A Spring Break Outing

This past week was our Spring Break, and we really needed it to recharge!

Most of the days we just slept in, watched movies and worked on crochet and painting projects, played games, and we took a few little outings...like to the library, the post office, and on Friday we took a friend and made it out of the city for a picnic.

The first place he took us was the "Panorama" which is a big hill on the south east side of town. You get a great view of Bishkek, even through the smog and clouds.

On the top of the hill is a large Kyrgyz flag. It was lovely with the sun highlighting it from behind.

Here, our friend is showing us the location of the new American University of Central Asia (AUCA.)

Right in the center of the picture is the new campus. Can you see the large grey building with the "red" windows inset in it? That is the new AUCA where Jeff has met some of the faculty and long term he hopes to teach there.

A view looking north west to the rest of Bishkek. Lots of new building on the south east side of town.

Some of the mountains, covered in clouds, in the distance.

We then went on a drive to the south of town, toward Кашка Суу and Ала Арча, a ski resort and the National Park we visited last fall. The kids got lots of climbing and sliding in down this hill.

In the distance is Кашка Суу, probably one of the closest ski resorts to Bishkek. We didn't make it there this year due to illness, but hope to next season.

The mountains in this area are just lovely, only 45 minutes south of Bishkek.

Lots of free roaming horses on these hills.

The kids again on the hills. They played while I got lunch together in the back of the car. We ate and then went back to town, it was much colder up in the mountains than we had anticipated and we were just not dressed appropriately. My hands were numb in under an hour. A long drive for a short visit, but it was needed, and we hope to return as the weather warms up a bit more.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2014

Warning! Lots of pictures of some pretty cute children receiving awesome gifts from their family and friends! We are so thankful for you all, and more than that, for His sacrifice for us in that He sent His Son to earth to take our sins and die in our place. 

Merry Christmas to you all!

Our tree this year.

Most people here don't do "Christmas trees," they do "New Years trees," due to the many years under Soviet influence. Getting a tree at the bazaar wasn't a problem and I brought our ornaments and decorations from the US.

Christmas Eve, just back from Karakol, and each of the children chose a gift to open.

Sissi got the mini figurines from the Frozen movie from Uncle Jon and Aunt Maria.

Gwangi got a Lego set that he wanted from Uncle Tony and Titi Vette.

Krypto got the classic Tron movie from us and a Wii game called "Dawn of Discovery" from Uncle Tony and Titi Vette...both from the used bookstore in Winston Salem. We just love Edward McKay in Winston Salem...we got rid of a bunch of our books this year, to reduce our storage footprint, while we were home on furlough and then used that store credit to buy some birthday and Christmas presents to bring with us!

This past summer, I took Sissi to the American Girl Doll store with our friends. She picked out a "food set" to have breakfast and a picnic with her dolls. She was so excited to open this gift and said, "I was getting worried about my dolls, they were so hungry and have been waiting to eat all this time!"

Another gift from Uncle Tony and Titi Vette. This boy loves his tank book from them last year, so this was the perfect follow on!

Duck Tales, Season 2, from Uncle Jon and Aunt Maria.

Also from the used bookstore, we found the whole set of old Kirsten books for just $1.50 a piece! Now we just need to find a more reasonably priced set for Caroline, her other doll. I gave away the one book that came with the doll when we left Tanzania and meant to replace it with the whole set this year while we were home, but had no idea how much the books cost new. I'm hoping in a couple of years, when we get home, that there will be set at Edward McKay that we can pick up.

A few more gems from Edward McKay, Tintin cartoons and a WWII airplane game, "Blazing Angels."

Some old comic books that we picked up while home this past year as well. The kids each got a couple of comics, and they love these old stories.

Ahh, yes, Titi Vette got Sissi some Littlest Pet Shop figures and Sissi was thrilled!

Uncle Jon and Aunt Maria got the much longed for "Lego Movie" for Gwangi.

An Amazon gift certificate for Krypto from Uncle Tony and Titi Vette. He used it to get a game download, called "Victoria." It's a 19th century, civilization type of game. For those that know it, it's a computerized version of "Pax Britannica," a favorite with Indy and I.

Sissi got an old Richard Scarry book.

Yep, it used to be her Daddy's book.

One of my favorite gifts to give, some old retro sci-fi shirts for the boys.

Krypto was super excited about his. He used to have another one that he had outgrown, so this was a favorite for sure. If you're interested, you can find these items at Retropolis

Sissi got an Angelina Ballerina movie and a Disney princess Wii game.

Gwangi's comic books.

It was a lovely Christmas and we still have another week off from school and language training. Our plan is to let everyone have a special day next week where they get to pick the meal, the family movie choice, and a favorite activity to do. Can't wait to share all of our special memories from New Year's week!

First trip to Karakol

Karakol, Kyrgyzstan is on the far east side of the country, by the Lake Issyk-Kul, and less than 100 miles from the border with China. It is the 4th largest city in Kyrgyzstan and is where some of our friends used to live and work. We were super excited to go out and visit this lovely area and have a short break after what has been a very busy and full couple of months of moving, transition, and language school. Enjoy these pictures and know that you are welcome to come and visit, anytime!

Our room at the Baytor Guest House in Karakol. There were 3 twins beds and a pull out couch for all 5 of us, perfect! The breakfast on-site was amazing as well.

Our view out of the window of the guest house. The mountains are covered by the clouds in this picture, but normally it was a lovely view. The location was excellent as well, less than 15 minutes to the base of the mountains for skiing, sledding, and ice skating.

Indy and I on the pull out couch. Gwangi took this picture while I was getting set up to read our Advent devotional on my phone after breakfast and before going out for the day.

Our first view on the ski lift going up the beginner slope.

Sissi, all ready to go on her ski run.

The mountain peaks are pretty impressive and remind us so much of home, in Colorado.

The on-site hotel and restaurant in the background.

Krypto, coming down the beginner slope.

Gwangi, working on getting his skis closer together and going faster down the hill.

Sissi, she did really well and remembered all she was taught from last year in NC.

Lunch!

Gwangi took this picture from our lunch table.

Gwangi says there aren't enough pictures of Indy and I, so he took plenty of them on this trip.

Indy's shashlik (meat kabob, cooked on an outside grill) for lunch.

Pretty awesome ice sculpture that they had on the beginner slope.

At the top of the intermediate slope. Gwangi had a bit of a slip, but he got back up. There was quite a jump in difficulty level between the beginner and intermediate slopes. Only Krypto was willing to do it a few more times.

I really, really love this view!

On our second day, we went sledding!

It was a long run and they really got up some speed!

Still going, I needed to use the zoom on this shot!

Our friends that we took the trip with to Karakol.

And, then they had a spill. Actually, there were a lot of spills on our sledding day.

Resting a bit between hikes back up the hill to sled. The kids were exhausted at the end of the day. It was quite the workout.

Sissi and Indy after a fun day of sledding.

We then went over to get in a few minutes of ice skating with our friends.

This was only Sissi's 2nd time ice skating, she went right to it and loved it!

All the kids after a very long day of sledding and skating.

Another beautiful view from the top of an intermediate run.

Krypto's and my one-on-one time. We got to do a run together while Indy stayed with the younger two on the beginner runs.

This is the main building when you arrive at the ski base. I love the fur hats for sale on the right side. Beyond that were the sleds for rent, for 150 som (equal to about $3.)

The steps up to our room at the guest house. She really loves plants, and it gave the whole place a really homey feel.

The Lake Issyk-Kul on our drive home. On the way to Karakol we drove on the north side of the lake, on the way back to Bishkek, we drove on the south side.

It's a really, really big lake.

After the lake area, you go through a section of high dessert/steppes before you get to the valley area where Bishkek is located.

I really enjoyed watching all of the animals grazing in this area...cows, horses, sheep were constantly crossing the road ahead of us.

Oh, and we saw the Kazakhstan bike racing team on our route as well.