Today, was a fun day around the house as we had our co-worker's boys (so they could have their anniversary date) and Emma's friends came over too. (her friends from the old apartment). I'm thinking now that they know where we live they will be coming over very often! We are soooo glad that Emma can keep her old friendships... she was super happy today because even Oorlanaa could come over (pictured with Emma). They had lots of fun going through a fashion/Bratz journal book that one of the girls got Emma for her birthday. It is fun hearing them filling out questionaires etc. in a mix of Russian, Tuvan and English. We are hoping Oorlanaa teaches Emma to write in Russian/Tuvan. It is time she learned the Russian Alphabet too. She can speak well but to read/write in Russian is a whole different story...

Tomorrow we will have our first Tuvan friends (Era, Aidash, Aidiir and Noby) over again. It has been so long since we have had anyone besides our co-workers over. We have just been thinking that maybe the next day we will be going out to the yurt so we are living one day at a time but we made plans for tomorrow anyway- hopefully Kongor-ool won't be calling and saying tomorrow is the day we can go:) It should be soon though, maybe monday!? We hope it isn't too long before we can move out to the yurt as it really is starting to cool off a bit!

I uploaded another video last night- maybe you remember when we got to go to the Tuvan school where Kongor-ool Ondar has a little throatsinging museum set up? we had 2 of his students treat our family to a little concert? (if not you can see the post about it by clicking here) well- this is some of the video I took from that day. These two students are really really good- especially for their age. We also got to see them at a big concert in the city theater but we liked it better when they sang just for our family:) To see the video that I took back then of the two students singing to us click HERE.

Just a few pictures from today. Kenya is really getting into things now- she has lots and lots of teeth and she's always looking for something to bite. We have a few toys for her and a bone that she is allowed to chew but she seems to prefer anything else besides those:) She is fun though- she is so cute when she plays that it is hard to say no to her...but we better cause she is getting big fast and soon all our stuff will be destroyed if we don't teach her!

Tonight we went to visit Emma's old friends. Unfortunately Emma's best friend Oorlanaa wasn't home but most of the other girls were around. They were so glad to see Emma... and even Josiah and Hudson gave the girls hugs when they saw them. We really miss our old place- this place is so much nicer of course but still... the other place still feels like home to us... It was great to spend the evening in our old park.

We are trying to get Emma into a school here for the fall (though she would have to start late because we will be in the yurt in September). We haven't been very successful so far. ONe school doesn't feel able to take a foreign girl (though we all no Emma would be no trouble for them...) and the other good school is all full:( Emma is really quite sad about it which is great! Not may kids would be sad to not be able to go to a new school in a language they barely know...but Emma is. We are still hoping to find some school for Emma- not for the education part (she will for sure do homeschooling no matter what else) but she would love the social/ structure/ new friends/ getting out of the apartment part. Emma LOVES school. If she can't get in a normal school we will see about finding her some club or group to go to like Ballet or something.

Did you see our co-worker's wonderful news!?!?!? Click on David and Christy to the right!!! We are so excited!

Our first video in years...

Even though our internet connection is still really really slow, I managed to upload a little video because we have unlimited use during the night so I can just leave it uploading while I try to sleep...took FOREVER to do but I'm just so glad it can be done. We have a lot of really good throatsinging and other cultural videos that we've been wanting to share but for now you can enjoy Huddy's Space Song.

Emma and Kenya

We still aren't positive that Kenya is a girl. Funny eh.. we think she is most of the time but then once in a while we will look at her and think...no way!!!- she must be a boy!!! We will send more pictures to you Sara (she is our expert in these things:) But that said, Emma loves having a little girl around in her room. Kenya mostly sleeps all day still- but she does play quite a bit now too. We have a lot of training to do- potty training and teaching her what things she can bite and what things she can play with etc. She doesn't seem to be catching on to the potty training very easily- good thing we don't have carpet:) She still just drinks milk from a bottle but we'll be trying out some puppy food soon (mushed up).

Still no idea what kinds of dog she is- she does have the colouring of a shelty? (like you thought Laura) but everyday I see some different type of dog in her... I think she will be big though... she is growing very fast...

10 Years!!!

Today was our 10 year anniversary. We weren't sure what we were going to do even after we dropped our kids off with our co-workers. We had a long long walk around town through a new area- felt like we were in a new place which I always like.. then we got to the big beautiful park in town and because it was a very warm day we thought a paddle boat ride around the river would be perfect and it was. We parked our boat in the shade, stuck our feet in the water and reminisced about all the things we've done together in the last 10 + years. relaxed in the boat for a bit...then I got pooped on by a bird. (when you have a white shirt on bird poo is not white) and then we wandered through the park, had a few winks on a dock and stopped at the graffiti zone which we'd never noticed before.. a strange place but we both really liked it for some reason. We were then ready to eat at our favorite restaurant (named CoffeeMan). And then we walked again. We bumped into our old journalist friend and she suggested another place to go walking... We sure got a lot of exercise yesterday! We came back and watched a strange choice in movie for an anniversary I guess- Indecent Proposal...funny that I'd never seen it before. We didn't climb a mountain or go anywhere too special but it really was a perfect anniversary... we are very blessed to have eachother. Oh- and the kids made us sweet little crafty gifts and cookies for us- Thanks Bobbie and Jesse for taking such good care of our wee ones.

In our kitchen

My mom sent us another great little package with pretty things and teas and fun stuff like the President's Choice flyer. I LOVE looking through flyers...especially the President's Choice one though as David said, "What is she trying to do to us!?!" torture!!! It is hard to look at the wonderful things we could buy at home....like good beef and indian chutneys and passionfruit drinks and tzatziki and peanut butter cup icecream...mmm. Huddy was looking through the flyer for so so long saying, "mmmmmmmmmm I like that!!!" etc. We really don't enjoy shopping at the grocery stores here... one thing that bugs me is that there are never any sales so you don't have any fun buying good deals. and most of the time you have to line up and ask for the items as you can't just push a cart around and browse and buy. You have to know what you want and even if you know what you want it might not help cause they probably don't have it. anyway...

RIght now we have wonderful things...we have been going to the market and buying all the fresh fruits and vegetables that the babushkas are growing in their gardens...mmm. All of us LOVE fresh veggies and fruit. I think our kids get more excited about fruits and veggies than candy and chips. well maybe.... And this year there are things we have never been able to get here like broccoli and LETTUCE!!! and fresh basil. The ladies at the market see us coming and smile cause they know we will buy all their broccoli and skinny garden carrots and cauliflower etc. We have been eating really good these last few weeks... In the winter all we can get here is basically potatoes and cabbage so now is the time to overdose on vitamins:)

Tomorrow is a big day!!! David and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary!!!! We have no idea what we will do yet... we like one restaurant here but we go often enough that it isn't much of a special treat... we like our house better than any hotel for SURE!!! I think we will go for a hike/climb a mountain or something. hmmm. We will think of something...

Few More House Pics

Our bedroom is one room we didn't have to do anything except throw away half a room full of papers and office stuff and then give it a good clean. The wallpaper in it is decent and the floor is nice too. But I thought you'd like to see it even if it didn't have a makeover:)

Emma's room- she sits for hours in the window sill reading...

She's got teeth! Puppies grow up way too fast...

Back Online!

Starting now I have no excuse to not blog everyday again cause we have internet again! Days like today when I don't have much to blog about I'll fill the blog with pics of our little puppy Kenya I guess:) Because the renters before didn't pay their HUGE phone/internet bill it would be very very costly for us to get a phone installed so we couldn't do dial-up internet as planned. BUT David bought a USB-modem (like a flash drive that you just plug in the computer) so now we can get online anytime we want from anywhere in the city! I can post from the beach or the playground! :) We are trying to figure out the cost etc. but we think we've signed up for a great deal- a flat (cheap) monthly rate that gives unlimited use during 12am and 8am. which is when all of you are up and I'm most tempted to go online:) SO it should be good. I can even post videos etc. for free I guess! Just leave them uploading and go to sleep (and remember to wake up before 8am:)

We have a couple of weeks till we will head out to the yurt. I'm thinking of trying to can some chicken and beef and stuff like that. More time to plan out the food and other things we need to bring is very good. I'm sure we'd survive if we just brought flour and salt but we'd like to have a few treats along the way.

You'll be hearing from us more often now!

Our day with Kongar-ool Ondar

It was really really good. We had such a great time with Ondar and his family. Still seems hard to believe that we now know him personally and that he is helping us get hooked up with a place to stay. Turns out we will be living with close friends/relatives of his. The spot where they live is so beautiful!!!!! Breathtaking. Worth the long bumpy drive there for sure. I didn't get many pictures of our time because for the first time EVER I forgot to put the memory card in the camera before leaving...AAAAAH!!! :( but thankfully it holds a 7 pictures without a card so I have these... But I could have taken some super super good pictures of the yurt, a better one of us in the yurt drinking tea with Kongor-ool and his family and friends, or Kongar-ool helping the boys get on the horse together or all of us with the beautiful view and horses or Emma riding so so well, or the beautiful Tuvan grandmother cooking us food over her wood furnace/stove. I just couldn't decide for sure if they would be better than these or not so I didn't delete any, So so so unfortunate. But we will be getting more pictures when we are there for the month of September.

We are waiting till they move the yurt from their summer site to the winter camp. It won't be as pretty as a spot but it will be warmer and closer to water and the barns and another yurt. Kongor-ool asked us to come back then as the elderly couple and their even more elderly mother will be there alone in the fall- the younger family members will be back in the city and they are worried about leaving them all by themselves. So we will be a big help to them then- We can do the hard, physical work after they teach us how to do it all. I'm sure we won't do half as good of a job at it all but then again we'll be free:) We will have a yurt to ourselves we think though living with the three elderly tuvans would be fine too.During our visit little Russian was spoken, so we know it will be good for our Tuvan language learning. ANd we can't think of a better place to learn true Tuvan culture. We are so excited about it! The kids loved it out there and had so much fun with Kongar-ool. He LOVED being with them too- he took so so many pictures of the kids. And he had great fun laughing at my name (Erin means lip in Tuvan). If I say my name a bit strangely I can make it sound more like the Tuvan word for spirit but I'd hate to take away all their fun:) We really had a great time with the Ondar family and a few of their friends. Can't wait to spend more time with them all. And take some pictures!!!!

Little Update

Today we aren't leaving for the yurt for good but we will be going to see one option and ask them if they'd like us to come live with us for a few weeks. The problem is that there are no phones of course out there so communicating with the families who live out there is tough. So today, we are going with the travel guy who is arranging our dream and KONGAR-OOL ONDAR!!! (his uncle and world famous throat singer) to meet an old couple that live in a yurt and arrange all the details. Kongar-ool thinks we could be really helpful to this elderly couple, helping them milk the goats, shepherd the sheep etc. and also helping out with their really elderly mom. We think it sounds perfect. I'll take lots of pics so you'll have an idea where we will be living for the 3 weeks. And Yay! We get to go on a road trip with ONDAR! We feel pretty blessed.

Sorry it's been so long Rose!!!

(pics of part of our living room (again not the real colour I had picked at the store but I like it- it will fade and get dirty fast), then a picture of Emma with one of our new friends, then our raccoon- I mean puppy Kenya:)
We have a whole series of pictures of David posing all over the living room but I don't have time to put them all on now:)

Sorry it has been so long again, we do not have internet (or even a phone) at our new place yet so I have a lot more time on my hands but I can't post:) We are working on getting it set up- hopefully after our yurt experience it will be hooked up- we'll sure have lots of stories and pictures to post then!! We are going for 3 weeks but now the starting date is August 12th. Most of you know that Kongor-ool Ondar (the throat singer that was on Letterman etc.) is someone I've wanted to meet..well we might have our chance!! The man who is organizing our yurt
experience is Ondar's nephew and Ondar is helping him plan it all out- where we should stay and what people would be the best as far as culture/language study. I'm hoping we stay with ONdar himself of course but I doubt he lives in a yurt now... Anyway, his nephew wants us to get to know Ondar personally so I'm sure somehow we'll be meeting him soon. We are busy getting food etc. together for the 3 weeks in the yurt- it will be like jungle camp..no running water, no electricity, no stores or showers... I'm excited about it though- the kids will really have fun, playing with the sheep and riding horses and helping me milk the cows and goats etc. It will be hard work but different enough to be fun:) I'm going to learn a lot about livestock and hopefully a lot of Tuvan too!We are all settled in our new place, enjoying having more space and better plumbing- We have HOT water even!! Yay!! We just need a phone and internet eh!

It really is a great place for us. Emma has lots of friends already- and the new girls didn't even know Emma wasn't a Russian until she told them after a few days. She adjusts so easily.

Kenya (our little puppy) is getting so much bigger and is walking around now. Soon she'll be getting into lots of trouble I bet... glad we'll be in the yurt for 3 of her toddler weeks. We had a new pet for a day too- a super cute little mouse. ew. but we got rid of it:) Huddy wanted to keep it and give it lots of cheese. Guess it makes sense as the puppy isn't much different but anyway.

Wish we could be on here more, we (ok mostly me:) miss being in contact with you all on a regular basis...Thanks for checking in on us, even though our blog has been a little dry lately:)

New Things...

We don't have internet (or a phone) hooked up yet in our apartment- I'm posting from our co-workers house. We aren't all done with renovations but we at least have the kitchen looking good..the most important room right! I LOVE it. (I put in the old pic to show the difference:)The kitchen is just sooooo huge (compared to the other kitchens we've had here) we actually all fit around the table!!! Counter space is lacking (I only have the little cupboard top between the fridge and stove) but I just use the table and it works out fine. I have a good sink and my window sill is bigger than our last place too... We put in new flooring and everything is just so shiny/new/clean and so completely different than it was. David did such a good job- remember the hole in the wall he had to fill in- they almost look like they are drywall now instead of old concrete...

The living room is really nice too- and Emma's room is so so sweet..you'll have to wait for pics though:) We are so happy with the new place. It used to look awful but now I'm pretty sure it is the nicest place we've ever lived..

Little puppy is doing great. Some nights are still rough but she is so so so much more content now and even has periods where she is awake and relaxed, though she still sleeps 90% of the day and 8% is spent drinking from her bottle and I guess at least 1% going to the bathroom. SO ya, she isn't up much really:) We have finally named her... (and we are fairly confident that she is a girl but still not totally sure) Basically I don't really want a name like snookims or fluffy or just a normal girl name either which made it trickier but I was stuck on the theme of coffee (cause she has the dark coffee colour, the white cream on her chest, and the rest of her is the colour I like my coffee...and her nose looks like a shiny rich coffee bean...) I didn't want to call her just coffee or coffee bean or anything like that so I got to thinking of Tim Horton, Starbuck, Folger:) but they weren't quite right...Then I got on to my favorite blends like Sumatra, Java, Decaf House Blend.. but they all sounded boyish etc. Finally we thought of another favorite coffee blend Kenya Roast.. So She is Kenya. Sounds like a female Russian name- Ksenya so it shouldn't sound too weird. And David has been to Kenya and well it is all we could come up with. We added the middle name Rose to make her a bit more Emmaish and feminine (her paws look like rosebuds too:) So unless she becomes a boy again or we change our minds she is Kenya Rose James. BOth her eyes are open and she gets around though I wouldn`t call it walking:)We are still hoping to be living in a yurt this month- we`ll let you know soon as the date we`d like to head out there is August 6th. We really won`t have internet out there but we`ll try our best to somehow stay in touch.
Thanks for checking in on us!