a-PEAR-ently...

...they're not pears, after all. I feel so much better. Totally thought I was utterly incompetent since I couldn't even figure out how to eat a PEAR! They're quince. That's pronounced "kwins." Here's a little bit about them, according to wikipedia, the source of all knowledge on the web...

"Most varieties of quince are too hard, astringent and sour to eat raw unless 'bletted' (softened by frost and subsequent decay). They are used to make jam, jelly and quince pudding, or they may be peeled, then roasted, baked or stewed. The flesh of the fruit turns red after a long cooking time. The very strong perfume means they can be added in small quantities to apple pies and jam to enhance the flavour. Adding a diced quince to apple sauce will enhance the taste of the applesauce with the chunks of relatively firm, tart quince. The term "marmalade", originally meaning a quince jam, derives from "marmelo," the Portuguese word for this fruit."

Interesting, huh? I was actually quite involved reading about this little fruit, some good info there...Also, it was kind of wikipedia to point out that these are "not to be confused with quints." That could be confusing...5 babies...a fruit... But anyway...THAT explains why these were the hardest pears I have ever come across in my life. Yes, Mom, even harder than those miracle-working ones in the backyard! So, not exactly wanting to "blet" them, we took the advice of several Bulgarians (and wikipedia) and made jam. Not "made jam" as in actually got mason jars, etc, etc, (if only!), but just whipped up a batch and froze some and kept some out to eat right away. Quite yummy, if I do say so!

Alright, so the picture maybe doesn't make it look all that tasty, but trust me, it's good!

Mmmm...Nuala enjoying it on waffles...

A tired-looking Z (okay, not just tired-looking...plain ol' TIRED) with his delicious creation.

Bran, who if you can't tell, is giving a thumbs-up... Yes! Approval!

So next year we'll know how to properly take advantage of these lovely quince...quinces... quince... what's the plural of quince? Queence? They smell so sweet and delicious, I'm glad we finally figured out how to put them to use! And I'm soooo glad we're not total eejits when it comes to eating a pear!

Wooo Away... Wooooo Awwway...

Happy Halloween! Late. Here's Z. He was dying to go as a sexy little kitty cat. He was quite disappointed when we couldn't find a leotard in his size, so anyone with a spare black leotard, or really anything extra-slinky that would fit Zac, send it our way and we can fulfill his little kitty dreams next year!

Nuala was a "fairy warrior" or a "fairy battle princess"... Bran was a knight. Big surprise, huh?!

I painted some "scruff" on his face, but he totally didn't like it, so I wiped it off. I shoulda just pretended to wipe it off, 'cause he looked so cute with it!

Zachariah... Oh, Zachariah. He was my kitty cat ('cause I'm a witch...yeah, now you get it...haha). And despite my earlier claim...he actually wasn't thrilled with that costume choice. Sigh. But he was a good sport (for the most part)! Nuala and Bran were excited about it, though. I did tell him he could be my broom, instead. He went with the cat, for some reason.

MRrrow!! I know you've seen it, but really, can this be seen too often?

This is Bran post-haunted house at the embassy Halloween party...hence the vacant, must-block-this-incident-from-my-memory-forever expression on his face. We were terrible parents and took our 2-yr olds inside. Bran cried basically from the beginning, Nuala not until a head sticking out of a box came alive and scared the living daylights out of her. Bran and I were ahead of her and Z and when I heard her shrieks...oh wow...they were great! What every haunted house-creator is going for. Probably not from a two-year old, but still... Am I horrible for saying so? Don't answer that...but I had to laugh at my poor little girl. She was just so surprised!! Wow, I do sound like a horrible mother... And the whole blocking-from-the-memory thing didn't work -- they've talked quite a bit about the haunted house since then, but they don't seem adversely affected. At least they haven't manifested it yet. Yeah, it was pretty fascinating stuff. (Note: We didn't take them in the haunted house at the next party we went to, the Church party. We do learn, occasionally...)

Then, on Halloween night, we went to the church Halloween party. The missionaries really got into it; they had great homemade costumes! Oddly, Bran loved the two dressed up as knights. Their costumes were a tad cooler than Bran's, I'm not ashamed to say. And their swords were way bigger.

Nuala got her face painted. No longer just a fairy warrior, but a KITTY fairy warrior. Takin' after her daddy... It was serious stuff.

Elder Christensen with Bran and Nuala. He's pretty cool. He's one of "our" missionaries, in our little branch, and has been over a few times for dinner. He always sword fights N&B.

We had a cookie decorating get-together for a bunch of N&B's little friends the Sat before Halloween. It was pretty fun, but I think the kiddos had a better time just playing than decorating/baking cookies.

This is the Nordstrom family, from church. They're the other American family in our branch... he's in med school here. Their little Mia is 4, and such a sweetie. N&B really love her.

Bran really liked it when William's daddy helped him make cookies shaped like swords and grenades...so much cooler than ghosts and pumpkins!

Anyway, Happy Halloween!! We wanted N&B to go as She-Ra and He-Man...they've been watching several episodes lately. Nuala was totally into going as She-Ra, until she saw a picture of a little girl dressed as a fairy. Then she HAD to have wings along with her battle gear. Bran never planned on He-Man. He's been faithful to the knight idea from the get-go. So, our days of dictating costumes are over apparently (unless you're Z, then I still have some power).

(The title...who gets the title? Come on sibs, one of you remembers...)

AND, Happy 36th Anniversary, Mom & Dad! We love you!!

Nuala's Salon...open for business!

So you won't get a steaming cup of herbal tea, or even a fully clothed pedicurist (is that the word? ...you know what I mean!), but you WILL get enthusiasm, plenty of nail color (no skimping at Nuala's Salon!), and FULL attention. Well...okay...not full attention, either, but you'll survive. And hey, she's pretty darn cute! Who cares if your toes are all stuck together afterwards? (Actually, she is pretty good at staying somewhat inside the "lines", but still...she is two!)

Yeah...the attention thing needs some work. We just refer to these incidents as "creative" periods...

Nuts!

Lucky us! We have nut trees! (And a pear tree, with the sweetest smelling pears BUT...they aren't edible. Is there something special we need to do? They're soooo hard, even after letting them sit for a while. I am pear-impaired. haha.) But the nuts are good! When we got here at the end of summer, our hazelnut trees were obliging us (there's Nuala above with some of them), and now the walnut trees are. I love walnuts.

Our gardener spoils us. He gathers up the walnuts and spreads them on the porch to dry.

Nuala and Bran love walnuts, too. Nuala more than Bran. Kinda like me and Zac... Z thinks they're "bitter." More for me!

The other day, Bran was playing with a dump truck full of walnuts, and spread them on the floor. Then he brought me some nut meat to eat, which was a little confusing, since I knew we'd already finished all the already-extracted nuts (done ever-so-elegantly with a big old hammer...maybe we should get a nutcracker). Yeah. He was takin' care of business himself. Got a big ol' broom and was whacking them on the floor. Pretty good aim, I've gotta say, since I don't find it easy to successfully crack open walnuts with a broom handle on the floor. Not that I've tried that often. Or at all.

That cute rascal... I'm nuts about him! Yeah, I know...that was bad. I do have some of my father in me after all! ;)

"...the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ"

I've been not wanting to write about this, but I just can't NOT. When we got back from Romania, we had some very sad news waiting for us from several Uruguayan friends. A friend from church, who was also one of our home teachers, was killed over that weekend. Santiago was a pilot in the Uruguayan Air Force, and the plane he was on (a UN mission flight) crashed into a mountain in Haiti. He wasn't quite 31.

Our hearts are breaking for his family. He left behind his sweet wife and their two little boys. Guillermo will be 3 in February, and Facundo will be 2 in May. Guille and Bran and Nuala were little buddies in nursery, and we love their family. It's not even just that we "knew" them and that's it's general bad news. We love Santiago and Carla and Guille and Facu. They're such a fun, sweet, friendly family. Both Carla and Santiago...always smiling... Santi was a great dad. Loved those little fellows and was always carting one or both around. Bran especially really liked him, too. Always would wander over to see him at church, and loved to have his attention when he'd come home teaching.

(At Facu's 1st birthday party)

And Carla. Wonderful Carla. What devastating news, but how strong she is. I'm not sure how long he'd been in Haiti, but long enough that there were several cute, teasing messages going back and forth on their Facebook pages, almost right up to the day of the accident. They were so in love... Another friend from church told us about the memorial service and funeral for the six Uruguayans who died. Carla was comforting the others. She wore cream. Contrasted deeply with the dark, somber colors everyone else was wearing. She did that because she knows that this is not the end. That she will be with Santiago again. Their family will be whole once more. I can't imagine how terrible this trial is, but I do know that the hope that the restored gospel brings to lives is real. I know that, and I know she knows that. Families are forever. We can be together after death. Death is not the end. We will be reunited with our loved ones and be resurrected. That won't make her miss him any less, wishing he were there to hold his boys and to make memories that those little children will treasure over photographs...but it will ease the bitter sting that such separations inevitably bring. See, now I'm crying again. I keep thinking of my little ones, and how much they would miss their daddy, and how much I would, too, of course.

(Guille and Nuala, watching something very interesting, at Facu's party)

In the words of Elder Wirthlin, an apostle in our church:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.

I testify to you that the Resurrection is not a fable. We have the personal testimonies of those who saw Him. Thousands in the Old and New Worlds witnessed the risen Savior. They felt the wounds in His hands, feet, and side. They shed tears of unrestrained joy as they embraced Him...

We will all rise from the grave. And on that day my father will embrace my mother. On that day I will once again hold in my arms my beloved Elisa.

Because of the life and eternal sacrifice of the Savior of the world, we will be reunited with those we have cherished.

On that day we will know the love of our Heavenly Father. On that day we will rejoice that the Messiah overcame all that we could live forever." (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Sunday Will Come,” Ensign, Nov 2006)

Oh, the blessing of the gospel. I'm very grateful for it in my life. More than I can say. But, my heart still breaks for Carla and her little boys, and the long separation they are facing now. Please keep them in your prayers.

Here's a little video honoring the Uruguayans on the flight.

"Los aviadores no mueren, solo vuelan más alto."

Transylvania

Ahhh...Transylvania. (I know it's been a while since we've posted. What can I say...our internet STINKS. I think we found a solution, though...we'll see...) Anyway, we went to Romania last weekend and had a great time. We were mainly on a Dracula kick, so Castle Bran was top on the list. Castle Bran is what's known as the "Dracula Castle," but really he never lived there. Just stopped by once or maybe twice in the 15th century, but it has the look down and so it's totally "sold" as Dracula's castle. Vlad Tepes, "Dracula", was an interesting and cruel fellow. Though he seemed to have some issues from things that happened to him in his youth as a prisoner of the Turks. If you want to know more about him, you can go here. Heh. Our Lonely Planet guidebook was pretty hung up on his mustache. Talked about it quite often...

Of course we had to get them "Castle Bran" t-shirts. Nuala kept asking where her castle was...so if anyone knows of a Castle Nuala, please, fill us in!

Bran with Sting, Frodo's sword from Lord of the Rings. Just the right size! and nice and sharp, too. Perfect. At this B&B, on the border of Bulgaria and Romania, Nuala did us the honor of dropping her mug of hot chocolate on the floor, smashing it to bits. Very cool.

Castle Bran from down below in the town.

...just 'cause it has Bran's name again...

Going up into the castle. I like how it's built on a big ol' rock. Bran's holding a little Dracula Bear with a travel bug. Travel bugs are a geocaching thing...little bar codes on a dog tag that move from one cache to another all around the US or the world or wherever. This one had a goal to get to Transylvania, and the dream has been realized.

Looking down at the castle courtyard. Well, only Nuala is, I guess. I'm looking at the camara, and Bran is looking for snacks. That's our Bran.

The courtyard behind N. Apparently there's a series of hidden passages under there. Oh yeah! Romanian is quite different from Spanish, but is still a Latin-based language, unlike Bulgarian and all the other languages surrounding Romania. I got excited when a man on the steep, winding staircase offered to help me by saying "Ayuda?" (probably spelled totally differently in Romanian) in reference to me having to carry Nuala down the stairs. I can't remember why...she wouldn't walk and there was a big line...Anyway, I totally thought he was speaking Spanish and was so excited to be able to communicate again that I started jabbering away at him in Spanish. Finally I remembered that Romanian is somewhat similar to Spanish as he shook his head in confusion. It was kinda funny. I really need to start learning Bulgarian. Except I'll be gone for 3 months come December and will probably forget everything. Hmmm...what to do, what to do... But I do miss being able to actually talk to people.

The kiddos loved seeing the armor, etc. There was a ladies' dress, too, that N really liked.

While I was talking to a nice Romanian/Bulgarian couple, Z ditched me and left with the tykes to find the geocache. Up a big hill, with two little rascals. After the couple left, I looked around and realized I was alone and headed up after them. Alas, no luck. There were many paths and they were apparently out of earshot. I couldn't find them and headed back down to park myself on a bench and wait. Poor me.

The view from the cache at the top of the hill (which I didn't see in real life, since I was abandoned down below. I'm not bitter. Really.)

"The Return." This is how my strapping young (ish ;) husband came back. Apparently they both got tired. Carrying them back made Z tired. I'm just glad they made it down the hill in one piece like that...They picked a big, dirty Chester Cheetah (the Cheetos cheetah) stuffed animal with a travel bug out of the cache. It's seriously gross looking. Guess we better go geocaching again soon and ditch that sucker!

Then we went to Dracula's hometown, Sighisoara. We got there in the evening, and were so ready to head to our little homestay. We were staying in the middle of the city, in the citadel which is inside the still-standing old-town walls. Unfortunately, we got to the street to drive up and into the citadel and whaddaya know? Closed to traffic. Because they were TEARING UP and REPAVING the ENTIRE old town. So we park at the bottom of the hill (because of course the citadel's on the hill) and trudge up the endless stairs to find our B&B in the darkening evening. Luckily it was really close, but still. Later Z went back down all the steps (I tried counting them in my head on our last trip down and Bran kept distracting me -- the nerve! -- but it was close to 100) and lugged the suitcase up. Did I mention how strapping and young (ish) he is?

Even with construction crews and many, many machines everywhere, the city was still very fun to look at. I'm pretty sure all the machines actually made it MORE interesting for N&B.

The house where little Dracula entered the world and took his first little baby steps. I think he lived here until he was 4 or so.

One of our favorite areas was this graveyard on the side of the hill. Our friend, Kelly, tipped us off to it, and it was really a great place. Interesting graves, beautiful trees sporting their fall foliage, lots of chestnuts on the ground that quickly found their way into little pockets. And Z's. He filled his, too. We're gonna roast them. I guess we should do that soon. But the graveyard was very nice and atmospheric. And peaceful.

Up in a tower, looking over the town (not the citadel part) of Sighisoara.

Nuala. And lots of leaves.

The couple we stayed with, Maria and John, were super hospitable. They loved Bran and Nuala, even after the two of them climbed up on their couch, shoes and all, the very first time we walked into their kitchen. Now, I don't think that would have been a problem, except what I took to be some sort of couch covering with very large polka dots decorating it, was in fact big sheet circles of freshly pressed pasta laid out. They were very forgiving and gracious, though, as they smushed some of the torn sheets back together. John was also making his own brandy and wine while we were there. It was pretty interesting to see, but kinda stinky. Their grapes were soooo delicious. Seriously, I mentioned to Z that they were the best grapes I'd ever had, and I've had a lot of grapes in my life. Okay, mostly from grocery stores, but these almost didn't even TASTE like grapes. They were small and sweet and stained the tongue purple almost immediately. So, so good. Anyway, N&B loved "helping" sweep and feed/water the chickens, etc. at their house. It was a lot of fun for them.

Here they are taking water to the chickens.

We headed to the little town of Biertan as a day-trip from Sighisoara. It's in what's known as "Saxon Land," and was a typical little Saxon town with a big fortified church. No one was at the church when we got there, so we had the whole place to ourselves to wander about. Actually, we weren't able to go inside, but we didn't really mind, the grounds were plenty interesting.

The views into the town/countryside from the church walls were gorgeous. The pics don't do it justice. It was misty, and the sun was getting ready to set...cows and pigs were making their cow and pig noises. We really enjoyed that little outing.

On our way back home, we took the scenic route through the Southern Carpathian Mountains, also known as the Transylvanian Alps. The road, the Transfagarasan Road (okay, there are little tails and accent-mark-esque things on several of those letters, and on one of the s's in "Sighisoara", but I'm not as cool as Z and don't have the patience to find or the brilliance to already know how to type Romanian letters...) was luckily still open (usually closed from sometime in October until April due to weather) and it was beautiful! And long.

We stopped a little ways up at a place with a cable car, and waterfall, etc. but the cable car for some unknown reason wasn't running. Oh well! Plenty to do anyway!

...Like throw rocks into freezing water for 1/2 an hour. Gotta love two-year-olds. Of course, they both wanted to get IN the water...I barely could keep Nuala in her shoes. Bran also had fun "fishing" with a nice, slimy stick. Then we ate at the hotel restaurant by the cable car and enjoyed the least-friendly waitstaff ever. It was almost amusing how unfriendly they were. And they weren't MEAN, they were just very, very, very...long-faced? Like every single one of them had a favorite dog that had died that very morning AND their significant other broke up with them on the phone. No, via email. NO...via their Facebook wall. It was just different. Though the chicken cordon bleu was quite tasty...

Pretty fall colors. Much more vivid in real life, of course. It was so lovely! We had beautiful weather the whole time. We actually kinda wanted gloomy weather; just makes the whole Transylvania trip more...Dracula-y, ya know? But it was beautiful.

This is Vlad's (Dracula) real castle. Built by Turkish prisoners. We didn't go up to it. The 1400+ steps were a slight discouragement. That+napping children+pregnant me = not the most enticing trek. Maybe next time. But it looked cool perched up on the hill.

And the end! The ass's end! Or, I guess, the ass's ... (That was terrible! My mother made me say that! She has great influence in my life.) But yes. Cute little guy, huh? We had fun, made memories, the kiddos can practically quote the first season of She-Ra thanks to the handy-dandy Explorer DVD player (they didn't quite appreciate the scenery as much as Z and I did), and we all made it back in one piece...no bite marks! A good trip.

they make me laugh

All kids say funny stuff, and these two rascals are no different. By the way, isn't Bran seriously a handsome little guy?? Is that fishing for compliments for my own child? I think so, but, still...Look how dapper he looks in his little suit! I love it. Nuala's quite gorgeous too, of course, but something about a suit on a little boy... These shots were an attempt to document how well they shine up for church (Nuala didn't really wear the hat TO church...just had fun with it beforehand). Turned out pretty well, shockingly...

Anyway, funny things they've said lately...and it's kinda Bran-heavy, just because I've been in range of something to jot them down with when he's said these (Nuala can bust out the funnies, too, I'll try to write down more of hers).:

Me: (to myself, as I was putting together the really cool Indiana Jones lego set my bro gave me) I have no clue how to put this together...

Bran: (encouragingly from the sidelines) You know how put this together! You big! You can do it!

--------------------

Bran: (to me, as he's trying to get me to look for an impossibly lost little item) Have to wook awound! (switches exasperated voice to one of bribery) If you wook awound, I give to you this queso... (enticingly holding out the cheese he's been gnawing on.)

--------------------

Bran: I not want leche (milk) or pasas (raisins)! I WANT my bones to break! (he wanted his cereal all by itself, and I had been telling him that milk would keep his bones strong)

Nuala: (looking at a random ad that popped up on Zac's facebook) Who's that?

Zac: Glenn Beck.

Nuala: I like him! I want marry him!

--------------------

Nuala: (stroking Bran's head) I like your hair. You're weally handsome, Ban. I want to marry you.

(The child is obviously on a getting married kick)

Nuala: (peering into my lotion bottle) Let me look with my blue ojo (eye)!

--------------------

Me: I think a spider bit you...

Bran: It make me turn into Spidyman?

Nuala: Spider bite me, too!

Bran: Make you turn into Spidyman?

Nuala: No, I turn into niña (girl) Spidyman!

--------------------

Bran: (at breakfast, sticking his arms behind his back) I have no arms!

Me: That would be sad!

Bran: But why?

Me: Well, you couldn't hold your tse-tse (what he calls his blankie), or suck your thumb, or hug your mommy, or fight with swords, or wrestle with Nuala...

Nuala: Ban wrestle with him boca (mouth)!

Bran: (scoffingly) I no wrestle with my boca! It might be owie, my teeth might bite you!

Bran: (in the car, rather foolishly directing a question at a screaming, tantrum-throwing Nuala) What you like to eat, Buggy?

Nuala: (incoherent screaming because he dared talk to her)

Bran: No yell at me! Say something, Daddy...say, "no yell!"

--------------------

Bran: (coming in from the backyard, talking to himself) He-MAN, He-MAN, He-MAN...

Bran: (in a high-pitched voice) What you talkin' about, Ban?

Bran: (normal voice) I talkin' about He-MAN! Like DIS! He-MAN, He-MAN, He-MAN...

Veliko Tarnovo: "City of the Tsars"

We headed out to Veliko Tarnovo the weekend of the 19th and stayed Sat-Mon. It was nice and gloomy, with clouds low over the mountains. Perfect for a road trip! (not sarcastic) Veliko Tarnovo is also known as "City of the Tsars" and was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire -- said in my best lecturing voice...

It was a 3-ish hour drive, and after getting to our hotel and "convincing" the kiddos to take a nap, we headed up in the afternoon to see the gigantic fortress spread over the top of Tsarevets Hill. This hilltop was used by pretty much everybody who ever claimed the area. It is a great position after all... The Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, and Bulgars all used it as a defensive position/fortress. 22 successive kings ruled from the palace here. And apparently it was quite the place. Just foundations now, but back in the day...oh yeah.

I'm not sure if this is the tower, but one of them was where Tsar Kaloyan imprisoned the Latin emperor Baldwin I after his capture when the crusaders were defeated in the early 1200s. Then he was executed. Hmm...no, I don't think that's the tower. But I already wrote all that, so it's staying. At the other end of the fortress complex was a big rock known as Execution Rock. Guess what happened there? Yep. Traitors, etc. were shoved off it into the Yantra River below. Though from what we calculated, unless the river was mighty different back then, they probably met their fate along the rocky cliff before they ever made it into the water.

(Oh, THAT'S Baldwin Tower, the one Bran's headed towards!)

Bran has discovered that the hilt of his foam swords are much more scream-inflicting than the foam part and now often decides to fight that way, much to the dismay and annoyance of the rest of us. Especially when we're attacked, unsuspecting, from behind. No sense of honor yet, that one.

We paid, yes paid, for the tykes to dress up as little knights. This was at the gate going in, and we didn't do it till on the way out, and ALL Bran talked about the entire time we were inside the fortress was dressing up like an owie-pokie knight. So obviously we had to let the poor boy live the dream. We half hoped he'd forget about it so that his cheap -- I mean, frugal -- parents could slip past, but nope. And I'm glad he didn't, he enjoyed it so much!

He was so cute, took it all very seriously. This was the biggest smile we could get out of him. And his little arm stayed stuck up in the air the whole time. He was seriously frozen in place. Just moved his eyes back and forth. I love our little Knight!

Nuala didn't take it all that seriously. But then again, being a knight isn't all that big a deal to her...

Coming out of the gate looking at the city.

Looking back towards the fortress.

Looking down on part of the town of Veliko Tarnovo from the drawbridge. You can still see part of the fortress curving off in the top right corner...told ya, it's huge!

Sunday morning, right before heading out to church, N&B were highly entertained for several minutes watching the espresso maker make hot water. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything Mormon-friendly in the little basket of coffees and teas, but it was still quite engrossing. We actually didn't find the church...we had an address off the internet, but couldn't find it, and had we found it, it wouldn't have mattered. The missionaries in our branch told us last Sunday that 3 weeks earlier the branch in Veliko Tarnovo moved into a hotel lobby for its meeting-place. Oh well. We still had a nice quiet Sunday, did Sunday-ish things.

Playing at a local park was a definite highlight of the weekend for Nuala and Bran. I don't get it... they'll hardly ever stop and smile nicely for me while they're playing...weird, huh?! Like they're busy or something!

Cool picture above someone's garage of a tsar being crowned.

This Church of Sveti Dimitar... during its consecration in 1185, the Tsars Asen and Petar (brothers) proclaimed an uprising against Byzantine rule, which led to the 2nd Bulgarian empire. That lasted until 1396.

You can kinda see some of the fortress walls above this part of the city, too. Man, we spent FORever on this bridge...throwing rocks and sticks and rotting pieces of wood in. Watching the fish down below...good stuff, bridges and rivers. Luckily no one dove through the huge spaces between the slats. There were a couple of close calls with Z, but I got to him in time...haha.

We could just look forever at the houses, etc. lining the hill up from the gorge. It was so picturesque...hence, the pictures.

Nuala scaring a snail half to death on the walk up the skinny side streets to the main street. It's so tempting to pry them off walls, poor little things.

Our hotel is down there somewhere. Sigh...so pretty...

Cats, cats, cats! Everywhere! This little guy reminded Z and I of the ill-fated Tucker. He was so friendly and playful. N&B loved him.

Wow, this looks so out of place after all those Veliko T. pics. We stopped at a cave on the way back, and really wished we coulda gone on a nice hike. The scenery around it was beautiful. However, the whole being pregnant, and 2-year olds, and 4-hour trail and naptime thing just all added up to a really bad idea, so we made do with the cool cave and a mini-hike. And then we went home!

Well, no. Then the kiddos fell asleep and Z and I had the brillant plan to go out of our way to a teeny little place in the book that sounded cool but ended up taking way longer than we thought and wasn't all that cool but maybe had just lost some of its coolness because of how long it was taking and because the sweetly-sleeping children were starting to stir and then it took us about an extra hour to get home and the previously-sweetly-sleeping children were turning into very tantrumy, can't-please-'em-with-ANYthing children. But the drive was pretty, and we liked how our GPS was totally blank except for our little car.

Anyway, we loved Veliko Tarnovo! It was nice to take a little bit longer of a trip, actually stay at a hotel instead of smushing the whole visit into a day.

Longest. Church. Activity. Ever. (or that's how it felt)

(This particular activity was actually a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post this...)

For the past few Sundays, they've been announcing in our little branch of the church here that they were planning to have an activity to teach the Americans (me and Susan) how to make bahnitsa and moussaka. Bahnitsa is a traditional Bulgarian pastry, usually filled with sirene (see-ray-nay), a soft, white Bulgarian cheese. We actually like it better with apples or something, but the cheese is yummy, too. Moussaka is found in lots of countries round about here, more or less a casserole-type dish, made with lots of veggies and ground meat. Anyway, as much as I like food, the planned 4+ hour activity didn't sound fun at all to me. The women were supposed to show up at 1pm, and the men not until 5pm, at which time we would all enjoy the fruits of our labors and then have a sort of devotional and clean the building. Sigh.

And I do, overall, enjoy going to and supporting church activities. I think it's important to be supportive and it's a great way to get to know each other and help build up/strengthen each other, etc. But this one...oh man. I was dreading it all week. What got to me was that naptime for the twins AND me is from about 2-4, and this meant NO NAP for Fiona. And I find them very important. Also, four hours with a bunch of women who are VERY nice, but speak almost no English sounded very, very, very long.

Anyway, blah blah blah... I went because I didn't want to let them down and they were being so sweet doing this for us. Susan showed up for about 45 mins because she had a prior singing engagement, and then it was just me. Oh boy, those were the longest 4 hours...Then the others showed up and we ate, etc. and didn't get home till 8pm. That's SEVEN hours. Long, long time. And having several opinionated women all trying to direct you in Bulgarian at the same time in spreading cheese filling or chopping cucumbers (tasks I am fairly competent at, or so I thought) can really make ya antsy...

BUT, I did learn how to make moussaka, and my bahnitsa turned out quite superbly. And I zipped over to the grocery store with a couple of the women to buy a few more ingredients and the grocery boy flirted with me, which is rather strange and especially unexpected when you're pregnant. AND I successfully peeled many, many potatoes with a huge, serrated bread knife. Something I've never tried before because of the ritzy potato peeler we have. With NO blood, woohoo! Though, speaking of blood, Nuala, in her usual enthusiastic and klutzy way, ended up busting her lip on the table and screaming bloody murder. And THEN one of the old Bulgarian women, the one who kept talking to me a TON in Bulgarian and waiting for a response the whole 4 hours we were working on the meal (like the 3rd or 4th or 11th time I would have magically learned Bulgarian ;) got stuck in the bathroom and we all were trying to bust her out and finally a short, fat little grandma grabbed the handle and with inhuman strength wrenched the door open. It was great. See what I woulda missed out on if I had ditched? And even though our conversations were limited, it was nice feeling the shared spirit with the sweet and bossy Bulgarian women who share our faith.

So, I'm glad I went. Even though I smelled like moussaka clear down to my undies and had to change and shower immediately because my stomach decided it couldn't take it anymore. But still, glad.

went to London and saw my Baby...

...and SHE is dang cute. Yep, it's a girl! Coulda slapped me with a dead fish and I wouldn't have been more surprised. We were totally feelin' the boy vibe. Erin (my sister) and I were both there for 2 days cause she's at the embassy in Poland and is about a week behind me pregnant. It was a ton of fun; we had a great time hanging out and seeing what we could cram in that short amount of time. But the highlight was definitely finding out that we each have a little girl in there! I didn't get any, um..."girl" pictures, because I had the doc just write in an envelope what we were having so I could open it on the phone with Z, but if you're wondering what she looks like, you can go to N&B's pics, and her bottom half looks like Nuala, but her little profile looks more like Bran's. Boy, those two had some clear pics. Maybe I'll get the scanner hooked up soon, but for now...

Whew. Poor Bran, who's still insisting it's a boy baby. He'll come around. Lucky Nuala. Sisters are awesome! We're so excited!

(And I still reserve the rights to my boy name, Aislinn!!)