Posted on July 20, 2008
The cake was made by my sister Olga. Isn’t it a cutie?
And the inside looks as great as the outside…
Marina and Luba were in charge of entertainment and did such a wonderful job. One of the games they had everyone play was a great ice breaker. Each person was given split seconds (while Marina played music) to try to open the gift box with oven mittens. It was a riot to see everyone try their hardest to get to the gift through layers and layers of paper and a box. Luba gave everyone instructions on what to do and the fun began…
After great food and a games it was time for presents 
Jason, Luba’s husband, along with his brother and my hubby crashed our girl-only party, and just in time for presents…
Luba looks so radiant!!! I can hardly believe she managed to stay so tiny.
I am not sure what she was whispering into his ear, but they are absolutely beautiful together, and just to think these two are responsible for bringing a miracle into this world (with God’s help, of course) is amazing. They are going to make me a proud auntie of a baby girl next month!!!
My Mom had knitted this little booties for her grand-daughter. They are picture perfect.
Luba & Jason, you both ROCK!!!
Posted on July 10, 2008
One of my favorites of amazingly gorgeous Masha…
Posted on July 9, 2008
Posted on July 6, 2008
This independence day was like no other for us. Demetrye and I picked up three of our nephews from Vancouver to visit with us, since we missed them so much. They managed to stay up until 4 a.m. watching a movie and talking to each other. In the morning of the 4th we took them to visit with their Grandma. And what a visit it was!!! Mom arm-wrestled with her grandchildren. And let me tell you, she is much stronger than I am. She beat me on a couple of occasions.
Then Sasha decided to arm-wrestle Demetrye. Demetrye is left-handed, but had no trouble making Sasha sweat with his right arm, before mercilessly beating him.
The fun continued when the boys decided to wrestle…
Maxim was the only wise one–he ate fresh raspberries and watched.
Then we headed for the lake, where fireworks were supposed to be fired that night. Our church had a booth, selling Russian food, raising money to buy a new “home” (building).
I caught this “intense” stare-off moment between Yegor and Demetrye. I think Demetrye was trying to hypnotize Yegor into giving him free food.
This part goes to the Unsung Heroes of the Independence Day: people that make things happen.
My beautiful, ever-young sister Olga. She is so full of poise and grace.
The following two shots have something in common. I did not purposefully capture them this way and only discovered the commonality while loading images to PC… Take a wild shot at guessing what it is.
If you guessed that it was a young lady (my niece Luba) eating, you were right. Turns out, poor thing, was trying to get a bite to eat for about a half hour, but was constantly pulled in multiple directions. I think she was finally able to get her food down before getting back to work.
Alla, my niece, hard at work.
My brother Timothy and his beautiful wife Olga.
My brother and pastor, Leonid. He was responsible for making dough for pastries (krebli) and meat pockets.
My ever-gorgeous sister Marina.
And radiantly pregnant sister Luba. She was such a trooper. I don’t think she ever took a break from cooking and cleaning.
Aleksey (my nephew) and my sister Nadia were tirelessly at work the entire day as well.
And here is my sweet-heart at work with Jason, Luba’s husband.
The way Morgan and Gene worked cannot be put into words. They were in the heat of the kitchen on their feet since early morning until almost midnight with no breaks–men that made things possible and kept our cashiers busy.
Jessica… what a young lady!!! She is a superstar when it comes to selling. While I was rolling the dough (not rolling in the dough ) I could often hear her yell out: “RUSSIAN FOOD–SO GOOD!!!” Her voice was etched into my brain. I think that when I went to sleep that night I still could hear her.
Clinton and Zach serving up the last of “krebli” aka “elephant-ears”.
Tired but still beautiful…
And then it was time for the fireworks…
Thousands came out to watch.
God, bless America–our home, sweet home!
