Since we moved to Kazakhstan we spent every Christmas and
New Year here but this year we decided to visit our family in Utah during the
holidays. It was going to work just fine because we planned to spend Christmas
with them and be back to Kazakhstan by December 31, so we could celebrate the
New Years with my mom who was going to watch our dog Yuki in our absence. Unfortunately,
we couldn’t get the tickets for all 6 of us for the price we wanted returning
before the 31st and we were not willing to overpay $2000/ticket to
get our wish. The only flights that were available to us started on the morning
of the 31st and put us in Astana on the evening of the 1st
of January. Celebrating the New Years somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, who
wouldn’t want that!?! It turned out to be an adventure of its own but more about
it later.
We fly through Germany and as always, our flights to Germany
from Astana make us wake up at an unreasonable hour in my opinion (that is
around 2 to 2:30 am). What does it mean for a family with 4 children, you might
ask? It means that the children lose their minds somewhere in the taxi before
we even make it to the airport, and the parents aren’t too far behind either! By
the time we get through passport control and customs, we are all very well on
our way to insanity. Oh well, 27 more hours to go (it’s a good thing our Utah
family loves us, or at least we hope so! 😊)
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| Here is Lexa pretending to be a mushroom at the Astana Airport. |
We started an new family tradition during our trips home: every time we go through Germany (given that we have enough
time between the flights), we get famous German soft pretzels. They are delicious! Here are the girls with their mouthfuls of the German goodness!
It took us 4 days to get over our jet lag, and during those
4 days we took the girls to get some vaccinations, visited Springfield Art
Museum and a National Geographic Photography Exhibit at the Provo City Library,
and went to the new Star Wars movie (which was pretty good, I have to admit).
On December 19th our oldest niece Aubree’ came
home from her mission to Lima, Peru, so we went to see her to the Salt Lake
City airport with her family, Oma, and Suzette. We had to wait for a long time
after the plane landed for her group of missionaries to appear. A lot of
missionaries were coming home that day, so the luggage hall was filled with
their anxious families. Once we saw Aubree', the reunion was sweet!
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| Waiting for Aubree'. |
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| Instead of my niece, we saw Santa Claus! |
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| He stopped and briefly talked with our kids which was exciting! |
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| And here she is! |
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| Tears of joy! |
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| I love this look of admiration on Lina's face! |
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| Aubree' with her little cousins that are not so little anymore! |
This is just a random picture of Lina and me. One day we ended up with a similar attire and I assure you, we were not in cahoots! Hmm, we do look alike a lot!
Oma asked the girls to come to the elementary school where
she used to teach and perform a few pieces for the 4th graders. The
girls were pretty nervous about it but nonetheless agreed. They spent a few
days practicing their flutes and guitars. The twins performed the flute duo of
a Kazakh song, then Nika and the twins played “Yesterday” by Beatles (the twins
played their flutes and Nika accompanied on her guitar), Lina played “Alleluia”
on her guitar, and then they all sang a Russian New Years song with Nika and
Lina playing the guitars. It was a lot of fun to see them share their talents.
I think the 4th graders liked it too.
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| Practicing at Oma's home before the show. |
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| The big day! |
To be continued...
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