This 'N That

Last week our whole team met for a day of vision casting and planning for ministry here in Buryatia. It was really encouraging to reflect upon what God has done and to have hope for Him to do amazing things in the future. While we were meeting, Matthew and Heidi watched Anneka and the Kerin kids. They had a fun day together, playing outside and making creations out of their snacks.



Anneka loves to hang out on the balcony (always supervised, of course). I love to watch her watch others.

I realize that most of my pictures revolve around Anneka. This is for a number of reasons:
1. This is how I spend the majority of my time- with her! I see being a wife and mom as the most important things that I can be doing right now. Even in a ministry sense, I know that God is a light through our family as many people don't have role models.
2. We don't usually take our camera to the things that happen every week (because we've already taken pics in the past, we don't think of it, etc.)
3. Our families want to see pictures of her!
So, sorry if it's overkill. =)



I taught Anneka last week how to blow the seeds out of a dandelion. She loved it! I'm all about spreading dandelions here. Flowers are few and far between and these yellow flowers are always a welcome sight!



Our neighborhood has SEVERAL sandboxes (well, "dirt boxes") for kids. I love it. It's so perfect for Anneka's age right now. She likes it when other kids are in the dirt with her.

My friend, Erin, sent us an awesome care package that we received last week. This Pampered Chef wooden spoon was inside, and I'm so excited to use it! The funny thing, though, is that Anneka thinks it's HERS. She wants to eat her cereal with it, use it as a drum stick, uses it to organize things, etc. I've washed it several times, but each time I take it out of the drying rack to put it away, she spots it and asks to play with it. I need to remember to hide it the next time she's napping so that I can try it out!!

Birthday Party At The Lake

It was SUCH a nice day yesterday, and the Wickers invited us to go with them to Lake Baikal and celebrate Heidi's birthday. It was about 20 degrees cooler at the lake, but it was still wonderful. I made us ridiculous hats with our pictures and little sayings to Heidi on them to add to the festivities.



We stopped for a potty break, and Anneka enjoyed walking along the road. She loved being outside all day!



At the beginning of July we'll be back at Lake Baikal for a camp. I think it'll be really fun. I'm already praying for good weather, though. We'll be at a place that has NOTHING except for trees and our tents. If it's rainy, it could be pretty miserable. But if the weather is nice, it will be delightful.


For lunch, we had shashleek. It's really popular here in Siberia... it's marinated pork that's roasted on a skewer. Mmmmm!


Happy birthday, Heidi! Thanks for such a fun day and for letting us celebrate with you!

Ten Years Ago

I found this picture the other day and marveled that it was taken almost TEN YEARS ago!! That makes me feel so old. This was before Leif and I were dating. We were at a banquet at Disney World with a group of friends and decided to play in the fountain afterwards. I'm so thankful for these past ten years. I've been blessed with the world's best husband and such a sweet little daughter.

When I look at this picture in ten more years (which will be the day after tomorrow) I'll really feel old!

A Morning At The River

A bunch of us spent the morning at the river. It was SUCH a nice day. I should've brought Anneka's swimming suit! She got her feet wet immediately, so I just let her wade in with her shoes on (and later with them off).




A little clip of Anneka and Heidi with water and rocks... two of the worlds' best elements.

I'd write more, but we're off on a date night!

Varvara

Our friends Valia and Sergei had a new baby a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Varvara. Here she is!

Contextualization!?!

"Con-text-tu-al-iz-ation, I learned a new word for something I was already trying to do," said a man from on of the native people groups of Siberia. The word was difficult to say, but the idea was so freeing for the people that came to the conference. As you all know we are serving here in Russia because we have a heart to see all peoples know and love and praise the one, wonderful and amazing God. We have a special place in our heart for the Buryat people on whose land we live now. Living in Buryatia we see an amazing mix of the Buryat culture and the Russian culture as well as other groups of people that are represented here. We believe that God is praised best when He is praised in the unique way that people from each culture can do that. The worship of God comes from the context in which that worship comes from. In other words, Americans worship God in the unique way Americans do, Russians in the unique way Russians do and Buryats in the unique way Buryats do. The problem is that as we share the love of God we sometimes bring our cultural baggage with us and make people think that they need to act just like us and use the forms we use to love God instead of just sharing the principles of loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and letting that be expressed within the local context. Unfortunately all to often because of this, peoples like the Buryats are afraid that they have to give up all their culture, and in that all their identity, and become like Europeans to be in the church. This week our conference brought up questions about how we can help the different peoples of Siberia understand how to take what God has given them in their culture (in their context), to worship the God that made and loves them, and to think through ways of better passing on the good news that God loves all people in a way that makes sense to each person that hears this good news. It was great to think through these issues with different people from all of Russia. I was particularly blessed to have the pastor of the church I work with at the conference, and have some opportunity to talk and think through this issue with him as we look at making our church a church that blesses the Buryat people. We really feel like there will be a greater unity as people understand who they are and come together in love with their differences.


One great part of the conference is that we put on a festival of ethnic Christian music. There were people for many different regions of Russia that shared their own ethnic music in praise to God. It was a wonderful celebration and so beautiful to see and hear some of the different ways people are praising God here in Siberia.


One highlight was to see these two men who are brothers from the Altai region of Russia. Both brothers have been blessed with songs of their own for praising God, and one is even using throat singing. This is something that Jami and I have dreamed about, especially because of her heart for the Tuvan people (famous for throat singing), among whom she lived for a year, but had not heard yet.

Anna/Anya

Whenever Anneka talks about herself, she says Anya or Anna. These are the Russian forms of her name, and they're easier to say. We like both.

Around the Apartment

My friend, Rachel, has posted a few pictures on her blog of her daughter at the playground in the States . Each time, I marvel at how clean and safe everything looks! The slides have wide, shallow steps leading up to them with enclosed railings and the slides themselves have sides so that you can't fly off the side. Here, the ladder to the slide is just that- a ladder. And if you don't watch, your kid can go flying off the side. I hope it's okay, Rachel, I just HAD to post a picture to show the difference....



It's a strange phenomenon here because kids really are honored. The local grandmothers are always watching out for the kids of the neighborhood. There are several little playgrounds within sight of our building. The equipment in these playgrounds is freshly painted every year and there are people who have the job of cleaning the grounds frequently. BUT the paint fades and chips quickly and there is broken glass EVERYWHERE. This is no exaggeration. Yesterday, Anneka found a 2 liter beer bottle that had a little beer left in it. It got all over her hands before she proceeded to pick up some garbage. Yuck. But thankfully she's updated on her tetanus shot and I figure this is all just really good for her immune system. And there are a lot fewer creepy things that happen to kids in Russia (abductions, etc)... so I suppose I'll take broken glass over that.




Anneka LOVES books and she LOVES Inka. Combine the two together and she is in heaven. Anneka calls Inka "Itty". I think it's such a cute name for her.



Today I was in the living room with Anneka and all of a sudden she left, as though she was on a mission. A couple of minutes later, she returned with her arms full of clean, wet laundry for me to hang out to dry. Apparently the wash cycle had ended, but I hadn't noticed. It's a good thing she keeps track of these things for me!

She's also very into choosing what she wants to wear and layering with strange combinations. She got some Dora pajamas in the mail from her great grandparents and she wore them almost all day over her clothes.




Last week it was raining and I was trying to think of a fun activity for Anneka. I thought, "she likes water and she's fascinated with money. Why not put the two together?" She was so enthralled that she played for an hour with the coins. I had a little vinegar in the water to act as a cleaning agent. We sorted coins by size and color and number.

I really don't like kopecs. These are the Russian coins that are smaller than a ruble. It takes 100 kopecs to equal a ruble and a ruble is only worth about 3 cents. So a kopec is worth .03 cents! I don't even understand why they're still in circulation. Sometimes I'll feel like I have so much change (and I do) and it is worth nothing. Yesterday Leif picked up money on his way to a conference about Shamanism. I didn't want to go to an ATM also since he'd be home that night with money, so I made it a challenge to pay for everything with change. Anneka and I made two trips to the store and a trip downtown on the bus and we used up SO many kopecs. It was wonderful!!



I recently washed all of our winter stuff (hats, gloves, scarves) and I hid away the things that are too small for Anneka. She found the hats, though, and has been wearing them around. It's warm now, so her head gets all sweaty (I'll have to re-wash them). She loves to wear hats. And whenever we're on the bus, I'll take her hat off if it's hot and she always cries because she really wants to keep wearing her hat. Yesterday it was about 80 degrees outside and the heat was ON on the bus (right by our feet) and she still wanted to wear her hat. Silly girl.

Cleaner or Dirtier?

It's pipe-fixing season. This means that for much of the summer we won't have hot water... and when we do, it looks like this. I wonder if Anneka is cleaner or dirtier after her bath? Either way, we're thankful for hot water right now!

He didn't look like an animal this time.

Leif got his hair cut last week, and Anneka and I went with him as a little "field trip". I was all ready to take a poll and see which animal you all thought Leif looked like this time, but he didn't look like an animal! I was so disappointed. Maybe next time!!

The Potato Lady

I love it when the potato lady comes to our neighborhood. Potatoes are so heavy to get at the grocery store and lug home. She sits out there all day and looks bored. Anneka and I wave at her when we go outside to play and she smiles. I asked Leif to take a picture this week when I went out to make a purchase. Right now she's selling last years potatoes, so they're really cheap- about 15 cents a pound. You can't beat that!

Making Muffins

Anneka helped me make banana muffins today. She put all of the paper liners neatly into the cups all by herself. I only needed to show her how to do the first one.

Leif has put up Buryat vocabulary words all over the kitchen to help with learning them. You can see some of them on the wall here. But they're on food items, cupboards, the refrigerator, etc, etc. Today Anneka said her first Buryat word: "hoon" (milk)




After Anneka got all of the liners in there, she started crumpling and playing. Her mom was just taking too long in mixing the batter. It's hard for a toddler to sit still, you know.

That reminds me of a story from yesterday. When we got to church, one of the babushkas started telling me that children need to sit quietly and calmly in church, etc, etc. I was a little like "oh no" in my head because- while I agree that kids shouldn't be unruly and disruptive, how do you keep a 19 month old still for 1.5 hours?? Well, Anneka chose to sit behind us, right between this babushka and another lady. And she sat there very quietly for SO LONG. It was a miracle. Seriously. Then another little boy came and grabbed her face and she started crying and I had to take her out. But she almost made it through the whole service!




Eating our yummy muffins (and a sweet little "thank you")

Yo-Yo Weather

On Friday it was in the high 80s and yesterday it was in the 40s outside. Today it's predicted to be in the 60s. When there is a warm day, we take advantage of it. A group of us met on the city's main walking street on Friday evening to enjoy the nice weather.



Anneka loved the fountain. I supposed it's time for her to stop wearing her fur-lined winter boots! I took them off of her yesterday and she cried because she loves them so much. But if the Russian and Buryat children aren't in their boots anymore (and they are normally very bundled) I think it's a good sign that Anneka doesn't need hers!

Before and After

This was the reading on the thermometer in Anneka's room while the heat was still on:



And this is what it says now that the heat is off for the summer:


It feels so much colder in our apartment than it actually is because we had adjusted to the heat. Yesterday it was warmer outside than inside! Summer has come.

A Visit To The Eye Doctor

I've had my glasses for almost 4 years and am just plain sick of them. It's funny how your tastes change when you're in a different culture with people who have a totally different style. You start to want to fit in more. I didn't want to wait until the next time we're in the States to get new ones. So I went to the eye doctor here. Inka took me and Anneka came along, too. And it was great! I didn't have to have an appointment. I didn't have to wait in any lines. And I only paid the equivalent of $8 for the exam!! (We have great medical insurance, but it doesn't cover vision, so this is wonderful). The optometrist had a leather chest that held different glass lenses that fit into this funny apparatus (pictured above) that I wore on my face. I had an embarrassing moment reading the chart when I realized that I don't know how to say all the Russian letters. (of course I know all my letters and the sounds they make, but there is no "ABC song" here to learn the names of them). Anyways, I did just fine... the lady knew what I meant. And my eyes have apparently gotten better since my last prescription. Hopefully, anyways. I'll get my new glasses tomorrow(another plus), so we'll see how they work!

Women's Retreat

The last couple of days I went on a little retreat with the women on my team (six others) to Lake Baikal. It was so relaxing, rejuvenating, and fun! We spent time walking and talking on the beach, playing games, eating good food, praying together, reading, watching movies, sleeping in, and enjoying God, His creation, and one another. I'm so thankful for these friends. We are all so unique- but I was reminded how BEAUTIFUL each lady is. What a blessing!!



Sweet Leif stayed home with Anneka while I was gone. He gave her a little picture of me that she slept with and talked to. They had a good time together. Leif even managed to have men from the church over one night and make pizza and cupcakes for the Bible study tonight. What a champion!! I love him so much (and little Anneka, too!)

Sickos

Leif and Anneka have been sick this week with colds and I've had two migraines. Leif has been really tired from jetlag, too, and it was a challenge for him to prepare a talk for Sunday amidst his other responsibilities this week. Here's a picture of Leif holding Anneka in front of balcony door so that the cold outside air would help her breathing. The last time she had the croup it was -40F, so we are thankful for nighttime air of +35F this time around!


On Friday evening we had Heidi and Matthew stay the night with us, as it was their parents' anniversary. And we all celebrated Inka's birthday together with dinner, cake and a game called KUDUUK. It was a lot of fun.

Hopefully we'll all be feeling better soon and will more to share about!

The Goats Are Out Again!

Every spring the goats are let loose in our neighborhood to munch on the grass. Anneka thinks they're delightful. She's very good at "meh-ing" like the goats. We didn't go outside today, though, because little Anneka is sick. I know that it's normal for kids her age to be sick 6 times a year (and it's been about three months since she was last sick) but I don't want her to be sick EVER! She has the croup again and at 3:30 in the morning we sat in front of the open balcony door so that she could breathe. I just love that little girl so much and want her to be back to goat chasing here soon!

Welcome Back, Leif!

Anneka and I had a fun and busy week while Leif was in the States. After our Russian guests left, we had multiple invitations to lunches/dinners with teammates and we had a couple from church over. We hung out outside a lot, too. This is at the playground near the Wickers. Sharon, Heidi, and Matthew all came outside to play with us!



On morning Rebecca came over with Michael. Anneka really liked him, and gave him kisses. They are nine months apart.



Anneka LOVES this pink snow suit (for next winter). She always wants to wear it, but it's SO HOT. So I came up with a compromise. Her Raggedy Anneka gets to wear the snowsuit. Anneka is satisfied with this. She loves to play with Raggedy Anneka and likes it when I fix both of their hair, feed them both and change her doll's diaper.



Even though the week was good, we were so excited to go to the train station yesterday to meet Papa!



Welcome home, Leif! We love you!!

Going For A Ride

Today Anneka and I were downtown and we walked by a little amusement park that's set up for kids when the weather is good. The lady who ran the ferris wheel convinced us to go for a little ride. Anneka was delighted and we got our picture taken. Afterwards, the lady invited us to ride on the flying airplanes while we waited for our picture. But the funny part is that she buckled Anneka in (only around her waste and it could hold two kids in there) and I was about to climb in behind Anneka and she said, "no, it's just for kids"... and then Anneka was off, flying by herself, up in the air. My little baby. She looked kind of perplexed and confused as to why she was up in the air and her mama was on the ground. Every time she looked like she was getting sad, I told her to push a little button on the steering wheel that played music. And then she was fine. So funny. It's a bummer because my camera's batteries ran out of juice so I couldn't capture the moment. I had the lady stop the ride a little early. I kept having vision of her climbing out of her seatbeat (totally possible) and flying in a different way. I was ready to jump in and catch her, if need be. Thankfully, our little flying daughter is as safe and happy as can be!

The Bread Man and Thankfulness

My Dad took a lot of great pictures while he was here- things from our daily life that I don't really think about anymore because it's so normal. The bread man comes every morning at about 8:30 to the little store below our apartment. He brings in crate after crate...and often by the end of the day the store is sold out of bread. It is definitely a staple here in Russia. And because it doesn't have preservatives in it, it really should be eaten quickly before it turns hard as a brick.

Something else our little store has that I never buy is Nestle cocoa cereal. (It's like cocoa puffs). Of course, I know that this is not the healthiest way to start the day. And I would never eat them all of the time. BUT it is a very fun (and tasty) splurge while Leif is away. Of course now that I'm writing this, he'll know my secret. But he won't be mad. He'll just think it's kind of gross that I ate them for breakfast.

I made the mistake of eating my cocoa puffs with Anneka while she had her oatmeal with raisins. Normally I eat muesli and she asks for some of mine and I put it in her bowl with her oatmeal. She just likes to be involved with what Mama and Papa are eating. So, I was in this dilemma about the cocoa puffs because I really didn't want her eating them but I also didn't want to be weird and not share when I normally do share with her. So I told her to eat a bit of her oatmeal first and then I put one cocoa puff in her bowl. After she tried it she was so thrilled! And the normal response would be to whine a little and beg for more. But this day, she so sweetly said "thank you, thank you, thank you" in her little baby voice. (along with the sign language). This was the first time I'd ever heard her say this and it warmed my heart. And when she politely asked for more, it made me WANT to share more. So after every few bites of oatmeal, I plopped a puff in her bowl and was met each time with the sweetest "thank you, thank you, thank you". It made me think of how happy God must be when we think Him for his gifts and His goodness. When Anneka says "thank you" I feel as if I would give her the world if I could.

Wipeout!

This slide in our playground just goes straight into the ground (and is super-fast), so this scene is a common one. I turned off the camera a little to soon, though!

Anneka just loves other kids. She chases after them, and most don't mind at all. This girl even held hands with her, to her delight. This picture was taken a few weeks ago but on any given day, she's talking with the kids (calling most of them "baby", even if they're nine) and squealing with joy. She's definitely a social butterfly. If we've been inside too long on any given day, she brings me her shoes as if to say, "I'm ready mom." And if I don't respond right away, she brings me my shoes, too. How can I say no when she makes it so easy for me? =)

Speaking of kids, there's a girl (about 12 or 13) who calls us on our domaphone each day (sometimes multiple times a day.) This is the phone connected to the outside lower door that rings for us to let visitors in. Leif and my mom met this girl through the neighborhood after-school club. Today she called and asked if we need a dog. I heard a little puppy whimpering in the background. Usually she wants to know exactly what Leif is doing or what Anneka is doing or how is Linda (my mom). I get frustrated because the domaphone is so loud and I don't want it to wake up Anneka. And this girl frequently will call during nap or bed time. And sometimes she even calls our neighbors, asking where Leif is. Anyways, I popped in at the club last Thursday and saw the girl there. She kept giving Anneka breakable things that I didn't want her to play with and I left SO annoyed. This girl definitely tries a person's patience. Anneka and I left and on the way home a song kept going through my head. It's from a CD I ordered for Anneka that has Bible verses put to music. Anyways, it went "let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for such is the kingdom of heaven". It hit me that I wasn't very kind to this girl at all. She's just hungering for love and attention and all I've given her is brief, annoyed responses. My heart changed at that moment. And today when she called, asking if I wanted a dog, I was able to laugh and ask her questions and let her be the one to end the conversation. I'm thankful that God's word is living and active. I pray that He makes me more and more into a person who shows His love.

Just Like Leif

Everyone says Anneka is just like Leif. Yep, it's true!

We Love You, Papa!

Leif left this morning for a conference in Michigan. Right now we have houseguests, but after they leave, I'm sure our apartment will feel very empty (especially on the heels of my parents leaving). It's hard to explain these things to an 18 month old! I love this picture of Leif and Anneka. She just LOVES her Papa. I think he's great, too. We love you, Papa!

I had this great idea that while Leif was gone I would just live off of the small amount of money in my wallet (about $30). I don't eat as much when he's gone, and I thought it would be a fun challenge. Well, I lasted about two hours! Anneka and I made an excursion to a big store that's kind of like a Sears (but smaller) and bought a freezer! I'm so excited about this. It will make life so much easier. Now, when we find things like green beans, peas, broccoli, and french fries we can stock up (these are hit and miss at the stores... can be here for a couple of months and then gone for a few). Also, I can store more things like berries and zucchini when they're ripe this summer. Mmmm. And I can make double the meals when I cook (lasagna, soup, enchiladas, etc.) and it'll make life tons easier when we have guests. And Leif likes to make quadruple batches of waffles so that we can pop them in the toaster later. Anyways, our old freezer (above the refrigerator) is teeny-tiny and is always crammed, but now we can have more space. Yippee!!




There's a Russian family from Chita (next big city to the east) staying with us for a Conference. Anneka LOVES Pasha, their 5-year-old boy. Yesterday, when they left for the day she cried these huge sobs and didn't stop for like 5 minutes. Then she kept talking about the "boy" all day. She was SO happy to wake up this morning and see him!!



I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. Every person is unique!

We thought we'd be having two other guests, too, so Leif and I moved into Anneka's room to free up our bedroom and the living room. When we realized the living room was available, we offered for Pasha to sleep in there but his parents thought he wouldn't be comfortable away from them. I offered to set up a bed on the floor of their room for him and the conversation went something like this:
Me: Would you like a mattress for the floor for Pasha?
Yulia: What?
Me: A mattress. For the floor. For Pasha.
Yulia: On the FLOOR? No, he'll sleep in the bed with us.
Me: Is that comfortable for you?
Yulia: Yes, of course, the bed is big.

It was then that I realized that it is kind of an American thing to want lots of space for sleeping. Leif and I can't even sleep with a 1 1/2 year old in our bed! She takes up as much room as Leif does!! Even staying in the same room with her has been a challenge. The last two mornings she's woken up before 6:00 and as soon as she spotted us, she got SO excited and wanted out of her crib immediately to play. Silly girl.