just a couple more of Emma

New Kitchen Window

This past week we got a new kitchen window!  It should help keep out some of the coal- the old wooden one was in pretty bad shape...   we still have 3 old windows in our apartment though but one new one is better than none!  The bottom picture is how the guys who installed it left the room.  yikes.  It doesn't even show up in the picture how dirty it was- you couldn't even see the pattern on the linoleum and we are soooo glad we had a little leftover paint because you can see they took some chunks out of the wall and the tape they used also took off some paint.  It looks a little strange because the window sill was installed on top of our old one so you see the old concrete underneath it.  but, it does look much cleaner...NOW :)  and because it isn't really our apartment we won't worry about the quality etc. so much.  I sure like being able to see out the windows so much better, and because plastic windows are thinner than the wooden ones we have a much bigger windowsill which is very nice seeing as it is basically my only counter space :)  
Looks so much cleaner and brighter in our kitchen now...very nice.

Emma's new hair...

I haven't cut Emma's bangs since she was two...it's nice having it all one length but.... I'm so glad I finally did it. I think she looks pretty cute :) Besides, you can't have the same hair cut for that many years...it was time for a change. I was tempted to cut it shorter but Emma and Daddy both said that bangs was enough adventure for one day...

Weight Room

David and I have both really been wanting to weight train for quite some time. We both spend a lot of time sitting around doing language study, other paperwork, watching movies, blogging :) etc. It's tricky living in an apartment, no yard to putter in etc. no space for any exercise equipment.. and we don't even have stairs to climb cause we live on the first floor! Anyway...we finally found a gym! We go every second day and it's so so great. Feel so much better already and i've only been twice! We have the huge area with all the machines and free weights you'd ever need all to ourselves. I guess no one else works out in the morning...suits us just fine:) Anyway, it will be really nice in the middle of winter as it's even more difficult to get exercise then. Yay!

Sunday afternoon at the beach...

A few of my friends here...

Today as we were wandering around and gathering things for our anniversary supper I heard one of the cashiers telling her co-workers, "HEY!  There is my best friend, Erin!"   nice :)   I like her too.  she is the littlest one.  they saw I had the camera and asked if David could take pictures of them with me.  nice to have people who like you eh.  i should have taken off my sun hat and smiled without my teeth showing- then I'd almost fit in..   now i have to remember to get this printed so I can give them copies.  I know it's not the prettiest background...

Our 11th Anniversary!

Today we went wandering around town without kids and together (which doesn't happen too often) cause we couldn't think of anything else to do to celebrate really :)  We had a great time though- something so fun about walking hand in hand around the streets eh....  kinda hot but quite exciting.  there is a new cafeteria in town so we tried it out- nothing special same food as at every other cafeteria but they have much better bathrooms (even toilet seats) and they have a pretty neat tuvan style decor.  and it costs the same as the dirtier places so yep it's good:)   The streets and parks downtown were filled with people selling back to school supplies and clothing and meat and fruits and veggies, kinda fun seeing all the people and stuff.
Then we came back and had a fun time with our bbq and eating our greek meal.  And NOW!  the kids are off to bed so see ya!  :)

And because we haven't found a restaurant that we like better than eating at home yet we made a greek meal for our anniversary on our little red bbq- souvlaki, greek salad and tzatziki.  It is very hard to find the ingredients to make a greek meal here...especially Feta cheese and plain yogurt but not today- hurray! 

Fresh Paint

for some reason the pictures are warped on here- click on the living room pic to see it the right way :)

Can you see the black stuff all over the wall in the bottom picture (though David already had covered up the worst of it in the corners).  That is what happens in only 1 year because of the coal.  We live next to a lot of little houses that heat their homes with coal.  and even with our windows closed in the living room all winter it still covers everything....   I seriously always can do some cleaning around the house :)   If you don't dust especially the tv off everyday your fingers will turn black just from touching it.  We are SO thankful that we bought black couches when we moved to Russia...we had no idea why they would be so great at the time...   We had some paint left over from last year and since our language helper is still away we tackled the walls.  Looks so much better.  though it won't be long till they are black again.

Khuresh- Tuvan Wrestling

Recognize this guy?  This is David's language helper Maadyr!  He is one of the best tuvan wrestlers of all time.  We were so glad we got to see him fight today.  All the pics in this first section have Maadyr in them- sorry there are so many but when you know the guy you want to catch every move on film :)   There were festivities all over town as today was Republic Day.  Kongar-ool was the MC so it was really fun- of course it was all in tuvan so we didn't understand hardly any of the commentary or Kongar-ool's jokes but we still just enjoyed listening and laughed when the rest of the people were laughing :)

Sad Maadyr  :(   unfortunately he lost his third game....we were so hoping he'd win as he's not only one of the oldest and most loved wrestlers- he's also our friend...   maybe next time!

more tuvan wrestling pics...

The horse and the sheep are the prizes.   Sometimes it's a little russian car but I think this time the prize could actually worth more $$$ :)

Felt Festival

Another thing we stumbled upon while wandering around town was the Felt Festival.  They had yurts set up from different areas in the region, felt making competitions and all kinds of displays with clothing etc.   Really interesting.  but it was HOT and the kids weren't wanting to stand around watching people make felt in the hot sun for hours:)  but i'm so glad they didn't so we could see the wrestling!  :)

Yesterday, David went camping overnight with his friends to a nearby lake.   He's had a fun few weeks eh!   They had good times chatting, swimming, and eating Shashlik.   Less bugs at the lake than our river too...