Looking ahead to the Sochi Olympics!

I apologize for my looooong absence, but I have to admit that since the 2012 Olympic girls got kicked off the group team (Nazar, Blizia, and Ksyu), I have lost some interest in RG... :(

...And with the Winter Olympics in Sochi coming up, I have been totally distracted by my first great sports love--figure skating!!

So, in honor of the upcoming games, here are pics of Ksyu, Dasha D, and Karolina doing the torch relay for the Olympics!  (I already posted pics of Makar participating in the relay.)  Unfortunately Zhenya couldn't run the relay in Omsk because of her pregnancy...

Ksyu during torch relay

Dasha D

Karolina

Karolina with torch

Ksyu and her mom

Ksyu in Sochi gear

I think I like the 2012 Olympics gear better...what do you think?

Makar participated in the Olympic torch relay!

On Thursday, Makar participated in the torch relay for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi!

About the experience, Makar wrote (via GoogleTranslate):

For my part in the Olympic torch relay, I have experienced a lot of positive emotions...I'm just happy that I could somehow merge into the history of the Sochi 2014 Olympics. Thank you all for a wonderful holiday! Residents of the town of Dmitrov were delighted and could plunge the eve of our common Olympic Games! For those who are worried as I ran, I inform: I did not stumble or fell, and the torch was not extinguished) All whole))))

With Mama Makar...

Now she's got Russian team wear for *two* Olympic games!

Makar was representing the Dmitrov region of Moscow, since she's one of the most successful members of the Dinamo Dmitrov sports club (along with Dasha Kondakova and Katya Malygina (Matya)).

Some officials, Makar, and another Dmitrov torch bearer

See Makar's pic on the hall of fame on the top right?  (Dasha Kondakova is on the top left, and Matya on the bottom left.)

This is all quite impressive, but a part of me is like, they let THIS BRAT represent Mother Russia???  LOL!

(I do really love those sneakers though!!  If you look carefully, she was wearing them under the Sochi gear!)

Happy Birthday Yulia G!

Another April birthday!  This time it's Yulia Golubenko!

Who's that, you ask?

Well, she used to compete as a rhythmic gymnast, several years back...

Yulia's in the top row, 2nd from the right. (On the far right is Vera Sessina, and Olga Kapranova to the left.) In the front row, on the left, it's Irina Tchachina and little Zhenya!!!  So cute!!

...but now she's coaching.

Yulia G & Yulia Sinitsina

She's besties with Dasha D...Or rather, she claims that Dasha D is her one and only BFF, while Dasha's got a handful of besties... :P

She's also really close to my beloved group girls.  In fact, Uli calls her "mama"!

Uli, Makar, Yulia G

Yulia G, Blizia, Uli, Ksyu, Katya D

And since Uli is Ksyu's "mama," Ksyu once called Yulia "Grandma!" but she was none too pleased with that!  So Ksyu calls her "Tigi" instead!

Yulia & Ksyu

And then there's Zhenya, potentially her future sister in law...? ^_^ (More on that in a future post!)

Yulia & Zhenya

I just found this photo today, and I nearly died of laughter! Awww, the way they were! PRICELESS!!!!!

Disciplining Dasha D and Zhenya?

To many more~!