Kitty, Puppy, and Brother fill... all at Once!

Last week Dana's brother came to visit. It was utterly delightful! It was quite a pick-me-up to roam around the city with him, eat LOTS of food, watch scary movies like we used to, and feel the love. We went to a Western-style coffee shop one day. This coffee shop has a little kitty cat that we got to pet, hold, and play with. Then a cute white fluffy puppy came in and the cat had a fit. So, then we pet the puppy! It sounds lame, but that was such a euphoric time. We hadn't pet a cat in over 6 months! Plus, we were with Dana's brother. We got our kitty, puppy, and brother fill all at one time. We love you, Justin, and are grateful for our time together.

After Dana's brother left we spent the last day of sunshine for the year at a park - the same park we played whiffel ball at on July 4th. This park is HUGE and we discovered a part of it we hadn't seen before. It was a lake that had Asian-like house boats, speed boats, and a fake beach with beach volleyball and all. We didn't play on the beach or boats because it cost money, but we did sit on the boardwalk and soaked up some warm rays. Our friend even caught a little shrimp with a net she brought!

Parks in this country are quite different from in the states. Not good, not bad, just different. If you look at this sign, for example, it is forbidden to play with a ball, bring pets, or step on the grass. Unheard of in the states! We did, however, see camels, sheep with their shepherd (blurry because Dana took the picture riding her bike) and horses. Notice how small the horses are compared to the horses we are used to. They are much furrier too. They are small and furry so that they can survive in the cold winters where food and warmth is hard to come by.

Dana's birthday was the 14th. The day before John took her to get a 2.5 hour massage. Yummy! Then we went to a fancy Westernish buffet and gorged ourselves (pictured above). They next day we had a really fun party with friends - ice cream cake and all!

The picture below is simply our city at night from the 18th floor of an office building. Colorful, right?