Bowler Family Update

 October went by so slowly but yet I was so busy! I was helping plan the trick or treating part of the embassy's Halloween party. We planned on 250 children! We ordered the candy way in advance but due to my procrastination we didn't even bag it up until the day of. I was waiting on bags and ribbon, which didn't come in time. I was so busy that night that I didn't even get a picture of Saileey in her Cinderella dress! She was a big hit.

 I also had several fittings for my dress which took up an hour on Saturdays and some evenings. The tailor doesn't speak English and I don't know enough Russian so I went with a friend but she works at the embassy so we went after she got off work. My Russian lessons are going well. 3 times a week I get a small break from being mom and I get to walk in with only my purse! No diaper bad slung over my shoulder and no baby on my hip. I feel so light!

 Saileey has been very resistant to taking steps on her own however she has taken a few. Her top teeth and still on their way out but she's got a mean bite. She can now wave hello, she puts her hand up in the air and moves it around a bit unlike a flapping bye-bye. We took her out to dinner with some others from the embassy and she was the entertainment of the night, pulling out all her tricks for the table full of people. Those at the embassy just love her and tolerate me bringing her to almost every event.

 The Marine Ball was just last weekend. It was a great ceremony, they even have a birthday cake! We listened to a few speakers who told about the bravery and service of those in the Marines Corp. The dinner was buffet style. Then there was dancing and Joseph graciously obliged. But don't think it was couples style. No, this was club and discoteca music. And since we were one of only three couples not drinking (our LDS friends were there) we left around 10.

 This weekend we are going on a trip to Samarkand, the second largest city in Uzbekistan. It will be the first time we've been out of the city since arriving. Pictures to come!

 Thanks Laura for the box of snacks for Saileey!

 My favorite part of my dress is the sash. It went to the floor and trailed, however it was stepped on a couple times.

The paisley is a symbol representing life. They use it in a lot of their art work.

 A war memorial, madras style.

 Our friend Mike took some picture for us with his nice camera. Some day we'll upgrade from our point and shoot.

Pottery Studio

 On Saturday Sept. 15 we went on a CLO trip to Rakhimovs pottery studio. Akbar Rakhimov, the owner of the studio, learned from his father whose dream it was to teach pottery. He was able to fulfill that dream. The studio is beautiful and peaceful and even has living quarters. Akbar's son Alisher has also mastered pottery, he is the one who gives the tours of their studio.  That big log of clay is 4 months old.

Saileey is a very cautious baby so she was hesitant about the clay at first. When she was okay with it of course she tried a taste or two. She mostly scratched at it with her fingernail.

 I've always wanted to try a pottery wheel! It was fun but having my hands plastered like that makes me feel claustrophobic  the same happens when I make bread by hand. Most of this vase ended up being Alisher's work. He would come by and fix it for me and then I'd try again but it would go lopsided and he'd come and fix it again.

Saturday Sept. 22 I went on a morning outing with Julianne and Cameron, my LDS gals. We went modest clothes shopping to Chorsu Bazaar. They have rows and rows of tiny shops.

Just a normal street in our neighborhood.

A normal house.

Another normal house, across the street from the previous picture.

 Pomegranate season!

September Beginnings

 

Even though we live far away in a whole new land it feels like there isn't much to report. We finally received our car! It is so liberating having your own wheels. 3 months is a long time without a vehicle. The biggest plus is being able to drive to church instead of having the two families take turns picking us up and dropping us off every Sunday. I was brave enough to drive to the embassy on Saturday. It went completely smooth and I remembered most of the way all by myself. The drive is about 15 or 20 minutes long. 

 Saileey has just started cuddling with her teddy bears, she has 3. She will hide her head under a blanket to play peekaboo and she holds the phone up to her ear. She has tried to comb her hair with my brush and she is learning to put smaller toys inside bigger ones. She loves opening and closing containers especially ones with flap lids. Her favorite food is cheese. She will screech with delight when we pull the cheese bag out of the fridge.

 Eagerly awaiting lunch. We bought this clever highchair which attaches to the table. The only problem was that the skirt under the table came down exactly where the chair attaches underneath. So we asked our pool guy if he could cut out grooves to make it fit. And he did an excellent job. It took him less than an hour and he did everything by hand, no power tools. He also fixed our piano bench which arrived in very poor condition and made it look even better than when we bought it.

I am trying as best I can to freeze the freezable fresh produce while it's in season. So far we have grapes, a few peach halves, green bell pepper slices, and two quarts of homemade tomato soup. What else should I be freezing?

 (Kathryn, we don't even take pictures of ourselves anymore! Perhaps we'll take one for you soon.)

Miss Saileey

My little girl does not give me sufficient time to blog as often as I'd like to. As I type with one hand she is sitting on my lap whining at me. So here are a few pictures without commentary. 9 months old on the 26th!

Independence Square

Saturday we braved the heat and with no personal vehicle went to Independence Square. They have some awesome statues but I'm not sure what all of them represent. I do know that they have all the names of their people who served in World War II listed in a memorial.

We left about 9 AM and walked to the nearest metro stop which took us to the stop at Independence Square. Saileey was already asleep by this point. We walked around the different statues and memorials until  about 11:30 because I was starving and needed to eat. Joseph made peanut butter sandwiches with honey, a delicacy for us here in Uzbekistan because we can't have that mailed to us.

After Saileey woke up we took her to the fountain that people are allowed to play in (sometimes). She loves water! She wanted to crawl but the water was too high for her to do that. After we were done in the water we got soft serve ice cream cones, strawberry and vanilla swirl. It was pretty good! Then we started the long hot journey home.

Since we were so hot when we got home we decided to go for a swim in our very own basement! It was great and revived all three of us. It's just the right size to fit us comfortably, anymore and it would be too crowded. For dinner we made eggplant parm and later talked to our dear friends the Madsens on Skype.

 This is my favorite one. I think they are storks, anyway there are 3 of them as if in flight.

 That smooth greenness behind Joseph is a canal.

 The sprinklers felt great and so did the shade.

 She was smiling at some children walking by.

So over all a great Saturday! The only hitch was when the metro doors closed on Saileey's stroller on our way out of the car. Joseph and a nice man standing nearby had to pry the doors open :( Argh.

The Best Day or Our Uzbek Lives!

July 26 2012 was for us the best day so far. After both of us being sick the day before it was great to be feeling better. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and to top it off our HHE (household effects) arrived which meant that Joseph got to come home early! Joseph was sick on Monday night so on Tuesday he came home early from work. I was sick Tuesday night so he stayed home on Wednesday to help me with Saileey. It was nice to have him home during the week.

There were several things we did okay without but are glad to have. For example: our knife set, a pair of scissors, canned tomatoes, lemon juice, and Saileey's growing into clothes.

The biggest item was the piano, and the poor guys didn't have a ramp to get it off the truck or up our front stairs. One wheel is now smashed up inside but that's probably the worst extent of the damage it received. I have felt so ashamed of having such worn out furniture but seeing the gouges and scrapes everything accumulated I decided it's better not to have brand new nice things anyway. Even some of our books took a beating.

Our things came in two shipments; UAB (unaccompanied air baggage) and HHE mentioned above. Obviously the UAB got to us first, as designed so you are supposed to get all your essentials in those boxes. Unfortunately we ended up with our printer but no paper and my sewing machine without the foot pedal or my sewing box. It's great to feel complete again. 

Unfortunately they laid it down on it's back much to my displeasure. 

 They didn't drop it at least!

The rarely seen backside of our piano. I don't know who those men are. 

 This road is named Buyuk Ipak Yoli or the Great Silk Road. It's the closest main road to our house.

This is a good example of what the streets look like except for the main roads which are nicer. Actually this road has less potholes and crumbled pavement.

Chorsu Bazaar, you have tons of people selling all the same fruits and vegetables. How to choose who to buy from?

  Outside Chorsu Bazaar

 Saileey after her bath.

 This is what the water looked like before we turned the filter on. Yeah, we shower in that stuff.

 The whole 'branch' went out for dinner at a Georgian restaurant. Starting on the left; Joseph and Saileey, Chris Sorensen (he was an intern and is now back in the States), Julianne Webber, Jared Webber, Mike Chapple, Cameron Monti

 Saileey's bedroom. There is a window on the left and the door is on the right. Behind me is a dresser with a mirror.

 Our bedroom