Dad's 65th Birthday - In Mongolia!

Marthla's birthday is the same day as Dad's, so her parents invited us and the missionaries over for dinner. They gave Dad a nice Mongolian belt and a tie. It was fun, but I'm still not quite use to the goat meat! Marthla is standing in the back, next to Dad.

Dr and Sister Eliason came to Choibalsan for three days, to check out the hospital and its equipment, and to see some of the Branch members. They took us to dinner. It was a fun evening. No goat meat, vegetable hoshers, rice and an egg on top of a hamburger pattie.

We had the missionaries and Eliason's over for dinner. The Sisters brought Dad a birthday cake. On top it read "Happy Wish".

There is a museum on the edge of town. We all went after the Dr finished his hospital survey and seeing some of the members, about 50 of them came and wanted to see him. He was very gracious and saw them all. General Choibalsan is the statue. He was the military leader in charge when Mongolia and Russia stopped the Japanese from coming through Mongolia, at the beginning of WW II.

These are some of the branding irons used in Mongolia. The branding irons are on the left, pictures of the brands, on the right. While doing family history, we found some brands used by Great Grandpa Brady. This reminded me of them. Grandpa Brady would be interested in some of these.

Boy Scouting is in Mongolia! I was surprised to see this. These particular things were around the year 2004. I wish I could have gotten closer. Just above the yellow patch, in the middle at the bottom, are some little ger patches, they were cute. Scouting is important, even in Mongolia - so Grandson's work hard and earn your Scouting badges and awards!

This big bronze bowl was used in some Monastery to cook food. It was said to cook enough food to feed 500 Llama's, which are Buddhist leaders.

These were some of the first cars in Choiblasan, pretty well striped but interesting!

We had a good day and we are so grateful for the Lord's blessings!

We have been truly blessed!

We love each of you!

Remember the Alamo (and the Riverwalk, and Bohanan’s, and the Tower of the Americas…)

Summer vacations. We love ‘em. This time we went to San Antonio, deep in the heart of Texas. Tracy attended medical conferences while Joshua and Ryan played and napped all day. We stayed in a hotel right on the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. We walked it every night trying not to melt in the heat and humidity. We also saw the Alamo and the Tower of the Americas. We had some amazing Mexican food at a café on the river, and we ate the best steak and salmon we’ve ever had (sorry Dad) at a restaurant called Bohanan’s. We realized that our son is a flirt at ten months old. He had stewardesses, waitresses, and complete strangers stopping to coax a smile out of him. Good times.

Choibalsan Branch Campout

July 31st the Branch had their summer outing. It's called the Branch Campout. It was a full day of games, food and alot of fun! They figured there was about 250 people that attended. We have about 110 people attend Sacrament meetings, so there were alot of less-active and part-member families, which is very good. We were told to be at the Church at 6:00 am, the "buses" were leaving at 7:00 am. So at 9:15 we pull out of the parking lot! Typical! We went about 20 minutes out of town, into the Countryside. It was a beautiful day, the wind was blowing and a little cool, but refreshing from the hot days we had had previously. The meeker couldn't go up over this little hill, so everyone piles out and pushes, again, Typical!

This picture doesn't do the grass and sky justice. It was so green and the sky so blue! Notice how high the grass is. They said last year that it was only up to mid-calf, this year a little child could have gotten lost! We have had a good summer and alot of rain, which the steppes needed. Last year the summer was extremely hot, with little rain, and extremely cold temperatures and ice in the winter, that prevented the animals from getting to the grasses, this is called a Zud, which they say was one of the worst in their history.

They divided the Branch into "families", There were 5 families, each one was given a whole sheep, thankfully it was already dead and cleaned. They debated weather to take some live sheep and kill them there! Trying to keep it cold can be a problem, but they found someone who could do that for them. Remember, they waste nothing, they use it all - stomach, internal organs, head, liver etc. It was cut up and used in soup and the bigger pieces given out and shared. They were also given a 10-12 pound piece of beef, some vegetables and noodles for salads and the soups. Each received some cookies and candies, and of course powered milk to make their hot milk drink. There was alot of food - and it was all eaten! Here, our family, is preparing.

The meat is cooking. This is the horhog (dutch oven), it looks like a milk can with a sealable lid.

Lunch time! No one told us we needed to bring our own bowls and spoons, and there were several youth in each group, and they didn't bring utensils, either. So everyone was scrambling to share spoons and bowls, they all made sure that we had some, they are very kind and generous! These 3 boys found a plastic juice or water bottle and cut the top off, using the bottom for a bowl and the chopsticks were sticks that they found and hopefully cleaned, they ate everything and I know they didn't go hungry!

The Mongolian people have so many different looks, they can be tiny, big, short and tall. They made their own shade and all enjoyed visiting.

This is Damdangeorge and his little 3 year old grandson. We were with his "family". We have been over to their home several times and when he was made an Elder, he ask Dad to ordain him. They are very nice people. There are 3 generations of families that live in his home.

This is Saranchemic and her family, Belguun is the youngest, he is the one that Dad baptized a couple of weeks ago.

I had to put this picture in, notice the trucks, these are the "buses"! I about died when everyone started climbing into the back of these trucks, to ride to the Campout! They hired 2 trucks, and they were crowded, the people just stood in the back. Remember the roads are not smooth and remember the first picture of that little hill! I prayed that everyone would live to be at Church the next day! Luckily, there was a member of the Church who drove a taxi and we rode with him. The older people they put into the meeker's.

The final event was a Wrestling tournment! Elder Batsaikhan, won! They love their wrestling, there was also a women's tournment, the one of the Sister Missionaries won that, too! The little children also had a contest. They played alot of games, alot like we play, Red-rover, Volleyball, different circle games. Everyone had a good time, visited and ate all day long, just like we do in America! We arrived home about 8:00 pm, tired and sunburned and glad we were able to go!

We have had alot of different experiences and activities

and have had alot of fun learning about their culture.

But, the most important thing I hope we can leave with them

is that the Lord is aware of them and that He loves them!

I hope we can all know that the Lord,

through the Gospel, blesses all of us and our families,

and that we are ALL truly blessed!
We love you all!!

Girls can do anything!!

This is my sweet little GIRL!! I am so proud of her. She is the only girl in the whole league which consists of 19 teams ages 7 through 15. She is holding her own out on the field! Today at practice she had a couple of good tackles to which her coach replied, "Anderson was that you"? Which she quietly said "Yes". I am proud of her for having the courage to do something she loves, regardless of what the "standard" is. I am proud that she is willing to be different for her own personal happiness. I think it will play a huge role in living Gospel principles!

YOU GO GIRL!!!

Naadam in Choibalsan

The Naadam holiday was actually July 14,15,16.

Some of the outlying Aimags (counties) do their own Naadam's.

This year there was an outbreak of some kind of sicknesses with the horses,

so Choiblasan's Naadam was postponed until July 28,29.

On the 28th, President Mecham and his wife flew to Choiblasan.

We were with them on the opening day of Naadam, which was wonderful and much better!

Another interesting fact, the people tell us that fall comes after Naadam,

and we have definately felt a change in the weather.

Sisters Onon (l) and Uynga (r) wearing a Mongolian vest,

Mongolian national clothes.

They are good missionaries, Sister Ounga is a new missionary, about 2 months.

Sister Onon finishes in January.

Statue in Choibalsan, at Naadam Stadium
Sukhbaatar's Square

Naadam Stadium

Getting ready for the 2nd day of wrestling, archery and horse racing.

Traditional Deel, the hat symbolizes the clan or tribe they belong to.

There are 25 different tribes/clans of people, Mongolian is only one of them.

They are directly descended from Chinggis Khaan, from what I understand.

The youth are mostly who participate in the horse racing.

He is just finishing his race.

Another sport they participate in is "Ankle-bone Shooting".
Shagai, is the traditional Mongolian toy.
They have a little finger-shooter and flip the bone with their fingers, just like marbles.
They aim at the target, the white bone in the box.
Boditsog, is a member and runs this event. He is sitting at the far end in the gold Deel.
He is actually motioning for Dad to come and sit and watch, which we did for a few minutes.
It was interesting.

Brother Boditsog

Wrestling, called Buh, one of the traditional sports.
The judges and helpers are in the red and blue Deels.
I would think they can get hot!

Traditional introduction calling the wrestlers.
Some of these guys are pretty big!

Women participate in the archery.

Again her hat signifies the clan she belongs to.

The culture is amazing and the differences are so fun to be part of!

We are learning to understand and appreciate the differences.

The Lord is so patient with all of us!

We are so different from what they know.

We are so grateful to be able to be part of the Lord's Missionary efforts here in Mongolia!
We do love what we are doing and we are learning so much!

We know that the Gospel can and does bless the lives of all of us!

We love you all very much!

Mom and Dad

Brady Reunion

Kye and Josh with Great Opa and Oma Brady at Willow Creek.

Grandma and grandpa looked really good.

Kye trying to hula hoop.

Josh playing in the rocks. It was a fun reunion, Grandma was glad that the Anderson family had some representatives go. Aunt Leann said there were 75 people that showed up at one point.

Growing Up Too Fast

There’s nothing like watching your first child reach developmental milestones like crawling and pulling himself up to a standing position, etc. However, our faces have slowly shifted from grinning pride to flat-faced concern to wide-eyed panic. Joshua’s growing up so fast that we’re afraid we’re not going to be able to keep up. We can no longer barricade him in the living room. He’s been able to find a way to sneak through every time. He’s discovered the fundamentals of kitchen cupboard doors and seems to think that the kitchen floor is a better place to store all our cans and containers. Lastly, we were so proud when he started saying “Mama” whenever Tracy walked into the room until 5:30 this morning when we both woke to the sound of “Mamamamamama!” I guess we can be grateful that we still have a few years until he’s driving.