Kherlen River

Just for your information - Utah isn't the only place that has dandelions. They even survive Mongolia's winters! They are called "Yellow Flower" (Shard Tseteg). We haven't seen a lot of them, but they are around. They have planted wild flowers in front of the Apartments, city offices and at the Church, can't wait to see them. They also planted a lot of trees this Spring, Choibalsan is known for its trees. The flower we have seen the most of is a sticker weed, and we have gotten a lot in our shoes, already.

The Kherlen River is a big river that goes through Choibalsan. It is a beautiful river and you could hear the birds and frogs chirping. The best time to go is early - before 6:00 am, they say the water is clear and there aren't many people out. We have seen walkers and some go out to see the sun rise. We plan to do that soon. The sun comes up about 4:30 am, and goes down about 9:30 at night, and because of the wind/dust there are some beautiful sunsets.

This is Herlyn, she is about 14 years old, she is a non-member who took lessons in our home a few times. She lives in the next apartment and always says hi to us, when she sees us. We happened to meet her and her sister on our walk. The river is about a 20 minute walk from our apartment. It was a beautiful day, on a Sunday afternoon and we were anxious to just get out of the house.

The river is a place where a lot of people to play, swim and bath. We saw a couple of guys, stripped down to their under ware, using a bar of soap. The kids don't have bathing suits, they just take of their clothes and jump in! This girl on the right is Herlyn's sister, when she changed clothes to go into the water, Herlyn just held a big towel around her sister's waist, or the top and she changed, no need for a dressing room!

This guy is fishing, a stick and some fishing line and a hook. We are told they have pretty good size Carp in the river.

The kids love playing volleyball. We see them playing on the street in front of our apartment, every night. They have a group, such as the one above, or we have seen them play with just two of them bouncing the ball back and forth. Once in a while they play basketball, but there aren't many basketball hoops around. They play bad mitten, like they do volleyball, and the little kids jump the rope a lot. There are a few bicycles, and we have seen a few kids on roller blades, but not many. They are out until 10:30 at night on the street and the little playground, just below us. old people, teenagers and little kids. It is fun to watch them play together.

We are enjoying the summer and the warm weather!

But, they also do a lot of repairing and building.

The missionaries told us this morning that the city is turning off the water for 4 days!

So, we are doing laundry and trying to find things to put water in for the toilet.

T.I.M.!

We do enjoy our mission and we are being blessed!

We do know the Lord is aware of us and that He is watching over you, our family!

He has whispered peace to our hearts, when we have been discouraged
and he is always near!

He lives!

He love each one of us!

We love you all too! Take care of each other!

It's Summer!!!

We’ve been waiting anxiously for the weather to make up its mind that it is, indeed, summer. Finally, we’re seeing warm temperatures and cloudless skies just in time for the end of the school year and the start of summer break. In keeping with tradition, we kicked off our summer with a trip to the Schofield cabin, which included four-wheeler rides, airsofting, sewing, a Wii tournament, reading, napping, and loads of junk food. Joshua got his first taste of the great outdoors. He loved the sunshine and the swings.

Down at the swings.

The traditional bath in the kitchen sink.

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