April Fool's--the mumps! (no joke though!)

hey there,

been a while. between 2 busy kiddos, teaching, and life in general, besides internet challenges, i haven't been writing much lately. just taking this brief window of time to post a little note that we are doing fine (pretty good, overall) and SOOO happy it's a little warmner now. whew! we made it through our first winter back! spring is here and it feels "warm"... though i remember a friend who came to visit in May way back when, and thought my idea of warm was pretty crazy. ;) anything above freezing feels warm after so many degrees below zero!

so yes, i have the mumps. hoping no one else in the family gets it. kids had their vacc (i'm one of those 'let's take it slow' moms), and javkhaa may have also. i'm hoping so, b/c no one seems to think he had mumps as a kid. we'll know for sure in another week or so i guess. anyways, i'm holding up okay, but this is dragging on longer than i'd hoped. so much for a spring break.

thanks for your prayers, and Happy Easter!

We're Going! (We're Coming...!) :)

...back to Mongolia!

Lots to do, not much time left...

We'll fly out of Norfolk on the 5th of August. So, in the next couple of weeks (I'm not counting the days!) we need to go thru all of our stuff, and sort into take, give, sell, ship, and discard piles. whew! hoping that this sunday afternoon can be a massive sprint thru everything in a garage, and then we'll tackle the house. ;)

pray for us!

but besides all that, we are excited to be heading back.

you can read our recent newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/eTmJg

we'll miss folks on this side of the world but are looking forwad to seeing friends and family on the other side!

Over the Flu & a Sunny Weekend

Wow, this year we sure did get hit with it... kids had it for about a week. :/ Poor them. Thankfully, they usually felt pretty well in the mornings and after taking their medicine. Then in the evenings they were more uncomfortable.

Now other than runny noses and a little coughing, they are a lot better. Yay!

Friday was BEAUTIFUL and Saturday and Sunday were sunny too. We actually went to the zoo yesterday; Yvelle enjoyed seeing the animals and Josiah (hopefully) was enjoying being outside too.

Javkhaa and I enjoyed the sights but we were hoping the "Asia" section was open; no, we have to wait until April to see the new exhibit, which will have orangutans, some kind of noisy apes, and tigers (from the Cincinnati Zoo), among other animals.

I took the zoo train with Yvelle and she had a blast--she did NOT want to sit on my lap, but wanted to sit in her own spot. She certainly has a mind of her own. ;) Sometimes at school she joins in playing with the children, but other times she just sits on the sidelines with a teacher. I'm not quite sure what that's about but when I ask her, she said she likes to watch and listen...

April will mark 2 big events: Josiah (Bilguunee) will turn 1, and we will have been in Virginia 5 years. Javkhaa is more than ready to be back in Mongolia, and I am fully on board with that. So Lord willing, before Christmas, we will be living back in Ulaanbaatar. Not quite sure how the transition will look, but we are at this point appointees with an organization (Interserve) which sends people to work in their professions in a variety of countries around the world. It seems like a good fit for our bi-cultural family. :)

Appreciate your prayers!

Greetings, Stream 08!

A visit from a Mongolian friend... well, sorta! ;)

Charis, my teammie from Hovd, came and visited us in DC on the weekend. Yay! It was SOOOOOO great to catch up. :D

Wedding Pics!

After almost 30 hours of traveling, we're back in Virginia Beach :)

Wow, being in Mongolia... it felt like I'd been there just a few months ago, not like almost 2 years had passed. We had a wonderful time with Javkhaa's family and visiting with good friends.

Haven't downloaded our pictures yet, but here's one of the new Chinggis Khan statue in Sukhbaatar Square. I had thought they were removing the old one of Sukhbaatar on his horse, but happily, Sukhbaatar is still at his post in the center of the square, while the Khan surveys his land in state from the southern outlook of the Parliament House.

More to come! :)

PS--The last I know about former Prime Minister Elbegdorj is that he was doing much better and was sent to Korea for further treatment. Thanks for your prayers!

Former Prime Minister of Mongolia Needs Prayer

I saw on Eagle TV director Tom Terry's blog today that Ts. Elbegdorj, former Prime Minister of Mongolia, was in a serious car accident Tuesday night. Please pray for him, and for Mongolia. Naadam (one of the 2 biggest holidays) just began yesterday...

From Tom's blog:

We received word today that Ts. Elbegdorj, twice former Prime Minister of Mongolia was in a serious car accident last night resulting in the death of Elbegdorj's driver. Elbegdorj is in very serious condition with serious injuries to his brain. He is conscious, but unable to move. The doctor reports that "stroke" is involved, but the translation on this is unclear.

Please pray for Elbegdorj.

Elbegdorj was involved in the original establishment of Eagle TV in the early 1990s and has remained a longtime friend of our organization and founders.

UPDATE: 8:40PM Elbegdorj has been put into an induced coma. His condition is very serious and he cannot be moved or more damage could result.

I just spoke with our board of directors. They are having a special time of prayer for Elbegdorj at this moment. Please pray for Elbegdorj, his family, and all in Mongolia who love him. Thank you.

Excerpts from a story on Harvard's Kennedy School website:

Tsakhia [Elbegdorj], who was educated in the former Soviet Union during the era of Kremlin control of Mongolia , is considered one of the primary architects of the nation’s democratic evolution...

Democratic reform is something Tsakhia learned about while studying at the Kennedy School in 2002. Following his graduation from KSG, Tsakhia returned home and gave a series of lectures to sold-out crowds focusing on leadership, technology and the future. The talks were so popular that ticket prices quadrupled and the lectures were later recorded onto tapes.“Not every Mongolian can go to KSG,” Tsakhia said. “I'd like to share what I learned with those that cannot.”