Our fall in pictures

I had some interesting experiences with the medicine here in Kazakhstan. We have great medical insurance here but the quality of medical treatments is really hit and miss; everything depends on the doctors you get. When Nika had her surgery last year, we got to a good doctor. When Spencer had his ordeal with cancer, we went through a few doctors before we finally got to a good one. I wasn't so lucky. I have been having an unexplained pain for the last 4 years, and I went to a number of doctors here a few times, every time to no avail as far as my concerns would go. But every time they wanted to treat something else. Last time they thought I had some inflammation in the rib cage, so they prescribed 5 days of IV treatment. IV treatment is something they freely use here to treat just about anything. That and shots. This is how they administer most drugs. You need antibiotics? Sure, here is your shot, or even better ... here are your 10 shots! I had to choose between shots and IV, and since I had to endure IV for only 5 days (vs. 10 days of shots), I went with it. Here is me enjoying my choice at our health clinic on campus. There was no gain but no loss either, so I guess all is well.

Sophie is our absolute animal lover! She loves all animals but especially our dog Yuki. Yuki usually doesn't like cuddling (like in the picture bellow) with anyone, but she lets Sophie do it. This is how I often find the two of them.

We had our friends, the Thomas family, over for dinner and Halloween celebration here on campus. The kids were very excited to do real trick-or-treating among our four apartment buildings. While the kids went on a candy hunt by themselves, the adults had a great time visiting.

Our combined crew of trick-or-treaters.

Getting ready to go out for the candy loot!

As usual, our girls were very creative Halloween artists!

Our entrance door from outside.

I was very proud of myself for creating this Pinterest worthy dessert: witch fingers! (shortbread cookies with jam and almonds)

In November Spencer had his 41st birthday. Contrary to what he may have thought as a child, he didn't die at such an old age! Just got a bit wiser, that's all!

In November we also went to a Korean Cultural Night that was held at the Ballet Theater. That theater was built two years ago and is very modern looking. Before the night started, the Korean ambassador gave a speech  about different projects that South Korea and Kazakhstan have together. The cultural event had dancers and melodies performed on traditional Korean instruments. The dances were very unique.  They were the complete opposite to the energetic Russian dances I am used to. In a way they reminded me of shaman dances of Siberian tribes. Very interesting!

Spencer's childhood friend, Jon Peterson, came to Astana in November to teach a 2-week course at Nazarbayev University. Jon and his family lived here a few years ago, and became our family overseas. It was really nice to have him here and to remember the "good ol' times".

Our Thanksgiving dinner with Jon.

Our church branch had a Thanksgiving get together at the Thomas's house. We had super yummy potluck dinner and then played a fun charades game with a Thanksgiving theme. It was a fun evening.

Here is Sophie showing whatever it was she was showing for all of us to guess.

Our Christmas Program at the church was much earlier this year because all three families (all three happen to be American families) were leaving in the first part of December to various vacation destinations. One went to Dubai, another one went to India, and we went to visit our family in America. Here are our Primary children singing a Christmas song during the meeting. This was the last time all of them were in the same class together because the three girls in the back (two of them are ours) have moved up to the youth class with the ringing of the New Year.

It is 2020 and the University went above and beyond in preparing for the New Year Celebrations! When I took the two pictures below, they didn't have all of the decorations up yet but it was very festive already!

Babushka and Sophie are in the background. 

We had a long fall this year and a pretty mild winter so far but winter nonetheless. My favorite time is when we have a fog in the night and early morning and then the sun comes out, and we have a Winter Wonderland! Of course, we will have this Winter Wonderland for 5-6 months, and by the end of the season we will all be fed up with it but for now it is a pure joy!

The front of the university.

I am just loving all of it!

 Well, as I mentioned earlier, for Christmas we went to America to visit our family and so our next post will be about our adventures there.

Trip to Utah Part 1 - Road Trip to Las Vegas: Cove Fort and Mountain Meadows

We arrived in Utah earlier than usual this year and there was still a coolness in the air and plenty of snow on the mountains.  Because of the busy summer, we were not going to be able to see all of my sister Mican's family at our reunion in Payson later in June. Our daughters would miss seeing their cousin, Emma, who they really love a lot - especially after we lived down the block from them in Las Vegas for a year.  We decided that we would take a road trip down to see them.  We arrived on Monday afternoon, Tuesday I spent the day getting the car tuned, inspected, and registered, and Wednesday morning we left for Las Vegas.

The drive was beautiful.  Everything was green and the sky was dark blue and partly cloudy.  We decided that we would stop at historic Cove Fort.  It was a fort built to protect travelers going from northern Utah to Southern Utah and back. It operated for a number of years, but was never used as a fort since the pioneer settlers in the area had good relations with the native Paiute tribe in the area.  I had been before and taken a tour, but when we stopped with Yulia last time it was a Sunday afternoon and we only walked around the outside.

We had a very nice tour guide and we took the full tour.  We watched a video about the fort and the family that settled it - the grandfather of LDS church President, Gordan B. Hinkley - and how the Fort was built and how it operated.  Then we took a tour of the restored fort itself, including the barns and outbuildings.  It was very interesting and the girls had a wonderful time.

A beautiful drive - Yulia took this picture while I drove.

The girls getting ready to roll iron hoops - a pioneer pastime.

Looking through the Fort.

View inside the fort.

The kitchen. Meals were prepared for the family and for the travelers that stayed.

Looking down into the fort.  Look at that beautiful sky!

The girls up on the ramparts of the fort.

This was the station where the oxen were shod.  They had to be lifted since they couldn't hold up one foot like a horse during the procedure.

This was the hay crane, used to make haystacks and move hay into the top of the barn for winter.

This was a rock hauling wagon.

Inside the barn looking at tack. A riding saddle foreground and two pack saddles in the back.

The girls with their spinners.  They got to keep these and had lots of fun in the car with them.

Rolling hoops.

We stopped for lunch in Cedar City, Utah and filled up with gas.  Then we went around the back way and took the kids to see the different Mountain Meadows Massacre sites.  The Mountain Meadows Massacre was one of the great tragedies in Utah history and in the history of the LDS church. We spoke to the girls about the tensions that existed, the looming threat of the Utah war, and about the decisions that people made that ended up killing a whole group of Arkansas pioneers.  John D. Lee was executed for his role in the massacre, but for many years there was silence about the whole episode.  I recommend Jaunita Brooks book to understand the event.

It was a solemn afternoon, but a good learning experience for our girls.  The back valleys of southern Utah were beautiful and we had a very nice drive from Mountain Meadows through the Dameron Valley, Gunlock, the Paiute Reservation, and out to Beaver Dam in Arizona where we met up with I-15 and drove into Las Vegas.

One of the sites.

Talking to the girls.

Hiking up to the monument and overlook.

Looking down on the site.

At the gravesite.

Driving. What a gorgeous view!

This reservoir with waterfalls at Gunlock was awesome.  If we had more time we would have gone in!

Driving through the Paiute Reservation.

The desert was green sage, moving into Joshua tree desert.

We arrived in Las Vegas and had a wonderful greeting and a nice meal waiting for us.  The kids had a great time playing games and just hanging out together.

On Thursday our adventure was to go bowling at one of the Casinos.  I think it was Texas Station, but I can't remember for sure.  The kids had a lot of fun and we bowled two complete games, so we wore them out after a couple of hours of bowling.

On Friday we drove over to Henderson to a pool there.  It was a pool that we used to all go to when we lived here.  It is nice because it is indoors and usually not too crowded.  We all swam for a couple of hours and then on our way home we stopped and ate at a place called the Chicken Shack.  The food was pretty good and we all got plenty to eat.

We woke up on Saturday and got ready and drove back home to Payson.  We were glad that we could make it down to Las Vegas to see the Mayo family and to have a little adventure.  It was a nice way to start our vacation!

Playing games

Bowling!

Chicken Shack!

Fun times!

Mount Timpanogas as we are coming up over the ridge into Santaquin on our way home to Payson. I told you it was beautiful!

Trip to Rome Part III - Spanish Steps, and Zoo

On Tuesday rain was forecast, but it was supposed to be a light rain.  We decided that we would go and see the Spanish steps and spend some time in the Villa Borghese Park.  We knew that there was a zoo there and that there was an art gallery.  We figured that if it was raining we'd look at art, and if it wasn't we could go to the zoo.

Spanish Steps

Piazza di Spagna

At the plaza by the Spanish Steps

We took the Metro downtown to the stop near the steps.  They were closed for repair, so we didn't get to sit on them, but we got to see them.  We also climbed up the steps just to the side of them, so we got the effect of climbing them.  At the base of the steps is a fountain shaped like a boat.  It was commissioned to commemorate a flood that took place in which a ship was washed up from a canal into the city.  The kids loved the fountain especially.

The boat fountain. It was built by Bernini, the father of the famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The view of the city and of Vatican from the top of the Spanish Steps. 

Since we told them that there were 135 steps in the famous Spanish Steps, they started counted the steps of all of the stairs they climbed on since!

The day was a bit gray and there was a bit of sprinkling, but it wasn't cold or too wet.  We walked from the fountain to the Villa Borghese Park.  The park itself was very large and had a lot of pathways, areas with statues, and wide roads.  Every block or so was a little cart selling gelato and treats.  We found a little pond with some benches around it.  We sat for awhile and the kids were kids.  They found sticks, they ran, they shouted, they wanted to climb the trees and to throw things.  We let them get that out.  Then we walked to the gallery.  Tickets to the gallery were sold out for the next three days.  It was the only place in Rome where waiting wasn't an option, apparently!

It is not every day that they roll out the red carpet for you! Just inside the entrance to the Villa Borghese.

At the small pond/fountain.

Kids being kids at the park!

A statue of Victor Hugo in the park

At the park. We loved those trees!

Excited to go to the gallery not knowing yet that we couldn't get in!

We decided to head to the zoo.  We weren't sure if it was a little zoo or a big one.  It turned out to be the zoo of the city of Rome, so a big one.  It cost us a bit to get in - but we were committed and we all love the zoo.  It was a good medium-sized zoo.  Our favorite animals were the ones that were found in the reptile house - which was quite impressive.  We also liked the wide selection of monkeys - chimpanzees, small monkeys, orangutans and more.  They had African Wild Dogs in two places - and they were very interesting looking and incredibly stinky!

Mandrill - the world's largest monkey!

Some more monkeys doing monkey business!

Lemurs

Inside of the reptile house

Sometimes your face looks just like the other end!

We spent about three hours in the zoo and saw everything there was to see.  We bought lunch at the little zoo cafe on our way out of the zoo.  We walked to the Metro stop from the zoo - but took the long way, so we got in some extra walking.

At the little zoo cafe. The girls are studying those zoo maps trying to figure out where things are at the zoo.

In the evening we decided to go to someplace a little more fancy.  We went to a little corner restaurant and bar that was about a block from our hotel.  It was run by a mother and her two daughters.  We arrived and were about the only ones, but by the time we were getting our food, the place was full.  We ordered pasta - and the portions were huge.  I also had a pork chop, which was really delicious - and since I got to eat pasta from all the girls - I had plenty to eat.  None of us left hungry and we really liked the food.

At the restaurant waiting for food and having a good time.

That is a lot of fettuccine on Lexa's plate!

Day three was in the book.  We survived and thrived during a rainy day in the park in Rome!