about to eat and bless our borst! mmmmm. . .
walking around sharbakti -- probably heading to the market
the middle of the road is sometimes the safest place for pedestrians -- because of the potholes cars drives off the road!
a house in sharbakti
playing with a new friend daniel. his aunt rosa became our first hang-out friend here in sharbakti. she's since moved back to pavlodar for work. :(
chatting with rosa out in front of her grandma's dom
watching the big dig -- public water works instituted in sharbakti village summer 2008! however all residents have to pay additional costs to link-up and of course create a space for indoor plumbing and purchase all neccessary components.
a babuska and baby watching the digging
the sylvan sanctuary at the catholic church - i love it here!
more yummy green shots
zoe&flowers at the catholic church
i like to stretch out right under those trees on the left and dream and smell the grass
a sunflower path leading to the garden
you guessed it: happy at the catholic church
hot and sticky -- time for some watermelon. it was cheap and plentiful this summer and i was in heaven!!
i LOVE my daughter!
i can't get enough of her smile
she's cute when she's silly too
desi taking pictures of himself
and me
and daddy
and zoe
out at the edge of the village
the steppe . . . flat land on and on and on and . . .
more of the steppe at the edge of our village
working men -- lots of hay being distributed around the village, in large hevy loads, for the winter
zoe reclining and looking at the sights
we think it's so funny to stick our tongues out
aren't we charming?
on the train ride home from almaty -- the nice ladies that shared the compartment with us purchased the babes icecream at one of the stops
des reclining on the top bunk
nate jones looks oh-so-comfortable
ice cream sure helps the time pass nicely
agreed!
in almaty at gorky park -- we found a carnival!
hiphooray!
nathanpjones&me
i like blue cotton candy
green cotton candy -- he may not look like he enjoyed it, but don't be fooled!
more of gorky park
cotton candy in gorky park - almaty, kazakhstan
oh boy!! a roller coaster! (peice of cake for mr. jones)
this slippery slide was a blast!!
the sport stadium at medeo in almaty kazakhstan
more of the stadium with the lovely mountains in the background!
throwing rocks in the raging river.
we had to watch them like hawks!! afraid they'd get into that water!
the road to medeo -- the lovely mountians just outside of almaty in southern kz
at the bottom of the 900+ stairs we're gearing up to climb
des decided to scale the railing -- to be a bit more like spiderman.
he did this all the way up -- you can see nate up ahead with zoe on his shoulders. he did this all the way up.
aaackkk!! i'm dying! this is hard!
looing down -- thats the stadium where we originated
the end in site!
we made it!! this is kazakhstan!! what a view!
dad and zoe resting
soaking up the view . . .
and each other
i love to look at them
des jones -- teetering on the presipice
mypeeps
the only way to get down -- des decided to slide down!
taking a break 3/4 of the way down for some shashliks
very silly
:::sigh::: i feel serene
the russian orthodox church in almaty
des frolicking
yeah! pigeons
myboy
zoe loves her daddy's shoulders
so cozy she just might . . .
fall asleep
having icecream and about to enter the green market!
thejonesbabes
dried fruit and nuts . . . mmmm. . .
i love all this bounty!
back up at medeo -- we stayed there a couple of nights
des tried roller blading for the first time
oops! i gotta go poop mom!
zoe trying out the bycycles
go girl!
get off!!!
daddys a big helper
inside the train -- it was a long ride!
our local saturday morning rynick in sharbakti -- i love these women and their farm products! truly organic.
more of our rynick in sharbakti -- lotsa space but not a lot of action.
some of my favorite farmers -- the guy has so many berries at the beginning of summer! mmmm. . .
nate chatting -- thats one of the meat guys, they have a chopping block and axe and just hack away!
more the market
here's our new kitchen furniture -- remember, we returned from almaty to find that the cupboards and countertops removed. this is what valya brought us as a replacemtn. definitly an improvement. don't you think mom? fits with the era i feel we're living.
at the catholic church -- this is nadia
she is so good to us!
banyababes1
in the banya getting clean-- our schedule is now twice a week. saturdays and wednesdays.
so happy after our phone conversation with auntie heidi
those hot yummy cheeks!
zoe still happy about hearing heidi's voice but quickly developing a fever which morfed into hives!
dimples: the epitome of cute
this is my *i love heidi* smile
