A New Dentist In Town

One time Dr. Watson went to the thrift store on base with the kids and bought a wig for the upcoming party.  We think it suits him well but for some reason he doesn't want to wear it to work.

Just wait till this summer, lots of changes are coming his way...

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

***I have been looking through my unfinished blog posts and realized that I have a few very random ones that need to be written and published, although they are quite old. This is one of such posts...

Back in November, by random chance, my friend asked me to help her with childcare one afternoon because she wasn't sure she'd be back from London. She told me she was going to be watching Barclay's ATP World Tour tennis matches at the O2 Arena. That sparked my interest! I love tennis! I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but for the past 2.5 years I have been taking tennis lessons at the Huntingdon Tennis Club every week. I can't say that I am great, but I am learning to have a powerful forehand and can actually serve properly (although not super fast....) almost every time-haha. 

Anyway... I quickly figured out what day was the easiest day for me to take off from my busy schedule and bought tickets for the afternoon match. For the same price you get to watch a doubles and a singles match. The best part about ATP World Tour is that every single game has the top 10 players play some awesome tennis. So you are guaranteed a good game no matter what day of the week you go. I got lucky as on the day I was going, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal were playing.

I took the train into London and then the tube to the O2 Arena. Easy peasy. 

At the O2, I discovered Five Guys! And settled in my super high seat:)

Apparently, it's not so cool to be here on time, especially for the doubles match. But whatever. I was so excited! 

The atmosphere was very exciting, popular music was playing and it was just fun! 

In the doubles, one French pair played Polish/Slovak pair, I think. It was incredible.

And then the show continued with Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal facing off. One thing I learned from that day was that no matter how improbable it seems that things would work out, you can't stop trying--in other words, although it seems that there is no way in the world the player could still get to the ball on time, he shouldn't give up and still try. There were many moments like that. Everything seemed lost--and somehow the player would get to the ball and win the point.

I didn't take pictures during the games, I was very immersed in the competition and couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was actually there, watching tennis super stars play. Live. I couldn't stop smiling:)

Andy Murray won. I'll forever remember the fun crowd cheering him on here in London, "Come on, Andy!" in a Scottish accent. Or, "Come on, Boy!". So fun!

I got home elated and told everyone on our community facebook page that they should consider visit this even next year if they want to see some good tennis. 

Wish we were still here next November:)

I guess now I just have to wait and see if I was lucky in my Wimbledon lottery submission and maybe I'll get to see some good tennis in July again!

Lyana.

Imagine Dragons!

Sometimes this boy's dreams come true:) 

A while ago I was researching upcoming music events in the UK and saw that Imagine Dragons band was coming to England with a tour. And they were coming really close to us--to Nottingham! They were going to perform in London as well, but we opted to drive 1.5 hours to Nottingham to the smaller venue of Capital FM arena. Katya didn't really want to go, so Alex was ecstatic! He got to go on a special date with Robert and me and no other kids! Katya got to watch Mark and stay up till midnight. 

This was our first real concert experience. We didn't expect another opening act to be performing for 45 minutes and only then Imagine Dragons taking the stage. We had great seats and loved every minute of the show. It was incredible! These guys are real artists and know how to show people a good time, a real feast for the eyes with all the lights and smoke and mirrors:).

Did you know that the lead singer Dan Reynolds and drummer Andrew Tolman actully met at BYU and then found Wayne Sermon from UT to play guitar for the band? They moved to Vegas and in 2012 released their debut album "Night Visions". In 2014, the band won the Grammy for the Best Rock Performance ("Radioactive"). It's been one of our family favorites for years now. 

At the concert, the band performed many new songs that we'd never heard before, although it seemed that everyone else was singing with them. We were just a little bit late finding out about these songs as they were not played much in the UK at all, but were big hits in the states. The day after the concert, Alex wanted all of them added to his iPod. One of his favorites was "Gold", a quite weird sounding but catchy sounding song:).

What a fantastic night!

Lyana.

P.S. This was also one of my "leftover posts". 

Father-Daughter Trip to London!

November 11th is Veteran's Day, as we know. That's the day when Robert and Katya have a day off, but the boys are at school. This year I planned something special for this adventurous pair--a day trip to London!

One of the highlights of the trip was a planned, booked months in advance, tour of the Houses of Parliament. No pictures inside, but they told me they both enjoyed it very  much. I did this tour with Bridget back in 2013 when she came to visit.

AND Katya's birthday present--a trip to see Les Miserables at West End. They both saw it for the first time and they loved it! Katya claims Robert cried:)

After the show finished (it was a 2:30 showing), they still had time to wander around the city. They found the M&Ms Factory Store and spent many...minutes...and...pounds there. Yes, the M&Ms they brought us tasted better than regular ones for sure.

So glad these two have such fun times together. Katya is definitely a daddy's daughter and I don't mind if it's stays that way:)

Lyana.

The Brave Four

For the last year and nine months, I have been serving in Primary organization in our church ward. It's been an adventure:)

I wanted to post this picture to keep for my memories. It was taken in November, right before one of these ladies, Katie, moved away and we got another member for our Presidency (who is great as well). This is me, Mallory, Katie and Ivie-The Brave Four to lead our children of ages 3-12:)

These women are amazing and talented in very special ways. I will always cherish their friendship:).

Lyana.