Heading Home!

We are officially on our way home. We leave to visit Chad & Bethany on their mission in Russia. Then we are headed to the states. We will be home within the first couple weeks of July!!

OUR NEW CALLING!!

We just wanted to announce that we were recently given the call of Temple President and Matron of the Dallas, Texas LDS Temple. We will begin our service November 1st!! See the link...

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/59377/New-temple-presidents.html

Shishli Barbeque

This was at the Valentine branch party and the members really like the Georgian bread. They buy it on the street and it is very cheap. No yeast. They carry it around just like this totally uncovered day or night. They eat it cold with nothing on it not even butter or jam. They sometimes use it to sop up juices in the pan but mainly eat it just as bread. They traditionally tear it apart in big chunks. Everyone just loves it. A Georgian party is not a party without it.

This also is a must for a real Georgian party. It is mainly big chunks of pork barbecued on an open pit fire. It is cooked on skewers. They serve it with pomegranate seeds and sliced onions over it. It is OK tasting.

Only men cook shishli and it is done outside over an open flame. The wood was wet and no lighting fluid, so we didn't eat until after 5 PM when we was supposed to start at 2 PM. Everything was late getting started except the arrival of the people and that was at 2 PM. So a lot of unhappy members.

No Dryer

Most apartments and homes do not even have a washer. We have never seen a dryer in Georgia. Mom put this picture up to remind all of you that we all may be drying our clothes this way in the future the way things are now going in this old world. Look close to the apartment building on the other side and you will see many with their close out on the line. Both of us grew up drying clothes this very same way.

Happy 51st Anniversary!

Last year we celebrated our 50th Anniversary. All of our children and their spouses were there to surprise us and celebrate. We had an amazing time together. This is a slide show our daughter, Shaneen, put together to recap our 50 years together.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pizza by Talmadge

She makes a great pizza from scratch. No pizza board, but she found out that the cookie sheet upside down works great. Do you see that Bethany? Spread the word all thru Russia. The missionaries go wild over it.

Talmadge's Winter Gear

This is what we wear in the winter. She is beautiful even at 69+. The coldest so far is 25 degrees F. Not bad. Snow came one day but melted when it hit the ground.

Winter Gear

The hat folds down over my ears when I go outside. The strap around the neck goes to my must take brief case with passport, many keys to both chapels, branch lists, and many other things to do.

Primary Children - Avlabari

That's all of them. We may be able to get up to 7 or even 9 if we work hard to get all the children active and out at one time. Talmadge works with the 3 newly called primary presidency, but it is very slow going because she can't speak Russian or Georgian. None of the children can understand English. Hard, hard and hard. In the Saburtalo Branch, we only have 2 children possible and most of the time only one or none come. The primary president has been a member only 3 months, no counselors and usually shows the child where the toys are and then she goes to Relief Society.

The 1st Georgian Missionary!!

As you can see from this picture, the mission here in Georgia has been great for me since now I am so tall. When we come home, I will tower over all of you. Not really, I am standing on a wooden box and Dato and his mother are not. It just makes me feel tall.

Sorry, no box. Yes, as you can see, the height is real. Dato is now at the MTC for a month. He will be going to Ukraine and teaching in Russian. His mother is a non-member but excited that he was able to go. Dato is 4 ft 10 in. and his mother about 4 ft 4 inches. I have never met his father. The picture was taken right after I set him apart for his mission. I also gave him his first temple recommend and recommend for a patriarchal blessing. His flight in the air was his first also. He is the first Elder to ever serve from Georgia. Lots of firsts.