Our Summer Trip to Utah - Cousin Time Part 2

The first week we were in Utah, Oma threw a "birthday party" for our girls and their cousin Karlie who all have birthdays within 4 months. She bought them all these cute shirt (the first time I saw the shirts, I thought they were doll clothes, and you will see why) and had a family history party where girls wrote in their journals the stories about their ancestors.

A ladder of cuties!

Listening to Oma's stories about their ancestors.

These are the shirts that Oma bought for the girls before they put them on! Magic!

Every summer when our big family gets together, we make a hike up to Payson Grotto and have a little picnic afterwards. It became sort of a tradition since we discovered the place 3 years ago. The hike itself is very easy and very short but is beautiful nonetheless. Anybody who is able to walk can do it. At the end of the hike there is a nice waterfall. We love going there!

Waiting for others to arrive to start the hike.

Emma and Lina

Aubree and Aunt Suzette

Aaron was not so thrilled to be caught on camera!

Spencer is holding the wall!

I finally got Uncle Mike!

David

Nika. Love those freckles!

If you don't see Lina, look up! This time she was on top of the waterfall.

 We also had quite a few gatherings at the Payson park in different family combinations that looked like this...

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Oh, look, it's a giant faucet! Kids and water - a never ending story!

We also had a lot of meals together, played many games, made some crafts, watched America's Got Talent. Thanks to our family's passion for this show, a lot of our cousins are now hooked without any chance for recovery. OK, may be I am exaggerating, just a little bit. 

Watching one of our favorite shows together!

I love big family dinners!

Working on projects and crafts.

Making friendship bracelets.

Cousins are the best!

To be continued....

The Cost of Nostalgia

On Saturday I was doing the grocery shopping - that's usually my job for Saturday, so it wasn't unusual.  Yulia had already picked up a lot of the groceries, so I only had potatoes on my list of produce.  I bagged up a few kilos of the usual potatoes and then saw some nice new potatoes in the bin next to it.  I decided it would be nice to make new potatoes and white gravy with peas for the kids.  That was a favorite of my Grandpa Jack Crane. He liked it in the early summer when he had fresh new potatoes and peas from his garden.  I had to make do with canned peas, but I was willing to do that to give my kids a taste of my childhood.

New potatoes in the bag.

It wasn't until I was at the checkout counter that I realized that the peas were VERY expensive.  I knew that the cost would be higher, but not as high as it was.  You can see the price on the bag - 6305 tenge.  That is $19.00!  It turns out I had bought new potatoes from France!  They are illegal in Russia because of the counter-sanctions and we assume that each of the potatoes got to fly first class in its own seat to get here.

New Potatoes and white gravy with peas.

I made the meal and it was a hit with the kids and with Yulia and my mother-in-law, Ludmila.

This is why Yulia always sends me shopping with a slight sense of trepidation!