Many Blessings

We enjoyed a nice thanksgiving yesterday with our teammates as we remembered all of the blessings God has given us and celebrated together. There were 10 adults and 9 kids all crammed into the Kerin's apartment (there would've been more, but one family is still in Mongolia.) The kids were really good and loved playing together. Leif and I made apple pies (see picture above) and Leif also made stuffing. We thought we'd only have chicken this year, but Nadia, a Russian neighbor and friend of the Kerins found and brought a turkey. Mmmmm!



Before we ate the feast, the kids performed a skit about the history and meaning behind Thanksgiving. It was really cute. Then Elisabeth and Leif led us in a set of worship songs and we praised God together. Rebecca had asked us all to come prepared with a list of the many things we are thankful for from the past year. We read our lists and were amazed at how much has happened in 12 months and rejoiced at God's goodness.



While it is always hard to be away from our family back home, we are thankful that God has given us a second family in Ulan Ude.



I couldn't resist posting a picture of our bundle baby.



And about the head-shaving, we're still undecided. Leif leans toward "no" and I'm more of a "yes". I thought that Anneka was close to bald anyways, but there definitely is a difference between her head and Kristina's, which was shaven a week before this pic was taken. We'll make our decision in a few days!

To Shave Or Not To Shave: A Poll Of Our Audience

People in many countries around the world shave their babies' heads so that it'll grow back thick and lustrous. Many Russians shave their baby's heads at the year mark. Anneka's little friend, Kristina, just had her head shaved last week. And now it's gotten us thinking. Does it really work? All logic tells us "no". I mean, at first, it will grow back thicker because the hairs have been cut off and they'll come out thicker blunt-ended than with a natural, peaked tip. But would it really make a difference for the long haul? Kristina's older sisters had their heads shaved when they were babies and they have the prettiest, thickest hair I've ever seen. People in India do this and have you ever seen a thin-headed Indian? Not me.

So here's the question: Do we shave Anneka's head? Adriana (Kristina's mom) said, "who knows if it really works or not, but if I hadn't done it I'd have always wondered." And if we shave it, do we use a buzzer or do we bic it with a razor? Adriana is bringing Kristina over tomorrow to show me what she did with her. What do you think we should do? Please cast your vote!

A Sad Day

Our teammates took this picture a few weeks ago, before there was snow, but it kind of captures how we're feeling today.

This morning, our friend (and teammate) Shannon called from the States, letting us know that she's been diagnosed with cancer of the esophogas and stomach. This is all so shocking (she's only 37 years old) and we are still digesting the news. Shannon was just planning on being in the States for a couple of weeks for her cousin's wedding. She'd had her mom set up a doctor's appointment for her ahead of time because she'd been having some problems swallowing. But she totally didn't think it was a big deal. She found out that she has a tumor that's been growing for probably a couple of years and it's blocking 90% of the passageway! She'll know more details next week, but she will have to go through chemotherapy and surgery and doesn't know when she'll be able to return to Ulan Ude. Leif and Shannon were going to begin studying the Buryat language together after the new year. We love Shannon and are hurting for/with her as she's going through this time.

I also heard from our friend, Elaine, this morning. She had planned on coming to visit us for Christmas and we were so excited! She got her letter of invitation from Russia and was just waiting on getting her visa (she's living in China right now). They wouldn't let her pick up her visa until she had purchased a train ticket into Russia. But she isn't able to purchase tickets from her city, by phone, on the internet, or through a travel agent (her plan had been to fly to Beijing and then purchase train tickets the day her train was leaving). And we aren't able to purchase them for her from here. It's so ridiculous because if you get a visa from the States, you don't have to show plane tickets. And there is no law saying that you must do this. So it really seems like some sort of weird Russia/China mix that has caused a wall. The man at the consulate was not nice to her and kept saying "Nyet. Nyet." Poor Elaine. And now Elaine can't come for Christmas. So sad.

So it's been a sad sort of day.

Anneka Got Tagged!

Anneka was tagged by her friend, Evie, to answer these questions. The above picture was taken and given to us as a gift from the Russian family we stayed with in Kyzyl.


Name/Meaning: Anneka Dorothy ... Anneka is a Swedish name, which we thought went great with the last name Gustafson. It is another form of Hannah and means "gracious". We wanted a name with a feminine ending (a), living in Russia. We also wanted a name that has a Russian alternative. We often call her Anya here. Dorothy means "gift of God" and is after Anneka's great grandma. We call her by her full name all the time, and we can tell that she likes her name.


Age: 13 months

Nicknames: Nipper, Nippy, Nip, The Nippinator, Bozo, Bozey, Doofer, silly pants, bean, sweet baby, Anya, Annechka, Anyota

Favorite Activity (ies): Throwing items out of drawers, playing with flap books

Favorite Food: yogurt, cheese, broccoli, green beans, grapes, bananas, plums, dates, dried apricots, Cheerios

Least favorite food: baby pancakes. I made her a special batch out of baby cereal, mashed bananas, milk, juice, eggs... and she wouldn't even touch them. I froze them and pull them out every few days and she wants nothing to do with them.

Favorite Music: When her mama and papa read her "The Little Drummer Boy" book. She rum-pa-pum-pums along with us. Sometimes she'll pick up the book on her own and sing pum-pum on her own.

Favorite toys: anything that's not a toy (especially the telephone)


Favorite books: The Bellybutton Book, lift-the-flap books, peekaboo books, googly eye books

What makes her happy: making big messes, eating grapes or seeing a whole banana headed her direction, bathing, going on adventures (she lays completely still when we put her snowsuit on because she knows that we're going on an adventure), getting attention from everyone, tearing flaps out of books


What makes her sad: When her mama isn't close by. And it's best if both mama and papa are giving their undivided attention.

Anneka tags: Katie, Winston, Kariya

-21C and counting...

Our friend, Inka, hung her robe out on the balcony to dry and it came back a sheet of ice!



The entrance to our building has three doors. This is on the inside of the second door.



This is ice on our living room window.

Two more months to go until it's the coldest time of the year!!

The Bundling Process

Here is a normal process of bundling Anneka to go somewhere.
layer one:


layer two:


layer three:
(Leif likes to pull up Anneka's tights up high on her chest.)


layer four


layer five


layer six


layer seven: mittens, boots, and inner hat


layer eight: scarf and fluffy squirrel hat


And bundling under a blanket for the last layer (number nine)!

This girl, Lyra, has been coming to our church (and youth club and Bible study) faithfully ever since we met her through the day camps in the summer. It's so neat to see how excited she is to learn and she has lots of good questions about the Bible and about God. She gave Anneka this dress as a gift for her birthday! I thought that was so sweet. This week, I'll post a blog on all that's entailed in dressing Anneka to go outside.



Katia and Sasha were at church today (after their wedding yesterday)! There were so many other sweets at the wedding, that their wedding cake wasn't touched. So they brought their cake and leftover pizza and salad to church and we all ate it together afterwards. I usually think that Russian cake is very pretty and very icky-tasting, but this cake was the best I've ever had. Anneka slept through the whole service. We just parked her outside in her stroller. I know this seems mean, but she would've been too hot inside with all of her winter gear on and it's too noisy inside. She woke up refreshed and cheerful. And she got lots of "fresh air", which is very important here.

Katia's Wedding

Yesterday, my friend Valia and her daughter Lyra and son Vanya (yes, he's the one in pink that I'm holding) came over to make pizzas with me for Katia's wedding today. It was fun to have the time talking, and it was a blessing to have help because our electricity was out again in all of our apartment except for the refrigerator and oven! What a blessing that they worked! Anyways, it was so nice to have them because we were able to finish just as it was getting dark. Then we made dinner and ate by candlelight. Leif tried to fiddle around in the fuse box, but it was glowing and he almost died a few weeks ago trying to fix the wires (it burned a hole in our pliers!) so he decided to leave it alone. An electrician came last night and fixed it, so now all is well . Hooray!

I was thinking about how much work it would be to plan a wedding in Russia. Some things are more simple- there's one gov't office that everyone goes to get married. There are standard locations that everyone gets their pictures taken, etc. But Katia had to go to a bizillion different stores to find 10 candles that all matched! And to find a few yards of ribbon all the same color! She borrowed our dishes, since they are red and her wedding color was red. And she had different people prepare pizza and desserts and sandwiches. It was really neat to see how loved she (and her husband, Sasha) are and how many people in their lives support them.



Sasha and Katia radiated joy and many people sang, gave words of inspiration and encouragement, showed videos, and acted in skits (Leif was in a couple and I was even in one... I just didn't know it until they called me up there. Ha!). For one part, the emcee read different love letters and women in the audience had to yell out if they thought their husband wrote it. I didn't know that Leif had written one, but when I heard a letter, I knew it was from him. I yelled out and was relieved that I was right! The service was about 5 hours long, and this didn't include the trip to the government office to become official. Katia and Sasha's day began at 9:00am with the "buying of the bride", where Sasha proved his love for her, and ended at about 7:30pm. They must be so tired! But happy. It was fun to be a part of this special day.

Today I went to visit my friend, Lyena, at the fish market. We know that fish is healthy to eat but we're afraid to buy it here. We can trust Lyena, though, as she won't sell us something that's spoiled. Lyena is so sweet and is so crazy-busy right now. She works long hours at the fish market and is very involved with helping out with the youth in the church.



We got TWO packages today! It was so exciting. The lady at the post office would only give me one of them because the slips had Leif's name on them. I told her to look at the packages, saying that the person who sent the packages probably put both names on there, but she wouldn't look. I somehow convinced her to give me one, but she wouldn't give me the other. She said that Leif had to come get it. Oh, brother. But actually it worked out well because I was on my way to the fish market and Leif went by there later, as he found an apartment for our soon-to-be teammates from Switzerland. And then it was easy for each of us to just carry one. The funniest thing is that both packages did have both of our names on them. Sometimes things just don't make much sense. ANYWAYS, Anneka got this fun ladybug outfit from my mom's friend, Judy. Isn't it cute? And these great boots that she had trouble walking in at first (SO funny).



And this is Anneka talking on the phone with her gramma. She's copying us more and more. She's also whining more and more. It's such a dilemna for me because I can't stand whining, but she also can't talk yet, and I know she's wanting to communicate... and of course, I want to acknowledge that. So we've been working a lot on sign language to try and curb the whining. Yikes.

Oh, what a funny daughter we have! I was in the kitchen doing the dishes after lunch, Jami was in the other room taking care of laundry and Anneka was playing in the hall going back and forth between us with her ever improving mobility. I heard her coming in the kitchen and turned to make sure that she was okay, and instantly called out to Jami to come see what our daughter was up to. In the minute or so that she was alone in the hallway, she had pulled down the hat box and found her hat which she put on all by herself. Of course in early acts of independence there are varying degrees of success. Her face was covered even more than it is in the picture. In fact, from my angle it looked like her face was completely covered. I think that she could hear my voice though, because she made her way toward me at a good pace. What really got me laughing though was that she veered just to the left of me and into the cupboard which sent her plopping back onto her backside. She is such a good sport though and didn't mind that her mama and papa were laughing at her. Actually, she began to laugh with us and really enjoyed herself immensely. The second picture is showing her with her new favorite toys. She just recently started playing with her magnetic monkeys, but she absolutely loves them (thanks Scott)! It really seems like she feels pretty when we strap them around her neck like a necklace too. It is so fun to see her develop and explore with such curiosity.

Finally, some REAL birthday cake!

For those of you who were not satisfied with the idea of Anneka having zucchini bread for her birthday (Inka, Anita), don't worry- Anneka finally had her chocolate cake! We celebrated with the youth Bible study tonight. At first Anneka looked really disgusted with how messy it was, but then she warmed up. She definitely is more thrilled about green beans, however. (I dropped our camera and jostled the lens right in the middle of everything so we have minimal pictures).

Our little toddler is now a climbing monkey. She climbed right out of her crib yesterday, landing on the hard floor. Thankfully, she's okay. Hopefully she'll remember the pain and not try that stunt again.

This week we're searching for an apartment for a family from Switzerland who is coming to learn language for a year. The prices have skyrocketed and it's really hard to find anything good. We saw the strangest apartment today that had a spiral staircase inside, ping pong and pool tables, and a triangular bathroom with a stand-up shower just sitting in the middle. It was really expensive. It would be PERFECT for youth ministry, but not exactly ideal for a small family. They will be arriving at the end of this month.

A Day to Celebrate!

The theme of the day was Psalm 107:22 "And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!" (ESV) There is a group of churches in Ulan-Ude that meet once a month to pray for the Republic of Buryatia and the people here and share ways that they have seen the church be a blessing, in particular for the Buryats. This group has decided that we should have a larger gathering of people from all the churches in the region twice a year, and it made sense to do one of these gatherings directly after the seminar that went on this last week. We personally took on a large role in helping to make sure that this day happened. It was great to have people from so many different churches gather together and sing sons of joy about God and all that He has done. I (Leif) was given the privelege of sharing about the theme of bringing God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and then members of many of the churches in Buryatia came and shared about what they have seen God do and what they are doing to show others our great God. We sang praises together and prayed together and then followed it all by sharing food together. I am so thankful for all the people that put time in to make this happen, and I am so happy that there are so many things to thank God for.