Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2018, what a year!  We welcomed the new year on a warm island beach on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, and continued the adventures all year long, adding lots of new country magnets to our fridge.

All that was crammed in between work and school and scouts and sports and homesteading and more.  We've definitely been doing our best to live life to the fullest.  Young Man headed to Vienna with his Knowledge Bowl team to compete in CEESA.  My Man spent 10 days flying in the Himalayas in March (where he spent more than four hours a day flying, covering hundreds of kilometers exploring the dramatic mountain range then spent the rest of the days relaxing and enjoying the warm sunshine) while the rest of us enjoyed the biggest snow storm of the year here in Kyiv.  Young Man and Funny Guy were awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence for their grades, Darling Daughter performed in the schools' "My Mother's Story" production and starred in the school play "Jack vs Jill," and both Darling Daughter and Young Man were voted onto the student council at school.  My Man took me to Cyprus to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary (wow!).  Young Man survived a miserable Week Without Walls, hiking in the rainy and cold Carpathians, while Darling Daughter got to go 4-wheeling and exploring Ivano-Frankivsk for hers.  I orchestrated several large events at the embassy, including the Eggstravaganza, end-of-the-year BBQ, and 4th of July picnic and also spent a week in Budapest finally learning the nuts and bolts of my job before accepting a nice promotion and a new job (working in the Embassy's Public Affairs Section), and My Man managed an incredible influx of Russian applicants after the U.S. diplomats were kicked out there, helping manage the huge uptick in work with minimal impact to his section with some ingenious adaptations.  He was also selected to attend training in Frankfurt, where I joined him for a long weekend to see castles, visit Heidelberg, and see Gutenberg's press (I think I got the better end of that deal).  Somehow, in spite of the increased workload, he managed to harvest a bumper honey crop from our resident beehives and set up a hive over at the historic Ambassador's Deputy's house as well.  We also got baby chicks and watched them grow into gigantic egg layers (at least the ones that didn't turn out to be delicious roosters!).  Young Man worked at the embassy in the IT section (his first real 9-5 job), while Darling Daughter worked and Funny Guy played at the school summer camp.

At last we headed out for a well-earned vacation back to the States, which started with an epic family reunion--a houseboat on Lake Billy Chinook at the Palisades (in spite of the engine trouble); then we showed the kids our stompin' grounds in Bend and Redmond, roadtripped to Crater Lake and the redwoods and Gold Beach (for the first time with My Man), built sandcastles and went clamming in Newport, and then headed back to Redmond where we missed our first ever flight thanks to a bag left at the hotel in Bend (no pointing fingers here, there was plenty of blame to go around--though it is amusing to hear everyone's excuses)!  We spent most of the next week camping, skiing, swimming, and hanging out with friends and family at Deer Creek Reservoir, fit in two college visits, and stuffed our bellies with Mexican food.  Yum.  Too soon we headed back home to Kyiv with a one-day stopover in Amsterdam where we saw the canals, cute houses, Anne Frank House, and more, though we were so tired and jetlagged we may not remember much.  Before we knew it, school was starting back up again and the kids were keeping us busy with scouts, sports, activities, and more--Darling Daughter played soccer, joined the robotics club, started horsebackriding lessons, played basketball, and participated in speech and debate.  Young Man played soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, knowledge bowl, served on Student Council, started a table tennis club, and grew his portrait photography business.  We ran a few family 5Ks, celebrated a few more birthdays, and then headed to Egypt for the most epic scuba diving of our lives and a chance to ogle the great pyramids and catch some sun with friends before the long dark winter (Young Man opted to head to Israel with his soccer team for a tournament there instead, where he swam in the dead sea, toured Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and walked through the ancient city of Jaffa).

Funny Guy skipped a year in math (way to go!), Young Man headed to Budapest with his soccer CEESA team, and Darling Daughter played on her soccer CEESA team here in Kyiv.  My Man and I won best couple's costume at the embassy Halloween party this year with our bee keeper and queen bee costumes and Funny Guy won his entire school costume contest with his epic "kid in a box" illusion costume (it was awesome!).  My Man and I snuck away to explore Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast for a weekend (one last chance for sun!) and then the snow was already here.  After a whirlwind of end of semester activities (concerts, courts of honor, etc.), we kicked off the holiday season with a family trip to Bratislava and Vienna (where got to go ice skating at the Rathausplatz Ice World rink, visited five different Christmas markets, wandered old cobblestone streets, saw a castle and palace, and even caught a few English movies in the theater!).  Young Man was selected as a finalist for the competitive KEYS science internship program (breathlessly awaiting the final word!).

The finale of the year was a traditional Christmas Eve.  Though we wish we could have shared it with family, we invited friends to join in the fun and enjoyed all the traditional foods and games and stories and songs that make the evening special.  Today was a cozy wintery Christmas day, hanging out as a family in PJs, talking, playing games, eating leftovers and candy, Skyping with family, and reflecting on the generosity and adventure of the previous year.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  Sometimes I feel like we pay a high price with missed memories and opportunities so far from "home."  But mostly I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to make each new place our home, adding new traditions and friends to mingle with the old, learning new things, exploring new places, and doing our part to make this world just a little better as we journey through.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our home to yours!

Kyiv Is an Artist's City

After awhile, life overseas with a family becomes just as busy (or maybe even more busy) than life at home in the U.S.  There are work obligations, outings with friends, service opportunities, organization events, hellos and goodbyes and networking events with colleagues.  There are birthdays and sleep overs and play dates.  There are dinners and adventures and tragedies.  There are chores and surprises and errands.  In short, life happens.  I hate the idea that this incredibly rich and beautiful and chaotic life is passing in a whirlwind without any documentation , but honestly, there's just not enough time to live it and document it (actually, we've got lots of pictures, they just exist in a digital jumble waiting to be sorted and shared!).  But tonight I find myself with a few spare moments, so I decided to let the dishes sit unwashed (it's Darling Daughter's chore now anyway) and capture a bit of the city we live in and the morning we experienced.

But first I'll back up a little.  Yesterday was a crazy mess of kids' performances at school, work events late after work, a futsal tournament for Young Man, and a scout canoe trip put together by My Man.  I finally got to sleep around midnight after all the logistics were sorted.  Young Man and a friend headed out to intercept and join the scouts early this morning and then Darling Daughter, Funny Guy, and I set out to join a Kyiv City Mural Tour my office at work had arranged.  The day was perfect--sunshiney warm with a soft cool breeze.  This is really Kyiv at its best.

Our guide met us at Golden Gate metro stop and we walked through streets we don't generally see and learned about the beautiful (and fairly recent) tradition of giant street murals in Kyiv.  Before the Maidan revolution, city bureaucracy made it difficult for artists to receive permission to paint.  Now, however, with new construction and a more empathetic government, artists are more likely to be granted an apartment or office building wall to showcase their talents and message to the world.  In just two hours of leisurely rambling, we saw a bunch of murals, varying in artistic merit, only scratching the surface of the amazing street art Kyiv has to offer.

I loved how the kids saw the graffiti as artwork in its own way, how the joy of running around and playing outside with friends was as exciting as any of it.  I loved our tour guide's passion and the stories behind each picture.  I loved spending time walking slowly and seeing the buildings, the flowers, the colors.  It was a beautiful snapshot of our wonderful, chaotic life here in Kyiv.

PS  Check out Funny Guy's awesome geography project he brought home yesterday:

PPS  I wrote this in June.  It's now November.  :D  Just took a few months to put the pictures to the words.

Slices of Life in Paradise: April

By the time April rolled around, we were starting to feel settled in, more comfortable with the rhythms of life in a new place. We still did lots of fun things and got out to do touristy things, but we did a lot of normal things too--family games, neighborhood walks, lots and lots of swimming in the neighborhood pool, and school and church activities. Here are some highlights.

 

Young Man went on a campout with his scout trip to a mountain up north near the border of Burma. They enjoyed a great bon fire the first night, then went on a 10-mile hike the next day.

We are so grateful for such a great scout troop here.

 

Lots of evenings, as the sun is going down, we head to the neighborhood pool where My Man and I swim laps and the kids play. It's probably my favorite part of Thailand.

If I am lucky, as I'm handwashing the dishes, I will look out and see this cute little guy running up the tree outside. His bright blue head surprises me and makes me smile every time.

The consulate put on a party to celebrate Songkran (Chiang Mai's water celebration) a few days early. The kids had a blast waterfighting with everyone.

Even better, they had a watermelon eating contest. The kids all competed enthusiastically with Young Man beating even all the adults! Darling Daughter and Funny Guy were right behind him.

After the watermelon eating contest, there were other games including wet tug-o-war and lawn skiing (harder than it looks!).

Another Consulate activity was a behind-the-scenes trip to the Chiang Mai zoo for Wildlife Conservation month.

After a meeting with the zoo president and several scientists who shared information about the zoo's conservation efforts, we climbed on a zoo trolley to see the animals. We got to see the zoo's two pandas, some endangered chivets, and the sunbears.

We also stopped by the elephants on our way and got the kids got to feed and pet them.

On our way out we stopped to use the restroom where we found this gem. Funny Guy pointed and exclaimed, "They don't look like they are in a happy room!!"

The boys were excited to receive a few more birthday presents as the mail caught up to us over here. One of them was a solar robot they got to put together.

They enlisted My Man's help, which resulted in a side project of sorting through all his tools. How many screwdrivers does one man need?  Not this many!!!

I guess that's what happens when you move a lot and stuff keeps getting put in storage. But at least he had the tools he needed to successfully make an awesome solar robot.

Funny Guy was extremely excited!  And he also lost another tooth!

Another exciting thing that happened near the end of April is that My Man's foot stopped hurting so much. It's still not back to 100% but we started going on a few neighborhood walks. Perfect timing. The flowers are absolutely amazing. Here are just two examples.

Another project we finally had some time for was sewing. Darling Daughter has been wanting to get her sewing machine out since it arrive and finally talked me into it. She's a natural and is working on an apron for our housekeeper. It's almost done. 

And before we knew it, another month in paradise was over and a new one was ready to be filled with new adventures.

Mork Fa Waterfall

One of our first adventures out of Chiang Mai was an excursion to Mork Fa waterfall, about an hour’s drive away in the Doi Suthep National Forest.  Young Man had a scout campout up there (he went up on Friday right after school) and My Man wanted to join them for the day Saturday, so the rest of us decided to head up to enjoy the day up there as well. The trip up was beautiful and at the turnoff to the waterfall, there was a cute little café where we stopped for an early lunch. We ate outside overlooking a little farm and beautiful gardens. The food was great and the smoothies were even better!

After dropping My Man off with the scouts, Darling Daughter, Funny Guy, and I headed up to the waterfall. There are two ways to get there: the nature trail (which winds up through the mountain and is a bit longer) and the waterfall path. We opted to make it a loop, so we took the nature trail to the waterfall and the other trail on the way back. It was a great way to do it.

The nature trail wound through groves of bamboo and other trees and went past a little cave (known around here as the bat cave, though we didn’t see any bats).

 We explored the cave for awhile (it doesn't go too far back), then headed down to the waterfall.

First, we enjoyed a nice view of the waterfall from above. Then we followed the trail down to the creek and back up to the waterfall so we could actually get in and swim.

There were also a few bridges we had to go across that Funny Guy eyed very suspiciously. I had to go ahead to prove they were safe, and even then he clung to the railing the whole way!

Mork Fa waterfall is pretty, falling into a nice pool where you can swim (which Funny Guy did). It was pretty cold water though, and most of us didn't have a change of clothes, so we just waded in. 

While we were there, the scouts hiked up, so it was fun to see them. Some of the scouts braved the water for a real swim.

Others (I won’t point fingers here, but let me just say that Young Man  is definitely more worried about water temps than I was at his age!) were content to wade in and explore the rocks. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon picnicking and playing in the creek (Darling Daughter and Funny Guy worked hard on a dam and were very disappointed when we had to leave before it was completed!).

The park closed at 5pm though, so we hiked back to the car and headed out to check out the Buddhist temple we had seen on the way in.

It was one of my favorites (I think I say that every time!). The meditation rooms had beautiful paintings and statues. 

Funny Guy and Darling Daughter surprised me by wanting to stay for almost half an hour in one, sitting quietly, thinking and considering the art.

We were the only ones there (though we did see one monk as we were leaving) and it was undeniably peaceful.

In the middle was a huge staircase lined with three-headed dragons.

The view from the top was fantastic and we drank in the gorgeous sunset before heading back to the camp to pick up My Man and Young Man to head home.

Meanwhile, My Man and Young Man were having a great time at the campout and weren't ready to leave when we got there. I'm so excited that there is a great Boy Scouting program here. I read with the younger kids until the older boys were finished playing ultimate Frisbee and at last we headed home. Even though we had all done different things, it was a great day for us all.