Тэрэлч руу явсан, Ямар гоё!

Hey Ezra.  Do ya wanna go campin', Buddy?  Huh?  Do ya?  Do ya wanna go campin'?

 

And to camping we did go!  Welcome to Terelj!!!  A favorite of UBers only about an hour-and-a-half east of the city.  There were 5 Mongolians, 3 Americans,  2 Germans, 2 Chinese, and one Swiss Miss.

  Check out our little camper on my back.  This was the first day we tried the carrier on the back side.  It worked great although I still need to be a little careful swinging around too quickly.  In the area behind us we saw all 5 Mongolian domestic animals, and often in herds:  horses, cows, sheep, goats, and yes, even camels!

 Of course I had to moo at the cows.  I don't know what I was saying but we really had a good conversation going!

Does this cow not look like Fozzy Bear?  Wocka, wocka, wocka!

Had to go back up the road to pick this one up.  Strange thing in Mongolia, when they cut down a tree here and there, they don't bend over in the least, just cut it off right at comfy height.  High stump made for a good place to mount our weekend mascot.

This is Namu, our German/Mongolian friend's daughter and she love's our little Ezra...who in this photo is doing a killer impersonation of The Donald.  Of course the ladies loved him.  The one just behind, called DJ, spent quite a bit of time holding him.

 Here she's schooling the adults in the Memory-like game.  At least that's what I perceived as I walked by.

My new Chinese friend spend most of the afternoon blessing us with his mad "street vendor" meat cooking skills.  Mmmmm....  We even broke out my new solar oven, which worked really well, but I'll save that post until I have some more field experience.

 Oh look, Ezra found another Mongolian sweetie to coo over him.  The other is our new Swiss friend.

I tried my hand at Badminton...fun game.  Behind me and just before the mountains is the Tuul River which flows through UB.  We stayed between two of it's tributaries.  Sooo pretty...and GREEN!!!

 Oh boy, he found Shinee!!!  He loves his Shinee and I think she loves him too!

The main cause of the weekend outing was our German buddy Pascal's birthday, the day before which he was given this new guitar.  I tuned it for him...well, and Jess got it better and we all gave a few strums.  Ah, the good ol' days of Alpha where our sweet sister Laura taught me to play.  Ezra really seemed to like riding piggy-back.

Jess went out a ways to see a man about a horse and took the camera along to snap up some of the beautiful Creation!

 Surprisingly, these iris-looking things were all over the place.  What a contrast to the dusty Spring in the city.

 Apparently, you can eat the roots of this pretty plant.  It's called "үхрийн нүүд" (cow's eye).

Bird report for Dad & Nancy.  I think it's a crow.  There were several other birds that I hadn't seen before but neither of us had the camera at the right time.  There was this one that made an elevator-like "boong" sound for the first few hours of the night...   ..........   .....

 WOW, Jess!  Nice shot!!!  You know I love yellow flowers...and great depth-of-field...right Abby?

 The sun started to descend and our multi-course, eat-it-when-it's-ready, all-day meal also came to an end.

 Jess and Philip did the dishes.  Баярлалаа!  Besides just taking pictures, I did help hold the washed ones. :)

 What a wonderful place.  We really only saw a few other people all day.  I guess most folks go to the main river as the road going there is a bit nicer.

 Jess had a little photo shoot with our new friend. She's so beautiful!

 Well, good morning Mr. Cute Face!  My two and I got one of the sleeping compartments of the Great Tent and, oh boy, did the temperature drop that night.  It was easily mid-70's during the day and [it felt like] under 40 in the morning.  Ezra had lots of blankets on top and bottom and of course, Grandma Debbie's bunting!

  Don'tcha wanna kiss those little chubbies?

 Spent about an hour Sunday morning with the b-day boy and Philip talking about the most Wonderful Person and how His claims stand apart from all others. The night before the stars were so beautiful so we started off the morning with a little Ps. 19.  Thanks guys for the great chat!

Sunday breakfast in the center of the tent.  What a great group!  It appears that Jess took this one.  :)

 After breakfast I had to go get some pictures of a herd of horses that, like all the rest, walked right by our campsite.  These two caught most of my attention...

 Soooo cute!  He looks like a little fawn.

 Mama's sure pretty too!  I'm sure in a few weeks all that winter fuzz will be gone.

 Somethin' about horses...

 So when they were all finished splashing around, about 15 of them decided to climb out of the river right to either side of where I was.  Pretty sweet!  This little guy took off toward its mommy.  Super cute!

Hard to show the horses all around, but why not?!  :)

 On the way back I spotted this delightful yellow flower.  Not a dandelion, about 3 inches across the bloom actually.  My tribute to my [now officially] old friend, TT!  Here's to 10 years!

 When I got back to the camp somebody was sleeping.  Mommy found this hat right before we left UB.

 Well, since one of the SUV's broke down the night before, we all piled our stuff on top and piled ourselves inside.  11 in all, not too bad really.  We got to the gas station where the other one conveniently broke down next too and Shinee's dad and brother just simple disconnected the drive shaft from the broken rear differential and drove it home by the front wheels.  Pretty impressive.

Happy Birthday Pascal!

Thanks for the great weekend!!!

Easter Celebrations

Well, I realize it's been a while since Easter, but we thought you would still like to hear about how we celebrated Easter here in Mongolia this year. :) I started out the morning by making these mini muffins to bring to gathering. I made 72 and was going to make more but we ran out of time. I grabbed some cookies that I had just made as well and it was just enough for everyone to have one. :)

Here we are at gathering. The colored words up front say "Jesus Christ again just alive!" (hard translation) in Mongolian.

After the regular service portion was over we had a time of special music and presentations. These boys got up and did a choreographed dance to some music. (The girl in the gray stripes is my language tutor!) We also had a lady share a poem and the youth group did a skit that was very moving about heaven and hell.

Easter Praises!

They also had all the children go up front and they got Easter gifts. Ezra was sleeping through that part. :)

Oh, now he's awake! After the service we had a little snack together...cookies, apples, muffins, and candy.

These ladies had on their best dells. :) Such sweeties!

I love this picture of the boys looking at Ezra. It's an international baby picture! We have America, Mongolia (middle 2) and Korea (R)! The two in the middle are twins the same age as Ezra! He's a big boy!

Here is Ezra enjoying his Easter Gift!

Later that evening we enjoyed a picnic by the river with some friends! These photos are courtesy of our teammate Pam. :)

I made the rest of my muffins and brought them along. They were a bit hit!

Here's the gang at the river! This is one of our favorite places to go now. It's just south of our place and it's so quiet and peaceful. We've been there twice now, but wish we lived closer so we could go more often. We are actually thinking about moving closer since it's also closer to Matt's new job next year!

To The Countryside....

And a few days after Easter, we went to the countryside to celebrate Easter together with our teammates. This is a place called Terelj. It's beautiful! So fresh and just starting to turn green.

Here's our friend Corrie capturing the view with her camera.

And here is our sheep. I couldn't bear to name him.

He gave his life for our meal. It made Jesus' sacrifice for us very real as we celebrated Easter together. We partook in the traditional Mongolian meal of Hor Hok. They kill a sheep and put hot stones inside him to cook the meat and also put vegetables inside to cook together. Matt and others watched the process, but I couldn't watch.

This is the finished product...Mongolian Hor Hog! Mmm...

Here is the 2010-11 Team Mongolia!

There are a couple people missing, and a few that are not returning next year, which we are very bummed about! :( We love our team! 

We had a great Easter with our dear brothers and sisters, remembering the One who gave His life for us. 

We hope you had a blessed Easter as well!

He Is Risen Indeed!

Much love,

The Gens'

Random Fun Things

So, I have several fun photos and things to share and thought I would just do it all in one post. :)
So, hang on to your hats...

First of all, I wanted to share a few birthday celebration photos. The three of us went out at the end of April to celebrate since we had something else going on on my actual birthday. We went to one of my favorite restaurants called Thai Express. I love Thai food.

(I have the two sweetest guys around!!!)

After supper at the Thai Express, we went upstairs to a place called New York, New York for dessert. We got a waffle with chocolate ice cream on top.

Weather Report - May 11:  It snowed today. 

Apparently, it has snowed in all 12 months here. :)

But my plants are enjoying the warm window sill. :)

This one actually bloomed today (it's at the top of the blog!).

 I've already re-potted a couple of plants more than once. The tomatoes (on L) are doing great! I have them in 2 pots now and they are growing like crazy!

And my squash have several blooms on them. Just amazing to see His creation unfold!

And for Mother's Day...

I started a new tradition with Ezra. We made cookies together (choc chip oatmeal)!

And I got to take a nap with him on our bed. It was soooo sweet.

Mmmm....they were yummy. They are all gone already. :)

And Matt made supper for me. His newest creation, now one of our favorites, chicken curry pasta!

And while we're on the topic of food, here's another of our new favorites this year...

Guatemalan Green Beans!

Cook some green beans, separate 2 eggs and beat whites until fluffy, then mix together with yolks, 2 T flour, and 1/4 t. salt and coat the GB with it, then fry in pan until golden on both sides. Cover with 1 cup tomato sauce mixed with 2 cloves fresh garlic, 1/4 t. oregano, 1/4 t. basil, S & P to taste. And top with parmesan cheese. :)
It sounds strange, but is really good!

For Our Anniversary...

We went to Millie's Cafe and had a double cheeseburger with bacon and egg and chicken burritos!
This is one of our favorite restaurants...

With two of our favorite people, Joshua and Jennifer!

That burger is a mouthful! :)

Look at that form! These guys did the same thing last year at the donut shop! Thought I'd throw this pic in from last year for comparison! :)

And last, but not least, our new friend Orna has been helping us around the house three times a week. She's super sweet and loves to play with and sing to Ezra. He really likes Orna. We even got to go out on our double date to Millie's while Ezra stayed home with Orna, without Mommy for the first time. He did so good! She has been a huge blessing to us!

That's all for now! Much love to you all!