Counting Blessings

Little Treasures

2011-04-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Time to time I like to settle in my rocking chair and relax with my crocheting or knitting. Most of the times these surges of creativity are connected to the nwew babies in a family or to holidays coming up. I like to make things for presents.

This is my last creation.

It is unique as all of my baby dresses. I make a pettern for every one myself, so everyone's dress is one of a kind.

these little booties and a dress will be for my niece Ashley for her blessing tomorrow.

Catching up

2011-03-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

Once again the time has run away from me. I will try to catch up.

our children are now 9

6 and

3 (going on 16) years old

Jeff and I got to spend our 10th anniversary in Hawaii. It was a beautiful vacation, even more so because it was our 1st in 10 years just by ouselves. A week in the place where the nature seems newborn everywhere you look!

unfortunately the computor we had those pictures on has crushed so it will take me a while to get them back.

We went camping couple times, with friends and with family, once to our favorite spot in Flaming Gorge

and once to the Diamond Fork

We went to Moab and to San Francisco.

I even got to visit my family in Russia. Hard to believe it has been a year already since I was there...

and let's not forget all the holidays..

I don't think I can put enough pictures to show how wonderful that year was. So just believe my words.

The View From the Top

2010-06-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

We had an unbelievable chance to go to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary. Truly out of this world. I still can't believe that it has happened, even though I have pictures to prove it:)

I has a lot of things that I could call my new favorites discovered. I liked the hike to the Diamond Head a lot. It was not the easiest hike, but not too bad either. And the view from the top is amazing!
here we are half way there. on one of the resting points.

The whole sky is ours:)

Then come lots of stairs (284, according to the T-shirt I got)

and dark tunnels

and catacombs that open to a place for a gunmen (the US army used to have a facility there as a highest point of the island gives a good defensive position) You get to climb out of a window and than... finally...

The view opens up. Amazing, breathtaking view... and it's not the end, you can go higher and higher...And even more views open up...

and there you are, standing on the top of the world... ( there is Waikiki beach behind us)
well, not quite at the top.
the very top has the words "DANGER KEEP OFF" on all for sides in large red letters. Which alone of course doesn' do the job of keeping off the curious... but the presence of a very grumpy ranger did the trick.Still we saw some amazing views.
I can't wait to do it again and next time I will take my children with me!!!

Neighborhood party

2010-04-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

Today my youngest son woke from his nap to a very big crowd of people. There were fire fighters, police officers, neighbors, friends... what a fun way to wake up!! a little confusing, maybe? Let me put it into perspective.

Before his nap Michael came upstairs and shared a story in his favorite book with mommy. I needed to make lunch so he decided to go back downstairs and read(play) some more. And than he got sleepy.

In the meanwhile, I finished cooking lunch (5-7 minutes) and asked my 5-year-old to call Mike to the table. She tried and tried, but he did not come. When she went downstairs to look for him he wasn't there.
A little confused I went to look for him myself, and couldn't find him either...How odd...I didn't hear the front door open...

I went to check the bedrooms - nothing. He wasn't in any of the bathrooms, or the closets, or the washer and dryer, or on top of any shelves...
Outside is the next place to look. He wasn't in the backyard, or in front of the house. The neighbors outside didn't see him walk by. By this point it has been about 15 minutes since I have last seen my son. I have no choice but to call mu husband and scare him too. He is on his way from work and I am driving around the neighborhood while the neighbors are knocking on doors and asking if anyone has seen him.

I am back in 5 minutes and with all the children friends and neighbors efforts no one has still seen him.
By now I am truly panicking. But there is one more resource. I am calling 911. Questions and questions later... Why can't I remember what shirt I have put on my son in the morning???
The police arrive and start helping me turn over the house one more time. Several officers are checking every nook and cranny...nothing. The nearby schools are notified, the parks searched...
Jeff is home and worried, there doesn't seem anything else we can do. We are still looking in the neighbor's backyards..

One officer has told us that they have found a boy. and here they come little boy my son's age, same hair color, same tan pants, blue shirt, (that was the closest guess) ...but it is not him. It is one of the neighbors' grandson, who saw the police and couldn't sit out the excitement... now I have to apologize for scaring the poor grandma half to death...
Back to square one.

I am going back to the house. One more neighbors says she can help me look inside one more time. Off we go. Bedrooms again, Downstairs, calling his name, pulling everything out of the closets... Nothing
I am going up to answer some more questions...
My friend is calling for me "he is here!!!"
I run to the door, but the voice is from the downstairs!!!

And there still soundly asleep on the edge of the couch and half under computer desk is my baby boy.

Oh, the joy!!!....

...and the embarrassment...

all the neighbors, police officers, fire fighters... all here for Michael's wake up party!!!!

I have only one thing to say for myself:
The police and fire fighters didn't find him either!

I am just so blessed to have great people in our neighborhood who were there to help, for all the prayers and all the efforts.

There are consequences:
1. my neighbors are proposing to pitch in to buy me a new pair of glasses

2. There is a suggestion to give my son a nickname of "invisible boy"

3. To go with the nickname a suggestion to put a tag on him in nursery, saying:

"caution: This child is known to vanish from sight in the open area. Keep close watch."

The fun of Learning

2009-11-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Who knew that filling a tub with water and putting a bunch of different things in it can be so fun? I will never look at washing and cleaning the same :) everything is more fun if it is a game, right?

We got together with a couple of moms in our ward and made a small play group. Now once a week we get together and have fun learning something.

This was one of my turns:

We had lots of fun throwing different fruit and veggies in water to see if they float or sink.

For those who wonder here is a small list:

Grapes sink
pares sink
Kiwi sinks
tomatoes float
apples float
peaches float
mushrooms float

The most amazing to everyone was that pineapple, the heaviest of all the tested objects did not sink!Later we had Alex visit us and talked about how what he eats is different from what we people eat.The children loved him. I think it is all that fuzzy fur :)

Summer is over, but fun - far from it

2009-11-11T22:44:00.000-08:00

Today was an amazingly warm and bright day. We went out to attempt getting our lawn looking neat. It didn't happen until daddy came home and got out a leaf blower, but we sure had a lot of fun!

Katya and Mike had a blast playing with the leaves

The rain of leavesand the storm of leaves

and even more leaves...

I know this warm weather isn't going to last, but it is sure nice to enjoy it while it is here!

Halloween

2009-11-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Here is what I get for not having camera on a trick or treat venture... No children's pictures. I wanted to take some when we got home but they were so tired that they went straight to bed, and even left their candy for the next day.

Katya was a parrot, Sasha wanted to be a Jedi, and Mike was a very cute Scoobydoo.

And here are Jeff and I :)

So, what do you think? Hippy and a gypsy?

AT THE FIRE STATION

2009-10-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

We had a field trip in our play group today. Fire Station had an open house and we had a lot of fun learning about fire safety.

The biggest attraction was the life fire show. I was lucky to get it on video. The hoses are so strong that the fire fighters that use it have to have support of one of their own .

Another fun part was seeing the jaws of life in action.

Misha reffused to try on the firefighter's boots, probably because they were as big as he was :-)These are our friends from the play group, Sammy and Hyrum. Here is the same picture from behind :Katya was with us just for a few minutes before going with her preschool, so this is the only picture I have her on.A few of Misha's favorites from the trip include:

Cotton Candy,

MORE cotton candy,

Helicopter

Inside and out

and using a fire hose.

All in all we had a really good time,

and even more cotton candy on the way home :)

FUN IN THE SUN

2009-09-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

If you ask Sasha what the best part of the summer was she will say "camping at Flaming Gorge"
In fact last time she said that was as an answer to what she did this year that was the most fun. So in her mind it takes first place even over the Disney Land

And her favorite part was running all over the lake on a jet ski. We all had a lot of fun with that.
It all started with the idea to have one of our regular Dungeons and Dragons games outdoors. So soon it grew into a wonderful 4 family camping trip to Flaming Gorge. Our friends McNamaras were wonderful at organizing everything and they let all of us enjoy a trip or two on their seadoosI think our favorite trip was across the lake and into a Horse Shoe canyon.

There were amazing views and almost life like guardians of the rocks

This trip even included a rescue mission. We found a bat floating barely alive by one of the rocks and couldn't just leave it there.

So , one wet hat later we left it on the rocks to dry out and crawl somewhere more dark.

and than there were more scenic views on the way back

It was a second day of the camp when all the winds died down and it was absolutely beautiful weather for a ride.and I am sure glad our friends Kobin and Erin were around to take some nice pictures of all of us together

New Kitchen / Новая Кухня

2009-08-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

While Jeff was out for his business trip I needed something to keep me sane, so I went crazy and started a kitchen make over. First things first: the wall paper had to go. But those of you who know me will think that doesn't sound crazy enough, you are right: The carpet was out next. And the linoleum had to go too.

Here is the partially finished view (the walls are already done)

the wood laminate flooring was a lot of fun. I watched Jeff's dad work one day and decided that I could do it too. So half of the floor is all me :-) I even got myself a toy (a power jig saw).

And since it was very hot and bright outside this is how I looked when I worked :)

(bondana was a timely present from a new friend from Peru )

And here is the end result:
Sorry, my camera can't quite capture the glaze work I did on the walls, so if you want to see it you will have to come visit. I will be happy to see you all!!!

Weather ond everything else, or Better Late Than Never

2009-03-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

Погода и остальное, или лучше поздно чем никогда

It is unbelievable how great a change can only one week bring about. Only last week we had snow covering our lawn, and today it is hot enough to want to turn air conditioning on. I don't know how I feel about a change so drastic, but I do enjoy spending my time on the deck, basking in the sunlight and watching Michael have a time of his life. The Sun is so warm and pleasant!!!

Всего за одну неделю погода сменилась со снега на солнышко. А потом орять зима :) этот большой снег выпал 15 апреля!!!

The reason it is only Mike that is sharing the time in the sun with me is that at the time we are able to stay outside for a while the girls are both at school.

Пгодой в основном наслаждаемся только мы с Мишей, потому что когда у нас есть время как следует поваляться на солнышке, девочки в школе.

I have never introduced one more member of our family, the bunny Alex. He lives in a cage outside and comes to visit us inside frequently. He is very good tempered and loves being handled and cared for.

Я еще не представила последнего члена нашей семьи: Нашего кролика Алекса. Он живет в клетке на улице и частенько навещает нас в доме. У него очень хороший характер, и он вюбит когда с ним играют.

Girls call him their baby and take turns carrying him in their arms,

Девочки довут его своим малышом и по-очереди носят его на руках,

and Mikes favorite part is to feed him carrots :-)

А Миша больше всего любит кормить его морковкой :-)

Home sweet Home /Дом родимый дом

2009-02-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

На улице много снега и холодно, так что наша семья удалилась в дом. "Что дома то делать?", спросите Вы; хм.. дайте подумать...

We have a lot of snow outside, and it is cold, so our family retreated indoors for the most part. "What is there to do at home?", you will ask, well, let's see...

Дома тоже есть чем заняться. Во-первых, у нас всегда есть нескончаемый запас уборки, и куча игрушек для раскладывания по местам. Но мы и веселиться тоже умеем.

We do have a lot to do indoors too. For once there is a never ending supply of things to clean and toys to go through, but we have some fun too.

Миша обычто находит, во что бы влезть,

Mike can usually find something to get into,

и иногда что-нибудь сладкое съесть

and sometimes sweets to eat

У нас в доме постоянно обитает еще один член семьи. Её зовут Дэйзи (Ромашка)

We have one more member of the family who is indoors with us all the time. Her name is Daisy.

Она всегда там где происходит самое главное

She is always where the action is

Я имела ввиду " там где еда"

Did I say "Action" ? because I meant to say "Food"

и конечно же она - девочка, а девочки они и есть девочки :-) и все мои девочки любят играть вместе

and of cause, she is a girl, and girls will be girls :-) So all my girls like to play together.

A picture is worth a thousand words / Лучше один раз увидеть чем сто раз услышать

2009-01-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

ENGLISH

I am getting very tired of trying to get all the vacation published, and I just want to be done with it, so this post is for those who think that a picture is worth a thousand words :-)

РУССКИЙ

Я устала от одних и тех же публикаций, и я хочу уже закончить с нашей поездкой, так что в этот раз выпуск для тех кто считает, что лучше один раз увидеть чем сто раз услышать

SEA WORLD / МОРСКОЙ МИР

SAN DIEGO ZOO / ЗООПАРК В САН ДИЕГО

And here is the picture I promised to post in exchange to Jeff's funny face :-)

DISNEYLAND/ ДИСНЕЙЛЕНД

UPDATE НОВОЕ

2009-01-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am still trying to keep up with all the fun we had in California, so for those of you who want to know how we are doing right now, I will say that we have survived much more eventful holiday season than I ever want to have again. It involved a broken water heater, a flooded part of a basement, ER visit and a surgery. But I want to finish with the fun posts first, so all the trouble will appear later :-)
Oh, and one more thing:
I have a lot of friends and family who don't speak English, so, for their comfort from now on I will also post in Russian.Я все еще пытаюсь написать все про веселье в Калифорнии, так что если Вы хотите знать, как у нас дела прямо сейчас, я скажу только что мы пережили на столько много происшествий в эти праздники, что я никогда больше не хочу столько. Среди наших приключений были сломаный обогреватель (тот что греет воду в доме), затопление части нижнего этажа, поездка в больницу и операция. Но сначала я хочу закончить с веселчми новостями, еак что все проблемы появятся позже :-)
И еще одно:
У меня много друзей и родных, кто не говорят по-Английски. Так что, чтобы им было удобнее, я теперь буду писать и на Русском языке.

SUNDAY NIGHT, BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

2008-12-29T12:46:00.000-08:00

Sunday was our only day in LA, so we went to the Temple Square to look at all the pretty lights.

the Christmas palm trees were our favorite. It is not something we see every day.

Sasha was tired and really didn't want to take any pictures, but she did enjoy waslking around and looking at everything.
IT was absolutely beautiful.

And the little palms made very good mushrooms :-)

CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME

2008-12-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

On the road again...

This December we had an early Christmas present and went on a road trip to the Southern California. It was a long drive, but we decided to make it with as few stops as possible, so we can have more time to spend in the sun.The children stoically beard the long hours in heir car seats. They had some toys to entertain thm and movies to watch, but still having to sit still for 12 hours was difficult.
It was the worst for Michael. After you have all the snacks you wanted and the toys become boring, not to mention outside gets all dark and pictures in the window disappear, the driving
just isn't so much fun any more. And a boy can only have so much nap time..

Jeff was doing all the driving and got pretty bored too, but he has found a different way to entertain himself.
He has only agreed to post this picture in exchange to the promice that I will post one of my funny pictures too, so look for it :-)

The sunset that day was very beautiful, and later our children fell asleep so we had some time just to drive and talk to each other.

Getty center

We had a hotell in Anaheim, so we could go easily to Disneyland. Our first day in California was a Sunday, so after going to chnurch we went to visit the Getty center in Los Angeles.
it is a very beautiful place, and a wonderful art museum with great collections.

The tour of the place starts with the tram ride to the top of the mountain. Our little ones pressed their noses to the window to see the the cars on the freeway get smaller and smaller.

They were very excited, and loved every minute of it. The cars got smaller nd more and more houses opened up to the view.

And then this amazing view opened up.

There were a lot of beatiful buildings and plenty of walking place.

we enjoyed all the beautiful sculpture and art work

next stop was at the family room, where children could explore hands on, play and put their own touch on the works of art.

there was a room with moving mirrors and magnets on the wall

you could put yourself in a picture

and find a nice area to relax and read a book or two

The sunset was incredible

we had so much fun walking around and looking at the paintings that by the time we went to the gardens it was already dark.

But it was still very beautiful

So sweet it's scarry

2008-11-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's that time of year when all the health habits go out the window, but everyone is having so much fun!!!Even adults like to get dressed up! and nothing beats a good brat for dinner, fast and easy. I can only say, thanks goodness we don't do that every day :0)

Here is Michael. How much candy can feet inside this little boy? Probably more han can feet in this big pumpkin

and here are our sorceress, princess and their friend, knight in shining armor. And they ate candy happily ever after, untill they ran out, that is :-)

first time for everything

2008-10-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Today is a great day when I too join the numbers of all the brave souls who put a part of them on the web. I have struggled with the idea for a while and finally gave into temptation of trying myself in something new.

First, a little about our family:
Jeff and I have been married for 8 years now! It is hard to believe, seems like yesterday.

we have 3 beautiful children: Sasha is 7She is very intelligent, fast, caring and a good climber :)

Katya is 4. She is very curious, lively,
beautiful, active, and she loves her preschool

Mike is our boy. He is now 18 months, though he is much younger in the picture. He is boisterous, fun loving trouble seeking missile, and we love every minute we spend with him