Autumn Stroll

I'm getting so excited for Autumn!  The crisp cool air, the changing colors, and evening strolls at the park across the street.  

A picture of the mosque from the park.

Jane posing in front of the pyramid.



Emily and Jane in front of the presidential palace.



Nils and Harry on the canal walk.

 

From the Mountains to the ... Ocean

This summer we also got to visit our families, who are now conveniently located within 15 minutes of each other.  Here are some pictures of our time with them.

Emily's family - up in the beautiful mountains of Utah.

Emily's dad, Jane and Scout playing fetch.  Guess who actually ran to get the stick?  Okay, it was just the dog.

With Nils' family in South Carolina for a family reunion. What a fun bunch!

Jane and Emily playing in the sand.

Harry enjoying his first beach experience.  His Aunt Maren screen-printed the shirt!

Summer Road Trip

During our home leave this summer, Nils and I decided to take the kids on a road trip to various State and National parks.  So how was it with a toddler, an infant, and a minivan? Wait and see.

First stop, Crater Lake. We drove around the upper rim of the lake down to our campsite within the park.  We could kinda see the Lake from the road as we drove, whenever the haze and fog shifted.  Here is Nils sitting in the van, where we decided to sleep for the night since it was rather cold and raining. 

The rain turned to snow, but I was just happy to be out camping.  

We had planned to stay in Crater Lake for two nights, but because of all the snow, most of the roads into and around the lake were closed the day after we arrived.  That meant we didn't get to see the Lake.  Disappointed but undaunted, we decided to head further West to Bullards Beach State Park and spend the night there.  

For more pictures of Bullards Beach and Crater Lake, click here.

After a good night's sleep in a tent, we proceeded to our next destination, Redwoods National Park.  Here we are in front of the Big Tree.  Click here for more photos. 

On our way to the Sacramento area, we decided to stop and picnic at Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We were so impressed by what we saw, we're already making plans to return in a few years and spend more time there.  More photos here.

Next we visited some of my family in the Sacramento/Folsom area.  My aunt has a beautiful home where we spent some lovely time on the lake. 

For more fun family pictures, click here!

Here we are in King's Canyon

And Yosemite

And of course, having recently watched Star Trek V, we had to take a picture of El Capitan.

For more King's Canyon and Yosemite pictures, click here.

I love camping, so this trip was really fun.  I will say that staying in a hotel in the middle gave us a chance to shower and rest.  And when I say rest, I'm talking about the kind without kids' little feet in your face.  

My CraBts

It's been fun doing little crafts - Jane calls them "Crabs" - now that Jane is old enough to participate and enjoy them.  Since we still don't have the bulk of our household items we've had to get more creative, which is the point of crafts I guess.

 

Coloring... one of the easiest crafts I have her do.  Her favorite has been to take the markers and paint her fingernails.  Sometimes we have to suspend her marker privileges when she gets too color crazy.

Her cardboard house was a really fun project.  Thanks to the idea of my school teacher sister Ellen, we fit white craft paint and food coloring in the suitcase.  It's a really great and affordable way to paint with multiple colors, and it saved us a lot of weight on the airplane!

Here's her construction paper and glue project.  She loves cutting things with the scissors, so I try to direct her to her crafts whenever she gets the itch.  The problem is when she starts looking for other things to cut.  So far, nothing serious, but this privilege gets revoked sometimes too.  Sorry, my little toddler.

I just couldn't resist posting this picture.  Jane normally lets me do her hair, but it doesn't stay very long.  This style lasted most of the day.  I guess it helps that we were at church most of the time.

 

We ordered little craft totes to organize and contain craft projects whenever we do them.  Jane gets so excited she yells, "My Crabs! Do you want to do some crabs too??"

What's Up With Harry?

Some might wonder what's up with little Harry since we moved to Astana.  Here are some "Harry Updates".

We started Harry on "solid" foods, which is mostly just rice cereal.  The last few times I've fed it to him, he's been gagging, so I'm moving on to more exciting foods - like an eggplant/carrot/pepper medley.  We'll see how he likes that.  Above is a picture of Harry's first time eating "food".

Jane sure likes Harry!  She likes to hold him, tickle him, and make him laugh.  Sometimes she tries to feed him like Mommy, but for some reason it doesn't work.  

A better alternative to feeding Harry is to read to him.  He likes that a lot!  Here she is reading him one of her favorites - Dear Zoo.

Harry loves rolling around the living room, seeing how far he can get.  All that movement can be exhausting though.  Not to worry!  Harry can sleep just about anywhere!  And he does.

 Harry started breaking in his first tooth.  Since you can't really see it, I've included this very handsome picture I captured while giving him an air bath.  Harry is turning into quite the charmer.

Our Neighborhood

For Labor Day we decided to get out and get a closer look at the buildings right in our neighborhood.

Emily and Jane in front of the Khazret Sultan mosque, one of the largest mosques in Central Asia.

Nils and Harry in front of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.

 

Family photo inside the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation

Nils with the kids in the upper room of the Palace of Peace.  Every three years they hold a Conference of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. 

A view up into the pyramid. Cool, huh?