Khuslen's 1st trip to Omaha, NE

Khuslen had his 1st trip to visit his grandpa on May 25-28. Khuslen enjoyed his visit in Omaha. We went to see the downtown Omaha, visited the train site, visited his great uncle Dave's cabin and went to his great aunt Meriel's birthday party. At the party, he enjoyed playing with his 2nd cousin Natalie. They watched the cartoon together. Then they started chasing each other around the house and he had so much fun with her. We also visited the train display sites and Khuslen loved seeing the trains.
Next day, we visited Dave's cabin and he loved playing in a big yard. He also loved spending time together with his grandpa. After we came back from Omaha, he kept asking me to see grandpa every day. It was very fun trip for Khuslen.

Хүслэн хүү анх удаа өвөөгийнхөө амьдардаг Омаха хотод айлчиллаа. Тэнд байхдаа тэрээр өөрийнхөө нагац эгчийнхээ төрсөн өдрийн баярт очлоо. Төрсөн өдрийн баяр дээр Хүслэн өөрийн нэгэн үеэлтэйгээ ханатлаа хөгжилдөж тоглолоо.Тэр хоёр хамтдаа хүүхэлдэйн кино үзэж, хөгжилдлөө. Мөн тэрээр авга ахынхаа шинэ зуслангийн байрыг очиж үзлээ.  Том хашаан дотор Хүслэн хүү шавайгаа ханатал тоглолоо. Мөн Омаха хотын төв хэсгээр айлчилж, галт тэрэгний үзмэрийг үзлээ. Хүслэн өвөөтэйгээ цагийг их зугаатай өнгөрөөлөө. Гэртээ ирсэнийхээ дараа өглөө бүр босонгуутаа өвөөгийнд очъё гэж хэлж, намайг нэлээн сандаргалаа. Хүслэн хүү ингээд АНУ-ын 5 мужаар аялаж үзээд байна.

Trip to Provence

The Voecks family joined the Cummings family (from Denver) and stayed in a beautiful stone house near the tiny village of Bonnieux, France.  The house was very remote - located down a long, narrow rutted lane and not well marked.  Bonnieux hugs a cliff and also has narrow streets that wind up and down the steep inclines of the village - harrowing at times and not for the novice driver!

The lavender fields were in bloom and we saw grape vines everywhere we looked.  We alternated between relaxing by the pool and eating dinner outside by candlelight with trips to Aix en Provence, Chateauneuf-du-Pape and an antiques market in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.  We highly recommend the local pain au chocolat, Tomme du Savoie cheese, lavender honey and Rose wine.

We finally enjoyed some sun and Mediterranean weather.  The kids would recommend the Indiana Jones movies they watched every night.  And the stars were amazing - I can't remember the last time I saw so many stars and many of them were very bright.  We even saw a few shooting stars.  Ryan had special permission to miss a few days of school - he didn't seem to mind.

Indiana Jones and the French Baguette

Garett & Shelly

Graham, Camille & Ryan - An evening in Bonnieux

Twilight dinner at the house (9:45 pm)

Enjoying the pool and warm weather

Ryan lived in his swim trunks around the clock

Ryan & Camille at Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Amazing views

Lavender fields in bloom

The village of Bonnieux

Typical French menu - what are we having?

Colorful shutters

Au revoir!!

Terri's Garden Growing

Garett and Shelly requested photos of the garden. Here are a few. This is the perennial garden that I have just redone. It needs mulch. These are the 5 raised beds. The one on the far right is supposed to have lettuce and spinach, but isn't growing well. Potatoes are growing well in the corner. Peppers and tomatoes. The Tiger Lilies are blooming in the background. More tomatoes, peas, onions, kale, brussel sprouts, and broccoli.

John's 40th Birthday

Does anyone want to claim this?

Chess Master Ryan

Ryan is having a successful run with chess lately.  This week was half term break in the UK and today he won 1st place at the Summer Chess Camp.  Next week it's back to school, but for the past three days he has been living and breathing chess.  His school team also qualified for the UK National Chess Finals in the Under 9 category.  They will be one of 8 teams that advanced past all of the qualifying rounds.  The competition will be held in early July on the west coast of England near Burnham-on-Sea.  Ryan isn't too disappointed that he will miss the last 2-3 days of the school year to compete.

This picture was taken a couple of weekends ago during our only spate of warm weather (hence the shorts).  It was at the Mega Chess Finals in Wembley.  Ryan carefully records all of the chess moves for himself and his opponent.  Then he reviews the match with his coach or Garett later.