The Army, Green Grass, And Messes

We've been waiting for this day for the past few years, but are very sad that it has finally come. Our friend, Sasha, got a call that he had 6 days to pack up his life and go into the army. All young Russian men are required to serve for at least a year in the army. We, of course, will miss Sasha this year as he's part of our family. He comes over each week to wash laundry, shower, and often he eats meals with us. The army is a tough place for believers. Pray for Sasha, that he'll be the light of Jesus to those around him and that he will stay strong in His faith.






Sasha is one of Anneka's favorite people to have for meals. She always invites him to eat with us, and she loves that she can play "I spy" in Russian with him. Speaking of "I spy", in the car a couple of weeks ago, we had a conversation something like this.

Anneka (in a high voice, pretending to be Ella): "I spy something brown"
Leif (first guess): "Is it the grass?"
Anneka: "Yes!"

Sadly, that is often the color of grass here. In the past couple of weeks, though, the buds have come out on the trees and GREEN is entering Ulan Ude! This is always a very exciting time of year. On Easter we planted grass seeds, and now we're enjoying the lush green grass on the windowsill (pictured above).



Here's a spider that Anneka painted.



And the girls in a box.


And the little mess-maker! After our bout of sickness, we've had TONS of laundry (I think Ella went through ten changes of clothes, 6 blankets, two sleep sacks, and a set of sheets in one night). And it's so cold in our apartment that it's taking forever to dry. I just now finished hanging the final load, and I've been working on this for DAYS! I was folding clothes and making piles on the couch, and little Ella decided the floor was a better place for these instead.