Countdown Begins

We now have tickets reserved for returning

JULY 9

with scheduled arrival of July 11.

July 11 just happens to be Naadam, one of the biggest holidays in Mongolia.

Hope we'll be able to find a taxi. Please pray that luggage arrives safely at least possible cost.

The countdown begins.

E.R. Visit

Not for us but for Liz's mom. She had been out to dinner and suddenly started acting strangely She couldn't see and then became unresponsive. Focus at the e.r. seemed to zero in on the her low blood sugar. We took the neices home before hearing a final diagnosis.

We've Got Mail!

Just emptied our post box. The little white envelope with a return address in Washington D.C. contained our familiar blue passports with a page full of Mongolian letters. Long story short . . . our visas have arrived. Next step: plane tickets.

No Visa Yet.

Jim called D.C. and learned they were waiting for a paper they already had. He was told our passports would be mailed last Tuesday. Nothing has arrived yet, maybe tomorrow?

No Visas Yet.

Kind of feels like the last month of pregnancy - - no baby yet :)

Visas?

There has been progress regarding our new visas but we still don't have them in hand. Our passports & visas are supposed to rendezvous in WA D.C. some time soon, maybe this week. We are waiting to explore ticket options until we have those little blue books 'visa'-stamped and at our Olympia address.

We had pasta salad and sparkling cider on our patio tonight with roses blooming and birds singing nearby. We must confess we aren't exactly eager to get on that plane and head back to grey heat, a classroom & responsibilities. But we know that is where we should be for now, so we are trusting for our Father's perfect timing. Besides the suitcases we brought, we have accumulated quite a stash of stuff (from smoke detectors to alfalfa sprout seeds) we'd like to take back with us. Please pray that we'll be reasonable in packing and that we'll be able to check our boxes all the way through a couple of airports in Asia.