With the Piguets

I have been at the Piguets the last couple of days, and I thought I'd show you some things that happened while I was there.

So, Craig and Lindsay both had various things to do Thursday afternoon, leaving Daniel and I in charge of the house.

 When Lindsay got back from the store, she had me follow a recipe for split pea soup. I, obviously, read next to nothing in Russian, so even though the directions were in English, the bag size and all was in Russian. All that to say, I made enough split pea soup to last them one night for the next several weeks - good thing they like it. But this made me laugh - the two bags of split peas were from the Western Hemisphere. One was from "Орегон"

(sound it out James and Zachary). It was from Oregon and the other was from Canada.

 Apparently,
they still trusted me in the kitchen 'cause Lindsay asked if I would make pancakes for breakfast the next morning (just so you all know, with everything I made while I was there, Lindsay had taken out all, or most, of the ingredients - helpful when some are in Russian!). So, black current pancakes were on and pulled off successfully.

The rest of the day was "normal" cleaning and baking. Speaking of baking, I found out what "caster" sugar is. At Fort Vancouver, there is a barrel labeled "Caster Sugar" and no one knew what it meant. Apparently, it is a very finely ground sugar, but not as fine as powdered. Very good for cakes and macaroons.

I am officially Aunt Rachel now to Daniel. He loves books - especially this one called "Bee" and especially the last page with the mouse (which he, on occasion, hits and is cheered on to continue this by Lindsay). He has begun to love books sooo much, that he decided they must taste as good as the look.




Well, now I'm back with Amy and Jeremy and the boys. I really should head off to bed now. I hope you all have a good Friday!

Sundays

Well, Sunday mornings are very slow here. (Actually, in general, most "mornings" don't start till after 9:30am.) I Skype my family, while Amy and Jeremy Skype their parents.


Yes, it dawned bright and beautiful today - though it rained the rest of the day.
(I don't mind the rain that much - it was a real rain too!)

Today, after all the Skype sessions and a half feeding of the twins, Amy and I went to pick Craig, Lindsay, and Daniel up from Лента (Lenta - a grocery store).

In Russia, part of hosting is having food - lots. When we all arrived home, we ate cinnamon rolls, eggs, juice, and coffee made by Craig. :)

Daniel, Camilla, and Samuel

We then read and talked for a while, and, before we had completely finished, company had arrived. This family had just been to Crete and wanted to share their pictures with Craig and Lindsay, and Jeremy and Amy.

I got to work a little bit on my Russian words playing "Twister" with Samuel and their kids.

Names in Russia:
Samuel's name in Russian is pronounced "Sam-oil" (Сэмюэл)
My name, on a familiar basis, is "Raychka" (Рейчка)

So there you go - that's a somewhat "normal" Sunday for me. Hope your Sunday goes well with whatever you are doing.



 

Saturday

Saturday has been rather normal here. I get downstairs at 8 or 8:30am to help feed the twins.

Zachary and Ryan

After that, I skype family and friends (as I did this Saturday) and play with Samuel.

Only one of these happened this morning.

Today, it snowed. It snowed enough for Amy to say it was a real snow as opposed to yesterday's sleet.

(It technically "could" stick, it just won't stay all winter for a while - and, just so you all know, it is gone right now.)

.

Then, around noon, we make breakfast (pancakes!) and eat.

Yes, I was in my pj's at 2:30 - actually, almost till 4pm.

Even though I don't have pictures, I made my first batch of rolls here and have been given the task of bread making. I am really happy about that!

Well, I hope you all have a good Saturday - and if you're not, I hope you make it end well!

Blog Tag!

Yes, a game of Tag. So, here are your rules.

here

1. Thank whomever tagged you - Thanks Red!
2. Answer his questions.
3. Add 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Come up with 11 of your own questions.
5. Tag up to 11 people with under 200 followers to answer your questions and follow the rules.

So... are the questions I was asked:
1. What is your favorite board game?
Monopoly
2. A favorite quote of yours (humorous or thought provoking)?
"Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
3. A book/series that disappointed you?
You are asking the person who doesn't read...

Ryan (back) and Zachary (front)

4. Furthest place you've traveled from home, and why?
Ufa, Russia to help friends with their twins.
5. Your favorite non-board-game activity (sports, reading, card games, eating, etc...)?
Sports - definitely sports. I like some baking, too.
6. A favorite character from a book/movie, and why?
Sir Percy Blakeney  from "The Scarlet Pimpernel". He is just - well, you have to read the book. I've listened to it at least twice, and am reading through it for the first time by myself. Love.that.book.
7. If you could have any car, which one would it be?
Some type of convertible -  not sure.
8. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Washington State. :)
9. How many states have you been in (driving through, staying at, but not flying over)?
No idea.
10. What is your favorite type of pizza?
Pepporoni or cheese
11. What's the story behind your favorite (or most infamous) nickname?
Rachie, Ray, and Rewster (pronounced rooster). Ok, so you all are curious about "Rewster". When I was much younger, we had some friends and their mom called their son Drew Drew the Drewster. So then my mom called me Roo the Rewster. :)

Me in Moscow after traveling for almost 24 hours.

Honestly, there aren't 11 random facts about me. But I'll give it my best shot.

1. I'm the fourth in a family of ten kids

2. I have naturally red, curly hair

3. I played soccer for four years

4. I have soloed with an orchestra on my cello

5. I have taken five years of French

6. I will start getting tutored in Russian later this week

7. I jumped thirteen hours ahead of myself last week

8. I have the most-awesomest-amazingest family ever

... See! There you go! I don't have 11. But I do have 8... kinda... and you all know most of it anyway. :)

Ok, my turn. Mom, Kelsey, Bethany, and Emily - you are all it. 

My questions for you are...

Just out the front door.

1. What's your favorite color?

2. What's your favorite smell?

3. What's your favorite memory?

4. What's your favorite book?

5.What color socks are you wearing right now?

6. What was the last thing you ate?

7. Who is your favorite historic character?

8. What was the last state (besides your home state) that you were in?

9. What, so far, has been the highlight of your year?

10. What are you studying right now?

11. What was the last thing you memorized?

Sorry for the strange assortment of questions - I'm not very good at starting conversations. :)

And so ends my first week of being gone. Have a great Wednesday - I did. :)

Russia

Travels in a nutshell, I got to Russia - I figured that from the time I left home till being at the Savages, I traveled about - a long time. :)

outside my window

I arrived in Ufa, about 7:30pm local time (I think :) and arrived in Shamonona) later by 8:20. I'm in the cutest place ever!






Saturday was so much fun! They took me to Ufa and the famous "Salava Yulaev" - think of a Russian Robin Hood during Czarina Catherine the Great.

They took me to "Zvern" and had me have a delicious meal, similar to shishkabob, but Russian style. (Ben, Zvern is right across from the McDonalds you went to and about two doors down from where Jeremy teaches.)

Dinner was delicious!

 Three interesting facts:
1. Russia doesn't have daylight savings. They went on and haven't gone off. So, when you all have your daylight savings, I'll be 14hrs. ahead of you.
2. The sun doesn't set till after 8:30pm here.
3. It's tick season. They only come out for a couple weeks because soon it will be too cold for them. Oh, I hope it gets really cold really soon! :)

Well, I hope you have a fantastic day - I guess you all will go to bed before you have a fantastic day so... uhm...sleep tight? Don't let the tick bugs bite? :)

Take Off!

Hope you all have a fantastic day!

Sunriver, Oregon - that's the place we like to be!

How can you describe a place you have been going to all your life? Fun-filled-memories from forever ago. Dad has been going since 1982 and we've been going consistently as a family since 1994.

Zach and Mum missed the picture; Sarah and Ben joined us later that day.

Traditions? Yes! Doughnuts, bike rides around Sunriver, purchasing our new sweatshirt for the year at "Your Store", going to bed late and getting up early, games of Monopoly and spoons, and the list continues.

One of our biking traditions is going to Benham Falls. It was much easier this year as the majority of the road was paved. In years past, dad would put an age limit on it for how old you needed to be to go. It was so. much. fun. to all go as a family!

We went again this year to the High Desert Museum. 

On the last day, we went to the Lava Lands on bikes, of course. On the way there, I tried to go over a curb - not the smartest idea, I guess. My chain came off (easy fix) and I thought I heard air leaving my tire. We didn't worry about it and went to go walk around.

When we were ready to leave, we discovered that my tire had indeed been losing air and was now flat. Dad stayed and we all coasted (literally costed, the trip there was all up hill) home for mom to grab the van and go pick up dad and the bike. 

For the last part for our last whole day, we had some friends over, went to the SHARC, had pine cone wars, ate food, and played intense games of Monopoly. 

Great vacation. Great people to be around. Great time. Greatly blessed.