Sunday, July 29, 2018

Lee Family Visit

On their circum-continental 10,000+ mile tour around America from New York, our friends and colleagues in ministry in Mongolia visited us for an overnight in Roslyn, WA.
We enjoyed seeing their pictures of New Mexico, The Grand Canyon, and Oregon Coast among other great treasures of "This Land is Your Land, From California the the New York Island"  

God bless them as they prepare to get back to Mongolia in mid-August for a third term serving Jesus with the Alliance.  Who will join us?  

(Jeremy is holding one of Jason's parting gifts, packets of Ginseng Concentrate from Korea)


Saturday, July 28, 2018

Camping for Lydia's 15th Birthday

Cle Elum River rolls beside our campsite.
Even Renee spent two days swimming in its chilly waters.
At 2,200+ altitude it's a great place to be during the 90+ degree days of summer.
Aunt Jeanne and Michael stayed in the next campsite and helped with meals.
Lydia opens presents after enjoying her mom's homemade carrot cake.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Celebrating Lydia as she Turns 15

Here we are at Wild Waves water park on the way up the splash


And at Camano Island for cake with cousin Chloe




Friday, July 13, 2018

MBA - Darhan Basketball Camp

Though we were not able to be there this July, Darhan hosted 7 coaches from the North Ridge Basketball Academy for about 60 campers of various ages.


Coach Seth challenges campers with skills and character


Thanks to Pastors Baggie and Baggie for their help to Coach Mark with translation


This was an important step toward the vision of a Mongolian Basketball Academy that will sustainably produce better basketball players and teams, better Mongolian citizens by training in character and faith, and fruit that lasts in followers of Jesus Christ.


Big thanks to our friend and colleague Ryan for his leadership in hosting and organizing the event.  "The foundation of team is faith and trust"


We're Staying Another Year


In case you didn't hear, we plan to stay another year in America before our return to Mongolia in July of 2019.  If you want to receive our news by email, you can sign up using the form on the right.

Great American Day

“Small Town USA” came over the country station at the exact time and day I was feeling it.  I was in Ellensburg, WA a town of about 10,000.  With no AC on a day that was to reach 91 degrees, I was on the way to get it looked at.  Even though the shop estimated $1000 or more bucks to fix it I was happy with the windows down on the way back to a smaller yet Roslyn, WA.

I-90 whisked us up to Cle-Elum in less than 25 minutes.  Then it’s just a couple miles up to where we’re staying in this National Historic Place. Roslyn, built as a coal mining town on the dryer east side of the cascade mountains, is very close the wet western-Washington and is cooler because it’s 2,200 feet above sea level.  We’re staying in the house of a friend from church while they travel to other areas of the Northwest.  We can sit on their porch and watch the traffic of Highway 903, and hear the dump trucks, RVs, and diesel pickups roar around the corner and up and down the hill.  This morning the first construction rig rattled by just before 6am.  Men who evidently live in cabins or camped out on the Cle Elum River or Lake appear to be heading down to work.  An RV owner might go into town for a latte at ‘Maggie’s Pantry’.

That’s right next to the famous ‘Village Pizza’, which appears in the opening credits of the hit TV series from the 1990s Northern Exposure.  ‘Roslyn CafĂ©’ also appears with the moose who leads you on a tour through a fictitious Alaska town that was filmed here.  We hear their food is good too.  But we enjoyed our ‘village’ and peperoni pizzas across the street outside at Roslyn Park, which sits to the famous ‘Brick’ tavern containing a nice lawn where a building once stood.

Vacationers and tourists from Seattle and other towns around the county and country come for the pizza, food, drink, cooler mountain air.  Relics of the coal mining and television past mingle with the odd passerby making it unclear who is local and who is not from around here.

The people are nice, but not too nice.  Tourism has not eroded a Northern feel of no-nonsense service at the pizzeria and general store.  The candy shop boasts bon-bons made on site, but also has classic candy choices from America’s Big Candy factories.  Smarties for 50 cents.

Clara sang “God Bless America” from the stage in Roslyn Park.  Her brother and parents were the only ones who heard it because we were the only ones still in the park at 8pm.  She stopped once though to say, “someone’s coming”.  A couple walked past on the sidewalk from the direction of The Brick and got in their car and drove away.  Though it was mostly to empty tables and chairs and scattered beanbags we threw on a warm lawn, it may have been her first solo public performance.  Josiah was supposed to be singing back up, but sat in front of her in a chair that was meant to represent her microphone stand. 

From my perspective in Small Town USA, it’s a great day in America.  I wish us all many more.

Great Summer Beginnings

With a great rest at Rest Haven on Camano Island

Maggie and Lydia with the agates they found on the beach below


Josiah and Levi fishing on Puget Sound's Elger Bay


Maggie helping her dad set the crab pots


Ben caught a nice flounder just before sunset


The sky is painted a pretty pink to cap a great day


Johanna turned 13 on July 4th!  Her mom made her this cake.


We celebrated with 25 or more loved ones on the deck of Uncle Jake and Aunt Christina


It was also the birthday party for her Grandpa Joe


And for this great country, God Bless America