Summer Vacation in Utah - Scottish Festival in Payson

On July 11 we went to the Scottish Festival right in Payson, Utah. Apparently it is a big deal, and a lot of people (even out of state) come there. That is another thing I haven't ever done even though we lived in Utah for 6 years. And so I am glad we all happened to be in Payson on the very day they had the festival. Well, all but Spencer who was driving his brother to California. We picked up my sister-in-law Shellee (whose husband was driven to California by my husband) and Spencer's mom and went on a girls day out. And who do you think we see first?

What is Santa Claus doing here in the summer?

The festival was a lot of fun. There was Highland dance competition, athletic competitions, storytelling and singing, a lot of vendors with cool stuff, and of course pipes and bands!

Highland Dance competition

Athletic competition. This lady that is throwing the weight up in the air was pretty impressive.

Vendors.

Girls. They have a bit of Scottish in them.... a very small bit.

One of the performances I liked was done by these two very talented dudes. I can't remember if they were brothers or friends but they could play so many different instruments and sang a lot of Scottish folk songs. It was awesome!

Watching the performance

These two guys were very talented!

Lexa and I enjoying the performance.

Looking at what vendors had to offer was fun! I had no idea that our girls were so interested in weapons. First they were begging me to buy them these cool knives. I didn't think it was a good idea because they haven't had much experience with real knives (totally my oversight!) Then they saw swords. Then they saw bows and arrows. They wanted it all! I finally gave them each $5 to spend on whatever they wanted, and if the thing they wanted cost more, they had to pay out of their own pocket. Well, now we are proud owners of 3 bows with arrows and 1 sword!

This was a huge tent where you could completely outfit yourself in a true Scottish fashion. Rows and rows of all kinds of kilts!

This is a tent with all kinds of weapons that our girls fell in love with.

I just thought this dude had the coolest kilt! I think Shellee thought the same thing (she is on the right taking a picture of him)

Of course we couldn't pass this knight.

And the bows!

I was just happy that the girls didn't spot this sign. Otherwise we would have come home not just with weapons but with 4 puppies to go with them as well!

My favorite activity of the day was watching with opening ceremonies where the 4 different groups of bands representing North, East, South and West marched on the street (one group at a time) and stood at attention. It was a beautiful sight and the air was filled with pipe music. I really love Scottish music!

A pipe band is getting ready to march in the parade.

Standing at attention for the Opening Ceremonies!

Parade.

Parade

Lina at the parade.

We all had a lot of fun! 

Summer Vacation in Utah - Palisade Park and Snow College Activity Center

Our next water adventure was at Palisade Park in Ephraim, Utah. That is where we had our family reunion with Spencer's brothers and sisters and their families. We stayed at Willow Creek Inn for a few nights and had adventures during the day at various places, our favorite being Palisade Park. Palisade park is a reservoir and state park that is located about 12 miles south of Ephraim, near Sterling, Utah.

Palisade Park, Ephraim.

When we got there were quite a few campers, but we found a great spot for our base, and then the kids all went into water. And that is where they stayed all day until it was time to go. The water was really warm, the temperature was about what you get in an indoor pool. It was a beautiful day and we even rented a paddle boat for the kids and grown ups to take on adventures!

Checking out the water

This tree was a popular base for kids' water adventures including fishing. They caught a lot of little fish and saw a few big gold fish that were hanging in the roots of that tree.

Catching fish with the cousins.

Chilling on the pier.

Even Spencer got into the water.

He is pretty hot!

And that's me watching him from a safe place. Yep, he is pretty hot!

Jumping off the pier - what can be better?!

And, of course, riding on a pedal boat. I think our kids're having a pretty fun summer!

 While in Ephraim we also went a number of times to the pool at Snow College. That is where Sophie and Lexa really learned how to swim. The older kids were jumping off the diving board, so they wanted to do the same,. We told them that they needed to be able to swim across the pool on their own before they could try diving. And... they did!

Happy Lexa

One of the twins (probably Sophie) jumping off the high dive.

Spencer comforting Lexa after she accidentally did a belly flop. One of my favorite pictures!

And there she goes again!

Sophie - I just love that face!

 While in Ephraim we also took the kids to Manti to show them the place where our biggest life adventure started 13 years ago - the Manti Temple!

Manti Temple - just as beautiful as on the day Spencer and I got married!

And here we are, 13 years later!

Summer Vacation in Utah - Water Fun Part II

During the first two weeks of our Utah vacation we put our kids into swimming lessons at the Payson outdoor pool. When we lived in Iowa our kids would always take swimming lessons throughout the year and especially in the summers but we didn't have an opportunity to do it when we lived in Las Vegas (though we did visit the pools there once in a while), and in Astana our first year was so busy that we didn't even find a pool to go to. The only exception was Thailand where we spend every day of our vacation in water. Needless to say the girls were very anxious to start swimming again. We arrived right before the new session started, so everything worked out great especially because it was around 104 F every day for those first couple of weeks or so. The girls loved it, and this time they actually made a huge improvement!

Nika and Lina practicing swimming using just their legs

Sun + water = happy kids

We also got together with Spencer's brother Ben's family a couple of times for an afternoon at the pool which is always a lot of fun!

At the Payson outdoor pool. I know our girls are somewhere in there.

Sophie is going down the slide

We had a great time swimming in the Payson pool while we were there.  The girls got good enough at swimming that we are comfortable with them in the water now.

Summer Vacation in Utah - Water Fun Part I

At the end of June we went back to Utah for our summer vacation. We spent a little over a month hanging out with family and friends and also participating in some fun outdoor adventures. It was awesome! We feel like we totally recharged and are ready to spend another year here in Kazakhstan.

Our first few adventures involved water in one way or another! Our very first full day after arrival to Utah we went up to the Payson lake. It was literally a 10 minute drive from Spencer's mom's home up the Payson Canyon but in my 6 years of living in Utah I have never been there. In fact I have never been to any of the places we went on adventures this summer. I guess when you live in some place you always tend to explore things that are further away and totally overlook the amazing things that are right under your nose! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from the Payson lake because I lost my old camera a week before we left Astana and hadn't yet bought my new fancy camera that I have now. But even though I do not have pictures to prove it, the lake was beautiful and peaceful even with a couple of YW camps around it.

A couple of days later we went to Bear Lake up in Idaho (we might have stayed on the Utah side of it) for a family reunion. That is another place I'd often driven past but hadn't visited it until this summer. The lake was gorgeous with its beautiful clear blue water (and this time I already had my camera with me), too cold for my liking but the kids had a lot of fun swimming with their second cousins. We had a lot of fun there!

Drive up to the Bear Lake. These mountains remind me so much of Altai, where my family is from.

Kids swimming in the Bear Lake. They didn't mind the cool water at all.

Playing with the second cousins

So tired after a whole day in the water and sun.

Our next adventure was up the Provo Canyon on the 4^th of July. We got together with Spencer's brother Burl and his family, his sister Suzette and her family and Spencer's mom and had a fun time visiting, playing games and even fishing on the Provo river.  

Playing games

Uncle Mike teaching the kids the art of fishing. He should be awarded a medal for being so patient!

Sophie turned out to be a good fisherman. She got a hang of it right away.

Lexa's line kept getting stuck in the rocks.

Nika is trying her hand in fishing

Lina is loving it!

We all had such a great time!

The end of school year

Our girls finished their first year in a public school system here in Kazakhstan. It was a hard year but at the same time a very rewarding one. The girls have adapted to the new school system, language, and culture and absolutely exceeded our expectations. Three of them finished the year with straight As and one had just a couple of Bs and the rest were As. Some of the hard things that we encountered were going to school on Saturdays, having kids in the morning and afternoon shifts, constant change in schedules, dealing with bureaucracy, problems with transportation and others. To be honest once or twice I came very close to taking them out of school and just homeschooling. I am glad I didn’t though. For the girls the first 4 months were the hardest but then something clicked and all of them took off flying. They made new friends and they learned Russian while learning everything else in Russian. Going through these challenges and coming up on top of them gave them an incredible sense of accomplishment. We are very proud of them!

 

First Grade (Class 1"G")

Sophie and Lexa with their teacher. She was AWESOME!

School is over! Sophie, Lexa and James Peterson are on the front steps of the school

The school year ended on May 22 here. And on May 23^rd Veronika had her big graduation ball. She finished elementary school (here it is 1-4 grade) and is moving to the middle school. Here it is almost as big of a deal as graduating from high school. The last week of school they didn’t have any classes but were getting ready for the ball: learning dances, songs, practicing skits.

Generally parents are not invited to the school events but for the graduation an exception was made. Spencer was in Washington DC at the time, so he missed it. The kids did a great job! They put up quite a concert with some of amazing numbers. My favorite ones were Kazakh folk dances. Overall it was a really neat experience and I am glad that Veronika was a part of it!

Nika with her best friend Kate 

Fancy!

Waltz

Singing a good bye song to the teachers

Kazakh dance

I love Kazakh national costumes!

These girls were AMAZING! 

Nika singing "The Rainbow Connection". She sang that song for the contest in March and ever since she was asked to sing it again and again at different school parties.

Getting a certificate for Excellent School Work from assistant principal

Flash mob dance

Fourth grade class with some of the parents

Veronika with her teacher. All of our girls were lucky to get such good teachers.

Nika, Lina, and Kate Peterson in front of their school.