Pneumonia and Recovery

     The rest of February, we had sick kiddos.  This is a picture I took one day of all of instructions, record sheets, and medicines we were using between the three kids, but really about 8 more things were added after I took this picture.  The hardest part was that Ella had pneumonia.  We were so thankful that we had a good pediatrician who gave us treatments that we could complete at home.  Most kids here go to the hospital for pneumonia, but our doctor recognized that Ella would get more rest at home and would be more protected from other sick people away from the hospital.  We were required to go in to the clinic each day for physiotherapy treatments, which were quite interesting.  I wanted to post pictures, but Ella asked that I wouldn't, so I'm respecting her wishes.  =)  The good news is that she is feeling better now and her lungs are clear.  We are praising God for his healing touch!!

     Here's my favorite story from these weeks....  

     One day when Ella and I were driving to the clinic for a heat/lung treatment, Ella pondered, "I wonder how God will use my pneumonia?   I know He works all things together for good.  What good will come from this?"  I loved that she knew deep in her heart, even in the midst of the hardship of it all, that God would bring something good.  The following week, our family stayed home from something we would have normally gone to (because of Ella's sickness).  That evening, a neighbor called and asked Leif if he could come over and talk about the Bible.  He came and while he and Leif were downstairs having a great discussion, I was tucking the kids into bed upstairs.  Ella suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "If I didn't have pneumonia, we wouldn't be home right now and this guy wouldn't have been able to come over to hear about God".  We don't always get to see exactly how God works things for good, but we felt so thankful that in this case we did.  

     May 8th is Women's Day here, and after weeks of being home with cabin fever, we finally had the clear from the doctor to get out of the house!  We celebrated by going to a robot exhibit that was passing through Ulan-Ude.

     This exhibit far exceeded our expectations!  There were so many types of robots that served so many purposes.  The kids (and Leif and I, too!) had so much fun exploring and learning together.  Here are a few more of the robots from the exibit....

and some interactive things....

virtual reality roller coaster

crafting table

Health is such a gift!  We are thankful to be healthy again and back into full swing!