Home Leave: All About Making Memories

One of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad consequences of living and working abroad is that when someone you love is sick or needs you, it's hard to be there for them.  Last year, my little sister was diagnosed with cancer.  Stage IV.  The phone call hit me like a sucker-punch to the gut because (1) My sister has cancer; (2) I was in Thailand, a minimum of 36-hours of travel time away and 12-hour time difference and unreliable Internet so that getting there to give her a hug was almost impossible and even offering support by phone was difficult; (3) Cancer sucks.  Stage IV cancer really sucks.

So I did what pretty much everyone else does when they hear someone has cancer but they don't know what to do.  I ordered stuff on Amazon, a kick-a** cancer can't beat me necklace, chemo hat, a pink shirt for breast cancer awareness.  I even sent some fun Thai knick-knacks--purses and scarves and what-not.  But I knew it was a pathetic gesture.  I wanted to be there, help do laundry and dishes and read to her three beautiful girls, and give her a real live hug.  Be there for her.  But I was in Thailand, half a world away, and my heart ached.

Eventually, I was able to work it out to visit for a couple weeks in early November to help out; it was amazing to be there, to finally get that hug and do the laundry and dishes and do my nieces' hair and read to them and help however I could.  My parents and other sister even worked it out to overlap for a couple days so we could spend a weekend all together.  It was great.

But still, it didn't feel like enough.  So now, I'm back, taking advantage of the time between posts when we are required to stay in the United States, to visit again.  It is terrible to be away from My Man and my boys for so long (Darling Daughter came with me for this trip), but I don't know the next time I'll be able to visit my sister and support her, so I am grateful for this opportunity (and so grateful for My Man helping make it work out).

It's not all work either.  I relish the opportunity to make memories with my nieces (the youngest of whom I barely even knew before this!), to hang out and chat with my sister and brother-in-law, and to enjoy San Antonio's miraculous winter weather.  While My Man and boys are buried in several feet of snow up in Utah, we spent the day today picnicking and strolling through the botanical gardens.  The 65 degree sunshine felt like a little bit of heaven.

Last Saturday, I even snuck away to take Darling Daughter to see the Alamo and explore the San Antonio Riverwalk.  It was amazing to share that time with her.

And most days I take the girls on long walks or to the park while my sister is resting.  Just soaking up as much Vitamin D as possible before heading to the snowy dark winter of Kyiv.

But mostly, I am just so grateful to have this time to be here for my sister.

Meanwhile, My Man and the boys are taking advantage of the snow and time with family, skiing, enjoying lots of Cafe Rio, building snow forts, and even paragliding at Point of the Mountain.

It's tough being apart for these weeks (I hate it and can't wait until we are all back together again!), but we are grateful for this time home in the good ol' U.S. of A, spending time with family and making memories to bridge the next gap until we see them all again.

Winter Adventures: Surviving the Cold

I remember walking into our bedroom a few months ago in Thailand and shivering, "Brrr!  What did you set the AC to?" I accused my husband, who was comfortably snug in bed under our thin comforter.  "Hon, it's only 24," he responded.  Twenty-four degrees Celsius equates to roughly 75 degrees Farenheight.  As I stood shivering in our room, it hit me:  In only a few months we would be moving to Kyiv, Ukraine, in the middle of winter.  I was going to die.

Our last family picture in December in Chiang Mai, the week before we headed to Utah.  Palm trees, sunny skies, short sleeves . . . December in Thailand is paradise.

Fast-forward to today.

We haven't gotten to Kyiv yet, but we left Thailand a few weeks ago and landed in Utah for a brief visit with family, and baby it's cold out here!  This morning My Man and I went snow shoeing in the mountains (he spent the night in a snow cave--I wimped out and hiked out the same day).

It was -15 C when we left (5 F), and there was deep snow.  I didn't die.  I loved it!  In fact, after a few minutes, I had to take off my hat and gloves and by the end I'd even taken off my jacket.

Turns out, the Scandinavian proverb is correct:  "There is no bad weather, only bad clothes."  Well, at least in Utah.  In Thailand, when the sun was out and the weather was 40 C (104 F) with 90 percent humidity, I don't think there are any clothes that can fix that weather.  Maybe I was made for Kyiv afterall.

As for the kids, they haven't taken long to adjust either.  Between building snow caves, sledding, shooting, snow shoveling, taking sunrise pics and getting stuck in the snow, and hiking we've all spent lots of time playing outside.  Granted, our first stop was the store to hook everyone up with pants, gloves, and close-toed shoes!

Our first big snow was in Idaho where we spent Christmas with my family.  The kids were excited to build a snow fort, sled, and play outside with the dogs for hours.

The cold temps weren't enough to deter these kiddos from hours of sledding in Eagle Mountain at Silver Lakes Amphitheater.  After the sun went down, this mama had to finally coerce them to leave with promises of Stephen's hot cocoa.

The family that shoots together, stays together, or something like that.  The shooting was fun, but really just the excuse to get out and enjoy a gorgeous winter day was enough for me!

Getting out to walk and enjoy the beautiful lake and mountain views was a highlight of our stay with My Man's parents in Saratoga Springs.

My Man and I snuck out early one morning to watch the sunrise.  It was awesome.  We got stuck.  Less awesome.  Turns out salt and cat litter are a magical combination when it comes to getting out of deep snow, in case you were wondering.  You're welcome. :)  

We headed south to enjoy a day of sledding with friends, ending the day with a picnic of chili and cornbread.

We aren't wearing flip-flops and shorts any more, but I think we're going to be just fine.  And there is something absolutely beautiful about snow.

Big Springs, up Provo Canyon

Provo Canyon

Sunset from Provo East Bench

Здравствуйте Киев!

It seems like we were only just getting blown over by the news of our first assignment to Chiang Mai, but since My Man has a Russian language obligation to the Foreign Service, we already found out our second tour assignment!  Although there are actually lots of options for Russian-speaking assignments in the Foreign Service, because of training requirements and timing, we didn't have very many options that would work for us this go-around.  Basically, we had three options: Kazakhstan (relatively stable but remote), Moscow (familiar but huge and crazy), and Kiev (politically uncertain, less developed, more European).  With the current headlines in Crimea, neither Russia nor Ukraine looked very welcoming (I'd been really hoping for something in Georgia or Armenia perhaps)!  But, 2017 is so far in the future that it's difficult to predict politics, so we did our research then prayed hard that we'd be sent to a place that would be a good fit for our family. 

We are so excited for Chiang Mai and the adventures we'll have there, but I have to say that I was a teensy bit disappointed when I found out we didn't get the Russian spot on Flag Day.  Ever since starting to think about possibly someday joining the Foreign Service, serving in Russia (or at least a Russian-speaking post) was the way I imagined it.  I've sort of romanticized the Russian language and peoples and countries and have wanted to go back practically since I left almost 14 years ago.  So the past few weeks I've been waiting excitedly to find out where we'd be sent. 

With far less drama and fanfare than on Flag Day, My Man received an email announcing that we'd be going to Kiev, January 2017! 

To get a feel for what it will be like, here are a few pictures from Google images:

Though the winters will still be harsh, Kiev is a lot further south than Moscow and will be a bit less Siberian.

 A river runs through the town and the architecture is quite beautiful.

Although Ukrainian is the official language in Ukraine, it is very similar to Russian and we've heard that most people speak Russian, so we will probably focus on improving our Russian rather than learning Ukrainian, but if it turns out we need Ukrainian more, it should be an easy switch.  It's bound to be a bit of a shock to head to a Ukrainian winter straight from the sunny climes of Thailand, but we're excited about the adventures ahead (and grateful for this rare opportunity to know our plans for the next five years!).

The Pulpit

Last weekend, My Man heard that the winds might be good at a famous paragliding spot in Pennsylvania called The Pulpit.  It was about 2 hours away, but we decided we were up for an adventure so we packed a lunch and charted our course through several states, still searching for the Virginian Yongin. 

On the drive out, the kids were all raptly listening to audiobooks on their mp3 players, so My Man and I did Thai homework on Mango (an awesome language program) the whole way there.  When we got there, we were met by snow and wind.  I guess we forgot to calculate elevation when we looked at the mild spring forecast!  But the site was great and we will definitely be heading back more when it warms up.

The launch was clear of snow and there were rocks to climb around and explore (luckily most of the graffiti was benign). There's also a place to camp once it warms up. 

The wind cooperated for just one good launch, but that was all it took to make the trip a success in My Man's eyes.  The kids found a courageous woolly bear caterpillar inching its way across the snow.  That was all it took for them to decide this place was a winner.  I'm sure we'll be back again someday soon.

Snow Day

The snow did not disappoint and today we had a snow day!  It was super wet snow, perfect for snowman making! 

After the kids talked My Man into joining the fun, the scope of the project increased somewhat.

We still don't know if we'll have Flag Day tomorrow but we did just get word that school is canceled again tomorrow--the kids are ecstatic about their 5-day weekend. :-)