little chilly and no signs of Spring, but by the end of May it is fully green and the trees are all leafed out, that is proving true! These pictures were taken last week

Another picture from the country. The sunsets and sunrises have been so beautiful! No mountains and I think the dust in the air make for pretty scenes. We've decided that Choibalsan is in the middle of one great, big, huge, giant sand pile, sometimes called "The Gobi Dessert"! And when the wind blows, which is all the time, it makes for lots of dusty eyes and ears!

Our internet has been down about four days...again,

and when that happens we feel so homesick!

It is so good to connect with all of you and to be able to share with you

our experiences and thoughts when they are fresh on our minds!

The day our internet went down we received a letter from

my Mom and Dad, it made me feel a little homesick, also!

But, it was good to hear from them and to see their handwriting,

thanks for writing and I Love You Mom and Dad!

We are so proud of you, our family, and We Love You!

Love Mom and Dad

I just thought I would let everyone know that Ashlee's grandpa passed away this past Sunday morning. The funeral was today, everything was beautiful. He had Alzheimer's the past eight years or so. Hope everyone is doing well and recuperating nicely. Anybody can come visit any time. Is is getting up into the 90's now so pool parties are common.