Winter Holidays 2016

New Year has come and gone, and January is almost over! Where does the time go? Please, let me know if you find the answer! Time. Time is an interesting concept. I hope one day I can have some understanding of it, for now I am just grateful we have time together as a family wherever we are, wherever we live. And now we live in Kazakhstan!

Our winter holidays were calm and crazy at the same time. Most importantly we had time together as a family. Christmas was crazy because of all of the concerts and shows kids had to participate in on that day, so we decided to have our Christmas Eve tradition on Monday, December 26. Spencer stayed home from work, and we all spent the day together relaxing and playing Monopoly. We usually have Russian pelmeni (meat filled dumplings) for our Christmas Eve dinner, and then we talk about the birth of Christ and sing Christmas songs. This year we added a music talent show since we love music so much in our family and all four girls play some music instruments. We had a lot of fun!

Decorating our apartment for Christmas

Making paper snowflakes to hang on our ceiling.

Sophie and Lexa are playing duet during our Christmas Eve music show.

Nika and Lina are performing a song

We do all of the presents on New Year because it is when Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) delivers presents to the kids in this part of the world and because in the past couple of years our kids always had to go to school on Christmas anyway. It actually works out quite nicely. We usually spend the day playing games, cooking, making cookies for Ded Moroz (just like Santa, he also has a sweet tooth!), have our big feast and then have a “moviethon” when we watch Christmas movies both in Russian and English as long as we can stay up with a little break at midnight when we go outside and light sparkles to meet the New Year. This year the New Year Day was on Sunday and so we didn't stay up too late because we had to go to church the very next morning.  The time we spend together is precious and I hope the kids will remember it when they are out of our nest and on their own.

This year we had turkey for New Year's dinner. Turkeys are very hard to find here and when you do find one, it usually costs a fortune! We never had a full roasted turkey even on Thanksgiving here but I was able to find one right before New Years. This baby cost us $50 but it was totally worth it!

Our little Christmas tree after the kids have gone to bed.

New Years morning - always a happy time!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And may thins year you will have a gift of time, time with your loved ones, time with your family!
These candles were a present to Nika.  She made them out of a kit.

Getting Around Campus in the Winter

Something that has been in the works since we've gotten here has been a system of above-ground walkways that move between the buildings.  They were on the plans the first year here, begun during our first summer, but unavailable for the first two winters we were here.  This year they opened them up in November for the walkways between the living areas for faculty and the university.  The walkways for the students were opened up in early January when the semester began.

 These walkways are still not complete, but they are done enough to be functional, and it has been a nice thing for getting to and from work this winter.

The winter.  This is why having the walkways is nice.

A view of the tunnel from our building.

Looking from our building into the new administration building.  The walkway leads there, and then there is an atrium connecting the rest of the university buildings.

Looking out at what I'm missing...or not missing!

Hockey Game: Astana Barys December 2016

Last December we went to a Hockey game.  This year we decided to go again.  Last year we had gotten free tickets from the university.  The seats were pretty good.  This year, we bought our own tickets, and the seats ended up being amazing.  We spent about $42 dollars for all of us (including Yulia's mom) to go and watch the Omsk Avangard.

The stadium is just about a mile from our house and the busses don't run on the street it's on, so we decided just to walk.  We walked there in nice weather, unlike last year when we arrived and left in a blizzard.

By the time we got to the stadium, through security, and gave our coats to the coat check, we were about 5 minutes into the first period.  Our seats were about 7 rows up on the corner behind the goal.  We had a great view of the action on both sides of the rink.  The stadium is very nice and has a huge jumbotron as well and so we were able to see replays of the best plays.

The girls came straight from their figure skating practice, so they are in their special attire.

Dropping the puck. Barys is in blue.

Amazing speed and agility!

Barys fan section. It looks like Ded Moroz and Snegurochka came to cheer for the team!

The game itself was great.  The Avangard team scored in the first period.  The second period was scoreless.  Barys scored at the beginning of the third period, and about five minutes scored again, gaining the lead.  The other team pulled their goalie with about 2 minutes left and attacked furiously.  Astana defended, got the puck out, and scored in the open net with about 25 seconds left in the game.  Everyone immediately through stuffed animals onto the ice (something that was supposed to happen at the end of the game) to be donated to orphanages around the country.  It took about five minutes to clean up all the animals - and it was lots of fun seeing the players, referees, and rink staff gathering them up.

Action!

This #43 (Dustin Boyd, a Canadian) is a local hero. 

Every time our team makes a goal, the fans fly this gigantic Barys shirt.

Third goal with 25 seconds to go. The crowd just blew up!

Players helping to clean the ice. There are 25 seconds still left in the game.

Final score 3:1. We won!

We all had a lot of fun.  One peculiarity of the stadium here is that food is not allowed inside - and so when we sent our kids for treats they had to eat them.  I think the emphasis is on keeping the stadium looking nice.  In the US, of course, the emphasis is on making obscene profits on concessions.

The other big adventure was that Yulia and I were on the kiss cam during a break in the third period.  We totally kissed!

Hockey wasn't a game that I'd ever really been into before seeing it live, but it is a great sport to watch live.  It has a lot of action and is very fast.  We are going to try to go see a basketball game during the winter break as well.

Ice Show - December 25, 2016

We got back from our trip to Tbilisi on the morning of Christmas Eve and were planning to have a nice evening with the family but instead we got a message from the girls' figure skating coach that they were needed for the last practice before the show that was taking place the next day. Our life got busy once again. Since we moved here two and a half years ago we became quite flexible in our expectations! :) So, on Christmas Eve we had to go to the figure skating practice, on Christmas Day we went to church in the morning, and then I dropped Nika and Lina off at a place where they had their guitar recital. Then as soon as they came home from that we all got dressed and went to the Children's Palace where our girls were participating in the big Ice Show.

Last year it was a fairy tale. This year the kids were divided into groups, and each group prepared a synchronized dance. Even the little kids who could barely stand on the ice, got a part, and it was fun watching them! All of the kids did great and even though I might be slightly biased (may be just a little bit), I think our group was the best. The common theme for the show was the fairytale of the Snow Queen. Our group played special forces, AKA the Snow Queen's guards. Nika and Lina had the leading parts. It was fun watching them! Afterward, all kids got a bag of candy, which is a standard present for kids during the winter holidays.

Snow Queen

I think they were playing flowers in the winter garden.

Raven

I think they were supposed to be crows but they look more like magpies.

Snow Queen's guards (special forces) are getting ready to perform.

I don't know who is who, I just know the one with the glasses is Lina!

I unfortunately pushed the wrong button while filming their performance and only recorded the second half of it (the second video). One of the other moms recorded the first part but not the second (the first video), so you would need to watch both videos to see the whole dance. Nika and Lina are the ones who are doing "swallows" (skate on one foot while the other one is extended in the air) at the very beginning

Gangsters

Kay and Gerda

Little mice

Trees

Snowflakes

Shamans (medicine men)

I am not sure who they were playing but they did the best jumps.

Blizzard

Special Forces all together after they got their presents

They can take on any task!

Going home. This is right outside of the Children's Palace.

A train with presents!

I love this time of the year! Everything is so festive! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Trip to Georgia - December 2016

Yulia got a bit of a wild hair and looked up the cost for the two of us to go for a quick trip to Tblisi, Georgia.  The flights were reasonably priced, and the hotel was fantastically priced, and we decided to take an early anniversary trip to visit another country that we had both been interested in.  We have fallen in love with Georgian food at a restaurant here in Astana, so that was definitely a motivating factor for wanting to go to the source.

We left in the afternoon on 20 December from the airport.  We are able to take the bus and get to the airport in about 15 minutes when our flights are at normal bus hours.  Our flight was delayed, but we got a text and left for the airport appropriately.  We had a nice flight from Astana to Tblisi - it was about a 3.5 hour flight, and because of the 2-hour time difference we landed at about 7:30.  We got through passport control, got our bag, and met our driver from the hotel and were to our hotel, a small little hotel in a narrow alley in the old town, by 8:30.  We were checked in by a nice women named Irma, and went to our room, which was right across the little hall/lobby from the reception desk.  The room was small, but clean and nice.  We got settled in and went to sleep.

When we were driving from the airport to our hotel, we noticed this interesting scene. It was too dark, so the next morning we went to take a closer look. The water seeps through the ground and freezes in the night forming these fun icicles.

Wednesday morning we woke up and got ready.  They asked us when we wanted our breakfast ready, and when we went down to the dining room our meal was laid out for the two of us.  Every day we had something a bit different, but very yummy and filling.

We went out and walked down to the park where the aerial cable cars start. They didn't start until 11:00 a.m. so we had about an hour to kill before we could ride them. We went over the Freedom Bridge and walked around a bit, seeing the public service hall where all government services are aggregated into one place. We came back to the cable cars and rode them up to the top of the hill.  The main attractions there were the large statue of the Mother of Georgia who stands with a bottle of wine in one hand, and a sword in the other, an old fort with a church in it, and on the opposite side, the national botanical gardens.  We visited all three places.  We didn't know we had to pay for the botanical gardens, but we saw some neat plants and a really cool waterfall, and a very pretty bird, so it was a nice walk.

In the old town near our hotel.

Looking toward the cable cars

There were churches everywhere in this distinctive architectural style.

This tree was our favorite.  The little dog was also part of the sculpture and very cute.

On the Bridge of Peace.

Looking at the walls around the Georgian Patriarchate compound.

Interesting stone murals.

The fruit, persimmon still on the tree.

A view of the city, the Bridge of Peace over the river toward the left of the photo.

The mother of Georgia.

Old Fort and church.

In the botanical gardens.  A fountain of ice.

Botanical gardens: bamboo.

Examining beetle bore holes.

A very large pine tree.

Cacti and other desert plants.

The little stream.

The waterfall.  The best part of the botanical garden.

Looking down from the fort to the river.

Gesturing.

A view down to the sulfur baths and mosque.

The restored church in the fort.

Cable car.

After we had seen the sights, we took the cable car back down to the park and went and ate lunch at a restaurant that was right there.  We loved the food there - it was even better than at our favorite Georgian restaurant in Astana.  After we ate, we returned to the hotel and I took a bit of a nap for a couple of hours since I had a headache. When I woke up we went out and explored some more, and went to dinner at our second restaurant.  It was a bit different from the first, but still very good.  We came back to our hotel by about 8:00 p.m. and watched a movie on Netflix before heading to bed.

Everything was beautifully lit at night.

The Bridge of Peace and radio tower in background (that is where the funicular goes).

The Bridge of Peace lighting up.

Selfie!

Looking out at where we'd been during the day.

Dinner.  The Phkali (middle) are the best.  

The little street with our restaurant on it.

Funny sign.

On Thursday morning we had another nice breakfast and then Yulia arranged to have us driven to the city of Mskheta, which was the original capital of Georgia and the burial place for their kings and queens.  It was a short drive through beautiful mountain passes to get to the city.  We stopped first at the Jvari monastery which is a UNESCO site and which is a church that is nearly 1500 years old, and is purported to be the spot where a cross was erected in the 4th century when Georgia converted to Christianity.  The view from the hill down into the city of Mskheta was beautiful - the most striking feature was the confluence of two different rivers that each has a distinct hue.

Jvari Monastery.

Looking down into the valleys.

Hiking up to the monastery.

Two rivers coming together.

Yulia with the view down to Mskheta.

Inside the walls of the monastery. 

Inside Jvari Monastery.

Examining the artwork and icons.

In the center is the base of the original wooden cross that was erected on the hill. 

Looking at the highway.

Reminded me of home in Utah.

Our next stop was in Mskheta where we visited the church where the kings and queens are buried: Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.  It was part of a big touristy area, and after we looked there, we walked through the vendors and looked at the different goods for sale.  We bought a bunch of churchela, which are traditional candy made from nuts, fruit juice, and flour and which are hung on strings and look like candles. Our final stop was at a church where there is a current convent.  The trip was very nice and we really enjoyed it.

Inside the fort at Mskheta.

Inside the church.

Looking at the relics, including the throne.

Fancy holder for candles in front of each icon.

Graves in the floor.

Outside the walls. 

Walking the streets of Mskheta.

House with pretty woodwork.

View of the church.

We bought some fresh pomegranate juice.  She is squeezing it for us.

At the Convent graveyard.

More graves of nuns.

Reading tombstones.

When we got back, we rested for awhile and then went out and walked around a bit more, ending our day at a new restaurant.  It was probably our favorite - and it was the cheapest - and we ate very well.  We were in a bit earlier - about 7:00 p.m. and watched another movie before going to sleep.

The church closest to our hotel.

Puppet theater.  We didn't get tickets to the show.

At the restaurant.

We had a later breakfast on Friday and checked out of our hotel at noon.  We left our bags at the front desk and went out.  We first went to the Trinity Cathedral, the largest and newest church in the capital, and looked around.  One highlight there was a little area where they had two large swans, a couple of pea hens and a peacock.  We walked past the presidential palace, and then just wandered around the downtown for awhile.  We walked and saw the opera and ballet theater, and then went to a little bookstore that Yulia had read about.  We had some mint tea and pastries and sat for awhile.  Our next stop was at the funicular station. We rode it to the top of the tallest peak in the area and enjoyed the view and wandered around at the top for awhile.  After we came down, we walked through a different part of town and ended up at a fourth restaurant, near the one we liked the most.  The food was a bit more expensive, but was still yummy.  We had different dishes in all the places we ate and loved everything that we tried.  This was the first time that we've only eaten local food on a trip, which is a testament to the deliciousness of Georgian cuisine.

Trinity Cathedral.

On the cathedral plaza.

A view into the plaza and fountains.

Swans and pea hen.

Selfie!

Deep in the neighborhoods of Tbilisi.

Theater.

Taking a break at the bookstore.

One of very many stray cats that we saw.

Riding up the funicular. Trinity cathedral in distance.

Nearing the top

At the sulfur baths.

Ded Moroz escaping, or breaking in. 

We got back to the hotel at about 5:30 and waited on their couches for about 30 minutes until the driver came to take us to the airport. We waited in the airport until 10:45 when we flew out. Our flight home came through Almaty and we had a brief layover there.  We arrived in Astana at 8:00 a.m. and were home by 9:00.  It was a lovely time.  We think it's somewhere else we could go again - probably in the summer.

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One random thing that we noticed was that the stray dogs in both Tblisi and Mskheta had ear tags.