A Christmas Family Photo

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This is always a bittersweet time of the year- being away from our families in the States and yet still being amazed at how God still provides special relationships here and enjoying focusing on Jesus and his coming to this earth. We spent Christmas Eve with a few of our teammates.


Shannon's family has the tradition of eating fondue on Christmas Eve. She brought this tradition with her to Russia, and we've adopted it, too! It was fun to talk and graze and enjoy all of the yummy meats, appetizers, and desserts dipped in different sauces.


The Kerins got Anneka a doll stroller and she loves it. She's been pushing her doll around everywhere.


Nettie read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke and we all acted it out. Here, Anneka suddenly decided she wanted to be baby Jesus, so she interjected in the play and sat down on "Mary's" lap. We also had a neat time of singing carols and taking communion together- celebrating Christ and his first coming and looking forward to his second coming. There was a scary moment in the middle when Matthew wrapped a ribbon around his neck and Anneka yanked it so tight that his face turned beat red and we needed scissors to get it off. We are SO thankful that there were scissors so close and that Matthew is okay!!



Last year we began the tradition of sleeping in the living room as a family, under the Christmas tree. Anneka was thrilled about this!



Sleeping in heavenly peace.



We had Swedish pancakes for breakfast(a tradition since Leif and I have been married). Mmmmmm!



It was so amazing to have so many presents from family and friends to open on Christmas morning! We all had so much fun opening everything!! And Anneka enjoyed playing with all of her new toys and books all day long.

A Time of Remembering

We had Shannon's family over for dinner last night. I'm so grateful that we got that time with them. They came after a long day of sorting through all of Shannon's belongings. I'm sure the process was not an easy one... and definitely exhausting. I find that it helps me in the grieving process to talk about Shannon with others. But it's hard to talk about her with people who don't know her! It was a gift to get that time with them.



Anneka has been talking about Shannon's brother, Matt, all day today. She enjoyed sitting on his lap to read a few books. Shannon's mom, Sharon, also read to Anneka. It's the key to Anneka's heart! Matt brought her a present (a cute little barn with letters, shapes, and animals that fit in different shaped holes). She loves it. Last night when Leif and I went into her room to look at her (we often do this because she's just so sweet), we found her asleep holding her new barn:





I've been CRAVING Cheerios in this pregnancy and look how many the Wengers brought me!!! I couldn't believe it. SO SO NICE. I had a bowl right after everyone left last night and a bowl for breakfast this morning. It was a little taste of heaven!

Zillions of Cookies

Last night Heidi and Sharon came over to help me and Anneka make zillions and zillions of cookies for our neighborhood kids' Christmas outreach next week. We made sugar cookies and a few examples of how to frost them and then the kids will get to decorate their own. Three out of three of our cameras lost their battery power, so I was only able to get this and one other picture. I got the worst haircut of my life a couple of weeks ago, though, so I don't really mind not being in pictures for a few more weeks until it grows out and I can at least pull it back!! It's almost a mullet. It's bad.

John and Matthew went with Leif to a neighborhood table tennis tournament. It was geared to reach out to boys and their dads. Unfortunately, the dads didn't come (except for maybe one?), but the guys were ones that Leif has connected with through the sports court in the summer. And they had fun.

Shannon's family arrived today from the States. It was good to see them this morning and we look forward to having more time with them the next couple of days. Having them here is such a reminder that Shannon is really gone. It still seems unreal at times.

Valenky

Anneka and I went shopping with Inka to get new valenky (felt-boots that are SUPER-WARM) and I tried them mainly just out of curiosity. My feet were SO INSTANTLY warm.... I'm talking an incredible difference... that I knew Anneka and I needed them during these really cold months. They don't look that warm, but they're the warmest footwear that you can get- even warmer than boots with fur and leather. We love them. It's like walking around in slippers outside. I'll need to take a picture of Inka, Anneka, and me all together.

Mama's Little Helper

I've been feeling a lot better (still some nauseous days, but on-the-whole, a ton better). Our friend, Lena has still been coming to help us in the apartment and to speak Russian with me and Anneka. Sometimes we just sit and talk and sometimes she helps clean or cook things. Today the kitchen smelled bad (to me), so she helped me in there while Anneka helped me clean in other rooms. I read that you can make a safe cleaner/disinfectant from water and vinegar, and Anneka LOVES to spray it on whatever I'm wiping. We make a good team.

It's been REALLY cold here. It got down to -36F and it's supposed to be down in the 40s in the next couple of days. Yesterday I went to our little local store and forgot to put my pants on over my long underwear. But nobody noticed because my boots are so tall and my coat is so long. I can't imagine forgetting to wear pants in the States!

Leif has been helping the history museum in translating some scripts for a film they're working on. He'll do the English voice-over for the film when it's ready. We've also been preparing for a Christmas program for the kids in our neighborhood. Inka and I have gone to the local kids' club a couple of Saturdays to teach the kids a couple of Christmas songs (in English and Russian),and Leif wrote a play in Russian of the Christmas story for kids to act out. It'll be really cute, I think. Most kids don't know much about Christmas here. The big holiday is New Years, and Christmas (if celebrated) is observed on January 7th. It's a privilege to be able to share with these kids. We're looking forward to it!



Anneka's new favorite food is popcorn. She loves it! We got a package in the mail yesterday full of wrapped Christmas gifts (from a group of wonderful friends!) and inside were Christmas movies!! Anneka hasn't had an attention span for movies until really recently. It's fun. And she really chows down on the popcorn, too. We make three bowls (with different seasonings) and she deems a certain bowl hers and woe to the person who tries to sneak some pieces out of there!

And speaking of Anneka and eating, she swallowed a ruble a few days ago. We don't know if it's still in her or out of her, but she's acting fine and eating fine, so I've decided not to worry about it.

Who Are You?

Celebrating 7 Years!

Leif and I took a couple of days away at Lake Baikal to celebrate our 7th anniversary. It was so relaxing and fun! It's the year of copper and wool, so Leif got me a wool scarf and made a game where I used pennies (copper) to pay to spin the spinner and land on different options like: walk, game, snack, movie, Bible study, massage, etc. If I didn't like where the spinner landed, I paid an extra penny to spin again. And if I landed on a bonus square then I got two pennies back. He's so creative! I'm so thankful for our marriage. I just love Leif so much!!

Anneka stayed with the Wickers and had a marvelous time. They must've worn her out because today she slept until after 8:00am and then took a 4+ hour nap (I woke her up at 5:10). Hopefully she'll sleep tonight!

Christmas Decorating

We began decorating for Christmas last weekend. I love this time of year- and we even have pretty snow now instead of a thin layer of charcoaled ice. Anneka enjoyed being a part of the decorating and choosing where to put the ornaments.



There are pros and cons to being away from America during the Christmas season. I truly miss times with family. I miss the decorations and Christmas music in every store and restaurant. I miss Christmas parties and decorated houses. I miss all of the yummy food and the holiday musicals, plays, ballets, The Messiah, etc, etc! I love how there's a month of the year where you can see Jesus just about anywhere (even despite the commercialism and other stuff).

But I don't get stressed about Christmas here. It's pretty relaxed. We're not surrounded by commercialism so we aren't bombarded with feeling like we "have to" get this or that or buy a bizillion presents, etc. I like that it makes us really focus on the true meaning of the holiday and not get caught up in the bustle. Our teammate's sister in the States has 4 kids and they already have long lists of what they want for Christmas (mind you, they're good kids! They're just surrounded by advertisements and friends who talk about this stuff). My teammate also has 4 kids. They could care less what they get for Christmas. They're thrilled when they get packages from the States. They love to have presents, but it doesn't matter to them what is in the presents. I thought that was interesting.


Anneka LOVED hanging this snowflake ornaments up in the kitchen. She wanted to do them all by herself and was SO PROUD afterward. She ran into the living room to get Papa and to show him her handiwork.


For the past seven years, Leif and I have had the tradition of celebrating advent in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I love it! On Sundays, Inka joins us and we read a passage of scripture and sing songs focused on that week's theme of hope, love, joy, and peace. On the other nights of the week, Leif and I have our own time of lighting the candle(s) and reflecting... sometimes with Anneka and sometimes without. We want her to be a part of the tradition, but it's also distracting if she joins us every night! Especially because she is fascinated with candles. I love the Christmas season and taking the time to reflect on the miracle of Jesus and all that He is and has done for us.

Much To Be Thankful For

I still couldn't access our pictures, but the Kerins sent us a couple of pics from Thanksgiving. This was the group- all of our American teammates plus Renata (Canada) and a family in Ulan Ude- the husband is American and the wife Russian. She made bonnets for the three older girls. So cute! The kids all reinacted the pilgrims coming to Plymouth Rock and did a great job.



Our friend Lena came over last week and helped me chop apples for the pie and dice up things for the stuffing. The day before Thanksgiving she helped me for one hour (and then babysat Anneka while Leif and I went on a date) and I couldn't believe all that we got done! I took out the garbage and it only took me seven minutes! Usually when Leif is not home, this takes 40 minutes. I'm not kidding. I collect the garbage, bundle Anneka up, bundle myself up, we walk the LONG (cold!) way to the garbage bins, then we walk all the way back, up the stairs, and take all our stuff off.

We started a tradition this past year where we kept a special jar for things that we thank Jesus for. We started right after last Thanksgiving and have put our little slips of "thankful fors" in the jar throughout the year. It was fun to go through all of them this Thanksgiving and to remember all that God has done!



On Saturday, Leif and I shared at the new English school about Thanksgiving and the traditions behind it. The students were really interactive and it was fun to be there!


Last Thursday Leif got in a (minor) car accident while driving Inka's car!! He was working on visa-stuff for our future teammates. Thankfully, he had a Russian in the car with him which we think helped with the end result! He was driving on a street where cars ALWAYS drive in two lanes. (We never knew that it was supposedly a one lane!) He prepared to turn left (right after the car in front of him that was turning left) and the car in the right "lane" cut right in front of him. It was icy and he couldn't stop in time. Thankfully the damages were minor. The lady's husband was a traffic policeman. He came to the scene and Leif was able to pay them right there for their dent. Phew! But a reminder as to why we're still happy we don't have a car! Thankfully, Inka's car is okay, and she was really sweet about it!

A New Little Life

This picture shows a model of a baby at 12 weeks in the womb... about the same size as our baby! Yes, the news is officially out! We are very excited and the birth of the baby coincides with our home service in the States this upcoming spring/summer. Anneka is sure that it's a boy. We ask her in different ways, "Anneka, do you think it's a boy or a girl?" "Anneka, do you think the baby is your sister or brother?", etc. She always answers most definitely with the boy/brother words. We'll see if she's right! She talks to the baby and pats the baby and kisses the baby. The funny thing is that she began doing this before we modeled that for her. The timing was good for explaining a baby to her because our friend Katia recently had a baby and Anneka remembers when her belly was big and now sees the baby every week at church. (of course, a baby in our home will come as more of a shock, but any examples are good)!

Our camera hasn't been working well and we haven't gotten pictures from teammates from Thanksgiving (I'll post them if we get them), but it was a nice time of celebrating and thanking God for all that He's given us

Meanwhile, I am feeling nauseous most of the time and awful smells waft in from our neighbors' apartment and there's NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT! I have to close the living room doors when we're in there so the stink from the hallway won't come in. And Leif has been SO sweet in getting up with Anneka most mornings to let me sleep more and in cooking up the types of meat that gross me out (I can't even say which kinds because even looking at the words makes me feel sick). But hopefully I'll be feeling better soon!!

Sled Season

It's sled season! No more carrying Anneka to the bus stop! But now we have to figure out how to fit the sled onto the micro-buses (vans). Sometimes it's a bit of a trick. It has snowed here a lot the past few days! And when it snowed, it was pretty warm (up to 25F!!). Now it's back down below zero. With wind. But the snow is still pretty.


When I am going to a store, I don't want to take the sled with me because there's nowhere to put it. Leif was nice to walk Anneka and me to the bus stop yesterday. It felt SO COLD! It was only -1F, but the wind made it feel so much colder!! As you can see, Anneka has no skin showing, and Leif is wincing with the cold. Anneka didn't like the cold (but who does??). On the bus, she was happy again. Once we were about one stop away from our destination, I told her that we'd be getting off soon. She grabbed her scarf and busily began wrapping it around her face and head to prepare. She's no dummy!


This evening we painted with watercolors. Anneka doesn't really get into too many crafts yet, but she does like to paint.

Lyena and Luda's Housewarming Party

This evening we went to Lyena and Luda's housewarming party. There were a ton of us crammed into their living room. We sang songs, ate yummy food, played a trivia game, watched a slideshow, and listened to a short talk from pastor Zhenya.




Anneka enjoyed feeding little Michael (above video).



It was warm enough to snow today. It snowed and snowed and snowed and got up to 19 degrees! Anneka loved tromping through it. Here she is, helping Papa shovel in front of Inka's garage.

Not a Cuddle Bug

Our little girl is not a cuddle bug. She loves to read books and sit on our laps, but she is much too busy for real cuddling. She's got toys to play with and dolls to take to the potty, and fake pancakes to make, etc.

Sometimes when Leif is gone in the evenings, I'll let Anneka read books in our bed and fall asleep there. Then when Leif gets home he likes to scoop her up and carry her to bed and say goodnight to her. And I figure it's good for her to get used to falling asleep in a big bed and not always her crib. Anyways, the other night I realized, "hey, Anneka is in there SLEEPING and I could CUDDLE with her!!" So I excitedly went into our room and climbed into bed next to my sleeping daughter and cuddled up close. Mind you, she is s SOUND sleeper and normally does not wake up once she's out for the night. But you know what happened? She opened her eyes, pushed me away and said, "Mama, nopie". (Nopie is kind of like "no please"). Can you believe it? Out of a sound sleep. Poor Mama. But then I tried again last night and she didn't wake up. Haha.

I said that from time-to-time I'd write a little "day in the life". Here's what we did today:

Leif got up with Anneka at about 7:20 and fed her breakfast while I was able to wake up slowly and pray for awhile. Then he got ready to go to class and I got Anneka and myself ready for the day. While Leif went to class, I went grocery shopping with Inka (and Anneka). We went to three stores today. The first store was a new one that we wanted to try, but it turns out it was a big market (where you have to pay for each thing at separate stands), so we decided to move along. But I found real milk there! It's the kind that's pasteurized but refrigerated and in a bottle. It's the best we've found and we've only ever found it a couple of times. Then we went to another store that's smaller and more expensive... but they had chicken that I like. And then we went to the big/normal store that we go to each week. And they had REAL TORTILLAS and SALSA!! I saw these for the first time last week and was SO EXCITED. I thought for sure it would be gone by today, but it wasn't. So I stocked up big-time.

After class, Leif went to an agency to get letters of invitation for Shannon's family to come and visit in December. We're really happy that they're coming. I think it'll be good for all of us to process together and grieve together. It's still really hard to know that she's never coming back. I'll go for a few days where I'll feel okay and then it'll hit me again. On Sunday at church we sang a song that Shannon always played on her guitar and I started crying and couldn't stop. She's not a person we can just forget about, that's for sure.

Then Leif, Anneka and I had lunch together (fajitas with the new tortillas and salsa!).

After lunch, Leif and I brainstormed ideas for a Christmas party/program we'll be putting on for the kids of our neighborhood. Then Anneka and I both took naps and Leif worked on stuff (I think homework and Bible-study stuff).

At 3:00-5:00 Leif went to meet with the director of the kids' club in our neighborhood to talk about plans for the Christmas party. Anneka and I played/snacked/picked up the apartment after we woke up.

Then Sasha came to shower and do laundry a little before 5:00, and Matthew Wicker came at 5:00 to talk with Leif about going to interview a Buddhist monk together for one of his classes.

At 6:00, we all headed over to Inka's for Bible study. Anneka and I just stayed for the food and social part. Then we came home and read a stack of books, and now she's sleeping in "mama's bed", waiting for me to try and cuddle with her. =) Leif will probably get home pretty soon (it's 9:00 now). Then we'll have time to talk without sweet little girl distractions. Tomorrow is Leif's morning to watch Anneka and I'll go to a Bible study that the women on our team are doing together (every other week). I've been enjoying this study of Esther and a study of Jeremiah that I'm doing with the Russian women from our church. I think it's helped me to feel more connected... and it's good to be stretched in my language skills, too!

Sunglasses, Friends, and Hair Clips

Anneka is really into sunglasses. I can't find hers, so she always wants to wear mine. I really need to clean our room... I'm sure hers will turn up. With little storage space in a small apartment, closets, drawers, and under-the-bed become very full very fast. Here she is riding in Inka's car. I actually drove it for the first time last weekend. I didn't drive very far, but it was a good first step to driving in Russia!



The other night we went to our friends, Marios and Adriana's. Apparently, their little daughter (2 months younger than Anneka) asked about us and wanted to have us for dinner. Marios is taking Buryat classes with Leif. We like them a lot. Another Russian family was there, too. The guys (and kids) played Settlers of Catan while us girls talked in the other room.



Marios and Adriana's 6 and 8 year old daughters put clips in Anneka's hair and she felt so pretty! She didn't even try to take them out.

Leif has a lot on his plate again this week. It's hard because a lot of the stuff he's doing isn't stuff I can really help him with. And everything just takes longer here! He spent hours at an office this afternoon only to find out that he couldn't do what he needed to do. And that was sandwiched between our team meeting and his class. Then he was home for 45 minutes before leaving for a men's meeting at our church. Sometimes that goes until 11:00 (and walking home in the windy-cold... it's been down to -13F that we've seen and probably lower). So I know he'd appreciate your prayers!

Carrying The Potty Around

We bring Anneka's potty with us now whenever we go someplace that only has an outhouse. I think it's easier to bring it along than to bundle her up as quickly as possible whenever she says she needs to "go" and then run outside to hold her over a hole. And also, she thinks that outhouses are really cool, so she likes to go A LOT to have the chance to look at all of the interesting sites out there. Hence, we bring the potty along.

Anneka always carries her potty, but usually we end up carrying her. I taught her a long time ago to say "up please", but she instead says "thank you". She knows that she needs to say something polite and "thank you" usually works. It's a long walk to the bus stop, and it's really windy in our area because it's on a little hill. I usually tell her "walk to the light post" or "walk to the building" and then I carry her. But she's getting to be a little tank! This is the first week since we've lived here that I've actually wanted a car. Especially when I'm carrying bags AND Anneka the 1/4 mile from the bus stop. But I should be thankful for the exercise.

Crash, Boom, Bang!

Just minutes before we were expecting dinner guests last week, our giant cupboard collapsed (6 big shelves!) Everything went CRASH-BOOM-BANG and when Leif opened the door, it all poured out onto the floor. I'd been wanting to re-organize that cupboard anyways, but I wasn't counting on this for timing! We bustled about, finishing up dinner and Leif repairing the shelves... and when the guests came they never knew what happened. I should've taken a picture right away, but this gives a glimpse of all the STUFF that was all over! Now our cupboard is nicely organized again, for awhile anyways. (Anneka likes to use her new stool to reach into new and higher places, so there are always surprises now, like water pitchers in the toy box or dolls in with the ziplocs).



Leif came into the living room the other day, and he found Anneka just like this- bundled under the blanket and reading a Guideposts.

On The Walk To Church

There's not enough snow/ice yet to take Anneka to church on her sled, so this is how we travel (except for sometimes when she walks... but that doubles the length of the walk from 15 minutes to 30, which isn't our favorite option when it's windy and bitingly cold).

Leif's classes were canceled yesterday and today because of the swine flu. It'll be interesting to see when schools will be opened again. It's been nice to have Leif home a little more this week.

Right now Leif is at a men's seminar with some of the guys from our church. It is every other week and is great for the men to grow in being men, fathers, husbands, etc. I think as families grow here in strength and faith, the whole of society will be changed for the better.

A Sign On The Bus

"If you're drunk, don't make a lot of noise."

Murder Mystery Party

It was Rebecca's Birthday last weekend and she hosted a murder mystery party. It was so fun! It was all girls, so some dressed/acted like men. We didn't know who the killer was until the very end. It was a mix of Russian and English, and it actually worked out really well. At the end, one of the ladies Rebecca invited that's not a Christian said that there was such a difference between this party and the many parties she normally goes to where everyone gets drunk. She had a lot of fun and really seemed amazed by interacting with everyone.

Here are some pics:

Bobby Sox, Tiara Diamond, Johny Angel, Peggy Sue


A lovely dinner with BBQ'd chicken and pork, crisp veggies and dip, crackers and spinach dip, baked potatoes, jello salad, baked beans, root beer floats, and cheesecake and mud pie for dessert. Gardner was the BBQer and he was the one "killed" on the patio while cooking. (it was snowing outside, but we pretended it was summer). Rebecca and I were talking about how everything here takes a lot longer to make. She had to MAKE the rootbeer for the floats and MAKE the mint ice cream for the mud pie, and MAKE all of the ingredients for the baked beans. All of her efforts were thoroughly enjoyed, though!! Mmmmm.


Me and Chubby Cheddar reenacting Tom's death later to see if an accusation was probable. Adriana is pregnant, so it was perfect for making a nice middle-aged "beer belly" for her character. haha.


This picture is on Inka's blog, too, but I'm guessing she won't mind if we both have the same one. This was the limbo contest. We also had a hoola hoop contest as well as a lip sinc and dancing. Very fun! Oh, I'll post one more, just for the fun of it. It's really blurry, but it shows ACTION!!

Masks Everywhere

People all over town are wearing masks to prevent against the swine flu, which has apparently arrived. It's so funny because I wanted to get a picture of people in masks when Leif and I were out on a date last night, so I had him stand in front of me and pretended like I was taking a picture of him. But then it turns out that we KNEW the girls I was going to take a picture of, so they posed for the camera. =) All of the schools are closed this week (and next week is a vacation week for schools). Leif is required to wear a mask in his university class, but all of the pharmacies in town are sold out. Hopefully they'll get more in soon. I read that Russia predicts the swine flu will peak in December, with 5,000 people becoming infected daily. We appreciate your prayers for protection!

In other "medical news", Leif has been going from clinic to clinic to get lab work done. The university informed him last week that they needed blood work (I think for the swine flu), a separate HIV test, and a chest X-ray in order for him to continue studying Buryat. This all takes so much extra TIME!! (waiting in long lines, arriving to find out that they only test in the morning, returning the next day to pick up results, etc, etc.) He just has one more test to get, so this should just be two more trips (one for the test and one for the results). He's a trooper!

Welcome, Nettie!

Our new teammate, Nettie, arrived on Sunday! Renata hosted a dinner for her and the team last night, which was really nice. We look forward to getting to know Nettie better as the weeks progress!

Baby Angelina

Anneka is really good with names. I'm amazed at how we'll be in a crowd of people and she'll know everyone's name. Lately, she's been especially enamored with baby Angelina (and saying her name). She talks about Angelina all the time. Sometimes Anneka and I get to watch Angelina while her mom is at a Bible study on Wednesdays. Here's Anneka with Baba Ira and Angelina.



Leif took Anneka out to play basketball, and this flock of boys came to play almost instantly (usually it's a flock of teenage/college guys). Anneka is hidden in this picture (I took it from the balcony), but she had fun with everyone. I love that Leif so easily and quickly connects with different people in our neighborhood through the sports court!

Anneka's 2-Year-Old-Birthday Party

Here is Anneka after chowing down on her butterfly-shaped birthday pancakes with blueberries and strawberries. Mmmmm!



I made a butterfly cake for a little party we had later in the day.




Anneka loves money, and Inka knew this, so she got Anneka a "Moo Coo" bank for her birthday. (moo-coo is the kids' word for cow in German). Inka also gave her a ton of change to put into her moo-coo. She was in heaven.




One of Anneka's favorite new games is to twirl like a ballerina around the living room. She especially likes it if someone (here, it's Matthew) lifts her up high in the air while she twirls!



The Wickers got Anneka a couple of books that have been favorites of their family. Here, Sharon is reading Anneka "Harold and the Purple Crayon".




She felt so special when the cake came out and did a good job at blowing at the candles!



Here's a group picture from Anneka's little party. Anneka was surrounded by fun, love, and laughter.