Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I should actually call the post "Happy New Year and Merry Christmas" because I haven't figured out blogger's new set up yet and have accidentally posted these pictures in the opposite of chronological order.  Oops.  So we will be descending in time throughout this post, from January 5 to mid December.  We enjoyed a wonderful first Christmas here in Kyiv and then headed off on our first cross country trek to the Carpathian Mountains in the west of Ukriane.  It was an adventure and we are excited to document our memories here.  So without further ado........

We arrived home a few days earlier than we had planned to which was perfect because it allowed us to do some of the winter activities in Kyiv before everything locks down in a couple of days.  We went to a winter wonderland in the city center  and Susannah overcame her fear of characters with this racoon.  

Sarah went first.  

Susannah and I ice skated with this beautiful tree in the background for an hour.  It was cold but super fun.

The girls did snow tubing too and had a blast.

Catching a little air!

Our last full day in the Carpathian Mountains was so clear and sunny.  We hiked to a cave that the Ukrainian resistance fighters used as a base.  It was such a fun day.

The girls found walking sticks right away and loved clambering up the rocky trails.

This was my favorite day of the entire vacation.  

These two have grown up so much.......they were such awesome travel companions.

The trailhead at the start of the hike.  

New years day, the girls and Peter skied.  The girls loved their ski instructors and Peter wisely had them scheduled for early morning before everybody else was awake.  Skiing without crowds and covid risk was a That evening we watched the Georgia game by the fire and braided each other's hair.  

New Year's Eve was fun because the hosts of our Air B&B prepared a traditional Carpathian dinner for us.  Most of it was so delicious.  This dish, however, was jellied pork fat with carrots and it wasn't our favorite.  ;)

Our dining room was so cozy with the fire and the Christmas tree. 

We were a little disappointed with the lack of snow at our cabin.......it was in the 40s the entire trip, which was nice for exploring but we missed the magic of the snowy mountains. No sledding so we had to come up with other activities like putting pennies on the railroad tracks next to our house.  

These two got along great on the trip which was such a gift.

They even shared treats without fighting.  #miracles

Ukrainian Christmas isn't until January 7, so it was fun to extend our holiday cheer even after we had celebrated at home.  This is the tree in the yarememche, the village near our cabin.

Our cabin came with a friendly cat, which the girls fell in love with and named Dusty.  

The road that led to our cabin was rocky, steep, narrow and unpaved.  Our hosts said it is actually better driving in the snow than the mud which I guess makes sense. 

We played games and did a puzzle by the fire. 

The view from our kitchen was so nice. 

The Carpathians are a 9 hour drive from kyiv, so we decided to stop in the picturesque city of Lviv on the way.  

We stayed for two nights and had the best time.  This is the Lviv chocolate factory.  The girls had hot chocolate here that insane.  It was literally hot melted chocolate in a mug.  It was like drinking a fancy hershey bar.  

We fell in love with the European architecture and the cobblestone streets of this beautiful city. 

I snapped this picture because I thought the Ukrainian flag looked so beautiful in the distance against that bright blue sky.

Peter's number one wish for our time in Lviv was visiting a restaurant that pretends to be a bunker of the Ukrainian Resistance army.  It was so fun.  

We had such a fun (and delicious) lunch there.

Sarah Avery got to hold a real gun.  

And Peter was arrested for being an American spy and thrown in the jail.  ;)

The door to the restaurant is unmarked and you need a password to get in. Adults also have to take a shot of vodka to gain entrance.  It was hilarious.  

Susannah's sausage was pretty impressive.  

As was Sarah's chicken. 

Before lunch, we spent the morning exploring the beautiful streets and ice skating.  

The rink was in a beautiful square and we had the best time. 

I'm quite the ice skater, if I do say so myself.  I've decided it was all those weekly daycare field-trips to the roller rink in Tennessee.  

I never get tired of adventures with this guy.  

We popped into the cathedral to light a couple of candles and say a prayer for our lost family members.  We prayed for Aunt Charlotte, Shoo Shoo and Meadow.  

Our first night we checked out the christmas markets.  SA is frowning because she wants the first bite of their sprinkle-covered hot pretzel thing.  So the sharing well wasn't 100% consistent across the board.  

Love these faces. 

The whole city was decorated so beautifully.

Other than the hiking day, this restaurant was my trip highlight.  Mexican food is non-existant in kyiv, but friends told us about this brand new place in Lviv so it was naturally the very first stop of our vacation.  The margaritas and shrimp tacos were so good and I couldn't believe how much it cured my homesickness.  

It wasn't perfect, as the cheese dip was made with camembert, but we made the best of it and felt soooo lucky to have found it. 

These angel twinkle lights were my favorite. 

The view from our apartment was beautiful. 

Before our trip, we had the best Christmas week at home in Kyiv.  Christmas morning was cozy and full of excitement and joy. 

Sarah Avery loved her new chapter books.

Susannah made a card and friendship necklaces for Sally and Honey to wear on their collars.

Sarah was so excited to welcome the newest member of our family, her American Girl Doll who she named Kathryn.

Susannah made everybody coupons that we can cash in throughout the year.  So sweet.

Just like every year, we tortured the girls with a photo on the stairs before they could go down to see what Santa left. 

The calm before the storm. 

We were all sad to say goodbye to Sam, but he left a sweet note on the mantle.

We left treats for Santa and the reindeer of course. 

Christmas Eve was fun and relaxing. We were all excited.

To excited to smile nicely for the camera.  

Lots of couch snuggling. 

We had a yummy feast just the four of us which was really sweet. 

Our nieghbor gave the girls these paintable cookies that they loved doing. 

Sam made green milk with sprinkles one night. 

Letters to Santa

One of Santa's Ukrainian helpers came to our neighborhood.

He was so beautiful walking down our snowy street. 

The days leading up to Christmas were extra special because of the beautiful snow.  

The neighborhood kids had a blast playing together. 

The girls had their annual sugar cookie decorating afternoon.  

This year they wanted to make the batter all by themselves. 

The Sunday night before Christmas, we got dressed up and headed downtown for our new Urkaininan tradition, Indian food and The Nutcracker.  We ate super early to we could have the restaurant to ourselves and not be too covid risky. 

The Kyiv Opera house is so beautiful.  

I didn't know if Sarah Avery would be bored, but all four of us were mesmerized the entire time.  

Socially distanced.  ;)

The roof was the most amazing part.   This picture doesn't even come close to capturing the chandelier.

It was a great night. 

In between dinner and the ballet, we walked the streets to soak in some of the Christmas lights. 

My beauty and me at dinner. 

These two.

The park near our house is always a fun way get a long walk in and enjoy the fresh air. 

It has a huge decorated tree too.

Sally has grown so much and started obedience training.  She is learning fast, but such a handful.

So very cute thought.

We had a Jesse tree for the first time this year and also lit the advent candles together every night.  It was my favorite part of the season.  Taking a minute to reflect together every night. 

We made our traditional cinnamon rolls for neighbors.  Always a labor of love but so worth it. 

The girls had lots of celebrations at school.  These are the decorations in the school lobby.

Cinnamon roll day!

These two were up to the task.

Sam worked our Christmas puzzle one night. 

And I got an early Christmas present of straight hair.  ;)

We loved having our decorations in our new house.  

We had a little christmas get together with some neighbors.  (Almost all of them have covid antibodies so we decided it was safe enough.)

And last but not least, my new book club met for the first time in mid december.  It was 25 degrees, but spiked hot chocolate and our love for books kept us warm.  ;)

And that was our holiday season, 2020.  We missed all of you so much.  We hope all of you had happy restful holidays.  All our love from Kyiv!