Grandpa W's birthday

Nikki and I were fortunate enough to travel to the Metropolis of Mendota IL, to see Grandpa W's 91st Birthday on the 28th. It was an alwful short trip but it was great to see everyone in Mendota. And of course we are serious about seeing all who want to venture to Russia in St Petersberg so keep us on your calendar!!!

Christmas Continued

Continuing the Christmas in Wisconsin Theme. The entire Kaser clan was together for a few days when Jessie arrived from San Diego with Boyfriend Tim. Aelia very much appreciated the two christmas events, it was much more in tune with her nap schedule, as well as Harleys nap schedule.

Holidays in Wisconsin

Nikki and I are in Wisconsin for the holiday, where it is plain cold. Call this the appetizer for our impending move to Russia, now a mere 23 days away! Here is a picture of the winter wonderland of Waukesha where Grandma Rose and Poppy Kaser reside, as Josh's parents are affectionately titled by our beautiful and ever growing Niece Aelia also pictured below with Harley the now 5 year old puppy.




Nikki enjoyed helping Aelia reunite with her old friend, Do-Do! And of course playing their favorite number matching game, Aelia can count and match all the way through her tens.

Poppy Kaser and Harley help decorate the tree.

Harley put on his festive outfit for the tree decorating.

Aunt Nikki and Aelia catching up over all that has happened since their last meeting in July.

Needless to say it was a busy day of decorating the tree for Christmas and all were plum tired at the end of the day!

Melting Pot Fun

Josh and I are getting ready for our move to Russia- At the top of our list is trying to make sure we make it to all of our favorite restaurants. Yes we are aware that they have food in Russia however there is something very comforting in confidently ordering food and being able to ask for exactly what you want. Unfortunately, at this point my Russian skills end at ordering coffee and things that I can point at. It may be a long three years.

One of our favorite restaurants is the Melting Pot - it is rare that you are encouraged to play with your food and just order cheese and chocolate as your meal. Josh and I love to eat here as often as our waist lines will allow and on this occasion we took my parents! It was their first time eating at this fantastic restaurant. I think they enjoyed it as much as we do!

Wii

Thanksgiving involved a new family game the Wii! We were so impressed at how much fun the entire family had. If you are not familiar with the Wii ,it is a wireless gaming system that works through human movement. Simply it is a fun way to get off the couch while playing video games. The best part about the system is that it is simple to play and the games are silly. There is everything from bowling, golf, and tennis to cow racing! These pictures are of my parents and Josh toning their Wii cow racing and golf skills.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. We tried a different way of cooking our bird this year- we deep fried the turkey! As you may know attempting to fry turkeys has led to many Thanksgiving day disasters around the country- It was as good thing we had so many male opinions to safely guide the cooking process. Regardless of the hazards, the turkey tasted fantastic.

Russia Trip

St. Petersburg was an interesting city it is full of large grand old buildings. This is the general staff building it sits across the main square from the hermitage.

We were fortunate enough to stay with another Olmsted couple. They were an invaluable tool for us on our trip. I love listening to their stories of their trials and tribulations in Russia, it gives me hope that we will survive in Russia too! Embarrassingly I do not have any pictures of our new friends but, they have an adorable cat named Millhouse who posed for this picture.

St. Petersburg is a maze of waterways- this is the hermitage across the river.

The famous Church of Spilled Blood.

Our House

We had a successful house hunting trip to the mother land, and we finally decided on an apartment. We decided to go with the smaller, quieter, cleaner apartment that is located in the heart of the city. It has a beautiful courtyard that can be seen from every window.

Our kitchen.

The green building is the one that we will be living in.

Our living room.

Hawaii Trip!

The perfect end to our trip- we discovered a Japanese garden at the airport and took some time to enjoy the sun and flowers while waiting for our flight back home. Only in Hawaii is there a beautiful garden at the center of the airport!

Last but not least what would a Josh and Nikki vacation be without one of us getting sick? I am proud to say for once I was not the sick one. Poor Joshie came down with an ear infection and pink eye in both eyes, so we took a trip to the hospital where he was born to have him mended before our flight home.

What would a trip to Hawaii be without Pearls? Josh spoiled me and bought me a gorgeous set of black pearls. We also took a trip to the Dole pineapple plantation where a very nice lady helped me pick the perfect oyster that contained a beautiful pink pearl.

(Josh's version) That smile on the saleswomans face is the knowledge that she roped us into purchasing a much more expensive ensemble with the simple come pick an oyster and see if you win a pearl trick.

Our Hale Koa Hotel had a wonderful luau show. They begin by having a pig roast ceremony- it looks gross but it was actually delicious! At another show we got the privilege of sitting next to 2 former POWs in town for an annual conference, the men became friends in a POW camp in North Korea from 52-53. It was an honor to hear their stories while watching the show.

We took a lunch cruise to go whale watching. On the way to the boat we found these neat crabs that crawl up the side of the pier.

Josh and I had so much fun playing golf on the par 3 course. We both did pretty well, unfortunately we didn't put sun tan lotion on our legs and both of us had slightly pink legs by the end of the day!

The new golf club house on the Navy-Marine Golf course at Pearl Harbor, the picture is at the request of Dad Kaser who has logged many mornings at this golf course without the new clubhouse, which they promptly built after he left Hawaii.

Our first day in Hawaii we went to see the Arizona Memorial and the Mighty MO. It was a beautiful day and we were super excited for our vacation.






View from our room!