Trip to Utah - Part 1

We had a fun summer but then life happened - a very busy life - and we got out of the habit writing about our experiences. We’ll try to catch up quickly.

After we got back from our trip to Eastern Europe we had about 10 days to catch up on things at home and then we took a 3-week trip to Utah to visit our family there. This was probably the first time when we had so many adventures getting there. Chicago experienced a huge rain storm right before we got there and was so backed up that they canceled most of the flights out including the flight to Salt Lake City that we were supposed to take. They rerouted us trough San Francisco but the flight wasn’t until the next morning, so we had to spend the night in Chicago. When we got to San Francisco, the jet-way wouldn’t connect to our plane for a long time so we missed out flight to Salt Lake City. United didn’t have any flights out for the same day which all six of us could be on, so they bought us tickets on Delta. Finally 30 hours later than expected we made it to Utah!

Gingerbread cookie gift from Lufthansa, which was celebrating 25 years of service to Astana.

Waiting for our flight to Frankfurt in Astana's new airport terminal

Chicago - waiting for our flight after spending the night in a hotel after our flight was cancelled the day before.

We had a lot of fun with our family and friends there. This time around we decided not to take any additional trips anywhere else but just stay in Utah. I think by July we were already tired of all of the traveling we’d done so far and just wanted to stay in one place for a change.

I think the first outing we did was to the convention center in Sandy to see the floats that were going to be participating in the 24^th of July Parade in Salt Lake City. There were so many fun floats but most of us voted for one particular one that ended up winning the first place!

Looking at floats with Oma.

The varieties of floats were very interesting.

This was the winning float.  It had a working flour mill and sawmill on it.

One of the most fun things we did while in Utah was getting together with our long-time friends Nicole and Steve and their family that we haven’t seen in 5 years. We lived in Iowa City together and became fast friends! Our kids went to the same school, even the same class. Then life took them to Texas and us to Las Vegas first and then to Kazakhstan. This was the first time when at least for one day we ended up at the same place at the same time! We decided to get together at one of the parks up the Provo Canyon, and it was like those five years never happened! We love you, guys!

Kids doing kid stuff together.

Having fun hiking on the trail together....it's a very developed trail.

The adults being grown up.

Great picture of the crew together.

The kids sat at their own table when we went to eat.

Nicole and me - five years and we haven't missed a beat.

The same day we met with Steve and Nicole, we went to the Spanish Fork Rodeo and we brought Oma and Burl, Shellee, and Brennen with us. We went to this rodeo 2 years ago and really enjoyed it, and this time around was no different.

Waiting for the action to begin.

Bronco busting!

Barrel racing was awesome.

Bull riding never disappoints.  The bulls were very aggressive.

The next few days was the Willardson Family Reunion most of which we spent at various places in Ephraim. Cousins had fun swimming at the Palisade Park, and fishing at the Community Canyon Reservoir as well as well as playing games at the hotel, eating at the Fat Jack's Pizza (now Roy's Pizza) and the next day having a lunch and a talent show at Ben’s house in Springville.

Boy cousins - our girls not pictured :) - at Palisade Reservoir

Girl cousins minus Tess (working cherries) and Aubree (on her mission in Peru).

Ephraim canyon on the way to the community reservoir.

At the skyline - we missed the turnoff, and hit the peak of the mountain where there was still snow in July!

Fishing at Community (Spring Hill)

Picnic lunch at the Ephraim Park - playing pioneer bingo with Oma.

To be continued...

Summer Trip 2017: Day 15 - Last day in Moscow and Flight Home

We had to check out of our hotel at noon.  Our flight back to Kazakhstan wasn't until after 9:00 p.m.  We asked the hotel if we could leave our bags, and they graciously let us keep them in a room in the back.  We went and had a late breakfast/early lunch, and then checked out.  We had decided that we would go and watch the new "Despicable Me 3" movie in the theater.  We had looked at going to ice skating, but the ice arena was too far away, and the reviews didn't make it seem like a good option.

We took the Metro and found the mall where the movie was showing without any problem.  The movie theater was quite small, but nice.  We bought popcorn and water and settled in to watch. The Stice family just had to go off what was shown on the screen, but our girls could understand it.  The movie itself was a bit of a disappointment, it was quite disjointed and didn't seem to have the same heart as the earlier films.

Adan and Eve fountain we found on our way to the movies.

While looking for the movie theater, we went the wrong direction and found this beautiful church!

After the movie was over, we decided we'd go and see the Moscow River up close.  There was a canal and an industrial area right across the street, but a cross street led to the river, so we started walking.  After two blocks, we were at the river, and we found ourselves right across from the Kremlin and Red Square.  The view across the river was amazing, and we spent a few minutes watching the boats come by on the river, and looking at the view.  The Metro station was the same either direction, so we walked across the bridge and for the third time in three days - onto Red Square.

Red Square across the Moskva River

Beautiful

About halfway across the square, it started raining, so we made our way quickly to the Metro station.  We took a quick trip back to the hotel, got our things, and then back to the Metro to the train station.  We took the AeroExpress train back to the airport.  The journey was nice and we arrived at the airport at about 5:30 pm.

We went to the Burger King and had a slow relaxing meal.  Then we went and stood in line to check in for our flight.  We got through that process and had a few hours to wait for our flight.

The flight back to Astana went well.  It was a bit turbulent, but no problems.  We arrived and got through passport control and customs without any problems and were back at our house by 6:00 a.m.  We had been gone for fifteen days, three countries, five cities, and a whole lot of walking and adventures.  We had a lovely time.

Summer Trip 2017: Day 14 - Moscow Day II

Our last full day in Moscow we planned to spend time indoors in the afternoon because rain was in the forecast.  We began the day with breakfast at KFC.  Then we got on the Metro and traveled to the Bolshoi Theater.  The theater was built in the late 18th century and is very beautiful.  Yulia and I once attended an opera there.  This time we just looked at the exterior.  The opera house in Astana seems to be patterned after it in many ways.  There was a fountain outside, and that attracted the kids immediately.

Bolshoi Theater

The kids were immediately glued to this fountain by the Bolshoi.

Another fountain we saw nearby.

After visiting the fountain, we went to Red Square and paid to go through St. Basil's cathedral.  The church is very interesting inside - and quite different.  The highlight of the visit was a group that was singing old Russian hymns on the top floor.  The acoustics were amazing, and they sang very well.  The group was selling cds, so we bought one.

Inside of St. Basil Cathedral

                                                  Men's group singing old church song.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked through the GUM store to take a look at how lovely and elaborate it was.  Then we walked up to Old Arbat street.  The street used to be the area that was full of art.  It was very different from when we were there last time - it was much more commercialized and had much less art.  We wondered if the weather played a factor in that too.  After walking for awhile, the storm that had been threatening really started looking wet.  We saw a shake shack and went in and sat down for lunch. We missed a huge rainstorm while we were eating.  It cleared up after we ate, and we walked from there to the Dom Knigi (House of Books) and spent a few hours browsing there - missing a big rainstorm while we were there.

Arbat Street

Arbat Street

Arbat Street

This was probably the biggest bookstore we've seen, especially in Europe. The kids were in heaven!

Waiting out a storm in the reading corner.

After we waited out the worst of the storm, we walked to the metro and took a train back to our hotel.  We spent a few hours just relaxing and then went over to the same restaurant we'd been to the night before and enjoyed another great meal.  It was a nice calm day in Moscow.

Summer Trip 2017: Day 13 - Moscow

Rain was promised on Friday, our last full day in Moscow, so on Thursday we planned the day so that we could do as much of the outdoor sightseeing as possible.  The first thing we did was to visit Kolomensky Park. This was somewhere that neither Yulia nor I had been before, and we really liked it.  We took the Metro there, and then it was about a 10 minute walk to the park.

The Park was a village, founded in the 12th Century, and which became the home to the royal family, specifically the Rurikovich dynasty, but also later the Romanovs as well. The park itself was free and had nice paths and facilities.  It also has wooden architecture and areas that show how people lived earlier.  We didn't pay to go into those demonstrations.  We just walked through and looked at the gardens and orchards and at the church buildings.  The most famous is the Church of the Ascension of the Lord which was built in the 16th century to celebrate the birth of Ivan Grozny (The Terrible) and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  The church overlooks the Moskva river and is white and very beautiful.

Looking at the beautiful primroses.

Gardens

Papa and the twins and roses.

Gate to the park.

One of the churches, early onion dome architecture.

Bell tower and water tower 

The family minus Mama the photographer.

Church of the Ascension

Observing the view across the river.

The View from the hill.

Lexa resting

Giant Samovar at the cafe within the park.

After we had seen the park, we took the metro to Red Square.  We arrived there at about 12:30 and set up to watch the changing of the guard at the eternal flame which burns for those who died during WWII.  It is my favorite place to go, and we wanted the kids to experience it with a good view.  The uniforms of the soldiers has changed since the last time we were there 5 years ago, but the ceremony was still very touching.

At the eternal flame.

Guards at their posts.

Reading the cities where more than a million people died (Hero Cities)

New guards marching down the  path

Relieved guards making their exit.

Marching

After the changing of the guard, we walked through Red Square and took lots of pictures and saw the sites. After that we went and looked at the fountains at the Okhotniy Ryad shopping center.  We then ate lunch (we had pizza and salads) and then got on the Metro again.

Entrance to Red Square

Family portrait on Red Square - a long tradition.

The renovated GUM department store.

Having Fun!

Lenin's Tomb - We still haven't been inside.

St. Basil's Cathedral.

Kremlin Tower

Past Red Square and toward the Moskva River

Red Square from St. Basil's

Fables in the fountain.

Posing for pictures at the fountain.

Our last stop of the day was to visit the Izmailovo Souvenir market.  We missed the station and had to go back one - something that's happened to us on that stop a couple of times, but got there at about 4:00 in the afternoon.  We gave each of the girls 600 Rubles (about $10 dollars) to buy souvenirs.  Lina and Nika had earned a bit of extra money by helping the Stice girls with their Russian on the trip.  The girls had a great time looking around and bargaining. Lina got the bargain of the day, buying a ceramic turtle that is also a jewelry box, by talking the seller down from 1800 Rubles to 1000.  She had enough to buy one of those infernal fidget spinners..... so we are not as pleased with the bargaining :)

Lexa bought herself a hat, and Sophie got a snow globe.  They both then bought little metal collapsible cups that had Soviet Military emblems on the base. Nika bought herself a laser engraved crystal.

After our shopping excursion.

Overall it was a fun day.  It started sprinkling as we were leaving, but we were in the Metro and home without getting too wet.  We found a little restaurant across from our hotel: Vareneshnaya.  It had great prices, good Russian food, and a fun atmosphere like an old Soviet apartment.  We liked it so much that we went back for dinner there the next evening.

Waiting for our food.

A lovely meal.

Great Atmosphere. 

On our way home.

Twins having the best time!

Our first day in Moscow was in the books.