This year's Russian Christmas was special. The Buryat music group sang several songs at church and we were able to then share these songs with our neighbors. It is so beautiful and powerful to hear these songs in Buryat style sung to Jesus!
We enjoyed a special tea time with everyone after the service.
Then our family headed downtown to check out this year's ice sculptures and slides.
This little boy apparently wanted to be in our family picture ;)
They have this ice bowl every year for the kids. They get inside and then they have to try and get out. It's very slippery and difficult . Ella and Ike LOVE this ice bowl challenge. It always kind of freaks me out because you can see blood splatters from other children who have cracked their heads. You definitely wouldn't see something like this in America!
There were the normal ice slides at the town square as usual, but there was also this special slide where 5 kids at a time raced each other. There was a rule that the kids had to be on a hard plastic sled. They got going very fast! I had a good view from a bridge that crossed over the slide.
Our house still needs another layer of insulation. The winter has been cold! This is common sight in our home, sitting by an extra little heater. =)
... and lots of snuggles! Anneka and I had to get lots of snuggles in with everyone before leaving for the States for 4 weeks.
A couple of days later, we said goodbye to our family and Ulan-Ude. We left a special countdown calendar with envelopes for Ella and Ike to open every day. They got notes from us every day and sometimes some little treats, too. =)
A special surprise and reminder of God's care was being on the same plane as our friend, Larisa! God is intimately involved in all of the details of our lives!
1 comment:
Love this and love you all, Grandma Irene
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