October 21st - My Birthday

I had a great birthday - in Russia, with Jon, the kids & my parents. We got up, drove to the first Metro stop and rode the Metro down to the Kremlin/Red Square area. It was drizzily and a little cold, but not too bad.



We wanted to go inside the Kremlin to see The Armory, which is where a lot of old antiques are from Russian history. We first waited in the wrong line, but eventually found our way there. There were a ton of old weapons, china, gowns & huge carriages that important people would ride in.

We also saw "Alexander's Garden" which is on the outside of the Kremlin wall. This is the place where my great, great grandfather, Francis Lyman (a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles), came and dedicated the land of Russia for the preaching of the gospel. (This was 3 days after doing it in St. Petersburg).

My dad walking past 2 officers on horseback. The police either looked way to angry to ever help anyone or way to young to know how to help. Good thing we never needed them for anything!

Jack near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Alexander's Garden

(Notice Hannah asleep in the stroller - I don't think she even realized we visited the Kremlin).

The Bowen Family at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Hannah still asleep).

We then went to McDonald's to eat lunch. It was super crowded, but it tasted good! (I'll post pictures of that in another post).

That night, for my birthday, we went to the Rosinka Family Restaurant. This is in the community where my parents live. The food was okay, but the best part was the bowl of borscht that Jon ordered. He wanted to have something authentic to Russia and my parents told him this was a good, safe place to order a bowl. Now, I believe borscht is beet soup, so we were all a little hesitant. My brother-in-law John told the kids he would buy them Cold Stone icecream if they had 3 bites of something authentic. We all ended up trying it and it really wasn't too bad. In fact, Kate & Lindsey surprised us by fighting over the bowl of it. Who would have ever guessed??!!

Jon with the bowl of borscht telling Emily that it was pretty good.

I look retarded in this picture, but it's proof I had some.

Then we went back to the mission home and had Jell-O cake that my mom had made. Now normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but in Russia, you can't find cake mixes or Jell-O, so my mom had to pull some strings to get some. It was so yummy and I'll always remember the great birthday I had in Russia!!

(perhaps wishing that I wouldn't have to spend 2 hours awake with a child in the middle of the night :) ).