August 8. 2006

Hello Everyone,
We're on day number two of no water here in Koksheteau. Thank goodness we save huge bottles of water that we can warm up and use to take showers in a bowl. Not bad, just takes a bit longer! We had dinner last night with all of the Americans here at a place called Cafe Classic. It was the best meal we have had here. Ryan had what's called...chicken in a fur coat. It's chicken breast wrapped in hashbrown style potatoes and baked. It was great! And I had a dish that was beef with onions, green and orange peppers, then topped with a chesse sauce. And both came with potato balls that looked a lot like hush puppies. Good meal. And, we had two Brutus (huge) glasses of beer EACH and bottled water. Both meals, the beer, and water cost a total of $25.00. We thought it was quite a steal considering the establishment and the food.

We're counting down the days to coming home and bringing Mason to our apartment. It's 8 more days to bring Mason to our apartment and 15 days to come home! Woo Hoo!! We can't wait.

Mason gets more and more open every visit. He now mimmics a lot that we do and has started to make some sounds which is great. He responds to us calling him Mason (when he wants). I think the kids in the baby house learn to tune out sounds and he seems to do that quite a bit. Or, he's just thinking...you guys are crazy and I still don't understand a word you say. But, all will progress in time. And, we finally got him to drink from the sippie cup. We took him for a long, long walk and then offered it to him. He was so thirsty, he couldn't resist. So, now he takes the pacifier and the sippie cup which will help us with the flights and his ears popping. That's the most of what's happened in the past couple of days. He doesn't like to leave us and we feel the same but soon there will be no more leaving each other.

Miss everyone and love you lots.

Rachel, Ryan, and Mason