April 30, 2009

Easter, Texas style

In Fort Worth, Easter weekend. First the gifts from Odessa.
Suzanne checks the goodies from Tanya
Mom tries on her new apron while Bill and the girls look on.

Pretty as a picture.
Time for Easter activities.

Sarah dyes eggs.

Everybody joins in the messy fun.

All decorated up for Easter.



Tanya tries her hand.

April 05, 2009

Tanya's in Texas!


It's been a long while since I posted. But now there's very good reason to resume. Tanya's here at long last.

Tanya is Vlad's sister from Odessa. She's never been to the U.S., or outside the former Soviet Union.

The first week has been pretty steady. She's cleaned my house, she's cooked and we've had a lot of laughs. We have Russian TV piped into her room, and she loves that.

She's seen a bit of the world of Houston. She's not that impressed with Wal-Mart, it reminds her of all the stuff they have over there. It all comes from the same place, right? She likes the grocery store. And she liked Kemah and my tartar sauce, smoked quail, cheese grits, barbecued brisket, peanut butter and these orange peppers from Whole Foods.

Thank you very much, she doesn't care for: Margaritas, chicken-fried steak or cherry peppers.

We did very Texas things on Saturday. Took her to Dozier's BBQ in Fulshear, Texas, about 20 miles west of Houston. Then we drove up Highway 36 and to parts west of there to look for bluebonnets. We stopped at Carol's at Cat Spring for some dinner where we had some of the aforementioned treats. Here are some photos from the day.