Celebrate a Country Day! - Kazakhstan

 It's that time of year again! Our annual family holiday "Celebrate a Country Day" happens every January. I barely pulled it off in time this year but we did it! And this year we celebrated the country of Kazakhstan! It was extra special because once again I had a friend who is from there and she was able to help cook food, bring cool traditional clothing, and teach us more in depth about life there. 

Kazakhstan was primarily a nomadic society for most of its history so most of their dishes are meat based and also fermented things like camels milk and such. Turns out we didn't have a camel to milk but we did have several meats and yummy fried breads and pilaf! We got to see the cool clothing and listen to the music and see some traditional dances and my friend even had her own poster! So this was my first year not making my own. ;) Everyone had lots of questions and we learned so much! The kids were around too and in and out of the party. 

Wild West

 We not only went to another murder mystery party but this time we threw it! We got Buck's mom a party as her Christmas gift, since she used to love going to these kinds of parties, and so we set it all up. And actually, it was mostly Buck and that was fun for me to watch since I'm normally the one throwing parties. 

It was a Wild West theme called "Murder at the Deadwood Saloon" and so we all got dressed up for our parts, which is usually my favorite part of these parties. ;) And I didn't take many photos but it was the best night with Buck's family. We had chicken fried steaks, potatoes, corn, corn bread, chili and a berry cobbler. Jade's husband, Curtis, was the one who got murdered and Buck's dad ended up being the killer and only Jan guessed it right! Fun times. ;)

RIP Tree

Just wanted to mark the falling of another beloved tree. There used to be two in the two empty lots. Then in 2020 the first one was killed and now a couple years later, this beautiful old soul is now gone as well. And soon I wont be able to see the sunrise anymore and I can't een begin to tell you how sad that makes my heart. But I'm trying to focus on the gratitude that at least I got to see it for as long as I did. But soon a new house will be in this spot and they will have this view all to themselves. 😔 I didn't cry so much this time around though since I knew it was coming, unlike the last time. But I still had to avoid watching the murdering of the tree. It's too much! Such a sad time come and gone. Here are some photos I found of the tree and this view, both of which will be so missed.