Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July! Even though we're not in America, we celebrated Independence Day with our teammates, the Kerins. They invited us over for BBQ'd hamburgers (a rarity here!!) They live on the first floor, so it makes for a nice "patio" out back!



Anneka felt very cool in her new sunglasses. She doesn't like to take them off, even inside.



The cute couple.



Anneka loved playing with the girls outside.



Rebecca made a pretty flag cake. We sang some patriotic songs, said the pledge of allegiance and thanked God for the freedom He's given us. We are truly blessed!



The past few days have been very busy! These two couples have been visiting us from Ukraine. One couple will come to live here for a year starting in January and the other may come to live here, too. It's been really neat to get to know them, show them around Ulan Ude, and share our lives.

Snapshots

My dad took these pictures while he was here. I really like the vibrance of color in this picture. The first day he tried to take a picture in the market, the guard came over and wouldn't let him. But the next time, my Dad asked a guard for permission first and it was okay. =)




These girls are so cute with their little bandannas.



One day Dad, Anneka, and I went to an outdoor market in search of a knife for my Dad's friend, George. There were all of these garages, side-by-side, with stuff packed inside each one... little "stores" to buy stuff.


Each year they paint the curbs. And the bottoms of trees. And other random blocks of cement. It's more like whitewash because it fades quickly in rain. And it's rained a lot lately! Ulan Ude usually has over 300 days of sun a year, and I think we've used up our 65 days in the last 70! (exaggerating a little). It's really green right now, though, which is great.

A Funny Girl and a Sturdy Calculator

It's rare to get a picture of Anneka with a grumpy look, so I had to post this one...even though it's a little blurry. It's really just a pretend grumpy look, but it's still funny.

Anneka was taking a bath the other day and I turned my head for 2 seconds to get situated on my stool, and somehow she ended up with the calculator in her hands and under the bubbles. How do these things happen? And then the next day I was taking the wet clothes out of the washing machine after the cycle and the calculator had gone through a second kind of bath. She'd helped me put the clothes in there, but somehow she snuck that one past me. The calculator is still up and running, though!

A Talk For The Youth

Yesterday Leif gave a talk to the youth in our neigborhood about the youth in America. They asked a lot of questions and seemed interested. They also asked Leif why he was here and he was able to share with them a little about God leading us here.

Anneka and I popped in for a few minutes. This was the best picture I could get without disrupting things. Oh, and by the way, it is a masculine thing here to cross your legs like Leif is! haha.



The other night we had the Jordan boys over so their parents could pack and prepare to head back to the States. We had fun. We went on a hike up the hill, played in the woods, played on the playground, played games, and watched a movie. Anneka is always happy to have boys around. She loves boys.

We set up the tent in the living room for them to sleep in (Leif wanted to make sure it was in good shape before we head to camp).

How badly do you need to go?

If you need to use the restroom and you're driving along a busy road... and you come across this outhouse, do you use it?

Moving Day

On Monday, a whole bunch of us helped the Jordans move into a new apartment before they head to the States for a home service. It was encouraging to see how many people love them and were so willing to help. Unfortunately, I missed out on some great photo ops of the moving process... because I was with the kids!


Rebecca had volunteered to watch the Jordan boys, so I hung out with her and the kiddos. Katie had me fix her hair like mine so that we could be twins.



Here are most of the kids. I love the playground in front of the Jordan's new place. And I love their apartment! It is SO nice. I love every part about it. I'm so happy for them.



The Kerins have something that I deem a "nightmare" going on in their apartment right now! They are getting all new windows put in, plus they're re-doing their kitchen. They were just planning on putting tiles in there but then they discovered that the wall wasn't secure and had to tear down the entire wall. Now their "kitchen" is in the living room (pictured). It's crazy. Rebecca is amazing. And she fed all of us lunch, too!

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated a nice Father's Day today. Anneka and I let Leif sleep in while we made him breakfast. Then we went and cuddled with him, while Anneka gave him a present- the book "Daddy and Me". They had a great time reading it together.


Leif shared from Malachi at church today, as our pastor was out of town. He and Anneka dressed in their Buryat attire. He did a really good job, and it seemed like people were following along (some were rapidly taking notes).



After Anneka's nap, they had a great time playing together- building a fort in the living room. Later we all went outside to the playground (the weather turned nice again this evening!)

Leif is such a good Dad to Anneka. On days when he knows he'll be gone until after she goes to bed, he gets up early with her just so that he'll have time to play with her. He participates fully in every way- from changing her diapers to feeding her meals to playing with her. I love to watch them enjoy each other. Anneka always like to keep tabs on her papa... it's important to know where he is at all times.

The Wickers gave us these pictures from last week when we went to Baikal, and I love them:


Leif is a comforting presence if Anneka is sad or scared.



He's always introducing her to new adventures and encouraging her to grow in all kinds of ways.



And he's always nice to just sit and be with.

Leif and I are so blessed to have wonderful fathers who invested in us and did fun things with us growing up. They gave us both discipline and love and are great friends now. We also have wonderful grandfathers who have passed on a legacy of loving God. We love each of you so much!