Ouch

     I can't believe that I turned 28. It seems that after I had Nastya that time has seemed to zip by without a thought or picture of it. I sit here and have flashbacks of all the things I have done with Nastya and Pasha and how she has grown from a limp little baby to a little girl with poise and confidence and a love for life.

     I never thought that I would reach the ripe age of 28 and 1. Still have only one baby, 2. Be where I am today. Time flies as they say and boy are they right. It doesn't slow down as you become older and its a little known fact that we have slowed our lives down for this little munchkin that has come into our lives.

     This birthday was unlike any other Pasha had a plan to surprise me with my friends and decorating the home. I was surprised.

So as of 6 March I have turned 28. Happy Birthday to me!

Nastya thought these balloons were for her.

Questions!

Well on the 10th it will be two years since I started to blog about our lives, so I thought it was befitting for my readers to ask me questions if they have any. So start, shoot away and I will reply!

Grandparents

     What are grandparents? To me they are a group of people or a person who care and love you the way your parents don't. They give you advice when you need it. Most of all it is a privilege to be grandparents not a right. The debate that My husband and I have is this debacle with my birth parents. I was born to them and lived with them until the age of 18 when I was kicked out of the home for bringing alcohol into the home, among other things that are not important. I wasn't a perfect child but I always wanted to be loved by the people who gave me life. Unfortunately it hasn't been that way since I started to have my own thoughts and feelings. I felt stifled in my thoughts and feelings, I felt I had to be one way because my way was wrong. Now that I am on my own and have my husband. The love of my life has no clue what I went through. Just because I forgive someone doesn't mean I want them in my life. I don't need my daughter to go through the same heart ache that I went through. She will know my birth parents as Brian and CarolDawn and nothing else, they aren't grandparents to Nastya. They don't visit her or me or care about anyone but themselves. I'm not willing to make an effort in their life if they wont in mine. Nastya has 3 other grandparents that care for her beyond life and she doesn't have room to have unpleasant ones.

     Grandparents are there to love and do things that us as parents can't do. It is a privilege not a right.

Nervous

     I have started to get a little anxiety. I have a trip coming up with Nastya and she has never travelled so far from home and been on a plane for so long. I'm nervous because my brother suggested to take all the luggage as a carry on...I was not happy about that. I already will have enough to worry about without the luggage let alone with it. I'm not worried about the trip its self just the plane since it will be very long. If you have any tips I will take them, just don't tell me fill the iPad or Tablet up because I don't have one and don't see the need.

Paris, Pyrenees, Spain

     We have plans to go to Paris. I know we will do lots of things but I don't have many plans except to go to the Jewish Memorial in Paris.The Memorial de la Shoah in Paris is supposed to be a moving piece. It is gory but also shows how cruel a person was to everyone who didn't look like him. I have Jewish ancestors all of them in fact on my fathers side is Jewish. I want to go there for my own reasons, I want to see with my own eyes what they did to Jews, to possibly my ancestors who didn't get out in time. I know I will cry but it is okay.

     Another Museum I want to see for sure is Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation (The Memorial of The Deported Martyrs) it has 200,000 crystals that they light up at night to show how many Jews were murdered. Its quite sad but it is part of me its my heritage.


The Pyrenees, is a mountain range that sits in France and Spain, the plan is to go there for about a week or so and just have a vacation from a vacation.

Spain is a beautiful place and because Bordeaux is so close we plain to maybe get on the trail of the pilgrimage El Camino de Santiago, the journey starts when you start not in Spain specifically. It now has paved roads to make it easier which was not what I wanted but hoping one day I can do the whole pilgrimage with my brother and come out a new person.

Cuteness Alert

So on the 28 January we welcomed a new family member to our already large family. No I'm not pregnant but my sister in law did have a baby. Ava Dianne Mazhula was born 28 January 2013 at 11:20 am 7.2 #'s and 20 1/2 inches long. Both Mum, Dad and baby girl are now home and doing well.

 First picture!

 Pictures were done about 2 weeks before due. Ava looks just like her Papa

 Yana, Tanya and baby Ava.

Yana, Yana's nurse, Tanya and Mum.

France Bordeaux first

     In a months time Nastya and I will make the great long journey to France. We will be without Pasha for a whole month and a half. I wonder how Nastya will be but also me and Pasha have never been gone this long without Pasha a world away. There are so many places I would love to visit, but because of money here are some of the places I would love to see or do.

Bordeaux- Is the world's wine industry capitol. It's home to the biggest wine fair Vinexpo, while the wine economy in the metro area moves 14.5 billion Euros each year. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century.

Wine tasting-Bordeaux has 287,000 acres of vineyards. So imagine that they make approximately 996,000 bottles of wine a year

Place De Quinconces- it is one of the largest city squares in Europe. This place is huge and it was damaged in WWII but they fixed what had happened and it is fully restored.

Grand Théâtre De Bordeaux-It is an old theatre erected in 1780 and one of the first places to have Marius Petipa as a ballet performer.

They have a lot of famous Churches and Chateau's, museums and parks that I would love to see as well.

The centre of town. At night they light everything up and they say its the best time to see the city.

The Palais Royale

The three Cathedrals:St. Andre, St. Michel and Saint Seurin de Cadourne

Esplande des Quinconces