What Real Winter Looks Like

Every year the locals would tell us that this winter in Astana is going to be brutal, but we haven't really experienced it in the previous three years. Yes, it could get really cold (-40 C or F) but it didn't stay cold for too long. Yes, we could have blizzards but they usually lasted just a few hours in the city (outside of the city is a different story). This January, however, we got a real taste of Kazakh winter. It started with a blizzard which lasted all day long. Akimat (Mayor's office) announced it as an emergency and asked people to stay home if possible. The schools were cancelled, and many businesses were closed early. The winds were so strong that they blew a roof off one of the buildings in the city.

A view from our window during the blizzard

Then a few days later the temperatures dropped down to -36C - 45C (-32 F - 49F) and stayed down for the entire week. Again, all of the schools were canceled, and many government businesses closed down early every day.

Our window during the severe weather.

And because of that, Yuki the dog had to learn to to wear boots! We tried them the first year we got here but she hated them, so we never used them. But that week it was so cold, that her feet would freeze, and she couldn't move. The fun part was when we would come home after walking her, she would stop at the door and patiently wait for us to take of our coats so we could take her boots of. She would not wear her boots in the house!

Putting those boots on her was an ordeal but it was worth it.

Our little fashionista! 

Besides being cold, winters here are very festive! Here we are waiting for our bus at the Children's Palace where our kids go for all of their extracurricular activities. The entire building is covered with bright snowflakes!

Kids can always find fun activities in the winter as long as it is not too cold. Here our kids are playing in the huge pile of snow that was plowed and left right outside of our apartment building.

When the freezing temperatures started to rise, and it was only -20C (-4F), we decided to visit the Ice Village that they built right at the Expo sight across from our university. The Christmas Tree there was one of the best ones I've seen, the slides had plenty of entertainment in store for kids, and the kids were ... just kids.

Christmas Tree right in front of the Sphere, the main Expo building.

Kids are having fun on the slides.

Sophie

Lina

Nika.

A little bit frozen but happy!!!

Utah Trip Christmas 2017 - Part 6 - Coming Home

We loved our Christmas in Utah and had a lot of fun with our family, immediate and extended! But we also like coming home, though to be fair, some of us would have loved staying longer. Well, that is what summer breaks are for!

The day before we were flying back to Kazakhstan, we had a visit from Max and Danielle (Max is our kids' second cousin) during which we realized that we had three mothers of twins under one roof: Oma's twin boys are a little over 40 now, my twin girls are almost 10 years old, and Danielle is pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl!

Mothers of twins!

On Sunday, December 31st we woke up early to catch a flight to San Francisco, and then to Frankfurt, Germany and Astana, Kazakhstan. We were wondering where exactly we will be when the clock strikes 12 and rings the New Year in. I think we were somewhere over Greenland but I am not sure because most people were asleep on the plane, and the captain wasn't going to get the party going. The benefit of flying internationally over the New Year is that the flights are half empty. Some of our kids had a chance to spread out, and the flight to Astana was almost completely empty (maybe around 20-25 passengers), so each one of us took a whole row! Nice!

Lina at the Salt Lake City Airport, ready (or not) to embark on the long journey.

This is what happens when you are bothering your mother, and your mother just happened to have a very cool phone that she knows how to use to her advantage

At the San Francisco Airport we decided to celebrate New Years with some yummy Vietnamese food. We are so looking forward to going to Vietnam for our spring break!

Frankfurt Airport was so empty!

Flying to Astana

While flying over New Years was quiet pleasant, arriving to Astana on the night of the 1st of January was not. No taxis! No buses! Everybody was celebrating! We did manage to finally find two taxis that charged us double the price. Tired but happy we arrived at our home, sweet home! Back to our not so regular lives!