We just returned (7/16, this is a little late on the posting, sorry) from 5 days in the capitol and it was a great break! The place we stayed provided a true break, with running, hot water and just clean dust free living. We did a lot of shopping for the things we need for living or can't get here. We went out to eat, napped and finished books we'd been wanting to finish. All in all a great trip!

Ethan enjoying breakfast at a coffee shop. What is not pictured on the plate is the bacon that all of us quickly consumed!!!

This is the bounty I brought back and filled my freezer with; 4 kgs of chicken breast; 6 kgs of ground hamburger; 8 kgs of frozen raspberries, 4 kgs of blackberries, 1 kg of mozerrella and gouda cheese. On the counter . . . 4 kgs of zucchinni

And that is the beloved water tank!!! That is how we tied it down for the road trip. The tank made it; 1 rope broke and our bag of frozen mushrooms didn't make it.

A potty chair

Today I bought my little girl a potty chair. I can’t believe that we’re starting this with Elli, but it seems like it could be a near future event. She’s telling me when she has “poop-poop” and she loves to go in the bathroom and pretend to use the potty like brother does. Since I don’t want her peeing standing up, I thought I’d start coaching her now.

They have the little plastic chairs at the bazaar too, but they aren’t very sturdy and since she’s still quite short I was scared she’d topple it over when trying to get on it. This is the squatty potty version and she’s pretty good at squatting on it.

She was really excited to sit on it.

And then wanted “Puppy” to go potty.

And the potty even has a handy dandy carrying handle.

I'll keep you posted on any potty progress. I'm not planning to be too intense about it; don't really have the time or energy to be. But if she wants to train herself, I wouldn't argue either! :)

My Marlboro Man

All summer Ethan has been watching men pass by in their cowboy hats, some days counting how many he sees at the bazaar. And he has really wanted one. There are only 2 varieties; felt or this straw version. And they are one size fits all.

So with money he received for his birthday, this was the first thing he wanted to buy. I figured that since he can't read and most of the people around us don't read Latin script, the Marlboro on the front was forgivable. Right now Ethan just thinks it's the directions for which side is the front. I used a green "do-rag" sewn in the inside to make the hat fit his head better. He has worn it everywhere.

And, just so you know, the poses were his idea. In my opinion, he’s a pretty good looking cowboy!

Now he's Four

It's hard to believe that my little boy has turned four. Oh, there are tell-tale signs that he's getting older; he calls me "mom" now instead of "mommy," wearing big boy britches all the time, even at bedtime, he rarely plays with playdough, and he's wearing 5-6T stuff. But his birthday party confirmed it. It was a fun day and it started off early; 6 a.m. he was ready to see his cake and open his presents. I made a construction cake, complete with a replication of the tunnel and construction we pass through to travel to the capitol. I had been planning some form of the cake for a while and brought the trucks from a "Dollar Store" equivalent in Dubai. The candy and marshmallows had come in various packages and I had tucked them away for his cake. The toppings were to help limit the amount of frosting needed, as the last 2 years his birthday cakes have "melted" in the summer temperatures. And it really helped!



We had our American friends and the children of our host family attend the party. I invited the kids to come at lunch. I failed to understand that a birthday is a reason for visitors even if it is a child's birthday. So adult guests came at around 7:30p.m. Luckily I had a little forewarning and enough pizza left over, I only had to make a couple extra things to have for them.

All in all it was a fun day. I was pooped by the end and unfortunately woke up at 3 the next morning and proceeded to throw up much of the remaining night. Having 3 out of 4 birthdays in the summer, makes for some intense party months. I'm going to appreciate a couple months respite!

A road trip play list!

For a long road trip (6-8 hours) we've found our ipod with cool fm radio attachment, to be a life saver. Thought I'd share what we listened to (though I don't remember the order):
Waterdeep: Everyone's Beautiful
Soverign Grace Ministries: Valley of Vision
Bebo Norman: Big Blue Sky; I will lift my Eyes
Watermark: Purest Place
Keith Urban: Greatest Hits
Jack Johnson: Sleep through the Static
River Podcasts: 2 Ephesians talks
Brian Reagan: this is what kept us awake around 1:30 a.m.

Sites along the road on our way to the capitol. We drove through this man's herd of cattle. I love the sunflowers with the mountains in the background.

This was the road on the way home. Our six hour trip extended to 8 hours on the way back. I know the picture isn't the greatest, but you get the idea of the long line of taillights we were waiting behind. The road is under construction, so there are long stretches of road that are just 1 lane. This is where we were waiting, with the engine off, for the oncoming traffic to pass by. Shortly after this point, Elli threw up all over herself and her car seat.

We made it home and the water tank survived the crazy trip. Praise Him!!!

The 4th of July

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July, complete with paper plates and napkins at our picnic! I was in charge of bringing coleslaw, the toppings and homemade hamburger buns. The making of the buns was in itself comical, as our long lasting (over 2 weeks) almost nightly electrician was in my very small kitchen the entire time I was making them. But they turned out great.

We joined other national families picnicking out by the lake on a Saturday. Though you'll see we failed to bring our livestock to graze with us or our "port-a-crib" that they hang from a tree and rock their baby to sleep on (just like the nursery song).

Our picnic ended after a game of baseball was taken over by the spectators. But then we just re-grouped back at E&J's house for coke/fanta floats and strawberry shortcake! It was a very fun day. One of the visitors brought an American flag for each kiddo. Ethan proudly has added his flag to the "house" he's building in a sand spot in our yard. The 5 frogs that Ethan brought back from the lake though have sadly gotten lost.

Birthday Celebrations

A little post-dated, but I wanted to share some of the highlights of the big 30 birthday bash! The plans kept changing, so it didn't turn out quite like I was expecting. First we were planning on traveling to the capitol on my birthday. For reasons I can't remember now, that fell through and so did the hopes of authentic Indian food or a juicy steak dinner. Our national family was thrilled as I share the same birthday as their now one year old. So the plan quickly became to do a full "ash" like we did for Austin's birthday to celebrate both of our birthdays. But Parinoz (the 1 year old) was in the hospital for 5 nights having an acupuncture procedure done on her eyes to help them water when crying. (I don't understand the medical practices here and don't ever want to experience them). So sadly the Ash plans fell through and the entire family forgot it was my birthday until Austin reminded them the next day.

I prepared some treats just incase any of my other neighbors came by for a birthday visit. Ethan kept asking when they were going to come for the party and was equally as bummed when no one came.

I received a plethora of very encouraging birthday emails and facebook wall postings. Thank you so much for making me feel special and remembered. By that point in the day it sounded great to be back in America with people who "remembered."

But after Elli woke up from her morning nap, things took a turn. Austin started the "let's give mommy her gifts" process that went on and off throughout the rest of the day; fun little treats like a can of Diet Coke and a Snickers candy bar (an ironic combination).

We had a great family lunch at a local restaurant that is set up with little individual family rooms and serve excellent lamb kebabs and "shish-link."

We then joined our foreign friends for a tour of the "Old" outskirts of our town. All 4 boys came with their own gun and ran through the ruins while we hiked with our friends and their visitors. I wish you could see all the mountains that surround us, but as you can tell, Ethan loved the "guns and raiding" part of the day.

Elli too enjoyed being outside. And just for posterity's sake, her hair is blowing in the wind! :)

We went back to E&J's house for fried chicken, mashed potatoes, watermelon and goey brownies from a hand carried imported brownie mix. They are a family that loves to celebrate, so it was special to celebrate with them. It was a great end to the day. And then the day was over and I was officially 30. For all the hype that it gets, it didn't feel all that different. But by the day's close I had been thoroughly reminded of how blessed I am to have the friends and family He has given me. They're worth celebrating!

Just like Grandma's

Grandma with Ethan when he was about 6 months old! This blog made me realize I need more pictures of my grandma!

I don't think there is a stronger flavor association for me of my grandma than apricot jam. There are lots of other delicious things I could think of, but apricot jam spans all seasons. It makes a welcomed Christmas gift and is the perfect topping for her hot homemade rolls at every family gathering. So when the large apricot tree starting dropping fresh apricots in my yard, I thought I'd try my hand at apricot jam; and all on my own this time.

And from tree to jar, it was a four hour process! I climbed a ladder and shook various fruit laddened branches of this mammoth tree.

Ethan was on pick up duty and quickly gathered the dropped apricots into the buckets. We had 2 buckets full, which was more than we needed for jam alone. We ended up freezing 3 ziplocks full for crisps/crumbles when fruit is not available.

Elli was my quality control, taking bites out of a good portion of the apricots we used. Poor girl still has runny stool because of it.

As this was my first canning experience on my own, I quickly realized that this pot is not big enough for a double batch. It overflowed all over my stove top. I'll be looking for a bigger pot in the capitol next week!

As you may remember, Ethan loves to tell Grandma jokes and stories. So what fun to be able to work together making Grandma's apricot jam. And the last two mornings, it has even been chosen over the strawberry jam to add to our homemade yogurt!

Vision Needed!

We continue to plow ahead on home repairs. Each room is making progress, though I'm hitting a wall on our entry hallway. I thought I'd ask for your help.

I want this area to be welcoming as the door at the end of our hall is the large "guest room" (living room). For our national friends, we will quickly rush them into the formal room, seat them and then lay out the spread. For foreign friends however, the entryway has potential for the lingering hang time that we are so good at. :) Through the big windows I can sit with my girl friends and watch the kids swing and play in the sandbox. So here's the help I need . . .

1. What do I do for curtains. The morning sun is really intense and heats up the entire hallway. If I could block sun in the morning but enjoy the view the rest of the day, that would be ideal.
2. What do I do for linger time? I've found a small table that I could do with stools? If I did floor pillows I think my national friends would be confused?

Thanks for your help! I'm excited to do this together!

Byo Jang

A new friend from the states just arrived in our city this week. She brought with her some fun little packages from family back home. Grandma Vickie sent along a little wind up Kung Fu Panda toy. To my knowledge, Ethan has never seen Kung Fu panda though he loves playing with his winding toy. The thing that cracked me up, was the first thing out of his mouth after I showed him how it worked. Speaking for the Panda, Ethan said "Byo, Jang." This has now become the name of his panda toy. "Byo, Jang" translated means "Come, Fight." He's getting language figured out.

Life in Motion

The first picture is while we were waiting in the capitol. The second is this last week in our house.

These are two shots that capture what my little Elli is all about (and what wears me out by the end of the day). MOTION! Elli loves to move and go. There is no reason, in her mind, to sit still to do anything. She has recently started mastering her dance moves and even has her shoulder shake down. That's probably a move we will encourage her to use less and less the older she becomes. :) Wherever she's headed and whatever she's doing . . . she gives it her all. Sure love her.

The similarities

I just took this picture of Elli and it reminded me of one similar that my brother (with his mad photographer skills) took of Ethan. If I remember right, I think they would be about the same age. But I love to see their similarities; they both are long and thin with big eyes. There are differences of course as Elli has dark brown and Ethan has dark blue eyes. Ethan has Elli beat on the hair, for sure. I love these two little gifts! They bring such joy and delight to my heart. It is so sweet to see the ways in which they have been created uniquely and then the sweet similarities they carry that make us family.

We got him!

Our second night of trapping paid off! With a small sacrifice of our very special peanut butter, we caught our wall gnawing mouse. And he was a big one too; Austin said about 8 inches long. We've continued to set traps to make sure there aren't any friends or family member lingering in our walls, but have come up empty every night. We plan to put poison down his hole before we patch it back up.

What do you do with a dead mouse in a world where it's very critical you throw your trash away in the right places, way and time (after dark)? Our neighbor kids quickly enlightened us . . . you throw them on your roof for the cats to eat. So that is what we did. That's probably why we have mice, the fat cats are too lazy to hunt them themselves.

My birthday present

Before you doubt my dear hubby, he did get more for my birthday than just an appliance. But I have been anxiously awaiting this appliance, so it gets special blogging mention. We've been looking all over town comparing variations of this brand of stove. As it's really the only brand in town. This is the only fully gas one we have found. And since during the winter months we will be on a "regime" of power outages, I really wanted a gas oven option. We even tested to make sure my cookie sheets would fit in the stove before we bought it. :) The only bummer is that 2 pieces are missing; a plate for one of the burners and then a dial for the other. But we're no longer newbies at this whole CA living. Austin refused to pay the full price until the other pieces arrived. We'll see if they make the truck this week. Until then it's happy baking time!