Ice Sculptures And Ice Slides

On Monday evening, we headed down to the city square with the Brubachers to look at the ice sculptures and for the kids to slide on the ice slides. It was so cold!! I had left the diaper bag in the van and had left Ella's scarf in there, so I had to put her hat on differently than if I'd had a scarf. A lady came up to Anneka and fixed her pants, coat, scarf, hat, etc... then she looked at Ella and gasped! She told me that it was very dangerous and the way I had Ella dressed was a nightmare. Normally I'd let it go, but I'd been worried about her hat situation to begin with. It was -17 outside, and I know that it IS dangerous. So Ella and I headed into a cafe across the street until I could get her dressed better. Above is what she looked like when the lady gasped.




It really is amazing all that they carve out of ice!





Here's a little kid slide for the tots.





These are all of the animals for the different years. I think this next year is the year of the rabbit (at least that's what the central ice sculpture looked like!)





Anneka loved sliding!




Here she is with Nathan on his back.




After the men had payed our phone bills, they came back and went on the bigger slides with the kids. They got going pretty fast!!




The kids were so cute. Anneka looks like a funny ragamuffin.



And, of course, we had to get our picture with Grandfather Frost and the Snow Granddaugther!

We don't get to drive around and look at Christmas lights like families do in the States, but this is pretty cool, too... arguably even cooler! =)

Salvation Church and The Answer

Today we went to Salvation Church. The pastor there was officially ordained, and people from three different churches came to celebrate. This church building has been in the planning/works for a few years now. It's neat to see how God has answered prayers of resources and funding and leadership. The service was over 3 hours long. It was just about to be over at the 2 hour mark, but then someone wanted to go up front and repent (turn her life to God) and then a bunch of people did that after her as well. God is at work.




Anneka and Ella were champions in the long service. Something fun happened today, too! Yesterday I looked in several stores for a hat for Anneka for Christmas (her current one is ratty and falling apart)and didn't find what I was looking for. I came home empty-handed and realized that I probably wouldn't be able to go shopping for hats again before Christmas. Well, at church Sveta came up to me and asked if we'd want to borrow a certain hat and coat. And I LOVE the hat! This picture doesn't show the front of the hat, but I thought it was cute of Leif and Anneka. I love how God provides in such fun ways!

After church we went to the Blaker's house for lunch (with the Hofstetters, too). It was nice to have that time with them. Anneka delighted in playing with Anna's new puppy.

In answer to the question a few days ago about who was Anneka and who was Ella, Ella was on top (with me in the striped sweater). Can you guess who is who in the pictures below?

A Trip to Zaigraeva

We drove out to Zaigraeva today to see Inka and to pick up Katia and her babies and bring them back to Ulan-Ude. It was really good to see everyone, and we hope to make frequent trips there. I can't remember how much I shared before but Valery and Tasia and Inka are starting a church there... the first! They're already reaching out to their neighbors and living well in the community. It's exciting. Today Inka made us delicious soup for lunch. Ella is a grabber, so I had to keep my bowl far away from her little hands. Speaking of which, last night we had some guests over and Ella was hanging out in the kitchen with me. While I was preparing dinner, I had a bowl of cookie dough on the table. It was originally pretty far away from Ella. When I turned around, this is where the bowl was:


Ella is now 6 months old! We started her on solid foods this week, but she doesn't quite have the hang of it yet. I'll have to take pictures soon. I weighed her at Inka's (she has a digital scale), and Ella is now almost 19 pounds!! I'm SO happy. For her age of baby, this is huge. Even so, she's only gained the minimum of what a baby should gain the past three months. Still, she's in the normal range of growth, so I'm thrilled. And I've decided to officially stop worrying about this. Back to Inka's...



Anneka wanted to hold Katia's new baby, Rastoslav. He's six weeks old and very cute. Anneka is also growing! Yesterday she peeled her own boiled egg at breakfast and her own orange at dinner. She asked me if I knew how she could do it. "How?" I asked. "Because I'm getting big!" She's actually been peeling eggs and oranges for awhile now, but she definitely does it with more confidence and less mess than before. She's very aware of the new things she's able to do.



Lyena came over this week, too. I feel like I'm starting to feel a bit more normalcy in life (don't get me wrong, our apartment is usually messy and it still takes forever to do things, but we've rounded a corner).

Leif has had a lot of responsibilities lately (when doesn't he?) Tonight some of his Russian friends invited him to play basketball. I'm so happy for him. He's been wanting to do that for awhile now! Oh, and speaking of basketballs, I bought a new one for Leif for Christmas. I took both Anneka and Ella shopping (no small feat on public transportation), and I told Anneka to keep it a secret. About 10 minutes after we got home, Anneka said to Leif, "We got you a volleyball for your birthday". We'll have to work on keeping our lips sealed.

We co-own a van!!

We have a van! Leif and Dave went to Irkutsk this past weekend. It's an overnight train ride to get there (with thousands of dollars under Leif's pillow to purchase the van with). When they arrived in the morning, they saw that it was -37 degrees outside! And then they spent hours in the cold, looking at all of the vehicle options at the car market. It was so cold that the insoles in Leif's boots literally froze! It's so nice because our friend, Vitya, made the trip with the guys to help them make a good choice.

A important selling point for cars in Russia is whether or not the cars have been on Russian roads a long time. Most cars are imported from Japan and Korea. The roads there are nice and smooth, but Russian roads are entirely different. All of the cars for sale say how many years they've been on Russian roads. The guys finally settled on a 2001 Toyota Town Ace Noah. It's 4-wheel drive, which is really nice with all of the ice in the wintertime. On the 10.5 hour drive back (280 mile trip), the guys got to test out the 4wd. The weather was really bad. They got one flat tire, stopped once to have the spare tire fixed, and got pulled over by the police once (a random check). They arrived back to Ulan Ude at 2:30 in the morning, and Leif had to speak at church later that morning. When he went to start the van at 9:30am it wouldn't start! It was too cold. Then the next day Dave and Martina got it started with a jump and got a second flat tire... all this in the first day and a half!! Today the guys bought a good new battery and they looked at good tires. All should be well after these purchases. =)

In America there are 24-hour fast food restaurants and 24-hour convenience stores. In Russia they have 24-hour tire repair places.

Our steering wheel is on the right hand side, but we will drive on the right hand side... something to get used to. We're thankful for the blessing of this van and hope to use it to encourage others in villages and to also make it easier traveling with kids.




Here's Leif on Sunday. He gave some background on the Thessalonian church from the book of Acts. Both girls were really good through the service.




... and a picture of our little church.

Anneka's quote of the day: "We don't throw garbage on the ground outside. Who does that?" Good question, Anneka. Good question.

Building Snowmen

Someone in America told Anneka that she could build snow houses when she returned to Russia. Who told her this? It is much too cold to build snow houses and snowmen outside except for two days a year in the fall and spring. We went outside on the one day of fall that would work. It was 25F outside, but the snow was still too dry for packing. Now it is 55 degrees colder and simply impossible to even try. Anyways, today our advent activity was to bring the snow indoors and make mini-snowmen. Anneka had a lot of fun with it. She did it once with Leif and once with me. =) I added a little video clip at the end...

Who Is Who?

Which picture is Anneka and which is Ella?

The Advent Season

Since we've been married, Leif and I have celebrated advent in the month leading up to Christmas with candles, scripture readings and songs each evening. Now that we have Anneka and Ella we want to include them in tangible ways as we anticipate Christmas day and the coming of Christ! Martina had a great idea that I immediately stole. She made a calendar starting on December 1st made up of envelopes clipped to a ribbon. Each day we open the envelope and celebrate in some way. Some are more focused on Jesus and others are just silly or fun. For example, today's celebration was to have ice cream for breakfast.



Another part of our tradition is to have pregnant Mary and Joseph journey to Bethlehem. Each day they move a little bit closer to the nativity set, and Anneka LOVES moving them around the living room. Gotta love that morning hair!



Ella likes to watch her sister.



On this day our activity was to make Christmas cards for Anneka's grandparents. She loves cutting! We wanted to make more cards, but the main post office was out of stamps. So we did what we could. =)




And this day we put green ice cubes in the bath. They looked more blue after the water froze.



... but they turned the bath green when melted.



Ella chases after her sister and delights in her walker. She is so strong that she can move that thing over carpet, too. Yesterday, I caught her pulling on (and trying to eat) the advent calendar. Gotta watch that girl!




You probably noticed Anneka in her coat and Ella in her hat indoors. This morning I had her in her snowsuit in our living room because it's SO COLD! It's -33F outside and who-knows-how-cold inside. Brrr.

I haven't blogged much, as Leif has had the camera a lot this week and when he's been home he's needed the computer for various meetings (area counsel, working on getting "Sharing Christ in the Tibetan Buddhist World" translated into Russian, etc).

But Leif is gone with Dave today to hopefully find a van for us to co-own. We hope they find one! Anneka is hoping for a light pink van.

Birthday At The Banya

On Saturday we got to celebrate John's birthday with his family at the banya. It was so fun, and we felt honored that they invited us! I thought I'd taken a good picture of John and Sharon that day, but I can't find it now!



A banya is a bath house where there's steam and a sauna (and sometimes a pool) for getting nice and clean. Normally the sauna is too hot and the pool too cold for kids, but this pool was a perfect temperature and both girls really enjoyed it. Of course, anything with Heidi is 10x more fun!!




This picture is steamy, but I think it's cute of Leif with his girls in his banya hat. We got John a banya hat for his birthday, so now he can be stylish like Leif.



It was SO CUTE how Ella loved splashing the water with her little hand. There's a lap pool not far from our apartment, but I heard that it's cold. I wish there were a pool for the kids to play in close by. It's such a fun thing to do... especially as it's too cold to play outside. We were thankful for this fun day!

Hanging Out Together

"Let's talk about Ella being big", is a common phrase from Anneka. She loves her sister as she is (a baby), but she also loves to think about Ella being big enough to play with. Ella loves to watch her sister and hang out with her. Anneka plays so nicely by herself, and Ella is an avid fan.




A couple of weeks ago we went to visit Inka in Zaigraiva (the village where she moved to). I didn't take any pictures that day, as it was kind of rough. Anneka fell down the stairs before we went, had a "pee-pee accident" while we were there (with no change of clothes), and it was just before we knew she had a cold so she was tired and kind of cranky. And Ella wouldn't eat while we were there. Anyways, we'll need to go and visit Inka again and hopefully things will go a little better this next time. We miss her!! Here is how Anneka fell asleep in the car on the way out there. It's so funny how she had her leg propped up on the other.

Counting Our Blessings

We celebrated a nice Thanksgiving at the Kerins with teammates and friends. The night before, Leif and I counted our blessings by writing many, many things we're thankful for from this past year into our "thankful book". It's amazing all that can happen in a year and how many prayers are answered and sweet moments there are to celebrate.



This is what we looked like as we prepared to leave our apartment. It's cold out now... even as I type it's -22F. Brrr. Ella was dressed in her snowsuit and a snowsack. She looked like a Russian baby all bundled up.



There were 20 of us total. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal with chicken substituting the turkey and carrots prepared like sweet potatoes. Leif and I brought stuffing and apple pie. He rolled out the crust... my least favorite part! Before we all ate we sang the song "Count Your Blessings" and between choruses we each shared things we're thankful for this past year. Later on we sang more praise songs to God.



Rebecca's friend, Nadia, brought a cake with the Mayflower on it! She even dressed like a Native American with a headdress and everything... but I missed getting a picture of that. =)



Ella has begun the stranger anxiety phase of babyhood, but on this day she let other people hold her. She also both ate and slept well that day- something huge to be thankful for!




Here are the kids eating dessert together. Anneka loved playing with the girls, and she did amazing for having no nap and staying up late.

We always miss our families during this time of the year, but we are also always amazed by how God gives us sweet blessings as we are away!

At The Fruit Stand

When our family traveled all over the city for medical tests for our residency, I thought, "Great! I can have Ella weighed" to see if she's growing okay. But at one clinic they said we had to take her to another clinic across town. And when we got there, the wait was HOURS long. We actually waited for a couple of hours because we needed a medical card to take the the tuberculosis clinic. But then they closed the doors at 5:00 and sent everyone home. All to say, I don't know how anyone could actually wait it out at a clinic to have their baby weighed. So I took Ella to our local fruit stand. And Ella squiggled. And we don't know exactly how much she weights. But I don't think she's lost weight. And I think we're not supposed to worry!

Anneka's First Haircut

Anneka is three and she just got her very first haircut last week! She was bald for her baby life and only really started growing hair after she was 2. Martina was nice enough to be the hairdresser.



The weather here is so dry, so what were cute curls in the States often looked like a scraggly mess here. So we did something about it. Martina cut these really long strands in the back.



It's not that much shorter, but it looks so much better!

Speaking of Anneka, she is such a caring, sensitive girl. I had a migraine last week and Leif was gone in the evening. All on her own she put her little hand on my head and prayed for me. Then she brought me a cold washcloth and put it on my forehead and she said she wanted to give me a bath (but needed help turning on the water in the bathtub). She kept saying, "I'll take care of you, Mama!"

Another sweet (and sad) thing happened when I was reading her a book called The Rescuers. There's a little girl named Penny in the book who is an orphan. At the end of the book there's a man interviewing Penny and Anneka asked me, "Is that her Papa?" I explained that it was just an announcer, and she asked me, "Where is her Papa?" I told her that Penny didn't have a mama or papa... that she was an orphan. Anneka's little chin began to quiver and her eyes filled with tears. Then she started sobbing! She cried, "I thought everyone had a mama and papa!" We prayed together for kids who don't have parents and talked about families that we know who have adopted orphans. It really IS a sad, sad thing, and I love that Anneka feels so deeply.

And yesterday while Anneka and I ate leftovers for lunch, Leif was late in coming because he was on skype with someone. We were both really hungry and Leif's food was sitting there hot after we'd finished ours, and I asked her, "Should we eat Papa's lunch, too?" "No!" she said, "it's Papa's!" It didn't matter that I could get him more from the refrigerator. She was looking out for him.

Buryat New Testament!

I (Leif) had the privilege of going to an historic event a week ago. At the National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia, there was a presentation of the New Testament in the Buryat language! This is such a wonderful thing to have to bring the good new of Jesus to the Buryat people. This is actually not the first translation of the Bible into Buryat, but it is the first translation into modern Buryat, and therefore the only translation that people can actually read and understand. Work on this current translation was started twenty years ago by the Institute of Bible Translation which is based in Moscow and is working on getting the Bible translated into all the languages of Russia and central Asia. From all that I have heard, I feel like this translation was done well. The translators were taught Greek to be able to read the earliest extant versions of the New Testament, they worked with various Biblical scholars and translators and compared it with various translations in other languages to try to produce an accurate and understandable version of the New Testament. Please continue to pray for the translation of the Old Testament. There is another group that has taken on this work. Pray that it will come to print soon, and that it will also be accurate and understandable. It will be great to have the Old Testament too, as it is the foundation on which the New Testament rests, and it contains so many examples of cultural and religious similarities for the Buryat people. But even just having part of the scriptures in Buryat will open up people here to see that Jesus is not just the God of the Russians, but that He is the God of all and that He loves the Buryats personally and fully!

God's Grace and New Neighbors

Okay, so I'm sure Martina won't be thrilled that THIS is the first picture I'm showing of her. But it was just too funny not to post! She's our new neighbor from Canada, along with her husband, Dave, and adorable boys who are 3 and 5. On this particular day, we had taken the kids to the playground and a lady came up to tell us something. At first we had no idea what she'd said (as you can see evidenced on our faces)... and the second time was as clear as could be. I think she'd used slang and more "common language" the first time than what we'd learned in our classes. But don't get me wrong- we both wear these faces a lot here in Russia.

This great family moved here less than a week before we arrived. And they didn't have a stove or refrigerator or anything. When we got here I had thoughts of just making extra of whatever I was making for dinner and taking it to them or having them over. And intentions of watching the boys a lot while they ran errands and got set up. And thoughts of helping. And then BAM! I felt like we got hit with more than I could handle. Ella's not eating suddenly became a serious issue that pervaded anything else. And I felt like I couldn't even take care of my own family, much less care for them. I realized that I had certain pictures in my mind of what a good wife, mom, neighbor, friend, etc looked like and I wasn't measuring up to any of those. But God used that to show me His great grace. He wanted me to know that He loves me for ME, not for what I do or don't do. And He's allowed me to live in this season, wanting me to just rest in Him and know His love more fully.

But the really HUMBLING part is that Martina has made US food and their family has done all sorts of kind things for US! I'm so thankful for them and blessed by them and looking forward to grow in our friendships with the whole family. This week Anneka, Ella, and I have had yucky colds. Our refrigerator was empty, but grocery shopping seemed out of the question (it's a big excursion and one you don't want to make with two sick kiddos) When Martina was out with Sharon on Thursday they called and asked what they could pick up for us at the store. And then Sharon and Heidi came and picked up Anneka for a few hours. And Martina brought us dinner. I felt overwhelmed by God's care of us. Leif's been really busy this past week and we haven't been able to leave on dates because of Ella's poor eating. It was like God brought us a date at home! And to top it off, Ella has been eating better the past few days. This is a miracle because her little nose is stuffy and she can hardly breathe when she eats. I know that people are praying for us.

I feel like I'm sort of rambling, but I'm so amazed by how God loves us and cares for us. And I'm thankful for this new family that He's brought to Ulan Ude!