Scarlet has been really into painting and I absolutely love it. She'll paint for a long time and I love how her "masterpieces" as she calls them, look when they're done. I put off letting her do it, forever, because I thought it would be such a mess, and then Rakia, our babysitter, bust it out when I was out and I realized it really isn't messy at all. I don't even stay in the room when she does it.

We went to Flamingo World! It's basically like the fair. Everyone acted like it was this sad place, but it was way fun! Scarlet had a BLAST. The only thing I wish was different is none of the rides had music. It really makes a difference! Can you imagine a carousel with silence? Not as fun!

Most the time I really don't enjoy my hair, but I loved it that day.

 There are no rules in Kyrgyzstan. Well, not really. You're supposed to pay money on a card and use the card for rides. People would just hop in line and hand the worker cash. Also, we would just cram ourselves on the kiddie rides and I took Brighton on a roller coaster with me! After it started to go, I was sort of regretting it. It was a lot faster than I thought it would be and it was hard to steady myself while holding tight to B. It was a small roller coaster and didn't go up very high, but I was not as stable as I wished.

This was one of those ones that swoosh up and down in a U shape, pretty high up.

There was this little show that was all in Russian, so it got a little boring when the woman would just talk and talk and talk. But all these kid performers came out dancing in costumes and I saw the most crazy acrobatics ever! This teenager girl was bending her body in all kinds of weird ways- I'd never even seen it on tv before. It was crazy. 

We bought a little jungle gym at Costco before we came here.

B turned 1, about 6 weeks before we celebrated! We did give him a gift or two on his Bday, but we didn't do anything else. So Greg's birthday, I decided it would be a double celebration!

Greg turned 30!!!! I felt horrible, I didn't have anything planned and gave him lasagne noodles with the promise to make lasagne. But I'm not sure if I can find the right cheese to make it happen after all! I DID get him Les Misrable written in actual FRENCH, which he's been wanting for awhile, so I was pretty happy about that, except I ordered it too late and it's still in the mail.

 Scarlet and I made him cookies and we had ice cream with it. It was a pretty sugar filled day.

 I got some hilarious pics of Scarlet, this one was the best.

 I made sure to have Greg open his presents first so B would know what it was. When he saw his presents he was SO EXCITED and started freaking out and smiling so big! He totally knew! And he just ripped it all open. It was really incredible! 

He's FINALLY into books. I don't know why it took him so long. He didn't really get interested until just before his first birthday. Now he brings me books all the time. I like reading to him. I've forgotten how much I like reading to my kids. Them on my lap, while I read- it's just sweet. We got all out of habit for reading when we moved because we were without our books for a long time.

His favorite gift was the puzzle! But only because he loved to take the pieces and slam them together like cymbals.

He's seriously the cutest kid. He is so sweet. We just love him. It has been so fun to watch him grow. It has been a ride. He's my baby and I treat him more like a baby than I should. I never thought I'd be that way, but I don't care. I love him and that's how I want it to be, for now!

Greg and I celebrated our 8 year Anniversary! We actually went out to dinner and beforehand we got a couple's massage at the Hyatt. It was really nice there! It was pretty funny, though, because when they moved the sheet down to start the massage, they pulled it all the way past our butts so we were totally exposed! I say it was funny, but more it just made us FEEL funny. It's really hard to find vegetarian dishes here, so I ordered trout- because I'd never had it and they brought the whole fish out. The head, the tail, skin all around, completely whole. I was surprised but not too phased. But then I had to just cut into it. And then I felt weird, just cutting into a body. I really didn't like it. I couldn't bear to look at it's face while eating it, so I put a sliced potato on top. That made it easier. The more I ate, the more I didn't like it. I came home and couldn't shake the feeling, even the next day! I just don't like to eat meat anymore. I know it was in my head, but I just felt gross inside. Greg, on the other hand, is constantly ordering lamb whenever we go out. But it actually is always very good.

 Between the massage and dinner we walked around outside awhile.  It was nice to be alone.We saw a little market filled with TONS of pirated dvds. Don't worry, we didn't buy any!

What can I say? Being married to this man has easily been the best decision of my life! To be completely honest- marriage, with Greg, is easy. It really is. And I know we're really lucky. We've been through a lot together and have become closer, through every experience- good or bad. We've popped out some pretty awesome kids along the way and I honestly can't wait to meet whoever else will be part of our little clan. We really have been blessed. I can't even imagine what the last 8 years of life would be without him. Europe? No. Married to a cop? Certainly not! Living abroad to Kyrgyzstan? What can I say- he has really opened my eyes to the world and enriched my life in ways that I know are still not over! I'm a lucky girl and he's always telling me the same.

The next day was Scarlet's 3rd birthday! We made a pink cake and it was quite a task. Separate this, whip this, mix that, melt that, add it all together at different times. Ay ay ay. But everyone loved it! I thought it was not so amazing, but Greg was raving about it which made me pretty happy. I thought I was in trouble when I realized we had no powdered sugar for frosting- but Pat saved the day on Skype telling me I could blend sugar and it totally worked! Suh-weet!

 This is Scarlet going to blow out the candles before we've even lit them.

 Here we go. Does she look excited? She was pretty excited.

Yes, there are 4 candles. That's how many she wanted.

Scarlet is so amazing. I'm going to rave about her. I remember when she was born, everyone would say she was so perfect and she really was! Then she got sick and everything got turned upside down. But since we've moved here, it shows more and more everyday- she's just a sweet angel! Just like she was before. She really is special. She wakes up every morning and runs in our room so happy. And she's just always smiling and sweet and so polite. Whenever I say yes, or even if I say "you can do that tomorrow" she says, "Thank you Mommy!" And she says it like she really means it!

When she says her prayers she totally knows what it means. She whines and it is a real pain to get her to say them, but when she does it, she can do it all on her own, thanking for specific things that happened that day and prays for very specific things too! Her "please bless us" parts are the things we taught her, but she's always thinking of things to be thankful for all on her own. It makes me so happy! She's also always telling us that certain things are or are not "choosing the right!" And she tells us so confidently. "That's not choosing the right, Mommy!" and it's the cutest thing. She LISTENS to us! It really blows me away. She understands everything. It's really amazing.

 She's a great big sister. She is so kind to Brighton. She will occasionally  hit me but she's never hit Brighton and Brighton hurts her all the time on accident! If she's well fed and not tired, she follows directions so well. If I say no, she usually just says ok and moves onto the next thing. We only seem to have problems when she's hungry or tired or I've been busy all day. Otherwise I'd say she's a perfect angel and we just fall in love with her again and again!

To say she was was soooooo excited, is such an understatement. She has been talking about her birthday for weeks. How it's going to be a tea party. How she's going to have a pink cake. How she's going to help make decorations. She would tell Pavel about it weekly. So we had to go find a tea set and this one worked out pretty nice. She poured us tea and everything. She called me Madame the whole time.

 Brighton was asleep so it was just the three of us and it really was sweet!

This was a card from my parents that doubled as a mask. She was pretty excited and immediately said something about how Pandas eat bamboo.

 Ever since I saw how much she loved the Little Peoples House at my parents, I knew I had to get her one. I've been so excited to give it to her, it's been sitting in a box, waiting for 2 months.

 It's pepper season and peppers are like a tenth of the normal price so we bought a huge bag to chop and freeze. It was a lot of work. Eck. It reminded me of all the berries. It was horrible. Yesterday, we got a shipment of food for the freezer and suddenly it's full, so I can't do any more peppers for the winter. I'm actually relieved, because it is SUCH A PAIN. It's beyond time consuming, and then when you're finally finished, you have a million trays to wash by hand. I'm told there ARE peppers in winter, they're just really expensive. I just hope they're not from China. Food from China scares me! Greg's boss worked there and said a TON of babies died because there was a formula company that made really bad formula that had no calories. It makes me shudder. It makes me afraid to eat things from there and we border them, so their stuff is brought into the markets. I was ALSO just told that you have to be careful with watermelons because people will INJECT THEM with IRRIGATION WATER to make them heavier. We have eaten so much watermelon and how can I go buy another now?!? 2 people at Greg's work got dysentery and think it was from a watermelon. People are always telling me that they don't wash their fruit and I'm just like, "What????" I feel like the kids and I have done pretty well and I own that it's because of how well I wash everything, despite the pain and annoyance.

Today we went to the Ostrich Farm. I guess their eggs are $100!!!! Wow! It was actually a lot of fun. It was really small, there were only 8 of them, but they were funny little creatures. It was hilarious, Pavel kept putting out his fist for them to nip at. They could stick their necks really far past the fence, so it made me a little nervous at first.

On the way home Pavel stopped in his village so I could meet his wife and son and see where he lived. I loved it! I've always wondered about his family and it was really nice. Today was Rakia's last day :( She's been cleaning our house and watching the kids once a week the last 3 weeks. Ah, we will miss her. The kids have REALLY taken to her AND she speaks English! Such a rare find! But we're losing her to another family that wants her full time. It's so hard to find help if it's just a day or two! Most people want full time and so it's really hard to find someone. Our house has been a lot cleaner and I've been a lot more relaxed getting away from the kids a little. We need to find a replacement ASAP!

There's some big conference or something happening tomorrow and all these roads have been closed and causing crazy traffic. I guess Putin is comin' to town, among other officials. I hope it doesn't last long. Greg's been riding his bike to work to avoid the traffic and he really likes it, except being chased by dogs. Like one on each side. At one point he was coming to a stop/intersection and dogs were chasing him so he jumped off and they ran away, thank goodness. Greg was attacked by dogs in Brazil and got a really bad bite on his calf. We're really hoping that doesn't happen again.

We're still trying to find friends. Someday it will happen. I was pretty sad about it last night. I think I need to let go of the great combo I had in DC, where my closest friends were Scarlet's closest friend's moms. It's just not going to happen here. Our social activities will just have to be separate and we'll have to juggle it all a little more to get it all right.

Brighton is practically running. He can go so fast. I am pretty confident he will run be running long before Scarlet. He surprises me with a little word here and there- peppe (pepper), fff (woof), wawa is watermelon and Greg said he said it for water too. I guess that's all, but it was all this week so it feels like a lot. He's been sleeping so poorly for naps and been a bit grumpy but it doesn't seem like he's teething. Who knows.

Wow, Scarlet is at the counter right now eating butter. My discipline has flown out the window today. There are dry beans all over the living room. I'm just too tired to care too much today.

We didn't get take out once this week! That is really saying something. Every week I say, "Next week I'll go back to cloth diapers" and then I don't. But really, it's good that I haven't. There's always SOMETHING to throw things each week. I need to wait a little longer, I think.

We are already thinking about the holidays because we have to order in so early. We've picked our Halloween costumes and I'm so excited!!!! I hope it works out. Greg's will be easy enough, mine hopefully turns out. We're going to make them ourselves. Thank goodness, Greg said he'll take care of the sewing, because I don't want to add more work into my life right now.

Our play room wallpaper was covered in mold and peeling from the walls. So we had it all fixed and we were without it for 3 weeks! Yikes! It's great to have back, but now it smells of dust and chemicals and it's been airing out for over 2 weeks and STILL the smell is pretty strong. I hope it goes away soon.

Scarlet calls me Mom, Mommy and I think even Mamma sometimes. I was really thrown when she started calling me Mom, but I guess it just happens. But I like being her Mommy.

As I said before, yesterday I was suddenly sad and decided to watch a movie in the middle of the day- I only made it 7 minutes before I had to turn it off, but I picked it because it's set in Seattle. Oh man, the look of the house, the trees- it just made me think of the US. It made me sad and LONG for something familiar. A grocery store. English. ENGLISH! ENGLISH!!!! Language and communication REALLY make or break things turning out how you want them. Anyway, and then later after the kids went down Greg and I were watching tv and a car commercial came on and I saw the smooth roads and thought, "I wish just for a moment I could ride on a flat, smooth road and drive by smooth, nice buildings."

Everything is fine. Everyone has ups and downs. I think they're just magnified when you're out of your element.

Today's been great. Yesterday I had playgroup at my house and it went really well, but afterwards I was just feeling the lack of real friends and it made me feel down. I also feel so sad for Scarlet. She really needs friends. She seemed to stop talking about her friends in DC, for awhile and now she's talking about them everyday again. I really just feel horrible about it, but don't know what to do. I keep trying and I'm worn out.

We found out for sure that a Mormon family with 3 kids (one Scarlet's age) is moving about a 5 minute walk away! We're pretty excited. The Mom will be staying home. We'll see what happens. I don't want get my hopes up for nothing to come out of it.

Church has been so nice lately. We've gotten to know the members a lot better the last couple weeks and even though there's only 6 of us, it feels like ward! Last week, one person was late, I was at the piano, one was conducting, Greg went outside with the kids and the other person was at the sacrament table. So when the group leader started the meeting there was no one there and so he just turned to me and the guy at the sacrament table. It was kind of funny. Just the 3 of us. I tell you though, I swear, the smaller the meeting the stronger I feel the spirit. I'm always so surprised. It's nice. It's reassuring.

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