Pictures From Taylor's Birthday

Lunch on the Topchon

Driving up to the pool!

jumping

Nate the Life Gaurd

The water slide

Ben and Mom on the Topchon

Dad and Nate playing Bananagrams

My Birthday

   I had an awesome birthday this year!  On Friday we had youth group Bible study and then we all went out to dinner at Merve, which is Dushanbe’s fast food restaurant.  After dinner, three of the girls came over for a sleepover.  We had a pillow fight, played Dutch Blitz and Banana Grams, and finally went to bed laughing.  At exactly 12:01 AM, Jihae woke me up, yelled “Happy Birthday!” and threw a present at me.  I was so confused so I just asked her if I could open it the next day. 

   The next day, we had a big breakfast and then went up to Mardon, a pool in the mountains.  We swam, played more games, went down the waterslide a hundred times, and ate lunch.  For lunch we ate shashleak, (meat on a stick), and fruit! 

   By the time we got back home, we were all exhausted so we just put a movie on.  A few of us fell asleep.  We played a few more games and then everyone went home.  It was a great birthday but very tiring!!

            Taylor :)

Vivaldina the Kitty! Emma 6/30/11

Ben and Vivaldina

 A while after getting Pipin our rabbit, we decided it would be fun to have a cat. Taylor especially. She wanted one for her birthday. It just so happened that our neighbors had found a orange cat who they were trying to get rid of because they were moving. Great opportunity for Taylor to get her much wanted birthday present! But Dad didn't like that idea so much. He doesn't like cats at all really. So...nothing. We had pretty much given up all hope of ever getting a cat here. Then one day, we were out running errands, and while Mom was picking something up inside the building, we saw some little boys on a wall with a little ball of fluff. Then the boy holding it, dropped it right in the ditch. Aaaahhhh!!!! I promptly told Taylor to go and yell at them for being so mean. Well the boys started walking off but when they saw Taylor they went back. Taylor asked them in Russian where the kitten was. They brought her over to a spot in the ditch where three adorable tiny kittens were all snuggled up. They told Taylor the mother had died. So Taylor came back to the car to get the boys while I waited for Mom. When Mom did come, she saw the kittens and fell in love to. She called Dad. After notifying her that it was against his better judgement, he told her the conditions. 1. No cat in the house. 2. No letting it go to the bathroom all over....3. The kids were completely responsible for taking care of it. He was not going to offer any advice or take care of it for us. 4. We would have to make sure that Pipin didn't eat it and that when it was big it wouldn't eat Pipin. I told him that he couldn't have the heart to turn them away if he were there. He said sure he could. I said that he would love it when he saw it. He said yeah right and that he would not love it. Well we now have an adorable little girl kitten by the name of Vivaldina Tigra. Tigr is Russian for tiger. You pronounce the i, ee. Love her to death. Dad says he likes her NOW. But when she is older he says he might not like her so much. I don't know. There are some pictures of her. Soooo cute!

Ben holding the kitty on the ride home

Kitty in her box house on the first day

Swimming in Ice water!-Emma-6/4/11

We had another awesome weekend with the international school group and the homeschool group. We all took a trip to a swimming pool a little out of town. It has a very nice pool, a pretty big water slide, and plenty of room for a big group of crazy kids! When we got there we got suits on and got ready for the shock. The water was ICE COLD! We went down the slide about ten + times each. It was so fun! We all brought snacks, to which the Tajik swimmers present (outside of our group) gladly helped themselves. :) Only in Tajikistan! After a few games, some shashlik for lunch and a little rest, we were finally ready to get back into the water! It just so happened that it was lunch break for the lifeguards and the slide was closed. Some people left around 2:00 but the rest of us decided to make it last all day, swim till four and then play games at our house with the girls!!! We learned how to play Dutch Blitz. Fun game. After all that fun we were completely wiped out and, despite the generous rub down of sunscreen, sunburned. That was the end of that outing and we are already planning another trip to the pool!!

Emma

Another Great Weekend

Hello All!

   When we moved to Dushanbe, I was so surprised at the number English speaking kids.  We all have a giant youth group and sleepover about every month.  This past month, we hosted the girls’ sleepover and it was a ton fun!  We had a Bible study, ate dinner, played board games, and watched movies.  There were about fifteen girls that stayed over. 

   The next day we got together with the boys and had worship.  We played games, ate lunch, and went swimming at the Diagnostic center in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, it was the last youth group for the summer, but some of us are at an English camp for Tajik kids soon so we’ll see each other over the summer.  A few of us girls also have a Bible study every week and it is good to get together to laugh, visit and worship.  We are so blessed to have met all of these great people!!!!       

    Taylor ;)