December 29, 2012 2 Christmases

The first picture is at the missionary Christmas party in Georgia which was Fri., Dec. 19th.  We attended church in Tbilisi on Sun., Dec. 21st and Carl and I were asked to be the speakers just before the sacrament meeting started.  We needed to be in Yerevan Sun. to turn in our applications and passports to apply for a Russian visa early Mon. so we made the trip to Yerevan with President Carter after church.  The Armenia missionary Christmas party was Mon. so the group picture was taken that day.  On Wed. night we took the 10 hour train trip from Armenia to Georgia.  Busy week!

December 17, 2012 Georgia On My Mind

We made the trip by mission van today to Georgia.  It takes a minimum of 5 hours.  It took a little longer today as we had snow covered roads over the mountains and there was a wait at the border crossing.  The first picture is at the bottom of the stairs in our apartment building.  We are on the second floor and a pipe had broken in the apartment across from ours so the water was rushing down from that apartment and we used an umbrella to go up the stairs.  The second picture is the traditional Georgian bread.  The little white trees are made out a branch and then carved with long shavings.  They are a Christmas decoration.  We spent Mon. with the senior missionary couple from Georgia who have completed their mission and the office couple from Armenia.  We had a progressive dinner featuring the 4 Mc Donald's in Tbilisi.

Nov. 29-Dec. 7, 2012 U.S.A.

On Nov. 29th we flew back to the U.S. for a cancer skin check.  We flew Air France to Paris, New York, S.L.  The plane from Paris to New York was one of the new Airbus A380 with a capacity of 516 passengers.  We were grateful for the exam as Carl had 2 basal cells removed and the one I had removed was a squamous cell.  We made good use of the U.S. time and stopped by In-N-Out and Costco.  Mon. we were able to drive to Idaho with Nancy, my sister, to see Mom and had lunch with Ralph, my brother and his wife, Brenda.  We also visited with Carl's aunt and uncle, Don and Iris.  We had one week to adjust to the jet lag before we left to come back.  There is an 11 hour time change so when it is day in Armenia it is night in the U.S.  Hard for the body to comprehend!  Nice to be back in Armenia.  Today, December 10th we put up a few Christmas decorations.