Random Pictures

I posted our London trip and our cruise below.  Since we were behind I wanted to just put in some recent pictures of Saileey and us in addition (for the grandparents).

This is one invention that makes me proud.  It is a card table with just two of the legs extended and the other side rested on pillows so it is perfect for Saileey to color on.

She loves to play the piano and sing, I'm glad she takes after her mother :)

Still working on the concept of playing the piano

Welcome to Nursery!! On Sundays, we take the Sacrament at home (only members left in country), watch some general conference, and then have Nursery.  Saileey rocks at looking at pictures, eating snacks, and coloring.

Andrea's hair and dress for the Official Independence Day Celebration

Saileey's 4th of July outfit--Go America!!!

Saileey loves to be chased, this is a sample of her running (and being chased)

She likes to hide behind her crib when getting chased and this is her action shot of running out of her hiding spot

An owl towel made by Stephanie Torres.  Saileey LOVES it and calls every towel "hoo hoo" (like an owl)

Every kid's dream, a huge box and crayons

Our consumable shipment arrived (thanks Mom and Dad Francom for putting it together).  For those that can't see, this is almost all Western Family, only the best brand out there!!

We've retired our indoor pool for a new and improved version :)

Baby Bump!

More posts below!!

London!!

Now that I finally posted our Cruise photos and story, I can write about London.  Truly an amazing city!!  We flew in on a Friday night and made our way via bus/taxi to the accommodation center at the LDS London Temple (located in south of London in the English countryside).  The English countryside lived up to everything expected, and the weather was great!.  The nearest temple to us in Uzbekistan is probably Ukraine, and since the one in Rome isn't completed yet, we didn't make our way out there to attend.   So this is our first Temple trip in ages.  The temple grounds are very beautiful, it feels like you are on an English manor with beautifully manicured gardens and walkways.   Andrea and I had to take turns going into the temple while the other one stayed with Saileey (including lunch) on Saturday.  So Saileey and each parent got to explore a lot.   The next day Andrea and I were able to go to a real ward/church and Saileey got to experience nursery for the first time.  I think she would really enjoy it on a regular basis.  We got to meet wonderful people who were nothing but kind and incredibly helpful.  Although they all said I had an accent, I was like please, they're the ones with an accent.

After church we headed into London proper and were just a block away from Hyde Park in Westminster City.  It was the perfect location.  There were lots of places to shop (and we shopped a lot) and great places to eat (and we ate a lot, again).  

We were in London to visit the doctors (basic tests that are done for pregnancies but the facilities in Uzbekistan are lacking so that was the entire reason we went to London).  Everything looks great, he is a healthy looking baby boy that should be come around early November.  Although I was hoping for another little girl, this will give me more reasons to spoil Saileey.

Here are a few pictures:

London Temple (a little blurry because Saileey loves to touch lenses)

Mommy and daughter in Hyde Park London

Our little girl loves to choose her own paths (Hyde Park)

Her first real swing set!!

Saileey loves slides, this one is a little nicer than what she uses in Uzbekistan (Below)

and the slide in Uzbekistan (wish I had a picture of the "stairs")

Mom and Dad enjoying a moment :)

Cruise Pictures

So apparently it has been a while since we posted :(

I'll start with back in April/May when we went on our cruise.  We had a lot of fun, Saileey was as good as a 17 month old child could be and we ate, ate, ate, and ate a little more.  For example, my first breakfast on the ship was bacon, sausage, other kinds of bacon, and other kinds of sausage.  I know I probably shaved 2 years of my life off with my engorgement of food, but I can live with that with what I've eaten for the past year (at that time).

It was Andrea's first trimester of this pregnancy and she did awesome!! (We're pregnant by the way)

We first flew into Rome, Italy; then departed to Sicily, Italy; Mykonos, Greece (our favorite place--awesome food and just picture perfect); Ephesus, Turkey; Crete, Greece (once again, awesome food, not as picturesque but it was during the Orthodox Easter which was fun); and back to Rome.

To be honest, I was under impressed with Rome.  It might have been the rain, or the feeling like it is a large tourist trap...but I personally think it was because everything was dirty, like scuzzy disgustingly dirty (Tegucigalpa and Tijuana were cleaner to me).  The food was okay, but after Greek food, I thought the little Romans couldn't keep up.  Augustus was right, they were meant to govern, not to create culture (the job of the Greeks).

Our little family waiting in line--lesson learned with traveling with Saileey, don't bring more bags than I have arms.

Enjoying her view

Mom and Saileey waiting to embark

For some pictures, I really do wonder where Saileey is hiding????

So you can eat for free on the boat (and we did, a lot), but you had to pay for Johnny Rockets and it was freaking amazing and worth it!!!

This little girl of our loves to try on hats, jewelry, cloths, accessories and sunglasses. I think I need to find a higher paying job when she gets older.

This was Ephesus, a really amazing place in Turkey that had a lot of potential.  Surprising, a young child is more interested in finding cats than listening to the guide and looking at really old stuff.  I was less inclined to find the random cats.

Who's that pretty girl?? :)

Remember how I said she likes to try on clothes, this is after she got bored

Saileey also discovered ice cream on this trip and hasn't forgotten how awesome it is (constantly asks for it)

This is Mykonos, it was just a fun and interesting place to visit with great food.  We took this picture because we have a painting that we bought with the same view.

Just the girls hanging out!

This is at the Colosseum in Rome, really impressive with some great views around it.  Still don't know why I have to pay to enter someplace built with slave labor.

She quickly fell asleep

Rome has some really amazing art

Saileey and I sure had an adventure at the Vatican. Once again, looking at a bunch of old stuff is apparently boring for a little child and all she wants to do is touch things, doesn't matter how old.  Our highlight was when Saileey had a stinky diaper that needed to be changed and I made my way to the restroom to change her.  Of course there is no changing station (I'm use to that by now) and no room on the sink counter (and yes, I've de-evolved to the point that I would have changed her there if I possible).  Instead I had to go into one of the stalls to change her on my lap, no big deal, I've done it before.  However, this wonderful little bathroom didn't even have a toilet seat.  If you've made it this far in the story I feel like you may have scanned over the words "a toilet seat."  For those that don't know (apparently the Vatican), most toilets have two seats, a lid and an actual little seat so you don't fall in or have to sit where some guy had poor aim.  This beauty had no seat to speak of.  So trying to keep as much on the toilet as I could, changing a diaper, avoiding getting baby feces on me, or lose my wallet in the toilet I finished like a champ (put her pants back on the right way the FIRST time and everything).  I stood up and looked down and saw one of her shoes in the toilet.

My brother and sister recommended us this place to stay in Rome (and it was good), but if you notice this picture of the comforter and the curtains there is something oddly familiar.

The start of the worst flight I've ever been on, ever.  Saileey looks like she knows what is coming, but I was clueless. The flight attendants were incredibly rude.  We had to wait for someone to show and were late leaving (that means you always have to wait on the tarmac too) and they turned off the lights about 3 minutes before the decent and they turned them on again (on a night flight).  

This was our cruise, hope you enjoyed the pictures!!!!

For those who haven't heard...

A few weeks ago we had a big decision to make. It has been confirmed that our decision has been validated to stay here in Tashkent Uzbekistan for another year! This means our tour will end May 2015.

This means that while we don't get home leave at the end of 2 years, we will get another R&R. Our first R&R is coming up and we couldn't be more ready and excited. Life in another country takes a lot of effort with getting to know the area, culture, language, people, not to mention a new job. Even adding in little extra time consuming tasks like washing all fruits and vegetables in bleach water seems to zap our energy. We are super ready to relax and be at our leisure. We are flying to Rome and from there we will leave on our cruise. One week of heaven! I only hope Saileey will go easy on us.

Saileey understands so much English as well as sign language. When she signs a word and we say it she gets so happy that we understand her that she leaps toward us with a smile and a happy exclamation meaning get to it now that you know what I want.

Saileey is on a roller coaster with her eating habits and cheese continues to be her favorite food item with frozen grapes a distant second. Her sleeping habits are atrocious however. She was sick a couple weeks ago waking up multiple times a night. Now she is better but still wakes up around 1 or 2 AM wanting milk.

We thought spring was here for good last week, however we had rain and snow this last weekend and it was so cold! The apricot tree outside our gate had already bloomed so we aren't expecting the same gooey mess we had last year on our driveway and lawn.

 Outside the circus. Of the 3 hour show we only made it through 2, Saileey wasn't interested one bit.

This is as close to a smile as we can get while the camera is out.

 Trying out the new stroller.

 Saileey's nanny Zubira

 Playing dress up.

 Signing cat.

 Snow on the apricot blossoms!

 Signing baby.

A favorite place of Saileey's to sit. Usually she has her doll or animals sitting next to her.

Joseph and I are still trudging along with our Russian. We haven't had much opportunity to use it lately since we stayed cooped up all winter. I am looking forward to going out to the bazaars and brushing up my number skills which remain to be extra hard for me. Everything is in the thousands here. If things get tough enough they usually have a calculator or use their cell phone to show you the price they are asking. I can't wait to pay 500 soum ($.25) for 1/2 kilo (1 lb) of tomatoes again!