Random Stuff

For my birthday our kids gave me a selfie stick, so I could also be in the pictures. I am the photographer behind most of our pictures and rarely get into them, so they thought they could change it. I took it on our trip to Greece and as a consequence, I appeared in more pictures there than in any of our other trips. However, since that trip I forgot to take the stick with thus less of me for the world to see. Maybe it's not a bad thing after all! Either way, a mental note to myself: find my stick! The picture below was the first family photo taken with my selfie stick on my birthday!

And then some more pictures followed... my birthday dinner that Spencer cooked for me!

At the bus stop waiting for a bus to go to church, also on my birthday.

In October Spencer decided that he will shave off his beared for good. He would usually go beardless for the summer and then will grow one for the winter. I actually loved his winter bearded look and went through a complete grieving process when he announced his decision. I asked him to take a last picture with his beard, so here it is (he might reconsider in the future because shaving is hard on his skin).

And here he is - a new man on his birthday!

For Spencer's birthday, I took him on his lunch break to one of our favorite restaurants in town (and we only had to walk across the street from the university) - the Korean House. I can't remember what we had there, but it was yummy!

Completely unrelated to anything I posted earlier in this post (thus the name "Random stuff"), our dog Yuki is a cutie and I think she knows it!

She is very much loved especially by Sophie who can't pass by her without hugging her!

She is even cute when she is not so happy about the boots she has to wear in the -30C weather. She would walk in the door after being outside in those boots and stop and wait right there at the door until somebody would come to take them off.

She is even cute when she is doing something she is not supposed to (like laying on our bed) and trying to look like she is not even there! A side note: Spencer (who you partially see in this picture) was completely unaware of her presence! Good job, pup!

And this is when you put some pillows on the couch so your dog wouldn't make herself at home in your absence... Yeah, nice try, Mom!

This is one of my favorite pictures when Lina was practicing her song on the guitar. She needed a very grateful audience and she found one!

All five sisters together!

Sophie has took on learning different crafts. Here, she is learning how to crochet from her babushka, and she is very good at it. She also learned how to make some jewelry, and told us that she is going to open up her business!

Nika turned 14 in February, and we all seem to be still alive! In fact, we are doing pretty well, thank you for asking!

The girls had been asking all winter to try hot chocolate at Starbucks, so on one cold day in the early spring I took them on a date (first, Nika and Lina, and later the twins)  to have this glorious drink with our favorite German waffles. I have to admit, it was pretty good though judging by the price you would think you were having a hot chocolate only royals would be allowed to drink...

In March, one of the young volunteers (Haley Critchfield) who lived in Astana for almost a year and who we got to know very well was picked up from her mission by her parents and brother. She was finishing her service in Russia but came down to Astana for a day, so we met at the mall for a half an hour.

Spencer and I got to go to the annual NU Orchestra Concert which is our favorite event on campus (the kids were at the figure skating class). Our family also went to the NU Choir concert. To both events we get VIP tickets because one of the orchestra members is also a basketball player on Spencer's team, and the choir just likes us I think. It's good to know people!

Spencer and I at the Orchestra concert. Brandon (next to Spencer) is his assistent coach, so he and his wife also got VIP tickets!

The twins turned 11 at the end of April, and we had a quiet birthday for them. We tried not to buy big psresents this year because we thought we were moving this summer (we are not!). They asked for cinnamon rolls for breakfast with cream cheese frosting. Done!

In May winter decided it wasn't done with us, so we had a big blizzard. Not cool, Winter, not cool at all!

In May we also got a visit from Andee Waldie (now Soza), her husband and her parents. Andee was a young volunteer in Astana some 4 years ago (I realize we've been living here for a long time!), and now she took her family to revisit the areas she served in Kazakhstan. We had fun time going down the memory lane!

Andee and her husband Eric with our family.

Yuki the Dog

Our dog Yuki is a world-class traveler! She has now spent half of her life in a foreign country half way around the world from the place she was born in (which was the state of Iowa). She is one of the two shiba-inu dogs in Astana, so you can imagine she is quite a celebrity wherever she goes. Our vets here love her. Girl-students on campus go crazy when they see her, always wanting to pet her. Boy-students are more reserved but she can squeeze a smile even out of them. Some of our basketball girls squeal with delight whenever they see us outside with her. What can I say, life is great for her! Especially when Babushka comes to town. That lady just spoils her rotten!!! So, here is Yuki's life in pictures.

This soul-piercing look! By the way our dog matches our interior! Or is it the other way around? 

"When it is -30 C outside, I like to lay under the radiator!"

Family movie night? Sure!

"I need my beauty sleep every single day! No, make it every single hour!"

Awe, those tired paws... they've gotten her into a mischief so many times!

"OK, boss, show me where it's written that popcorn is not for dogs!"

"May be if I lay here quietly, she won't notice that I am on the couch..."

"Hey, you, down there! That is MY territory!"

"Oh, you want to take a picture of me?"

"I don't think I am ready...I didn't have time to put myself together this morning."

"Nope, not going to look at you!"

"Still taking pictures? I am out of here!"

And the first prize goes to ... The Lion Queen!!!

Our Trip to Altai - Part I

We spent two weeks in Krasnoyarsk and then took a trip to Altai region to see my extended family that we haven't seen for 4 years. Spencer had to go back to work, so he took a train with us to Novosibirsk and then flew to Astana. My mom, the girls and I got on another train to Biysk where we took a 3 hour bus ride to Soloneshnoye, our final destination.

On the train traveling from Krasnoyarsk to Novosibirsk. It was an overnight ride, and Spencer was still with us.

Babushka with the girls

We had to wait for about 10 hours at the train station to catch our next train to Biysk. We did go out and walked around the city a bit but then a  few hours were spent playing and reading!

While we were at the train station, this couple came and performed some beautiful music for an hour. The husband  (Michael Blam) played the violin and the wife played the piano (the piano is behind the poster). It was amazing, and we were truly impressed. Later we found out that the director of the train station decided that music helps people relieve stress from travel, so there are concerts like this one a couple of times a week.

Here is the video of Michael Blam playing (well, mostly it is a video of Babushka and Lexa listening...:)

On the train again. Another overnighter.

Soloneshnoye is a village of about 2000 people located in a beautiful valley of Altai mountains. When we got there, they said it had been raining for 2-3 weeks non-stop. It was still raining for another 10 days after our arrival. However when the sun finally came out, it was beautiful. We stayed with my aunt (my mom's oldest living sister) and my cousin. They live just by themselves, so when the six of us arrived, their peace ended! :)

They live in a log house with no indoor plumbing, an outhouse, a bath house called banya (a steam room), and a well – a dream come true for any adventurous kids. They also had chickens, a hen with chicks, a dog and a couple of cats. When I was a kid, I used to spent all of my summers there. Then they also had a cow with calves, some sheep and pigs, and horses. They don't have those anymore since my uncle died but even with just a dog, cats, and chickens our girls were in heaven!

The fog after the rain

Our happy crew

Hunting for worms to feed them to the chicks

They would look for worms under the logs and wooden boards

And by the dog house...

And then feed them to these happy chicks. 

Some neighbor's calves playing on the other side of the creek 

There is a little creek that goes by the house, and the girls spent most of their time there just playing in the water and trying to catch some fish. They made fishing poles out of hoe sticks, and tied metal paper clips to them, dug up some earth worms and went fishing full of enthusiasm! Of course they didn’t catch anything but the final result wasn't that important after all. They were just happy to have freedom to do something on their own, even if it was fishing with metal paper clips! :)  

In front of my aunt's house. The creek is right behind the girls.

Sophie. Nobody could keep her out of the water

The fishing expedition.

To be continued...