Fancy, fancy!

After the circus we were going to eat an early dinner at a fancy restaurant but they didn't open until 7pm so we found a babysitter, waited around for a few hours and then headed back to celebrate my Dad's 55th birthday a day early!

This restaurant was incredible on the inside.  And the quality of service, the food and the environment certainly were not reflected in the price of the food.  It was so fancy and yet...so cheap!  LOVE THAT!

Dinner was absolutely delightful and the company wasn't so bad either :)

The food came out in courses so my mom and I started with salads.  I felt like a silly tourist taking pictures so I left the camera at table level.  My salad was a wonderful chicken, mushroom and nut salad in a neat little cheese nest.  Mom got a greek salad that she loved.

While we ate, there was live music being played in the background and one had to be careful not to be talking too loudly when the music stopped so as to avoid screaming to the whole restaurant!  It added an element of excitement to our meal :)

Kjetil and Dad got mushroom soups and both agreed that it was phenomenal.  Just look at the decorations in this place!  Again, from table level.  I figure it gives the feeling of being snuck in in my pocket for a special tour!

There was even a little fireplace with chairs where you could go and sit for a little drink.  Most of the windows had private tables where you could close a curtain and shut the world out.  So European!

The highlight of the night, apart from being on a date in Russia with my parents, was the arrival of Ded Moroz.  That guy sure gets around - first at the circus and now at the restaurant.  Anyway, he and his daughter convinced some of the patrons to take part on some children games.  The man in the middle is a tree and the women circling him sang a song until Ded Moroz yelled out a body part and the last to touch that body part was out.  It was so fun to watch and it was right next to our table!

So while I nibbled on my cherry stuffed pork and Kjetil enjoyed his seafood pasta, we got a wonderful dose of Russian culture.  Mom had salmon and dad had lamb and the winner of the game got a bottle of wine to enjoy.  By the end of our meal we were all satisfied, impressed and grateful for a fun night out.

If you are even in Yaroslavl, I can definitely recommend a great restaurant!

I decide...

After the feeding episode a few days earlier, Nathan had a little chat with Grandma Jamie and let me tell you, he can be pretty stern...

She may be the one making all the food and serving all the people that come through her house each day but he wasn't going to have her making messes like that again on his watch!

He told her that as a missionary it was totally inappropriate to act that way, that she needed to set a better example...

I think Nathan got his point across.  I think she really felt his emotion and I dare say that she will think twice about being so crazy with his food again in the future!

My mom is ALWAYS making food in Russia.  And the people come from all over to eat it.  The Mission President even stopped in and found a warm meal waiting for him!  Some of the Russians are a little leery because the flavors are new and unheard of but as soon as they taste her food, they are converted!  I think Nathan is going to have to give a little on his rules because she can just keep on making as many messes as she wants as long as it leads to the yumminess that we call food!  :)

Thanks for all the hard work mom!

The Russian Circus

On December 30th, we headed to the Russian Circus and Nathan made sure to wear his best circus outfit!

He smiled and giggled and cooed to all the babushka around us before the circus started.  Going to the circus is a big deal, there is even a specific building just for the circus!  The grandparents often take their grandchildren and the theme of the circus changes on a regular basis.  We saw a circus about Santa, his daughter and some crazy animals. 

We saw a juggler...

flying acrobats...

hula-hoop-ers..

We saw Ded Moroz (Santa) and his daughter, Snegurochka riding in on a camel.  Ded Moroz comes around New Years Eve to give presents to the children in Russia and other Slavic countries.  They were the main part of the circus and they were trying to keep the presents away from some sneaky animals!

This clown was hilarious.  Hil.ar.i.ous!  He kept us laughing while the scenes changed and the performers got ready for the next act.  He pulled people out of the audience and he even rubbed my dad on the head and gave his tie the thumbs up!  He was awesome! 

We saw all different kinds of animals doing awesome tricks.  This money and dog act was great!  They jumped over each other, played games,

and the monkey even did some trapeze tricks too!

We saw a tiger that could jump through fire (hard to take a picture of that!), horses that ran in circles, jumped over bars and bowed gracefully.  We saw snakes, a baby crocodile, a zebra, an ostrich, camels, 

we even saw dogs riding on camels...

we saw a cat riding on a running dog (sooooo funny!), we saw a dog dressed up like a dragon which threw us for a loop because it took a moment for us to realize it was a dog!  We saw a great acrobat routine and the acts just got better and better.  

What a great circus!  Thanks mom and dad - it was wonderful!

And thanks Dad for taking some great pictures of us after the circus!  :)

Who loves mom's fur hat?!? 

 It is rabbit fur and it is gorgeous on her!

And the fur on my coat, it is a silver fox.  Just call me - Foxy!  

And Kjetil's fur...it is wolf.  So we call him - Wolfy!  :)

Pretty sure we fit in...

Ohhhh Grandma!

She said that he started it...

he said that he actually liked it until...

she started making it into a facial of prunes, apricots and bananas and technically he wasn't even eating from the spoon so he had to anticipate some messiness from sucking off of Grandma's finger...

but I do believe this is why Grandmas shouldn't feed their grandchildren without their glasses on!

She does feel like she has to defend herself - she is in the background telling me that Nathan DID enjoy it and that it wasn't her fault he got all messy...

Silly Grandma!

Beautifully cold

SOOOOOOOOO COOOOOLD!!!!!

We got the real Russian experience on this tour with Pasha.  The snow fell, the wind blew and the ice threatened to sweep us off our feet!  You can hardly see our faces in most of the pictures but Kjetil has a little fleck of blue showing, mom has the yellow scarf and Pasha is the one without a hat on!  Crazy kid - Kjetil loaned him his ear muffs and Pasha was so amazed with them that he got them as a gift at the end of the tour :)

This memorial is dedicated to the 19th Century poet Nikolai Nekrasov and has the development of the Russian people.  It was so beautiful!

After a walk along the Volga, we headed towards the Church of Elijah the Prophet - WOW! 

The craftmanship was so incredible to see.  It was completed in the 1700's and is really amazing to look at - even when you are freezing from the strong winds!

We passed some government buildings, some more statues, a few more little churches and a few more government buildings...

And then we headed towards the most gorgeous church that I have seen in a long time! There was a long walkway up the church through a park and at the very end there was an eternal flame for all the soldiers and citizens lost during WWII.

Monuments like this always amaze me because there is so much lost during war and struggle and yet the people go forward and they have risen above all the hardships.

And on that note, the church goes forward too.  Here are Elders Eliason and Lyons standing with Pasha,  our tourguide and one of the newest members in Yaroslavl.  Russia has had a rough history but it continues to move forward.  They are an incredible people.

Dormition Cathedral or The Assumption Cathedral, originally built in stone in the early 1210s, was rebuilt in its current form in 2010 to mark Yarslavl's 1000 year mark.  It is supposedly the spot where Yaroslav the Wise killed a bear before founding the city of Yaroslavl.  We didn't see any bears that day but we did enjoy the beauty of the grounds around the church.

And we decided that this is what true Russian Beauty looks like!  I love how her scarf matches the gold of the onion domes on the cathedral!

Sharing this tour with my mom was so much fun!

We went inside the cathedral and it was simply breath taking!  It was so ornate and everything was covered in gold.  We let our bodies thaw a little and then we headed back out into the cold weather. 

Pasha took us down the Strelka (a long walkway on a small cape at the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl) to a statue symbolizing Yaroslav the Wise and the history of Yaroslavl but my fingers and body were so cold that I didn't take any pictures. 

We passed the spot where my parents and the Missionaries dedicated the city of Yaroslavl a few months ago, we passed the University where Pasha studies law and we stopped in at a small church to warm our feet before heading into the city to catch a bus.  It was soooooo beautiful but I think we were all glad to be inside on the cold winter day in Yaroslavl, Russia!

*fact about Yaroslavl taken from Wikipedia*

Spending time

One of the new members here in Yaroslavl took us on a tour of the city on the 26th.  It was a bitterly cold day with blowing snow and chilly winds but we did our best to enjoy every moment of the tour.  One of the best moments was when we found a little museum which offered us a refuge from the cold and a moment to warm our bodies.

Kjetil didn't need much more warmth though because he had been carrying Nathan in the moby!  What a man!

This museum was dedicated to time and music so it was filled with clicking clocks, old record players and lots of bells.  And some old clocks that played records!  Apparently, they were very similar to cd-clock-radios :)

The highlight of the museum was when Kjetil got to play an old pump organ.  He played Silent Night and it was so beautiful.  The woman giving us our tour looked very impressed, as did the rest of us!

It has always fascinated me to see what one person can collect and gather when they are interested in something.  Gramophones, clocks, pianos, 

bells, irons, records and icons!  The tour lady played some of the bells for us and then the tour was done.  

So we bundled up and headed back into the cold!

Merry Christmas!

Nathan apparently had a secret conversation with my brother Scotty because he woke up at about 4am on Christmas morning and was ready to embrace the holiday!  We, on the other hand, were a little slower to get moving and we held off until about 8am.  But!  Santa did come and Kjetil made sure to explain to Nathan that Christmas isn't just about the presents or the tree or the food.  After we got that clarified, we got started!

Dad was glad to see that Santa hadn't forgotten him because he has definitely been a good boy this year doing all this missionary work in Russia!

 There were even a few items in our stockings that Santa snuck in when we weren't looking like wool socks and soap that smells like chocolate!

And that made coming to Russia for Christmas worth every penny!  :)

Mom had done a great job creating the Christmas Spirit in her home and her tree was beautifully decorated!  Most of the presents under the tree were for the missionaries but there were a few things for us and a few surprises too!

One of the members in the Yaroslavl branch named Masha had made a beautiful present for Nathan.  Mom assumed it was from us but we had never seen the present before.  She hand-painted a little toy and on the back was a very touching poem about how moms are like angels.  I cried as I read it out loud and I dare say it is one of the kindest gifts that I have ever received for someone else.

Spending Christmas morning with these two 

in Russia while they are serving as missionaries ranks up there on my list of best experiences too!

Nathan wasn't forgotten by Santa Claus either.  His stocking was new and it had a few little toys for him to chase around on the floor while we opened gifts.

Because nothing is better than chasing around little cars and balls on your first Christmas morning!

Masha made mom and dad a beautiful book with kind words and pictures from the missionaries and members of the branch.  Jill sent a fun calender that made their faces light up with joy and Kjetil and I were promised a trip to the circus, some warm gloves and hats and maybe even help to buy a warm winter coat.

All in all, Christmas was a success and we all left the room with our hands full of presents!

We eat a wonderful breakfast and then we walked to Church.  Kjetil played the hymns, he and I were both asked to give short talks which we did with pleasure.  I even said I was glad to be translated (since I can't speak Russian, I have to be translated).  Kjetil played a beautiful musical number and it was such a wonderful Christmas day in Russia!

After church, we hurried home to prepare the feast for the members and missionaries that flock to my parents home.  We had chicken courdon bleu, salad, mashed potatoes, rice and rolls.  Yum!

After it quieted down, the missionaries had their Christmas and talked with their families while the rest of us watched Three Nuts for Cinderella.  It is a film that is shown in Norway each year on Christmas Eve and we found it here in Yaroslavl with English subtitles.  It was a delightful evening full of food, friends, laughter, games and probably some more food!  

We hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!