Mark Turns ELEVEN in Kentucky!

This year Mark wins an award for having the most unique birthday celebration ever! He turned ELEVEN while we were in Kentucky, of all places. We had donuts to celebrate and a meal at Red Robin:) 

When people were asking me what we were doing during our Christmas break, I told them, we were ALL going to Lexington, Kentucky, so that Mark could play in a big tennis tournament on Dec 27-29. It was his one wish for his birthday and he really-really wanted the whole family to be there. And so we drove to Lexington on the 26th (it’s 7-8 hour drive). Here is Mark doing his favorite morning thing--eating a hotel breakfast;)

Mark played well. Not as well as he was hoping for, but still... He is on the younger side of the 12s right now, so sometimes he just gets crushed. For now. 

Between his matches, we tried to take a drive through Lexington and explore a bit of downtown. It was empty and pretty chilly in downtown, so we didn’t spend much time there. Got a little Thai take away.

 

We drove the scenic route near Lexington and saw the famous stone fences along the roads, white wooden fences and horse stables. 

We stopped by the Kentucky Horse Park as well, but the kids weren’t up for a quick visit, plus we didn’t have much time before the next match. 

 

In the evening Robert took Mark and Katya to the movies while Alex and I went to the mall. We had a nice little one on one time (I know... I am a cool mom...we walked around the colognes department as I was telling him how to choose a cologne:)). Alex loves stuff like that!

When the tournament was over, we decided to make a detour on the way home and stop by Ohio where Brian and Lindsey live. We got to Dayton just in time for church with their ward. It was the same ward where our friends, the Millburns live...but they were visiting their family in Idaho at the time.

We had a wonderful time after church--cooking, laughing and playing games! 

Alex and Madison. 

Mark, Nate and William.

So happy we got a chance to see them even if it’s just for like 24 hours!

Our girls:)

We came home on Dec 30th, and still had a few days to relax before school started. The kids were kind of bummed about missing the NY stake dance, but we all agreed it was also wonderful to have such a close family time during the holidays.

And Happy Birthday to Mark!

Annual Check-in:

Height: 4’ 11"

Favorite Sport: Tennis

Favorite Book: Hunger Games

Favorite Movie right now: Thor Ragnarok

Favorite Color: White

Hobby: Ping Pong

When I grow up I want to be: Microbiologist

Lyana. 

Christmas Celebrations 2020

Don’t you love relaxing Christmas holidays? I try my best not to over schedule our family with events, parties and projects during December, it just happens automatically anyway.  This year was not too bad!

A few snippets from our Christmas holidays. Nataliya and Anton delivered a super cool present for us!! This huge Moravian star! It took a bit of effort for Robert but it turned out beautifully!

Look at that! It’s our center piece on the patio:)

On Christmas Eve we set out our luminaries at the curb. It’s a fun tradition that our local Girl Scouts have been doing for a few years now in the neighborhood.

And we also went to Hillridge Farms to see the light show with our great friends, the Woolstenhulmes. Katie and I.

The hayride was the highlight of the experience, as usual. Our favorite part is always the “I Am Proud To Be An American” part of the ride where the crazy people like us stand up on cue:)

Oh yes, we also celebrated Mark’s birthday a bit early, getting his friends together for a pizza, games and a movie time... kind of low-key.

I don’t believe this is a picture of our Christmas morning, probably just a nice picture a few days before. I like to wrap our gifts early as it keeps it more doable and pretty.

Oh yeah..the aftermath of Christmas morning. See? Not so pretty anymore. This is Mark’s chair. He got a lot of work out Nike clothes (all he wants to wear) and a cooler for his tennis matches, US Open book and some cream soda. 

This looks like Robert’s spot. He got a couple of pairs of new shoes (awesome running shoes), Palmier cookies and a bunch of other awesome things. 

Work in progress. The kids didn’t get a TON of stuff..I just like to wrap small gifts separately so it looks more fun. 

Alex, as always, is wondering if he again got socks and books only. 

We are obviously not very consistent in how we take our Christmas morning pictures because there are no pictures of me or Katya;). 

Oh yes, and here is a special picture of the boys actually baking something during the holidays. I am grateful that Robert helps them to learn how to bake! That evening we also had sausages and potato bake, trying to keep things super simple.

Yes, yes, I know... my blog posts used to be quite a bit more exciting when we lived overseas. Even simple Christmas celebrations sounded exotic because we were living in a different county. Nevertheless, this is a great life too:) We have definitely grown used to it and are choosing to enjoy the relaxing bits of it.

Lyana.