Our Sea Shipment Arrived!

The first thing Russell did was start rummaging through the toys for the trains!

The part of the shipment I was dreading was the year's supply of food and other supplies because I wasn't sure where to put it! I'm still not sure, but we're a few steps away from this chaotic state which was a toddler/preschooler wonderland.

Once the 13 men who unloaded and unpacked our stuff stopped to take a break, Russell put some of them to work building his castle. It's amazing how a few months of household help can turn a 2-year-old into a bossy sahib.

This is all the moving guys trying to push and shove our couch in the door. They know how to provide plenty of manpower, but the brainpower is sometimes seriously lacking!

Russell and Daddy watching the unloading perched on top of the piano. The piano was amazingly in pitch after its long journey by truck, boat, train, and then truck again.

Graham enjoyed most of the day playing on the grass or sleeping in the stroller with Sarita and Sudhir while we tried to direct all the barefooted moving men.

Getting Away From It All in Rajasthan

Deciding we needed a break from the stress of setting up a house in Delhi, we headed out to the desert of Rajasthan....

The porters at the train station don't need no stinking wheels on the luggage they haul:

Arriving at the train station in the little town of Osiyan:

Our camel camp. It sits on top of a giant sand dune. It was quite a ride sliding down that hill every day in the Jeep.

Merinda and Graham chilling out at the swimming pool. It was so hot we spent most of our time up there.

The gang in town looking at the old temples. Visiting ancient sacred shrines with little children is no picnic.

Russell and Isaac looking oh so cute and innocent after getting a talking to for being naughty at the temple.

Our tent at sunset. As Isaac is fond of pointing out, the coolest feature of the tents is they had toilets..

Breakfast is served...

On safari with our trusty steeds...



Graham's new best friend. The fellow has 7 kids himself.

Russell getting a little tired at the end of the big trip

Everybody else getting tired too...

Indian Wedding Fun

We went to our first Indian wedding and arrived too late for the family celebration at home (which I think we weren't actually supposed to go to anyway), and we sat in the living room while everyone readied themselves for the bharat--the procession/parade to the wedding place. Graham made many friends while we waited.

At about 9:00 pm the bharat began. We went less than a mile in about two hours. Generator in a truck powering chandelier lights along the way, a full brass band blaring music, fireworks, and lots and lots of dancing. The men did most of the dancing and almost always with other men. Rich was loving it. I was enjoying it, but worried about Graham's ears and getting hit with a firecracker!

At one point the trumpeter decided Graham needed his own firsthand, lasting memory of the wedding. Let's hope he can hear later!

This is Merinda at the wedding party lawn with lots of lights and glitz. I wised up this time and didn't wear black. By this time it was 1:00 am, Graham-Bam was fast asleep, and we gave up on the wedding actually STARTING and went home!

Rainbow Day

Isaac's #1 favorite thing to talk about from his school activities is PE. His wonderful PE teachers put on a program called "Rainbow Day" for all the ECEC4 classes.
Each class dressed in a different color (Isaac's was green) and the did various activities in the big kid's gym while the parents sat in the bleachers, energetic music played, and the cameras flashed. Isaac was thrilled to have us there!

Home Shopping Network (India Style)

The guy with the beard is a man named "Butcher King" who delivers beef right to your home and cuts it right in front of you just how you like it. Eating beef is not common or popular here, so he's quite discreet in his delivery!

This guy is one of many merchants who show up at our gate often selling their wares loaded on the back of bikes or motorcycles. Come to India and you can stop shopping with your remote and bargain at our gate. The guy in the uniform here is Rambir, my favorite guard. He doesn't speak a word of English but he comes running whenever anybody needs help and royally chewed out a "chiseler" the other day who stole 18 rupees (36 cents) from us.

Olympics at the Mother's Park

Today we were walking through the "Mother's Park" (which, strangely enough, is full of men sitting in circles on the grass playing cards!) with Sarita and Mommy-jee (our driver's wizened mother who is staying in his quarters for a few weeks--gotta catch a picture of her before she leaves!).Isaac and Russell decided to have a RACE around the park and took off running.
Isaac won the gold, but Russell ran with all his might and got a well-deserved silver medal!

Valentine's Day Visit to the Train Museum

I visited Isaac's class today and when it came time to share news Isaac said, "We're going to the Train Museum today!" This was news to me, but I decided to make it happen anyway!

The museum was wonderful. Train after train to climb in and imagine with. They even had a real live turntable. Both boys were in heaven.

Russell has asked about his trains coming on the sea shipment nearly every day. Well, at least if we don't have toy trains we've got the real thing!

My First Taste of Native Life in India

This is Alveena and her mother Meenu. I spent the afternoon today with Liz Hall searching for four girls who are coming into Young Women's at church this year. We only found this one in a tiny room of a house, but Alveena, her brother Alveen, and her mother Meenu were so HAPPY and seemed so happy to have us there visiting.

This is a picture of the kids at a slum school I visited with Brother and Sister Daniels. The school is in Kalkaji and is run by an NGO. The children are all so beautiful and eager to learn and interact with us.

This is Sister Daniels greeting the children. They LOVE her and she gets giddy when she talks about the music classes she teaches them and showed photos of each child to me.

This is Brother Daniels with the children. He is completely head-over-heels in love with them, especially the little ones. The Daniels are from Price, Utah and are Church service missionaries here in New Delhi. They also run the branch on the side in between teaching at orphanages and schools all over town!

Rich's First Brush with the Mafia

Isaac's Still Life Photo Essay

I don't want to ruin your own personal artistic interpretation of his photos, so I'll let them speak for themselves.

Just Hangin' Out

Let ya'll think our lives are all about elephants and weddings here, here's some photos of us just hanging out.

I'm really liking the floor plan of our house here. The kitchen is big-ish and looks out onto the front garden, which I've always wanted.


Russell's favorite thing to do these days is hoist himself up on the counter and make himself a honey sandwich.


Graham's favorite thing is to be anywhere he can chew or suck on something!

First Haircuts in India

Okay, where else in the world can you walk to the barber (albeit through trash and dust), walk in, and get everyone's haircut without a wait and for less than $2? Only in India!


This is the barber shop.


All three boys (see Rich in the mirror) sitting quietly (awe or fear, I'm not sure) while getting their hair cut without any nasty electric shavers (Isaac's least favorite part).


I think we will only know how Russell felt about this experience the NEXT time we go for a haircut. He was completely mute and docile. Not sure if he was tired, scared out of his wits, or enjoying the experience!



This is the little boy who watched the whole spectacle. I think he was the son of one of the barbers. At one point his dad went to buy him some grapes at the fruit seller just outside the door and the little boy came back and tried to share them with Russell. When I took this picture of him I showed him the photo in the viewfinder and he looked at it like he'd never seen a picture of himself before. So cute.