Little Milestones

       Our Ella got her first haircut recently!  She strongly dislikes having her hair fixed, and her hair is so silky and fine that it falls right out soon after I fix it.  I use teeny tiny rubberbands that grip her hair, but she really doesn't like those!  We decided that we'd get her bangs cut so that "her pretty hair isn't covering her pretty eyes".   The hairdresser was afraid to give Ella all-out bangs, and since I was a little hesitant, too, she got a trim all around.   

 
     She was so cute sitting there for her haircut and she liked the results, but I think she's not too happy that I still have to do something with her hair to keep it out of her face.  Our biggest method for hair fixing now is distraction.  There's a little Russian show called "Luntik" (about a little creature that fell from the moon).  It's about 5 minutes long- the perfect length of time for Ella to watch while I fix her hair.  It's so funny because if someone else fixes Ella's hair, she'll sit very sweetly for them and we all ooh and ahh about how pretty it is.  But 9 times out of 10 she goes into her room and pulls it all out a few minutes later.

     In other family news, Anneka lost her two front teeth!  Her friend, Matty, lost his two front teeth, too.  We got a picture of them together before his grew back.

I just love how kids look with missing teeth.  So funny and cute!

Women's Day

     Women's Day is a big day here in Russia.  All women, young and old, are honored on this day.  Martina's language teacher challenged her to plan a special program for the ladies in our church and to give her first talk in Russian.  Lots of women came, and they invited others as well.   It was a special time of encouraging one another and focusing on how God is worthy of our thanks in everything.



     Nettie and I sang the song 1,000 Reasons in Russian.   It was a lot of fun, and the ladies really liked it.



     It was really exciting for me that my friend came, too.  It was her first time at our church, but she seemed really comfortable interacting with everyone there.  Her son played at our house during the women's program and had a great time with Leif and our kids!  Afterwards, my friend came over for tea and we had a lovely talk with Leif about what we believe and the differences between Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism.  I gave her a Bible in an easy-to-read Russian verson as a Women's Day present, and she received it gladly.  I am thankful for this friendship.

Then later that evening, Anneka and I took a gift to an older lady in our building.  She's going through a hard time, but I think it was encouraging to her to be remembered on this holiday.

     The kids made me special pictures for Women's Day!  I'm probably biased, but I think they are all budding artists!

Then on Sunday, Leif gave the talk at church.  He shared about how just as men and women are different, we need to be sensitive to approach people differently as we tell them the good news.

     The men all sang a song in honor of the ladies.  I just LOVE it when a group of men sing to God together.  I looked at each of them as they sang and prayed that God would strengthen them and grow in each of them.  What power and love and glory (to God!) are shown when men are living for Him with their whole hearts!

     They each also gave words of encouragement and wishes or blessings to the ladies.

     And the guys made the lunch for everyone to share together after the service!  Leif made these things called cheeseburger rolls (bread with meat and cheese rolled inside) and banana bread.

     And, of course, there was a program at Anneka's kindergarten for Women's Day.  Anneka had learned some lines the week before and then on Friday we were told she had new (even longer) lines.  We worked on them all weekend, and she did great!  It's very fun to watch her grow and develop in many new skills.

     There's a quarantine in the school right now and all of the other parents there were wearing masks.  We apparently missed the memo (and perhaps we weren't supposed to bring Ella and Ike with us).  But nobody yelled at us, and the little ones sat so still, I was in total shock!  It was a very pleasant performance in every way.  

Effective Parenting

 

 

     One of the things that's hard for us living here, is that we don't have many healthy families around us to learn from or bounce ideas off of with parenting.  Often others here look to us as their models/examples, when we feel like we need models/examples ourselves!  Leif and I have been praying for wisdom in parenting, and it's neat that recently, our pastor told everyone in the church (even people without kids) that he wants us to all go through a 10 week parenting course.  What's especially nice is that was originally made in English, so I was able to buy the book on my kindle to be able to fully understand everything.  People are going through this course in different groups, and we are facilitating one of them with the people in our home group.

 



 

 

     Something that has brought joy to my heart is a Tuvan family that moved here and became a part of our church and home group.  I lived in Tuva for a year after college, and the people there are so dear to my heart.  The mom has an amazing story of how God revealed Himself to her, and it's so neat to see this couple wanting to raise their family to love and honor Jesus.  This little girl's first language is Tuvan.  She and Anneka played so nicely, and Anneka was patient with her, knowing what it's like not being able to speak a language.  They dressed up and had a grand time playing!

 

 

     We love Masha and Vlad and their sweet little guy!!  All of our kids are always wanting to hold him.  He's just so kissable and adorable.  It's nice to be able to share our struggles with one another and pray for each other.

 

 

     Each week we watch a 30 minute video and then go through a list of questions together.  The discussions have been very interesting and helpful.

     Amak's family had to make a hard decision to let their kids finish out the school year in Tuva before they move here for good.  They tried being away from their older two kids for a month, but it was just too hard for all of them.  Then Amak was here for a few weeks without his family, but that was too hard, too!  So now they're back in Tuva, and we await their return this summer!

    We appreciate your prayers as we seek to love God with our whole hearts and to love our kids with an overflow of that love.

... and some more celebrations!

     February is often a hard month here.  It's dark and cold, it feels like spring will never come, and there's a spiritual heaviness/oppression that we feel more than at other times of the year.  We are thankful to have some special celebrations throughout the month, and praise God for these times of brightness in the middle of the winter.

     We celebrated Leif's birthday as a family and made him his favorite kind of cake- German chocolate.  His birthday was right in the middle of guests and meetings, so we kind of had to celebrate in pieces over a couple of different days.

      This week Leif and I went on a date to celebrate his birthday.  I had told him that his present was a new shopka (hat).  His other fur one had lasted a long time (over 10 years), but then the moths got to it.  He's been going through the last two winters with just a stocking cap- brrrr!  We found this ridiculously awesome hat.  The back part is leather and the fur part is fox.  We didn't notice that it smells like meat until we brought it home.  Hopefully the meat smell will go away soon.  =)  We had one warm day where it got up to 12F (-11C), but then it got back down to -28 again.  On that "warm day" I got the kids outside twice, and it was so nice to feel our faces.  When it was cold again the next day, my heart sank.  I've been thinking a lot about spring and how it still comes every year, even when it feels like it never will.  In the same way, we have the hope of heaven after this life.  God has amazing things in store!  He is faithful and we can trust Him.  Spring always comes after winter.

     This year Leif got a special package online (gifts from parents) so that he could watch NFL games.  Because of this package, he was able to watch the football games only a couple of hours after they ended.  This turned out to be extra-special, as our team- the Seahawks- made it to the Superbowl this year!!  We hosted a Superbowl Party for those on our team who wanted to come.  We put up decorations, and the kids made signs.

     Nettie made this incredible cheeseball (in the shape of a football).   She's from New York and didn't know who she would root for.  But after Ella gave her a Seahawks picture she'd colored and then we told her that the Seahawks had never before won a Superbowl, she decided to cheer for them, too!

     We put up a sheet and projected the game on the wall.  At first the game wouldn't load.  This had happened once before in the season and Leif couldn't watch the game until the next day.  We prayed and right away it started.  We're thankful for that gift from God!  It was fun because Art was a Colorado fan.  It is always a little more interesting when you can cheer against each other.

     Ike was too-cute in Leifs Seahawks hat and his Mr. Potato Head glasses!  And it was SO great when our team won!!!   Yay, Seahawks!

          We had some special family times on Valentine's Day.  Leif took Anneka out for lunch after picking her up from school.  She ordered a kitty cat made out of buckwheat.

     While they were gone and Ike was sleeping,  Ella and I had a sweet mother-daughter tea time.  She was sooooo happy the entire time, and said, "We have the best flamly in the whole world!"  I definitely agree!

     Throughout the week leading up to Valentine's Day, we put little notes to each other in these pockets that we made.  We shared with each other things that we appreciate and love about each person.

     It was encouraging to read what each person said, and a special time to share with one another how much we mean to each other!  What a gift that God gave us love!