Ski time!

It snowed a bunch today so we decided to bring the girls out in the back yard to practice their skiing. Here they are, all geared up and ready to go.

Whoooosh! Here goes Mariah down the hill!

Oops. A little crash at the bottom. But, she's happy to just lie there and eat snow.

Back up the hill again.

Anna Claire had a few crashes too. But she got right back up!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

We celebrated Tyler's first birthday today. It was not a huge event, after just doing a big birthday party for Mariah. But I think Tyler enjoyed it. It was just going to be a family affair, but the missionaries came over, so we celebrated with them too. (This is good because we are overflowing with cake here -- still of lots of Mariah's quadruple layer princess cake leftover.) He is such a sweet little boy and brings so much joy to our family. We are so glad to have him!

Gosh guys, is this whole thing for me?

I made Tyler a teddy bear cake. It was so easy compared to Mariah's princess cake. I just used chocolate and butterscotch chips (sent by Rob's mom, I can't get them here) and added cupcakes for ears. The only mistake I made was doing a yellow cake instead of a chocolate cake. I thought it would be too chocolatey with all the chocolate chips and frosting, but it really did need chocolate in the cake too.

Regardless, the cake was good enough for Tyler. He loved getting his first big taste of pure sugar! (Note: Tyler is really generally a happy boy and smiles and laughs a lot. He just NEVER smiles for pictures.)

"I'm all sugared out, mom!"

Mariah's Birthday Party

This year is an on-year for birthday parties and Mariah really wanted--you guessed it--a Princess party! In anticipated, I had my sister send a bunch of cheap princess party supplies from the U.S., such as princess rings, candy princess bracelets, sparkly wands, princess hats, etc. These would have cost a fortune here, but in the U.S. they are hardly anything. (What's with the price differential on party products?) Fortunately, our new au pair, Monica, arrived just in time for the party. She was a little jet-lagged but helped out with all sorts of things. Not least, she is a photographer and took loads of great photos!

Happy Birthday Princess Mariah!

I made Mariah a giant Purple Fairy Princess Cake for the occasion. This was similar to Anna's cake last year. But this time, the cake was taller and narrower and turned out looking more like a giant tube than a gown. I had to do a lot of last-minute hacking and carving to get it to look more like a dress. But the cake inside was delicious -- alternating layers of my signature chocolate cake and pink strawberry cake. I also made tiny little "teacake" cupcakes for the kids to eat. (They all wanted big pieces of cake too, of course.)

The final masterpiece.

I put the fairy wands in a vase as a centerpiece, but that didn't last long. All the fairy princesses wanted to wave one.

When the princesses (and princes) arrived, they got to decorate their own princess hat. I love these old medieval princess style hats. Disney has done too much with the tiara lately and completely ignored this old medieval princess style. Here is Mariah's friend, Emily, in the foreground.

We played a couple musical-chair type dancing games. The princes and princesses could have danced the whole day. (Mariah, Kaia, Christina, Charlie, Anna is behind)

Mariah, of course, was the star of the dance show. (Mariah, Christina, Anna Claire, Charlie)

Blowing out the candles. Yeah, Princess Mariah!

Socializing with her friend Kelsey. This is classic Mariah -- cheerful and friendly. The theme was a Princess "tea party" so I set little tea sets and had little tea snacks to go with them.

Devouring the "tea cakes".

It's present time. I think Mariah now owns just about everything princessy on the market.

Happy Birthday Mariah!

We celebrated Mariah's third birthday today as a family. She wanted a princess cake -- which she is getting later for her birthday party. So today she got another version of a princess cake. And, of course, she received lots of princess presents. Grandma Judie sent her a green "princess dress" with sparklies all over the front. And, of course, we had to make her a birthday crown. Anna did this one! Mariah was quite pleased with all the attention. We are so glad you are part of our family, Mariah! You add lots of sparkle and fun!

Princess Cake #1

Hi! I'm 3 years old and I'm lovin' it.

Lots of presents for the princess.

Check out my new dress!

Moscow: A Trip to the Ballet

The highlight of Moscow for Anna and Mariah was going to see the Nutcracker Ballet. I have been reading them the story so they were extremely excited to see Clara, the Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairies. We took the metro again with them. The metro hasn't changed at all since I was here years ago. Most of the cars look the same. I think the same recording announces the stops and warns you not to lean against the doors. And it's still beautiful and clean. Quite a respite from the dirt and grime of the city.

In front of the Ballet. No this is not the Moscow Ballet, but a shortened children's version of the Nutcracker, which was perfect for our girls. They had their eyes glued to the dancers the whole time. Mariah was just a bit upset that Clara changed outfits during scenes -- from a longer skirt to a shorter skirt. What a perfect outing!

Here is Tyler with Grandma. He didn't get to do many outings, but he had lots of fun in Grandma's kitchen, scavenging through the garbage. He was unnaturally grumpy most of the trip -- but I think this was due to lack of sleep and being constantly left with babysitters in a strange house. He did have lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa, though. And he loved going swimming with them!

When we arrived back in Switzerland, the first thing the girls did was put on their own version of the Nutcracker. Along with Rob and me, all their stuffed animals served as the audience. What a hoot!

Here is Anna Claire with her pirouette.

Both girls pirouetted into little Sugar Plum Fairies.

Here is Anna Claire showing some more ballet moves that she learned from the Nutcracker.

Mariah was right in sync with Anna Claire.

What an amazing, exhausting trip! My parents were saints to put up with screaming children at night and take time out of their busy schedule to see us. They are certainly busy running the Church over there.

Moscow: A Little America

So my parents are having a very different living experience in Moscow than I did. They live in a giant complex built for American expats in the 1990's. Almost all the building materials were exported from the U.S. Hence, it looks just like a little America. For us, it was kind of nice to have a little piece of America, especially since we live in Switzerland and rarely get back. There is a huge community center with a bowling alley, restaurant, pool, gym and grocery store right on the complex. You could stay here for weeks and not realize that you're actually living in Moscow.

Is this Moscow or is this New England?

Dad and I going for a walk in the fresh snow.

Dad in his beloved woods. The nice thing about where my parents live is that it backs up against a huge, open forest, full of hiking trails. I think this is a lifesaver for my dad, who was used to the fresh air and mountains of Utah. He goes cross-country skiing through these woods for winter exercise.

We took the girls out sledding in the backyard. Aren't they cuties?

Attempting to sled with Daddy.

Okay, its getting a little too cold out here! Take me back to Switzerland where I can have snow without extreme cold.

Moscow: Braving the Blizzard

So even though it was a blizzard, we decided to brave the Moscow traffic and weather and drive down to Red Square with the kids. It took almost two hours, but we made it. The kids didn't last too long in the cold. But they were good sports.

Pink sisters in the midst of all this red!

Mommy and Ty-Ty all bundled up in the storm.

The back side of St. Basil's. It's really just a giant parking lot.

Walking across the Moscow River in the storm. We could barely see, but Rob and I navigated our way through the streets to visit the Tretyakovsky Gallery. We went to the one with Russian art, which wasn't quite as appealing as the newer Tretyakovsky, but still very interesting and a nice break from the cold and snow.

I just had to take this picture of Moscow traffic. I have never seen such terrible traffic in my life. This is something that wasn't a big problem back in 1992 or 1995, for that matter. But apparently, lots of people now have cars, but they haven't created more parking spaces. So most people just park anywhere along the streets without any consequence. This ends up blocking traffic. Plus, nobody follows the rules, which ends up creating even further traffic hazards. My dad is a brave soul to navigate through this traffic everyday. It took us about 2 hours to get anywhere in Moscow. Kashmar! (What a nightmare!)

Moscow: All About Town

The day after Christmas, we did our own version of after-Christmas shopping at a place called Ismailovo. When I was here, it was a giant market called Ismailovsky Park where people just stood and sold their fur shapkas and matrushka dolls. Anyhow, now it's more civilized with actual booths. Unfortunately, we didn't stay long because the girls soaked through their boots in the melting snow and froze. But each of the girls got a matrushka doll with a Pushkin fairytale painted on it. Something I hope they'll treasure. Tyler got a cheap nesting doll that he absolutely loves to play with.

Here we are at the entrance to Red Square. Wow, it's been a long time since I've been here. Much more commercial all around. But still stunningly beautiful.

Rob and me. We left the kids at my parents house with a babysitter. I don't think they would have lasted in the cold. I don't know how the Russian kids bear it.

President and Sister Woolley (Mom and Dad) in their home-sweet-home town right now. During all the times I've lived in/visited Russia, I never would have guessed my parents would be living here.

Rob and I in front of Lenin's tomb. This place used to have a long, winding line of visitors. Now, nobody really cares much about seeing the great architect of Soviet communism.

Soldiers changing guard in front of Lenin's tomb.

Here we are in front of GUM--what used to be the largest department store in Russia. It is now a giant mall full of high-end fashion stores.

In front of good old St. Basil's Cathedral. Still as strikingly beautiful as ever. Even Rob was impressed.

Another view of Ivan the Terrible's masterpiece. (Apparently he had the eyes of the architect poked out after he built this so that he could build nothing more beautiful.)

A view of Red Square from St. Basil's. The nice thing about coming to Moscow in the winter is that there aren't so many crowds. (However, the metro is still a big crowded mess. I had to scold several people for butting in the metro ticket line. That hasn't changed in the past 17 years.)

Christmastime in the GUM shopping mall.

Touring the Kremlin churches. I still remember coming here for the first time back in 1986. Still just as beautiful.

Dad and Rob in front of one of the Kremlin churches.

I'm so glad that the Soviets preserved all of these old Russian Orthodox Churches. So unique! After this, we toured through the State Armoury, which basically has most of the the treasures from the former Russian Tsars. I don't think I've been there since 1990. I forgot how incredible it is -- full of all kinds of crowns, state gifts and, my favorite, the Cinderella carriages. The Soviets did a good thing by sticking them all in a museum, rather than selling them off.

Standing over the Moscow River.

My parents live just a couple metro stops away from where I used to work in a kindergarten back in 1992. We stopped off so that I could find my old kindergarten. I was shocked that my legs just carried me right back to the same spot after 17 years. There are lots more stores around, but some of the same nearby stores still exist too -- which surprised me in a city that has undergone such dramatic change over the past two decades.

What a trip down memory lane!