Thanksgiving Table in our New Home

Well we looked all over for turkey, then high and low for chicken. Not finding either Renee turned to the canned chicken sent from the states, put it in a casserole with stuffing and all. Hot rolls, sweet potatoes, and even apple pie for dessert. Here's to being thankful for these and the One Gift Above All, and finding ourselves in His Loving Hands.

Sunrise Breakfast at 8:30

The View East

This is the view out our kitchen or dining room window. In the background there are schools, and a park with trees.

Coffee with Exotic Visitors

Here we are with our first visitors, all the way from Germany and Canada (Originally)

Home Portrait

Here we are in front of our fireplace.

Growing Together

All four girls seem to be growing these days. The three older ones wait in line to hold the baby.

Good Morning Gravy Tea

Stopped into my neighbor's today. They were making the day's tea. It's customary for a guest to stay and drink some. So I stayed. The usual milk tea was made, but oddly I wasn't offered any. First they needed to fry up chunks of fat, to which they added flour and salt. Then return the tea to the mix. The process took at least a half hour. There was no hurry. Then finally, they offered me my cup of gravy-fortified tea, complete with chunks of floating fat floating on top. Good to the last drop. And the second cup wasn't bad either.

Home Sweet Home

Last Saturday, we loaded up all our stuff on trucks and moved it three hours west into our new house in Bulgan, Mongolia. The roads turned white with snow about 50 miles before we got there. It was kind of memorable to move in on the first snow of the year. Mercifully, the snow covered many unfinished outdoor projects, which made concentrating on the interior unfinished stuff a little easier. Some of those jobs included hurriedly getting down new carpet before the moving truck arrived with furniture for that room. About two thirds done, the door to the room opened and the face of the driver emerged with a look that said he was unloading ready or not. We got ready quick, and he did too.

We got some great help unpacking that day and the next. Then our help had to go, leaving us with Renee's mom Ann to help with the baby and more unpacking. That second night a real cold wind came up. It gave our heating system a pretty good try. Without many curtains or doors yet, we had some bad drafts, especially upstairs. But the house stayed reasonably warm especially the rooms with heat turned on. Now we're in the city to bring Ann to the airport for her return flight. Since we have electric thermostat heat, our house can stay warm enough to keep the plumbing from freezing, even when gone for several days. Thank God.