Russia - Day 5 - Baptism and St. Catherine's Park

Dad did a terrific job speaking at the baptism. It was neat to have one of his "buddy" Elders translate for him. The dynamics between the two was fun to watch. What a touching baptism. It makes you realize that the church is the same throughout the world. I was especially moved by the music and had the thought that it would be great to have our family sing a hymn at Mom and Dad's homecoming in Russia. David - will you help us out on this? :)

After the baptism it was time for SHOPPING! It was so nice to have all of my shopping done half way into my trip and I feel great about the souvenirs for everyone. I found a fun scarf for me that says MOSCOW, but somewhat discreetly so it isn't overbearing. I picked out a set of Matryoshka Dolls with Greg in mind - the dad has a striking resemblance to him. :) Alex also received a set of Matryoshka Dolls - with the Dallas Cowboys theme. He loved it! I bought Josh a snow globe and key chain with St. Basil's as the theme. Another note to self: snow globes are full liquid so don't put them your carry-on. BUMMER! But Josh was a good sport about it and I've asked Mom to buy him another one, he'll just have to get it 6 months later. Cody received a wooden toy with moving parts known as a bogorodsky. He loves it! And Meagan is enamored with her litte Matryoshka Doll - it has a few cats and a mouse in it. Darling!

After shopping, we went to Catherine's Park. It's hard to believe the size of this place. Beautiful architecture!

Mom had heard about a honey festival and since Derek is our family's bee man, we thought we'd go check it out, see if we could get any tips, see what his competition is like in Moscow. Yikes! I bet there were at least 300 vendors.

Russia - Day 4 - Novodevichy Cemetery, Old Arbat Street, Count of Monte Cristo

First thing this morning we headed to the Central Building to give some support to some Elders meeting with an investigator from Kyrgyzstan. As the religious government official from the south part of the country, he could be very instrumental in helping the church open in that country.

Novodevichy Cemetery
Who would think going to a cemetery would make the list, huh? But with shots like these, you really just can't pass it up.

Monument to Boris Yeltsin

Old Arbat Street
This was a fun place to do a little souvenir shopping and just enjoy a quiet afternoon on cobblestone streets complete with sidewalk artists, musicians and street poets - made for somewhat of a bohemian atmosphere. Loved it!

Count of Monte Cristo
Amazing! I am hoping that at some point this musical will be on Broadway. There was not one aspect of the musical that wasn't amazing. The dancers were incredible. The set - fabulous. The music - moving. Cast - completely well done. It was a highlight of the trip.

Russia - Day 3 - Cathedral of Christ our Redeemer, Red Square, GUM, and the Kremlin

Cathedral of Christ our Redeemer

We tried to get into this cathedral yesterday, but the line stretched around the block and we needed to get home so we could make it in time for mom and dad's class. Our goal was to be there close to 10 am, right when it opened and the line looked a bit shorter than the day before, but not by much. After a bit of deliberation, we decided to stick it out. I'm so glad we did. What a spectacular building and amazing history. Stalin ordered the cathedral to be blown up in 1931 and it was recently rebuilt (primarily between 1994-1997). Something this spectacular comes with a spectacular price tag as well - $200 million! Square footage of 97,000 and more than 10,000 worshipers can worship at one time.

After being in line for about 45 minutes to enter the cathedral, we realized there was still a line forming inside. We all thought we would just go in, look around, and then leave. Imagine our surprise when after going around a few corners, we realized we were in line for the sacrament. Oops! At least we were prepared with scarves to cover our heads. :)

Outside Cathedral of Christ our Redeemer

Outside Cathedral of Christ our Redeemer

Red Square and surrounding area
This was probably my favorite stop of the entire vacation (although I'm just starting to write this up, so I may say that again). I am in awe walking in old buildings and seeing how other countries re-purpose buildings verses the  mentality that most things are disposable. We visited Red Square which is quite famous but is not very impressive from an aesthetic viewpoint. It is essentially red bricks that form a good size square (1,600 feet in length) and was constructed in the 15th century and was a place for public announcements and executions.

On one side of the square is Lenin's mausoleum. We had hoped to squeeze in time to see this, but simply ran out of time. Also, it's only open a couple of days each week and quite limited hours.

This actually says LENIN - tricky remembering a backwards N is an I, an H is an N, etc.

St. Basil's Cathedral

St. Basil's Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and completed in 1561. According to legend, Ivan was so amazed at the beauty of the architect's work, he had him blinded so he would never be able to design anything as exquisite again.

I loved walking up the narrow steps of varying height, knowing that the builders just used whatever stone was available and somewhat of the right height. You could also see significant grooves on the stairs caused by so many people walking in the same place. Amazing!

We stopped to get a quick refreshment... thank goodness they have Diet Coke in Russia.

GUM

With a name like Gosudarstvennyy universalnyy magazin you can see why the abbreviate it :) Designed in 1889-93 it originally was used to sell goods ranging from furs and silks to candles. During the Stalin era, he requisitioned it as offices. Now it's back to a HUGE shopping mall.

On our way back to the apartment, Mom and Dad showed me the padlock trees. When couples get married, they can go to this padlock bridge and add their padlock to the tree, throwing the key into the river. What a cute tradition! I told Mom and Dad they should celebrate their anniversary by doing this.

And to top it all off, we went to a great concert in the evening. It was a very close call getting there on time, but we made it before the concert started. I didn't know Dad could race walk like that! :) The concert was an amazing assortment of jazz, chamber music, oboe player, accordion player, opera singer - pretty much you name it, they had it. All of the music was well done and it was fun to attend a cultural event.

Russia - Day 2

The missionaries invited us to join them on their p-day on the Moscow River Ride. What a great suggestion! I would highly recommend this to anyone, especially at the beginning of your trip. I was able to get a good visual of where things were in relation to one another as well as get a preview of some of the upcoming attractions.

That evening Mom and Dad facilitated English Club with about 8 to 10 students. They have a great format for teaching the class. On the chalkboard, they write down a few idioms and then discuss the meaning of each phrase. The English language sure is quirky, isn't it? This is followed by a couple of articles (one selected by Mom, one selected by Dad) and the students take turns reading a paragraph at a time. This is followed by either Mom or Dad rereading the same paragraph. I love this format because it lets the students practice reading out loud and then they also get to hear the same content read by someone who has English as a first language. I received a funny comment from one of their students who recognized me from the previous night. He had told his friend that my English was quite good (at that point he thought I was a new Russian student - lol). It wasn't until Mom and Dad introduced me as their daughter that he realized I wasn't Russian. :)

Пока!

Russia - Day ! - Arrival

Approximately 30 hours after leaving my home.... I arrived in Russia! It was sooo fabulous to see Mom and Dad. For selfish reasons I was sad to think of them gone for 18 months, missing all of the cute things that especially the two little ones are doing. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be - actually quite good for everyone. And now that I've seen firsthand the influence and help that they are for the Russian people, well of course it is amazing. Who wouldn't love those two? They are incredible and a great combination.

Well, you might think that after a long flight, the traveling would be done. Nope. A train ride to the metro, then the metro (complete with a transfer or two) to head to the central building to get my registration processed. Thank goodness they have friends and connections to make this process easier. Grabbed a quick bit to eat at the mall, then back on the metro (yes, we're still hauling my suitcases around at this point) but we eventually made it to their apartment. I forget what living in a big city is all about. You simply don't have door to door service like you do with a car which I think is GREAT! What a great way to build exercise into your life. No wonder mom and dad look great.

Here we are, outside of mom and dad's apartment.

After dragging my suitcases up a few flights of stairs, I was so happy to see what a comfy bed I'd have for my stay. :)

Here's my bed the bed I slept on for 10 nights - yikes!

We had time to get a tour of the apartment (that took literally 48 seconds) it is that miniature. :) And then we were off to some of their mission commitments. Meetings and a Doctrine and Covenants class in English. I thought I was doing great with the lack of sleep, but I guess I needed a little snoozer because I sat down on the couch in the foyer and fell asleep for at least 30 minutes.

I was surprised at how much water my body can retain. Not a pretty thing. Note to self - drink LOTS of water while traveling, especially when traveling that far. I was able to find a somewhat discreet place to practice some yoga, including laying the floor with my feet up the wall. The other recommendation for future travel - tennis balls. I know that sounds strange, but if I sit on them periodically and use them on my lower back, my body is so much happier.

Пока! (Russian for bye.)

Quick trip to Jackson

As long as I'm doing a quick posting, thought I'd share some pictures of our trip to Jackson. We love that place - it is soo beautiful!

Oh yeah - did I mention I was INSANE to take a two-year old, one-year old, and a three-month puppy to a national park? It went surprisingly well. The only disappointment for Greg was that Meagan was overlooked by fellow campers because we had such a cute puppy with us. :)

This week brought to you by the letter "P"

Ah, the joys of motherhood. Cody has been a bit sick this week. On Monday night I saw a rash on his torso and thought I'd give it a day or two to see if it improved. It would come and go, sometimes in small patches, other times it looked like it was taking most of his body over. So on Wednesday, I scheduled a doctor's appointment to have it checked out. I was assured that it was just a case of hives and sent home with a "good luck."

Wouldn't you know it, but the next day Cody had flu-like symptoms, from both ends. In hindsight, Thursday night was pretty funny. I had both kids in the tub, didn't want Cody in too long in case he got sick. So, after he was washed and dried, he ended up on the kitchen island getting a drink of water. That's when I heard Meagan crying in the tub. Poor thing was traumatized but the #2 she had just done in the tub. Agh! Fished that out, got some clean bath water, washed and dried Meagan, got her dressed, then remembered Cody still wasn't dressed (but I was hoping Greg had put a diaper on him). No such luck! A case of diarrhea on the kitchen island! Oh well, at least it was contained - and easier to clean on the counter than on the carpet. I'm sure that island hasn't been scrubbed and sanitized in it's life as much as it was that night.

Cody, being the trooper that he is, still maintained every appearance that he was feeling great. So, we ventured to the swimming pool on Saturday afternoon. All went well during the swimming session, but on our way to the car it was like that scene from Stand By Me. Wow - I didn't know a two-year old could have such force in his little body. After he finished, he looked up at me with a big smile and announced, "Done puking."

I thought we were done with the letter P until this afternoon when Josh went to get Meagan up from her nap. Evidently she didn't want her dirty diaper on any longer because she took it off in her crib. Again, at least it was somewhat contained and I've learned a valuable lesson - no more putting her to bed in just her dress - panties/bloomers must be on. That being said she has the cutest nightgown on right now. So cute in fact, I'll go grab the camera.

On a lighter note, I played a piano solo today in Sacrament, "America, The Beautiful." It's rare that I come away feeling I played the piece the best I can but I felt that way today. It's nice to help set the tone for a meeting, especially on such an important holiday.

Here's wishing you all a happy Fourth of July!