I remember - Russia!

Wow! Can you believe it! It's been two years since we've come home from Russia!
Two Years ago, I believe I was stuck at an East coast airport with Kris and Catie because we missed our flight. Oh that was such a hilarious night (because of our lack of sleep everything was funny.)

What else comes to mind when I think of Russia? I'm in such a reflective mood.
-I remember eating cow tongue at a home visit, and going to the beach with Pasha and Sonya's family and Anna on Easter.

-I remember Callie and I walking around in Old Stockholm, eating ice cream, and ending off the night by getting off at the wrong stop in Sweden-luckily one more train was going to pass by before midnight or we would've been WAY lost.

-I remember just getting dressed in the morning, on those cold winter days took me about 10 minutes. 2 layers of underneath my pants, two pairs of socks, scarf, gloves, boots, hat, and 2 shirts, a hoodie, and a coat, kept me pretty warm.

We're actually on the middle of a frozen river

-I remember getting to visit Katya in Volgograd! I was SOOO happy to see her and meet her family.

-I remember the advice that eating cold sour cream will make you catch a cold.

-I miss my pink bunny slippers

-I remember Denmark and Sweden, St. Petes and Moscow! What Awesome cities!


-How can I forget my loving family!?! Sasha, Oksana, and Alyosha were so wonderful. I appreciate and love them so much. Sasha had so many funny jokes to tell! I think I miss him the most out of everybody! Alyosha always wanted me to make videos of him--they were so silly. (I posted a couple with him.)

-I was very out of shape in Russia, despite walking so much. But, I got teased a lot for not being able to do pushups...so I practiced doing them with Alyosha. I had to do girly pushups though, and I still don't think I did them right. Alyosha was very good though! Notice how many pushups he does before I even complete one!

-I remember the Busses. They were always so packed, and fun to ride.

-I remember lunch time at school! The fabulous discussions, laughs, chocolate cheese cream things, hamsters (no they weren't really hamsters, but that's what we called them) and potatoes!


-I remember my students

Pasha (the favorite, cute grump),
Anya (the drama queen, babbler, gypsy girl who we all loved...didn't we?),
Sonya (Beautiful Sonya),
Big Oliana (Smarty),
Igor (ladies man),
Senya (I don't think words can explain)
Artium (Pull your pants up)
Maxim (Never spend tokens)
Dima (hyperactive accordian player superman)
.....okay I could list all of those students, but my memories can't all fit on a blog post. Maybe I should stick to a few pictures and videos.

A few video selections of Kindergarten, and a homevisit with Sonya and Pasha.

Vote for Richard!

Hey Everyone!!! Richard and I just made a video to say why he deserves to receive a scholarship from Dell, sponsored by FastWeb! But, he needs your votes! Of course the Sponsor will make the final decision, but the more votes received, the better his chances. 

Go to this website www.whyideserveascholarship.com  You have to register (your name, email, and zip code) in order to vote. If you're afraid of them sending junk to your mail...just use an email address that you don't use often. They just do it so you can't vote more than once a day.  

Anyway, right now, his video is under "newest uploads"  Title is: "Top 5 Reasons" To vote just click on the little star underneath the video. Voting ends July 10, and you can vote every day until then.

Vote, and tell your friends to vote, and tell your friend's friends to vote. Thanks.

Take me out to the ball game!

Willie's friend, Jeanna, gave me two tickets to the Seattle Mariners vs Boston Red Sox game. (thanks so much Jeanna) I was really happy to be able to go and have a girl's night out with Cousin Jessie! Richard was kind enough to give up his ticket for her. :) 

The Mariners have had a losing streak. They've lost 7 games in a row! So, I didn't have much hope for a win.

 There were SOO many people in the stadium, and sadly almost half of them were Red Sox Fans. Mariner fans were competing to yell louder than the Sox Fans. (I screamed for the Mariners--and my voice is hoarse now because of it!)

It all came down to the last inning. Mariners are up. The score is 3-3. One man on third, and on first, and there are two outs. But then........dun dun dun, the batter hits the ball, just perfectly down the field, and the Mariners score!!! It was amazing. Baseball can be fun. 

The Mariners all huddling together after their win!

Oh, and of course, during the innings Jessie and I would be telling random stories to each other from natural disasters to high school (wait, don't those two topics correlate?) Anyway, the guy sitting in front of us turned around and asked us, "Hey, do you girls know what the score is?" We both gave him a dumb look like, "Duh, of course we do, and...can't you see the bright numbers flashing with the score right ahead of you, dude?" (Of course we didn't actually say that)

 Then he continued, "Oh, I thought you two were the same two girls who were sitting behind me last game. They just kept talking and talking, and when I turned around and asked them that question, they said they didn't know."   Alrighty then.... 

Sleeping Beauties

Cheese

Sarah was saying that I need to put more pictures up of Michael where he is smiling!
So I am.








He is definitely a growing boy. I was looking at his toes today, and they are SO long now--in comparison to the little, tiny stubs they were when he was born. Everyone should come visit. :)

He has his own agenda

ThumbSucker

I could hear Michael rustling after being asleep for 30 minutes, so I knew he was waking up. When I went in to see him, this is what I saw!

And just barely, I heard him sucking on his fingers in his crib, so I went in there and saw him sucking his thumb again. I got SO happy about it and ran back in the livingroom and excitedly started motioning Richard to go in there to see it! I never knew a thumbsucker could be SOOOO cute!

More of....you know who!

Taking Pictures with my Baby

The Locks

It has been wonderfully lovely weather lately--and because it makes our apartment so blasted hot, Richard suggested that we go on a picnic. We chose to go to the Locks. It is such a lovely, really big park! I didn't get any pictures of the park though. However, I decided that whenever my family decides they want to have a family reunion, they should all come to Seattle and we can go to this park and play Frisbee, Football, and whatever other game we can think up to play (because I know that we can think up some pretty strange games.)


As I understand it to be, the Locks is a man-made connection between two bodies of water. When boats come through, they get trapped into these walled off areas. As you can see in this next picture, the water is at two different levels. So the Locks serves a purpose to fill-up this walled off area with more water-then the boats rise up with it, and then are released out the other side to go on their way. It is quite interesting.

Oh, and "mine for Michelle!"

Summer is HOT

And so is our Apartment.

Cookie Monster

Since moving here, I think I have made cookies over a dozen times. Note that I have only lived here for about two months. I have made quite a variety: chocolate chip, double chocolate chocolate chip, Pumpkin chocolate chip, Snickerdoodles, Brownie Cookies. Not to mention, that if I don't feel like making cookies, I'll make a cake or some brownies, or eat some Oreos.

I was making them so much, that when Richard and I went to Costco, we bought me a 10 pound bag of chocolate chips. Granted, sometimes I make them to take to the mother's group, or to share with Jessie and Ryan when they visit. But, most of the time, I eat them myself. The cookie monster in me is coming out.

So, does anyone want some cookies? I'll send you some just to get them out of my kitchen. Chances are, the moment I crave chocolate, I'll make another batch. And believe it or not, it only takes one cookie to satisfy that craving, but if they are sitting on my counter, I'll eat them, and it is making me sick.

Solution: Stop making cookies. If only it was that easy.

But then again, I think this picture just motivated me to stop.

This picture is for Aunt Trea

This is the cute outfit Uncle Brian and Aunt Trea gave to Michael. I absolutely love the socks too! Thanks!


I know. I know. My blog is turning into a baby blog. I'll try to think of something else to blog about.

MOO!

CowLick!

Hands-Up

Follow the Prophet

This is a song that I can see my two youngest brothers singing........over and over

We like Mike

We actually don't call him Mike. It's kinda weird to write that, but Mike rhymes much better with 'like'. I guess I could've typed, "We Like-el Michael" but that is just too silly....and same with some of these pictures.

This is actually a boring video clip. Michael is just learning to interact more with things around him.

I pulled out a box of new, bigger clothes for Michael to start wearing. This overall, train outfit came with a hat to complete the outfit. The pictures show it all.

The blanket seems a little long for him, don't ya think?

This is Mommy holding Baby after he filled up his diaper, and then some.

Michael has developed a new sleeping style. When I lay him down to sleep at night, he'll just wiggle and squirm (getting comfortable I guess) and his hands will keep hitting his face. Eventually, he'll settle down, but his hand will remain over his face. I guess its soothing to him. :)

I couldn't pass up taking a picture of this. I was getting Michael ready for his bath. I laid him on the rug, while I was getting something off the counter when out of nowhere, he just started crying super loudly. His face is adorably frightening and unforgettable.