Winter Time

It has been a while since we've done a post.  Surprisingly it was a really busy holiday season for us.  Saileey spent too many nights up too late and we spent a lot of time with friends who stayed in Tashkent too.

Our most recent outing was a trip to the mountains!  There is a place here, Chimgan (or Chimyan in Uzbek), where people head up on the weekend to do winter activities.  They have sledding, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiles, ATVs, and horseback riding.  The thing that sticks out the most is the sledding.  Instead of your normal plastic/rubber sleds they have two varieties; first, they have a traditional style sled that has skis on the bottom with a steering wheel that is apparently more for decoration that practicality (same thing for the breaks).  The second option is a little more makeshift than that.  They get something that looks like the wall padding you find in a basketball court and they tie a rope to it and you hop on.  It was actually pretty fun.

As you can barely tell, those yellow things people are dragging are the sleds.  If you link up with a few of them, you get going pretty fast!

Snowboarding is a little interesting, but it is snowboarding so one shouldn't complain.  There are other slopes nearby that have your traditional, albeit frightening (think Soviet Union), ski lifts.  Our side had a cable system that was built more for skis than a snowboard.

This is the rope with a stick that you are suppose to sit on, the sitting is easier with skis. The rope works great for most of the hill, that is until you make it up to where it hits a steep angle with a huge drop-off.

Don't worry Andrea, it fits two :)

Here's Andrea like a champ!!

Andrea was brave enough to try the horse back riding while I chose to stay on the sideline.  Not only is it because someone had to stick around with Saileey, but I noticed various holes throughout the area where a horses leg clearly went through the snow. Additionally, when we first arrived, I was a witness to the near demise of one rider whose horse was slipping on the snow.  As a side note, this is the bottom of the sledding hill, for those who don't know horses=manure

Saileey was bundled to immobility and her favorite part was being dragged around on a sled.  She was not happy to get so many layers on her, I was equally unhappy when it was time for diaper changes :) 

While Andrea and I went snowboarding, some friends watched Saileey and  the little girl was pretty tuckered out.  With all the layers she probably thought we was strapped to a mattress anyways.

Below are some older pictures that I wanted to throw on because it has been a while since we have posted on here.

Saileey and Dad going for a walk.  This was early December and they still didn't have any snow.  

Snow finally did come and Saileey really enjoyed the snow.  

An old trick, but still just as cute!

This is the first day of the New Year!!! 

We went to a carnival type thing (well, at least it felt like a carnival) and this is the walk home.  Saileey was held the whole time and was really excited to get down and walk to the car.  

This was also the day I realized that my house will probably filled with useless crappy toys that I bought to bring a smile to my little girls face (like every other child).  BTW China sends its nice crappy stuff to America while the rest of the world gets the crappy crappy stuff.

She is excited to walk around.

She is like...really excited to walk around.

'Til Next Time!!

Saileey's Birthday Part II

Saileey's Birthday Part I

Thanksgiving and Saileey's Birthday

This is Andrea making a wonderful pie!!  The lesson we learned is the vinegar that is sold in Uzbekistan is A LOT more powerful than the States :)

Here is a more candid picture on how Andrea and I get to cook.  There is always the cute bald gremlin attached to our legs. 

Thanksgiving!! 

This is Saileey's very first Thanksgiving.  She enjoyed eating turkey for the first time (well...turkey that is not blended).  She enjoyed the food so much she wanted to test everyone's plate. 

This is our frozen food order (from a nearby U.S. military base).  We have chicken, cheese, ice cream, and other frozen items (all U.S. made items) and is our little a piece of heaven here.

This picture is the day after Thanksgiving.  This tree is an awesome find by Andrea shortly after last Christmas through FreeCycle.  

Saileey was really curious as to what was going on; although she isn't a fan of the fake branches (and that fear has kept her away from the tree), she wanted to be part of the action.

Our little helper slowly lost interest and decided to go for a nap and we got to finish it in peace and quiet.

This is what the tree looks like (and we haven't lost a bulb yet!!)

Andrea made these awesome gingerbread cookies, here I am trying not to mess it up.  (Please note my avocado plant in the bottom right--or pit with a root)

BIRTHDAY!!

Saileey is trying to figure out this strange event where we lit her food on fire and now she is allowed to get messy.

She was a little shy at first...

....and.she got over it.

Saileey's Birthday Video

Saileey Birthday Video part II

Saileey received a really great gift from some friends in Uzbekistan

Thanks for all the gifts!!!

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.)