A Special Ending to "White Month"

       Right before the lockdown began for COVID-19, we were able to have two parties at the end of White month.  This one was at our house, and we invited neighbors.

       Nettie has a friend who is an expert at making buuzi (Buryat dumplings).  She made 150!  She is a believer and does it as a ministry.  Nettie and Ella helped.

     It's common here for the kids to eat first at the table and then they leave to go play while the adults eat.

     Except for Sasha, who came later, it was all women who came.  One lady kept raving about how wonderful it was to celebrate together and how we should celebrate holidays together more often.  She commented about how she feels like we are getting closer and closer as friends.  She kept calling her husband and trying to convince him to come.  I think she is probably a 10 on the extrovert scale, and he's probably a 1!  While it was a bit disappointing to have a lower turnout than we'd hoped, it was also a special time of connecting and celebrating this important Buryat holiday together.

     It was very loud, and people and kids were running around everywhere!  Little did we know that soon we wouldn't be seeing any people at all!

     We also had a Sagaalgan party at the Brubacher's apartment with English Club friends.  We have done this annually for many years.

Masha was there with her baby.  He was wearing Ike's old shirt, which was fun to see!

We enjoyed talking with everyone.

     After our feast of white foods, we played "Four On a Couch".  People were very confused by this game!  It was quite comical!

Ike loved holding the baby!

Girls dressed in white to match the theme of the month.

This little guy discovered the taste of cheesecake and licked his mom's plate clean!

...much to everyone's entertainment!

The boys can never get enough of climbing on Dima. =)

     This year our gift to everyone was a white candle with a Bible verse blessing attached.  Leif shared a short message from the Bible about the hope we can have in Jesus, who can make our sins whiter than snow.