Thanksgiving Blessings

   Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a sweet Thanksgiving with friends and family, aware of our many blessings, even as we missed those who are far away.  The kids all really got into Thanksgiving preparations this year.  They all colored pictures for this board, but Ella made the most.  

     Anneka made Native American dolls for Ella and Ike as surprise presents for them to open Thanksgiving morning.  She made Ike's two-sided so that one side is frowning and the other side smiling.  They both loved their new toys.

Ike was very helpful in spraying the tablecloth with water to get out the wrinkles.

Anneka made the rolls

Ella made the "Mayflower" for a skit.

...and Anneka worked on other props.

     Nettie came early to make monkey bread with the kids.  Monkey bread is a tradition in her family, and it's one that we've been happy to adopt, too, the last several years.  The kids also treasure the tradition of preparing it together with Nettie.

     The girls decided on the seating arrangements.  Anneka is wearing an apron my aunt made out of fabric from her grandmother- so, our kids' great great grandmother!  It's over 100 years old.    Do you notice anything interesting in the pocket?  Ratty Pie wanted to be a part of the festivities, too.


     When people arrived, they added leaves to our Thanksgiving tree of things that they're thankful for.  We read them aloud at the end of the dinner.


     We made a couple of chickens, but Bruce also found a couple of large turkey breasts right before Thanksgiving and cooked them up for us all to enjoy.

     The day before Thanksgiving, Ike asked us if there would be presents.  We told him that Thanksgiving isn't usually a holiday for giving presents, but for being thankful for what we already have.  Then that gave me the idea to wrap things (one per person) that represent things that we have- food, shelter, Bible, money, etc.  Anneka had the idea for us to pass around the presents to music and open them after the music stopped.

 Anneka shared with everyone some words that she wrote about being thankful.

  

   We also played Headbands and a game kind of like charades.

Lots of giggles and sillies!

The kids along with Leif, Bruce, and Nettie acted out a skit about the first Thanksgiving.

They were quite entertaining to watch!

     The next day we were able to Skype with family on their Thanksgiving (as we're a day ahead).  It was fun to see their faces and hear their voices.

     We are thankful for our many blessings!

The Few Days of Fall

     We often joke that here in Siberia we get two months of spring, one month of summer, four days of fall, and nine months of winter.  We joke, but it's based largely on truth.  Fall was already gone long ago, but we enjoyed it the few days that it was here! 

     We love to buy fresh produce from babushkas at the side of the road.  They often give the kids free berries or nuts, and it's so great to support them and to get organic goodness.

     I got to be with my friends as they tasted raw broccoli for the first time! (they liked it) This is a food that I always buy if I see it for sale (which is rare).  You can buy frozen broccoli here, but fresh is something extra special.



     Leif was asked to give the talk at church on Harvest Day.  He's been able to share several times recently, as our pastor has asked for help.   We enjoyed a yearly feast with everyone after the service.  I was so into it that I didn't take pictures!


     The kids like to hang out on this woodpile after church.  We like to see the fun and creative games they come up with as they play outside.

     This year we were given a lot of zucchinis from the abundance of friends' gardens.  Our kids made them into babies.  (The dark green zucchini babies didn't show up for pictures as well).  This was fine with me until one day I started grating a bunch of zucchinis and I heard sobbing coming from my children.  They were so upset that I was hacking up their babies.  So we then bought more zucchinis from some babushkas so they could have babies again.  And thus begun a fall full of zucchinis!

Ike with "his dog".

   We've had several new people at our English Club this fall.  We start out the evening with a game of some sort.  On this day, we had a panel of people that had to go on a scavenger hunt.

      Then we break into lesson/discussion groups.  Our focus these months is on the life of Jesus by studying different passages and parables in the New Testament.  We've had some good discussions both during and after the lessons (during tea time).


     Ike is my helper each week to make pizzas for our small group.

     Each Monday we drive to the village  and have dinner with these friends before our small group.  We are excited each week to see the progress on the building of our house.  This is what it looks like now:

   Lots of progress!  

      We typically return home at about 11:00pm.  Often at least one of the kids falls asleep in the car.

     This fall, I've been trading off every other week taking the preschoolers at church for Bible times and crafts.  We recently finished a series on creation.  On the off weeks I've been helping with the worship team.  I don't really know how helpful I am with Russian not being my first language, but the leader begged me to help them, and I agreed to do it for a few months.

     I was recently invited to a "sushi night" with some friends.  It was a lovely evening, and I really enjoyed praying with these ladies at the end of the night. 

    Yulia invited Nettie and me to make sauerkraut with her.  It was all of our first time to make it, and we made A LOT!  I'm using it now in soups.   Borscht tastes so much better with sauerkraut in it than fresh cabbage.

     Here's the jack-o-lantern we made this year.  We don't celebrate Halloween here, but it was fun to carve a pumpkin as a family . We each chose a part of the face to design.

    Leif's been taking an online course this fall, working on the understanding of the gathering of believers.  It's been challenging him in different ways and it's been giving us good things to think and pray about and to dialog with others.