Monday, August 31, 2009

New Play Area

The boys have found a new spot to play in..........it's under our bed! Jon says that he and his brother Jay used to play under the bed all the time. Now that Josiah is getting older, I've noticed that Jon and I have become more nostalgic as we think of all the things we used to do as little ones.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Artists?



I have to confess that my two boys aren't very artsy! Josiah is not interested at all. He hates coloring. Nathan may be too young but I can already tell he's not that into it. Nonetheless, I do encourage it and try to give them as many opportunities as possible to explore their artistic side! But, they're more interested in being silly and making a mess!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Finger Painting

Nathans very first time with finger paints. I think he had fun.


Friday, August 21, 2009

If I had a hand grenade..................

these men would be the target. I have blogged before about the amount of alcoholics we have here in Russia. These men are out in the courtyard almost every night getting wasted. Not only are they slowly killing themselves with cheap beer and vodka but they are loud and ever so annoying. They sing, they laugh, they yell....you get the picture. One of the men lives on our floor and he usually comes stumbling home around 4 a.m. I know this because we can always hear him pounding on the hallway entry door of our floor.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Celebration

On the 2nd of August my friend Christina and her husband Zhenya celebrated 1 year of marriage! They invited us and another family over for lunch to celebrate with them. We are so happy for them and so thankful that the Lord brought her such a Godly young man! Aside from the moment where I choked and almost passed out, the afternoon was real lovely.

Zhenya is the cook in the home and he made this delicious dish called "plov". It is the best I've ever had.


Jojo and Nana celebrating too.


Christina and Zhenya

Monday, August 17, 2009

4th of July

Since Nathan was born so close to 4th of July we have been combining both events. I did ask Dr. Frields to schedule my c-section on 4th of July but he said "NO" since that was a day off for him. I tried. Every year for the 4th we go to my sister Alex's home. She has a pool so the kids swim and we bar-b-que. We really don't get to see fireworks but on the drive home we get to see a ton of them along the 210 and then the 118 freeway.

My sisters being silly and acting like Transformers. They will kill me for posting this picture but they hardly check the blog out so I'm not worried.


Nathan playing with real Transformers. I hate Transformers. I can never morph them in and out of the robots. They are a real pain.



My brother-in-law has several sets of drums and Nathan just loves playing with them. This drum set he is actually allowed to play on. Josiah has fun on the drums too.


This cake was actually really good. I got it from Ralph's and it was super moist and everyone enjoyed it.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Nathan Turns Two

Nathan turned two on July 2! I know this is a bit late but some pictures still weren't loaded onto the computer. When Nathan was a tiny baby he looked like a dark little indian. I can't believe how much he's changed and how light his skin and hair have gotten. We did the Pooh pictures with Josiah so of course we had to do it with Nathan also. Josiah's Pooh Bear was on loan for the tiny baby shot but Nathan did eventually get his own Pooh Bear.


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Stalin's Bunker






It is really so amazing to know that there is such an important part of Russian history here in Samara. In 1990, Stalin's bunker was discovered by builders who were about to construct a building. The bunker was such a big secret that even in 1942 when the bunker was built no one even knew about it. It was a huge military secret. From what I've read about the bunker, it was built by prisoners who were later executed to keep the location top secret. The bunker goes down 14 stories(40 meters), that is a lot deeper than Hitler's which was 15 meters deep. In case Germany captured Moscow, Stalin and the Soviet government would be moved here and Samara (Kuybishev City during Soviet times) would become the new capital city!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Summer Time Play





One of the great things about summer time here in Samara is that I don't have to bundle the boys up. We just put our shoes on and go straight outside.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Jr. Military


We aren't too sure about these young men. We think that at the entrance level of our apartment building there is an office that must be some sort of military preparedness for youth. We see these boys every once in a while in camouflage running, doing exercises,etc. This day it seems like they were packing things! I don't think it's a parachute, maybe a rain coat? I have no idea!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Bunk Bed




It's finally happened. Nathan has grown up and is now sleeping in a big boy bed which means Josiah had to graduate to the top bunk. Josiah was a bit hesitant at first but now he loves it. Nathan gave us an awful time with the transition into a bed. The first few nights he would just walk out of the room. You can bet we put an end to that. He still isn't 100% sure about the bed thing but that's the way it is. A couple of advantages to both of them being on the bunk bed..........we got our living room back. Nathan used to sleep in the living room at night so when Nathan went to bed we pretty much had to retire to our room or the kitchen. The other advantage is that the boy's room now has more space in it since the play pen is gone. Overall we are happy with the change.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Trip Back Home To Samara

Thankfully our return trip to Samara was uneventful. The boys were really amazing on this trip. What helps is having your own personal entertainment center......including a "kid" channel which kept both boys entertained. On this trip we had 3 different flights. We did LAX to Denver which was a 2 hour trip. We had a 1 1/2 layover in Denver which gave us enough time to check on our seats and get a tag for the stroller. Then it was off to Frankfurt, Germany which was a 10 hour trip. Obviously this is the hardest leg of the flight but both boys did so well. They both slept the last 4-5 hours of the trip. Josiah actually slept on the floor giving Nathan an empty seat for him to lie down. I got to watch 17 Again and some sort of Indian Bollywood movie which was actually fun. I think I even dozed off for an hour. In Frankfurt we have our longest layover which was 10 hours but we get a day hotel room and we are able to sleep for about 5 hours which is a huge help. We do this every time and waking up is so hard to do. Your eyes are just on fire. Then we make the last leg from Frankfurt to Samara which was 4 1/2 hours. God was so good to us because we got bumped up to business class. I really don't know what they were thinking considering we have two small children but Nathan and Josiah didn't even say a peep. Since there was an empty seat between Nathan and I, he just laid down and fell asleep. I got to do some reading from Newsweek and got caught up on world events. It was the European version of Newsweek and wow, there is so much going on in this world that I didn't hear one peep from when I was in the States. This was my first time in business class and you really get treated so well. The part of the trip that makes me the most nervous is when we have to go through passport control in Samara. I am always afraid that something is going to go wrong and we're going to get sent back to the States. Then there is the anticipation of whether or not all our suitcases made it. Then there is customs and these officers are so scary......think KGB type of scary officers. We actually got stopped and they went through 3 of our suitcases but I was extra friendly and Russians love kids and the lady officer kept asking me questions about the boys and so I went with it and put on the southern charm......wait a minute, I'm not from the south. Our friends Pasha and Vadik were waiting for us and we made the 1 hour trip to our place without any problems.

Here's Josiah giving me a Billy Idol look.


Poor Nathan looks so tired in this picture.


This is in Germany.


The very first thing Josiah does is tear into his toys......every single time. He also does this when we go back to California at my moms.


Yep, 1 huge duffle bag (which I fit inside of), 2 plastic crates, two suitcases, and 5 more suitcases not pictured plus 1 photo bag, a big purse, and two kid's backpacks.


So, by the time we leave from California to the time we arrive at our apartment in Samara a period of 34 hours have elapsed!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Sister Time

So my sisters aka best friends and I were able to sneak in another scrapbook time before we left for Samara. As always we had a total blast. Earlier in the summer I had eaten at CPK and before that it had been over ten years since I ate there. Ten years ago I must have eaten a yucky pizza because every time since someone suggested going there I would say no way. Well after my second time there this summer I was quick to suggest to my sisters that we go to the new CPK in Valencia (which is right around the corner from where we scrap) for dinner. It was delicious. I ate so much that evening, probably why I've gained an awful amount of weight this summer which I am in the process of losing. Anywho, we really had a blast that day. We scrapped from noon until 11 pm. I really got a lot of pages done this summer and I am happy to report that I am almost caught on all the albums!!