equal opportunity baby

okay, so i just realized that i've been putting all our newest photos of abby on my facebook (since there's this handy plug-in that exports pics directly from iphoto to facebook).  and i thought that abby needed a little representation on xanga, too.  so here she is in VIDEO (which is worth a whole lot of pictures).  she's totally hooked on the movie "cars" so this little clip is of her doing her lightning mcqueen impression.  enjoy!

the works of His hands

the Word talks about how God's glory is visible in creation around us.  after my trip to the states in january and getting the awesome blessing of seeing some of God's natural wonders, i'm so reminded of that.  i was able to go to carlsbad caverns in new mexico (thanks, loque!) and death valley in california (thanks, fenya!)  i just wanted to share some photos of those places and a couple of one of the most wonderful creations of all, little abby.

the first set of pics is from carlsbad caverns.  unfortunately, you can't tell from the pictures how massive it was.  there were rooms that were multiple football fields in length and width (and at one point something like  300 ft. floor to ceiling).

an empty cave pool



looking back at the entrace we came down into the first chamber



gypsum crystals catching the light



sunset at newport beach, california



mosaic canyon, death valley, ca







a lizard in death valley



a joshua tree (yeah, like the U2 album)



zabrieskie point, death valley



badwater basin, death valley - lowest dry elevation in the western hemisphere



desert plant in bloom



moon rise over death valley



salt crystal formations at the devil's golf course, death valley



amargosa chaos, death valley



daniel and janette carter and me in a tux!
(i was a groomsman at their wedding jan. 19th)



beautiful winter mo-mo



she is so much fun now!

well, that's that.  hope you enjoyed the pics!

mo-mo's first blog entry

adoinweoiwepowe... just kidding.  were not actually gonna let her type.  we just thought we'd write down some of the things she's saying at 15 months old.  granted, this will probably only be interesting to our relatives and other young parents.  so here goes...

da/yeah - she says both pretty efficiently
no - just started saying it.... wish she didn't know that one quite yet.

eyes - sounds like ice
ears - sounds like eews ... and ushi (russian for ears) - sounds like ui
hair - sounds like care (only the r is more like a w)
nose - sounds like no (with a long o at the end)
toe - sounds like it is
pupik (russian for bellybutton) - sounds like poopa
sisya (russian for "boobie" or the equivalent thereof) - she's good as saying that one... especially when she wants to drink.

close - sounds like kwoze
open - sounds like opay
up (when she wants to be picked up) - sounds like hhhap (really aspirated)
down (when she wants down) - as is, sometimes without the n
help (when she needs it) - sounds like hewp
cuckoo (the russian version of "peekaboo") - sounds like cakoo
more (when she wants more of something) - says it like she's british (just say it like you're british and you'll understand)
vot eto (russian for "that thing"... when you are asking what someone wants) - teh to
hello (specifially when answering the phone) - awo
bye-bye - pretty much as it is.  in russian (poka-poka) it comes out like "ptaka-ptaka"

cheese - sounds like chees (with an s sound at end instead of a z)
chai (russian for tea) - sounds like kai
kashka (russian for cereal) - sounds like katka
banana - usually comes out as nana
waffle - comes out like dapple
chicken - sounds like chicka
vitamin c - usually sounds like minamina or just C
cookie - sounds like cooky (with a long oo like in moon)
juice - sounds like chooce

light (the kind you turn on) - sounds like aight
car - sounds like she's british
phone - sounds like pho
mama - got that one
papa/daddy - daddy (sounded like daduh) was her first word!  papa came a bit later
poo-poo - she's got that one down... and touches her heinie and says it when she's done it
kolyaska (russian for stroller) - sounds like kaka
ball - sounds like baw
shoes - shoo
bible - sounds like bye-bow
multik (russian for cartoon) - sounds like mooti
lopatka (russian for paddle) - sounds like  WAAHHHH!!!  just kidding.   sounds like "wapat"

she can also do some animal sounds:
barks like a dog "woof woof!"
trumpets like an elephant - don't know how to write how that sounds... just turn on the discovery channel
meows like a cat "neow!" (that's not a typo... she says neow)
used to roar like a lion (only small and cute). 

way to go, abby!  you can say over 40 words!  here's a picture of the sweet little monkey for the new year.  happy holidays to all!  (i seriously hope to put out an update on us before i leave for california next saturday).