home again!

I have returned! My trip to Asia was amazing. Up until landing in San Franciso, where a security guard took a look at my passport, noticed I live in Aurora, CO and asked if I'd heard the news. More on that later. I have so much to share about my trip, but it will have to be in doses, to prevent a post that takes hours to write and hours to read, ha!

I'm so glad I brought my big camera. Yes, it added bulk to my carry on backpack, but it wasn't really that much of a pain to carry around and I sure did get some great pics with it. I only brought my fixed lens, since it's a lot lighter than my big lens with a zoom. Having no zoom allowed for extra creativity--or that's how I chose to look at it ;)

I'll start with a few faves from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Enjoy!

The camel ride was a highlight. A funny thing about Mongolia is that peeing is acceptable--anywhere. We constantly saw people peeing on the side of the road, kids peeing into puddles, etc... We pulled up to some camels for a ride and couldn't see a person around. My sister, said, "he's probably off peeing somewhere" and we all laughed, "hahaha". Then I looked around and sure enough, there he was, peeing into the grass several yards away. Ha!

My favorite pic of my sister, for sure:

Another highlight was getting to see my Dad's world, at Wagner Asia. So fun to see his world and see him in the environment that he loves!

My Dad as Chinggis Khan, hahahaha!

Speaking of Chinggis, (yes it's Chinggis, not Ghengis, contrary to Western belief ;), as he is Mongolia's national hero, we just had to climb his statue. It is HUGE. Crazy huge. We entered the horse's rear, went up a lot of stairs, got cozy with a lot of Mongolians, and crawled out of his crotch for a view of the countryside. Yep.

Annnnnd... a guy peeing. Didn't see him there 'til after I snapped the picture. Betcha he didn't know he'd end up on the Internet, hahahahahaha! 

I'll share some more tomorrow! It will probably take me all week to post my faves. After that, I'll share links to my Flickr sets, so those who want to see all the pics (and there are a lot) can do so :) 

Back to the shooting in my hometown. I don't have any well-compiled thoughts just yet, but just to please ask for prayer. There were many people of strong faith in God in that theater and that is no accident. The good news about God's mercy, His love and His providence is busy spreading throughout our community after this tragedy. Here are a few wonderful posts for you to read!

My friend Marie and a few of her teenage kids were there that night and she wrote a post on her blog that has spread like wildfire (praise the Lord!) Such a testimony to God's mercy. 

Just this morning, I read this miraculous story. And the testimonies continue! 

I have a friend from church who's cousin is in the hospital in rough shape, along with so many others. 

The mother in critical condition who hasn't yet been told that her 6-year-old daughter was killed is especially on my heart. Please pray for those recovering and those who were not hurt, but were there and witnessed this horrific event--emotional healing for them. Colorado has had too many of these tragic shootings and we just really need your prayers!