Our Family

Eloise Ann
Recent Blogs
In The Land Of “Dachas”
From out our back window So the location we moved to is “up” from one of the main southern roads. We have wonderful clean air and all the houses have significant yards. EVERY yard has trees, vines, gardens, etc. ALL the things! Our property also backs up to a river coming down from one of Read more about In The Land Of “Dachas”[…]
Just Remove The Gate
Shortly after we moved into our house, there was a lot of electricity being turned off from some construction down the road. One afternoon it wasn’t coming back on and the gate for Andrew to drive out of our property is only run on electricity, and there is no back up manual way to open Read more about Just Remove The Gate[…]
We Moved!
We loved living in our apartment for almost 3 years since we moved to Almaty and found it. It was in a complex tucked away towards the Southeast mountains with a stunning mountain view, very comfortable and nice living. We decided we wanted to be bit closer to the city, friends, have more space to Read more about We Moved![…]
August is for Bees, September is for Ladybugs
WOW been a long time since I blogged!! Hopefully I can do some more regularly, we shall see ๐คจ Now don’t get me wrong, we get bees all summer, but the peak season seems to be the hottest month here, which tends to be in August. I am allergic to bee stings, actually, but I Read more about August is for Bees, September is for Ladybugs[…]
Choosing Joy In The Midst
Boy what a season it has been! I have not been so regular about blogging as we were basically at home for 2 months straight, nothing too exciting there. ๐ We have had a ridiculous amount of things canceled and changed multiple times since March. I think the hardest thing has been canceling our annual Read more about Choosing Joy In The Midst[…]
Quarantine Here….Vs. “There”
(cute pic of our girls on one of our outings to the playground) Well my “there” is the US since that is where the majority of our family and friends live. Just wanted to give a bit of comparison as to what it is like for us here during these times. Not too much changes Read more about Quarantine Here….Vs. “There”[…]
Brains Like Sponges
While we were away for a week, Avinelle and Eloise stayed with different friends, we know they were hearing and speaking a lot more Russian. (Probably some Kazakh for Eloise, too!) After returning, both of them responded a lot more to us in Russian the first few days. Now of course we primarily speak English Read more about Brains Like Sponges[…]
Girls of Honor
Wow I am so incredibly fascinated by the richness of culture and tradition here in Kazakhstan. Today during my English Club we started to talk about having daughters and the roles as Mothers in general in our children’s lives. These beautiful ladies shared with me how you raise the girls not just as immediate family, Read more about Girls of Honor[…]
Really, truly winter
So one thing I like to talk about living here is the true seasons. And right now we are in the midst of winter. It tempted us by getting warm a few days ago, then dumped about 5 inches of snow two days ago lol. Even when it warms up, it never gets above 50ish Read more about Really, truly winter[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Okroshka
(Oops, I thought I posted this a month ago lol ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ) Okroshka, is a Russian cold summer soup. Of course it got carried over as a popular dish in central asian dishes during the Soviet time. The funny thing is I know I have had this before but don’t distinctly remember when, probably in the Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Okroshka[…]