Borsch and Blini

Last week we had the privelege of having some friends in our home for a meal. We had never met them in person, but felt as if they were long lost friends from the moment they walked in the door. They live in the far off state of Washington, and since we have never been there, and they hadn't been back here for quite a number of years...the opportunity to meet in person had simply never arose.

Gary and Denise have a little in common with our family. While they have three biological children, they also have two adopted.

One from Russia

and one from India.

It was a fun evening of discussing Russia experiences.

Along with Gary's we also had his brother and family and my parents. Grand total was 17 people...and if you know the size of our house you would know that that is nearly the max that our abode can host.

The evening wasn't without it's few mishaps.

Supper was borsch and cheddar chowder (for those who don't care for borsch), Pirozshki, sour dough bread, and, for dessert, blini with a twist. The blini was topped with a cream cheese filling, rolled up, and smothered with strawberries and cool whip. We had it that way at a restaurant in Moscow and loved it.

Anyway. Soup is not the best meal to serve company, I decided. The borsch was great, if you are a fan of borsch, which I am not. The cheddar chowder had curdly cheese for some unknown reason, but was still edible....though one whole bowl of it ended up upside down in the center of the table. Something about nerves and not paying attention to what I was doing, I suppose.

The Pirozshki was delicious if I must say so myself.

The bread was awesome...straight from the bakery at Wal-Mart.

The blini was nearly what we remembered from our breakfast in Moscow.

So the soup spilled all over the table.

Then when supper was over....the toilet ran over and I had to mop the floor. With company sitting around my table in the next room and children watching my every move. The poor little fella who had the unfortunate experience of flushing at the wrong time had tracked some....stuff....into the living room, so the mopping had to happen right beside the table.

Not one of my finer moments, I'm sure. But it was funny...and I am confident our newest in-person friends will never forget the evening!

The children thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Addie had the chance to boss everyone around...not that they would listen.

Will caroused around making sure his company had all the toys they needed.

And Jack was once again spoiled rotten by the big kids....who always tend to tote him around whereever he wants to go.

They wound down by perching on the couch and listening to the biggest of them all read books.

It was a wonderful evening of getting to know a fellow adoptive family.