The house story

I wake up one Sunday morning to an email in my inbox from our house contractor/caretaker with a subject line that reads:

Someone crashes through your gate

Yes...our house became famous in a high speed police chase.

It is a very sad story, and our gate is the smallest detail, but nevertheless, it still involved our house.

The whole story is that a man was speeding on the road from Key West northward. A policeman on motorcycle started chasing him. The man, ingesting cocaine, drives down a street, (yes, our street,) to the end and crashes through our gate, down our boat ramp and into the Gulf of Mexico!

He was rescued, taken to a hospital for all the drugs he swallowed, and arrested there.

The car was his ex girlfriend's, mother of his child, and missing since a few days before this incident. Sadly, he led police to her body and is now charged with her murder.

There you go...so sad that this had to happen to this lady...

but at least our gate, and the Gulf of Mexico, stopped him from getting away

Winter is here

We had our first snow a few weeks ago.

It was so pretty watching the big flakes fall. It was a little warmer as usual when it first is snowing...so Bella and I were able to go out comfortably, (instead of freezing), protect my camera

and get a few shots of the beauty.

We are really on a countdown..

3 weeks, 4 days and we leave for our house!

Oh there is a whole house story to tell...

that can be a weekend post, something for you all to look forward to this weekend!

Making pasta

If you remember from last Christmas, my best present was my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.

Well, we have been using it to the max...

Now we are making our own pasta!

It is fairly easy, just a little time consuming. but hey, here on camp there isn't much to do, so we have plenty of time.

First you start by making the dough

then roll it out with the roller attachment

hang it to dry

then switch to various cutter attachments:

this is our fettucini:

and here is our ravioli

So fun, and so yummy!

Busy. busy, busy...

The time has flown by. I have not had a chance to write and update...

basically here is how it has been:

1. Organizing a Halloween Carnival Fundraiser

Our middle school children came up with the idea of having a fundraiser for Halloween. The children all paired up and set games for the children to play, with prizes to win, while I set up the decorations, with a lot of help from both the parents and students.

It was a great success that seemed to be enjoyed by all who came.

Here are a few photos:

2. Christmas play practice

Once again, and with much joy, I am helping out with the middle school Christmas play. It takes up only about an hour a day, three times a week. It is a lot of fun to see the children in their roles, and try to help them be the best actors they can be!

This year we are doing "Christmas in July"

It is a cute play about the new year's calendar getting all messed up when the person taking over drops the calendar, and the days become scattered. Very cute!

3. The weather has certainly changed for the colder. We have had really cold winds even though the sun still shines. Last night there was a light dusting of snow...

Winter is here and has come on quickly!

Ok...so it doesn't seem like too much, but between these events, exercising every day, fixing meals, walking Bella, our dog...

oh yea...I forgot...

Bella was attacked by another dog here on our camp. It was not a pretty picture, and truthfully, I thought the other dog was going to bite her throat. Luckily, she didn't, and someone came to help pull the other dog off Bella. She has a few, minor scratches, but it was scary. I am very upset at the owner because she is very lackadaisical when it comes to the safety with her dog. It is a delicate situation because it is strongly suggested to not bring animals here (for other reasons), but this makes it even more difficult because I do not want to upset that delicate line of being able to bring them in.

Anyways...

between all this and that, really just daily life, my blog has been neglected!

I will try to post more often, but the reality is that it may not be as often as my readers like.

I will do my best...

Happy Winter!

A stroll through the village

The weather was so beautiful the other day that Bella and I went for a stroll, camera in hand.

The path felt like it was lit by the sun bouncing off the trees and houses.

This is a beautiful time of year, and one that I have missed since being in tropical locations before we landed here in Atyrau, just about one year ago.

The colors are turning, bringing the beautiful Autumn reds and yellows:

The seed pods make a calm, rustling noise as the cool breezes rush through them.

Bella was surprisingly patient while I took my photos, but then again, she had fun with this cat that was frightened of her

The last of the roses are finishing up their blooms

and the butterflies are drinking their last sweet nectar before the cold winds and icy snowflakes begin to drop....

I hope Autumn lasts a little longer!

Nature's beauty

There have been some beautiful, sunny days here in Atyrau recently. The weather is certainly turning colder quite quickly. We have been lucky to have such sun around...though the last few days have been gray and dreary with dampness and rain in the air. The colder, winter months are upon us, knocking at the door.

Over the weekend I was able to capture a few pictures of creatures enjoying the last of the sunshine before the winter sets in.

I'm full of surprises

This time I surprised my niece, my Goddaughter.

She was graduating from law school, and I decided to go to it.

Long story is that we have been a big support for her throughout her three years, and even before that, deciding whether or not to even go to law school. I have always felt that I missed a lot with my nieces, my big brother's girls. I have always been very close to them.

So, when the email came that ended with...

"Love you, miss you, especially next weekend"....referring to her graduation weekend, I sprang into action!

I had been looking for an opportunity to get away from Atyrau, seeing as we are not going away during fall break, which is when the children have off a week from school. Most families leave the camp and get out during these breaks. The school has them every 8 weeks....but this year, we are saving up vacation days for my husband to spend with us at Christmas, and staying in town. So when that email came...I jumped at the chance!

I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband. He was the first one to say, why don't you go?! I couldn't say no now!

So, off I went, through Amsterdam, to Detroit, Michigan, and on to Auburn Hills, Michigan, which is where my niece graduated from Cooley Law School.

The autumn colors were just starting to show, which is one of my favorite times to be in the US.

I got there a day earlier than the rest of my family, seeing as I had much to do. I had to get papers notarized for our upcoming remodel/addition to our house, My gray hair was badly calling to be covered up, my nails were in desperate need to be painted....

and of course, I had to do some shopping to fill our cupboards in Atyrau with all our favorite treats from the US.

So there I was, driving around the rolling hills and green grasses of Auburn Hills.

Once Saturday came, I waited to surprise them all. First, there was the graduate, her sister with her adorable 8 month old baby, that I couldn't wait to see again, my Sister in law, who is the only one who knew I was coming (well, I had to get directions and hotel info from somebody!), and my niece's boyfriend. Since my SIL knew, she was texting me as to where they were on their drive. When she let me know that they were pulling in to the parking lot, I made sure to be sitting with my back to the open windows.

My nieces saw me first...and the surprised look on their faces was precious. The one that was graduating said...

You know, I looked in the window and thought, hhmmm, that girl looks like my Aunt. Then I realized it was you! We all had tears in our eyes and the hugs were warm and wonderful!

Next up, my dad, mom, sister and her son. So, the nieces went to pick up my brother at the airport while I waited, again. They were letting me know where the next batch of family was because they were texting them, and then texting back to me. So, again, I knew when they were pulling into the parking lot. My dad walks in, and I was sitting on a couch. He looked towards me, then took a double take, fixed his glasses, bent forward and said, Oh my gosh, BG, what are you doing here?! It was another wonderful moment.

I sneaked out, walking behind him, to surprise my mom and sister while they were still outside in the car. My sister yelled into the phone conversation she was having, Oh my gosh, BG is here, and my mom jumped out of the car and wrapped me in her arms.

I didn't get to surprise my brother in person. My SIL had mistakenly mentioned, while talking to him on the phone while he was waiting for his flight to Detroit, that they had brought their bags into my room while waiting for their rooms to be ready. It was so cute...she put her hand over her mouth and we all just laughed at the surprise she had given away. He was still quite shocked, just not in person.

It was one of the sweetest moments to be able to do this. I am so happy that I was able to be a part of my family in this very special moment.

Congratulations to my niece!