Mongolian Trip

Mongolia is a beautifully, unique country of dry and desert land. It is often called the land of the blue sky. From the sunrises, throughout the day to the sunsets, the sky displays an incredible work of art. The most fond memory I will take away is the people. A smile is a smile anywhere you go and they all need to know Truth. One of the last days in the countryside, we were honored to partake of a feast which included milk products and goat with potatoes and carrots. The neat thing was that the live goat was killed, skinned and pressure cooked all within one hour! Pretty cool! I expected the meat to taste wild, however it was wonderful!

Milk products of every kind are eaten by the Mongols during the summer months. Yummy, if your a Mongol! The above picture is some of the items basting in the sun before dinner time.

This 74 year old lady lived in the Ger during the summer months. She was a very gracious host.

I also, had the opportunity to spend time with and encourage a group of girls from a local Body. They kept me young doing cartwheels and making pom-poms!

Jerry's 4oth Birthday!

Today is Sherry and Jerry's 40th birthday. We hear that Sherry is spending the day at the opening of the Choctaw Indian Fair. Jerry's day was filled with surprises. He began with breakfast cooked by Austin and Adriann. At work there was no way he would forget he's turning forty!

After work we had a surprise get together at a local Mexican restaurant with lots of friends. There, he was visited by an old lady who gave him tons of "tips" about growing old, as well as some little goodies he might need! Oops, she forgot that in Thailand you don't pick you teeth in public. Guess old people can get away with anything!!!

Happy Birthday, Jerry! I could never have asked for a better husband and friend or father for our children. I love you and look forward to seeing many more candles be added to the cake! Kelly

Fig Preserves

This week a friend gave me a jar of fig preserves! Someone had sent them to my friend who loves figs just not preserves. I was THRILLED! It has been years since I had them so I made biscuits the next morning. Yummy, yummy. I forgot how good they were. Austin has developed a taste for them as well. We're already planning to bring some from America on our next visit.

Number 2 is actually number 1

It's election time in Chiang Mai. A few weeks ago, the city had the mayoral election. It was fascinating to see how the system works in this culture. Some things are the same everywhere, such as candidates holding and hugging babies, shaking hands, making speeches at market areas, which would be like festivals in the American south and posters/signage. There is one difference that has been most interesting. Each candidate is given a number and on all their advertising, the number is always in a large square usually in the lower portion of the sign. The election was held and Candidate Number 2 came out #1!! We laughed and thought how it would NEVER work in America. No one would ever want to be any number other than number 1.