Happy Birthday Grandpa Jim/Dad!

Thanks for a great year of memories and here's to another year of exploring this wonderful planet.

Fall around here means persimmons, soccer and this year...snow!

It is so incredible when the leaves fall off the persimmon trees.  There are branches and then bright orange balls clinging to all the branches.  Often the sky is bright blue which makes an beautiful contrast to the lovely orange persimmons. We've made some persimmon pickle and when they ripen a bit more we will make some persimmon bread.   Danj coached boys' soccer and Tasha coached the girls'.  It was muddy, windy and wet, with a couple of sunny days, perfect soccer weather.

Quba with Friends to Celebrate Levan's Birthday

Long Forest is just outside of Quba.  You drive across a river bed.  We left Baku at 7h30 am, took a flight to Georgia, got off the plane and got back on the same plane after getting our passport stamped.  This was necessary for visa reasons.  We arrived back in Baku at 3h00 and were waiting on the opposite side of the river for Christian to come pick us up by 8pm in Quba.  There was snow falling and quite a bit of water in the river so Ralf didn't feel he could cross in his small car.  We met friends to celebrate their son's b-day.  They planned a lovely snow filled treasure hunt.  Kids went sledding and had snow fights.  Zane bonded with this little orange and white snow leopard who spent the night in our cabin.  The cabins run on electricity which went out around 10pm.  It was very chilly.  The little cat we called MishMish snuggled into the covers and ran her motor all night long.  At one point she stopped to meow as she needed to go outside.  I took her out in my jacket but there was also a dog on the doorstep.  The dog barked as we tried to sneak around the corner and the kitty went silent.  Not another peep until we were back inside and we could hear her lovely motor again.  She let all the kids carry her around inside their jackets.  Susanne's mom came from Germany as well to help celebrate. The dish served in the main cabin is called sach.  It is like a cast iron walk for grilling.  Eggplant and potatoes were sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and the table had fresh goat cheese, herbs and bread.  Yum.  A beautiful weekend.  Thanks!

Wedding of a Co-worker in Baku

Weddings here are can be a solemn affair.  This wedding was so much fun.  We took a bus from school and had two tables across the dance floor from each other.  There was a live band as well. At one point, someone at my table was being silly and pretending to fling some food.  I was getting ready to take a picture of the table at this time.  I heard some noise behind me and turned with my camera to capture a man at the neighboring table pretending to fling his tomato.  There was wonderful energy between tables and everyone dancing.  The bride and groom even seemed to be having fun.  The bride and groom are actually in the car in front of the wedding hall (the car that is behind us all in the big group picture).  Their official arrival is videotaped and shown on screens as they make their way into the wedding hall.  Interesting troll like figures hold the monitors.  Good fun.

Shamaxi, Azerbaijan

A lovely weekend with friends in Shamaxi.  You leave Baku and an hour and a half later end up in rolling hills and at this time the fall colors were amazing.  You follow trails that people have been following for years and duck and slide and make it around the country side.  Always aware of shepherd dogs.

August London with Paul and Kel

August Shu, Gin and Carmen

July/August Bellingham Lake House