Have a lovely Memorial Day!
Sofija
Family Life
Rain in Old Town Albuquerque
We got some much needed rain this weekend. I shot these pictures on Friday evening at the plaza. We tried to meet up with some friends, have a picnic, and enjoy life music. But everything got canceled due to rain. So I quickly snapped some pictures before we headed to a restaurant nearby. Our house feels really empty this weekend. Three of our kids went camping with the American Heritage troop. I love a quiet house…but after 3 hours it gets kind of creepy! I guess that is why we have a lot of kids, ha!
Got any plans for Memorial Day?
Have a great weekend you guys!
Sofija
Here are some pictures of sunny Old Town.
New Photo Shoot
Last weekend I went to Socorro, a small town in New Mexico. We lived there for 3 years while my husband was going to grad school. This catholic church is my favorite building in town, and we have done family shoots here before. This time I did not have a lot of time, as I was on my way to a wedding shower. Also the church was being cleaned on the outside, and only two of my girls were willing to let me take their picture. As we were taking pictures we were dodging the water hose…Keeping it real my friends! Still I love how they turned out.
Tasha is wearing a dress from Mimi and Maggie.
I took the pictures with my Canon and I used Picture Monkey to edit them.
-Sofija
Going to DC
Friends,
I am über exited we are going to DC next month. It will be just a small subset of us, and we are mostly going to attend my friend’s wedding. But we will stay a couple extra days to be tourists. I have been wanting to go to DC for a long time. I have been to all the major cities (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle), but LA, DC, and Boston have been on my bucket list for some time. I can’t wait to see all the monuments and the White House in person. My husband said the art museum was great, so we will be going there. And I’ll be doing lots of shopping, too. Zara being in the top of my list. And I will eat my way through town, DC Cupcakes within walking distance from our hotel!!!
Have you been? Any must see or eat suggestions??
I can’t wait. Last time I left town was almost a year ago when we went to Durango, Colorado. This year is going to be a little more exiting in the trip department: DC in June and our anniversary trip in the fall. I can’t wait to take you all with me via Instagram…:) At least that is how I travel when I am at home.
Have a great weekend,
Sofija
PS Even though I am a little more homebound these days, I have actually been to a LOT of cool places in my life. Largely because I grew up in Europe. And, because in my previous life, when I was young and crazy, I hitch hiked through the entire United States (don’t try this at home!). You can find most of the places I have been to on my Pinterest board.
Kids Party Ideas from Fire and Creme
My mind is on birthdays big time. Five of our children were born between February and May. It’s like a Birthday marathon around here…So it was great timing to find out about Fire and Creme, an LA based company. Their party boxes and props creatively take you beyond Frozen and My Little Ponies (which is the world I live in).
How about a Cowboy party?
Or a circus…
And a fairy themed party….
And lastly, my favorite: a Zorro party!
You can find more themes here.
Don’t have the props, no problem. You can rent props and furniture from their store. They have costumes, too. What a great idea!
They have a physical store in LA. Let me know if you ever go there.
Have a great day,
Sofija
Christian Hospitality
“We are not meant simply to invite people into our homes, but also to invite them into our lives. Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests-we are meant to invite our guests to enter into out lives as they are. ”
Lauren Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath
-Sofija
Albuquerque: Nob Hill
In my last post I mentioned that we have friends visiting this week. On Tuesday we had a mother daughter date in Nob Hill. Nob Hill is the fun, quirky part of town near the University of New Mexico. Lots of great restaurants, quirky shops, and vintage clothing boutiques. My friends always hit up the Buffalo Exchange in that area, a store that buys and sells clothes. They claim it is one of the better ones in the country, in terms of the amount and quality of clothes they have. Here is my daughter Esther checking out some shoes.
Another favorite is the Flying Star, a local coffee house chain. They have great coffee, and their food is locally grown and organic. I personally go there for the desserts. They are really good!
On our way home we stopped to take some pictures of these quirky homes. People really do live here.
And lastly, a picture I snapped just walking down Central street.
Right across the street from there is my favorite children’s clothing store, Zap…Oh. So next time you are in Albuquerque, make Nob Hill your destination.
Have a great day,
Sofija
Traditions
How was your Easter? Ours was the most low key we ever had (it was “just” us), still I am always amazed how exhausting it was. I think largely because When we were still a small family I started a whole bunch of traditions that have become burdensome with 6 kids. The baskets, the egg hunt, the big meal, going to church all dressed up on a day when it is the most crowded. My husband has seen it for years, but I am a little late coming to the realization that we need to make things simpler. Not sure how yet; maybe I’ll have the kids vote on what traditions we keep, and what we can do without. I remember years ago when my husband’s family decided not to give gifts to the adults anymore. Though I was sad at first it ended up doing away with a lot of stress. How about you, do you ever rethink and adjust your traditions? Or is everything pretty much fine tuned and as smooth as can be? Or somewhere in between?
Have a lovely week,
Sofija
Moments
Heart Pajamas: the Gap (hand me downs from big sister)
-Sofija
Finn’s First Trip to Europe
My little man turns 16 today, hard to believe! I went through some old pictures and thought I could share some more pictures from our epic Europe trip back in 2000. Way back when we only had one child. We schlepped the poor kid all over Europe; he was barely 2. We went to Germany (Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, Bavaria, and the Black Forest), Holland, and Croatia. Needles to say he is not always happy on the pictures.
Here he is with us near Nuernberg. We were staying with my friend Chrissy’s family and had just climbed up some little peak. Love the hat David is wearing.
In the next picture we are in Croatia enjoying some ice cream right by the Adriatic Sea. Good times. You can find more Croatia pictures here and here.
The next one is pretty self explanatory…Silly Americans!! We were in Holland for my friend from high-school’s wedding.
The next one is one of my favorites, Finn and his new friend. We were somewhere near Duesseldorf.
Next some pictures with my family. Here is my beautiful sister. These two were quite the pair. My sister took him shopping and Finn loved tagging along with her and her friends.
And my mom. He got the special treatment from Oma which involved lots of trips to the park, ice cream, and a brand new tricycle.
I get nostalgic every time I look at these.
These were the last pictures we took on a non digital Canon camera, but we had them digitalized right away.
Have a great day,
Sofija
If you like travel posts, here are two from a more recent trip two years ago: an old castle and our visit to the Playmobil Park.
Teach Where You Live 
