Russian Christmas Party

At the Russian school where Elizabeth is going every Saturday, we had a Christmas party, so-called "utrennik". Uncle Stephen was able to join us, and we all, including Liza, had a fun time. Russian Christmas party is all about kids showing different performances- singing a song, dancing or reading a poem, acting, or anything else creative. They all have to show it in turns, in order to get their Christmas presents from Santa (ded Moroz), who has his grand daughter Snegurochka with him as a helper. New Year also stoped by to teach everyone some fun line dancing ;)

Winter guest in Denmark

Stephen in Marselisborg forest. Was nice to have big brother here with us for a week. We saw Kolding, went snowboarding in Marsilisborg forest, repaired a car and set up some carbs for the bike for better weather. Looking forward to the whole family coming over sometime!

Koldinghus

Braai in -8 ºc

This uncle's ok!

If it doesn't work, you can hit it...

... or you can cut it...

... or when your wife is on the other side of the country, you can boil it!

Carb soupe a-la-citron.

A biker buddy in San Francisco was laughing at this pic, which brought it to the attention of his wife who commented that if ever he did such a thing in her kitchen, she would stab him in the neck with the dog.

The wrath of a scorned woman!

Sunny winter in Barcelona

A weekend in Barcelona with my sisters was a great way to spend time together. We had amazing cultural and gastronomic experiences, felt the buzz of this big city, enjoyed some breathtaking views and city's best flamenco dancing. Shopping, coffee shops and LOADS of talking was the red line of the trip :) Thank you girls for a great weekend! I'm already looking forward to the next year's sisters gettaway.

New addition to the family

Ladies and gentlemen,
We're happy to present two new members of our family- Sasha and Harley. Here they are:

Summer holidays

I love the month of August. Partly because there are so many birthdays in it, of both family and friends, including my own :). Also because this year we had to work the whole summer, June and July- these are the months ALL Danes go on holidays, and cities are basically empty!
But our turn has finally come, and we started with a week at the summer house with my parents. I love long holidays because usually it takes me at least a week to unwind from the busy hospital work, important decisions of life and death, and just everydays rush...
The quiteness of the place where the summerhouse is, is always healing for body and soul (added with my Mum's lovely cooking!) For Elizabeth it was the world of exploring, too, as we were outside all the time.



Next week David joined us, and we all spent a week in Sweden. It was lovely to get away just 3 of us and enjoy the beautiful nature of Gothenburg area. We stayed in a cabin on the island Orust, about 1 hour drive from Gothenburg. One- day trips were done to Smøgen- which is a paradize of sea food lovers! Smøgen shrimps, fresh caught in the sea- is an absolute must. Their lobster season is starting in September.
We were fortunate to meet up with our good freinds from Northern Ireland Paul and Margareth, who came to vist their daughter Clare and her family in Gothenburg. It was lovely to meet old and new friends and catch up on "norn irish" news.


Smøgen with colorful fishing cabins.

There's always time for ice-cream!


Day trip to island Soringø- what a peacefull life. Was amazed by how all their houses are built on the rock (wise people indeed!), simply because there's no earth- rock everywhere.

The back yard of where we were staying was FULL of blueberries- how handy!

Happy Elizabeth after sorting out the candles- it has to be in a perfect row and don't you dare to mess it up! She does it at the moment with everything- toys, shoes, spoons, plates...


As we returned back to Denmark, we started planning for Katya's round birthday party. It was a picnic out at the summer house area where we have a plot of land with some trees on it. Just beside is a play ground which has just been extended with a new terrace with tables and chairs and plenty of space for Katya's 45 guests. It was a great day- thanks everyone for coming and sharing it with us! It's probably not so bad to be 30... now I'm thinking.

Here's the link to some pictures from the party.
http://picasaweb.google.dk/jymukendi/20100821?locked=true&feat=email#
Thanks Patricia M. for taking those :)

Bike licence!

Woo-hoo!

Birthday girl

Our little girl turned 2! The time is really flying. When we look back just a year ago when we were celebrating her 1st birthday- the changes are huge. Liza's now walking, running, dancing and jumping around, crawling up and down the furniture, or at the play ground. She's quite daring but still very careful. She talkes NON-STOP, most of it we don't understand, but she loves telling us about her day so much that we just listen. She loves to make sad faces, and pretend she's crying, then suddenly she laughs. Her favourite game is hide-and-seek. She loves hiding behind big rose bushes in the garden, later on discovering that roses do smell nice but also have thorns! It is truly amazing to watch her discovering the world around. She can stand for a long time in the garden, and talk to the flowers, birds and different bugs and insects.
Her favourite words are "water", pronounced WO-TA and "flower" (FLA-WA). She pronounces it as David with South African accent- funny how she picks up that!



In the morning we started celebration with Liza's daycare. Her nanny Susanne is on the left with other 4 kids. Her best friend Smilla is in the front. After summer break there will be in all 3 kids in the daycare and one of them is Smilla- to Elizabeth's big delight :D


The rest of the day we enjoyed playing in the garden. "This frog gotta try my pool!!!"


"I love my new scooter :D"


"and my new music bug, too. Thank you granny Freda"

Prague- our wedding anniversary trip away

This year I was planning our 4 days gettaway, and Prague was the city I've heard so much about. That's why we after less than an hour flight found ourselves in this fabulous city! It was truly worth a visit. Very beautiful, rich in culture (and tourists -most of whom to my surprise were Russians- hehe!) with very cosy downtown and busy nightlife. We spent our days from early in the morning (must be a habbit now to get up no later than 6.30 am) till late in the night exploring the city, listening to jazz music, eating out, sailing on boat... Concert of a local jazz band Rythm Desperado was awesome. Being just us two, we did all the "grown-up things" like museums, concerts, late night out, or just hangning out in the pub enjoying live music and czeck beer :) We surely missed Elizabeth a lot. It was weird in the beginning, and I had to keep on telling myself that she stayed home with grandparents, and that we have NOT forgotten her somewhere at the airport. But she had a good time with grandparents and was very well looked after. We've enjoyed our short break and now ready for another busy month at work before summer break in August.