So..... a catch up on the last few months.

The biggest change for Justus and I has been the start of regular schooldays. For the most part this has been a fun new phase to enter into. Justus is progressing  really well with his reading and writing and maths concepts. I'm enjoying watching him grow and learn. I keep trying to remember those few small memories of mine from a similar age and try to keep it fun and constructive. Somedays are a mission for both of us but we're managing to stay on track so far.

As you probably saw from the photos, Steve had a great trip out to North-Western Mongolia with his work. He spent a lot of time bumping around rough 'roads'  at about 20km an hour so had plenty of time to breath in the sights. He spend most of his time speaking with rural veterinarians about the issues they face and also meeting with some members of a Model Herder Project to assess outcomes. Overall it was an enjoyable and productive trip as well as a great cultural immersion. I think Steve's record for a Hotel stay for the night was 4000 tugruk (about NZ $4) when he wasn't camping in a local Ger.

About the same time the kids and I headed about 400km south west to visit some australian VSO Volunteers. We had the excitement of travelling down in our friends newly purchased Russian Jeep. The kids thought it was fantastic, although a little hard keeping bottoms on seats for 7 hours when there were no seatbelts. Arvaikheer (where our friends live) treated us to a full scale blizzard which meant we didn't get to adventure outside as much as we might have liked but we still had a wonderful break from UB and lots of fun hanging out with different faces. The trip back was a bit of a mission, but Hey we're living in Mongolia so it would be a bit of a worry if things didn't get a bit hairy occasionally.

I'll paste some more pics soon of a couple of camp-outs we've been on with friends. We always enjoy getting out to the countryside where you only need to worry about waist deep snow rather than potholes and crazy drivers and pedestrians :-)

Speaking of snow though, it's all gone now around UB, just a few sprinklings on the Mountain tops is all that remains and over the last few days the first sprouts of green have started poking through. Ahhh... we are loving it. Enjoyed a picnic and a BBQ over this weekend just been, and occasionally we can get outside with just a T-shirt which is luxury.

We've now only got just over 2 months left in Mongolia before we whizz by N.Z before heading on to a 2 year placement in Samoa. Steve will be working with the Ministry of Ag and Fish and I will be the sole permanent small animal vet on the islands involved in control of the stray dog population and other animal welfare issues. It's a pretty exciting move for us and I especially am looking forward to getting back into a bit more vet work. I'm still working a morning a week at the small animal clinic here in UB which is also fun.

Anyway will have some more pics up soon.

Better go and get sorted for the next round of schoolwork.

Daraa Ulzii

Belinda.