Having Guests, Being Guests

     It was so fun to have Alex and Yulia come for a visit a few weeks ago!  The kids loved having them here, too.  Leif enjoyed talking about what (and where)  is needed to really reach the Buryats with the good news of Jesus.  We really like them both a lot.

     Yulia was superwoman!  The kids climbed all over her.

     We had a babushka stay with us for a couple of days last week, and after a couple of hours with our kids, she was so exhausted!  I was putting sheets on her bed, and the kids were in there, too... crawling around on the bed while I made it, and she said, "Stop!  I will make the bed!  Get the kids out of here!  You are a hero!"  So funny.

     Another day we went to Vera's house for a nice dinner.  She had invited her son, daugher-in-law, and granddaugher to join us.  I think she was hoping for us all to have good conversations and wanting her family to see examples of Christians that are in their same stage of life.  They were three hours late in coming, so we had to leave about an hour after they arrived... but it was still a lovely time.

     Vera had made "morse", which is berry juice.  I watched her make it.  She poured boiling water over berries that were in a strainer and added suger and Whala!  Morse!

     Another day, Inka's car broke down.  She took it to the shop and they said it wouldn't be ready for about a month.  She was planning on just taking the bus back to her village, but Anneka BEGGED her to stay the night... and she did!  What a wonderful surprise!  Ella joined the picture right as I snapped it.... sorry, Ella!

     Since Inka's car is broken down, we figured it would be a good excuse to go and visit her in the village and take her groceries.  We spent the night out there and then she rode with us to church the next day.  A lady that Inka is teaching English to came with her family for the day, and we had a really nice time getting to now them.  After dinner, Valera opened up a spiritual discussion with the question, "if you were standing at the gate of heaven and God asked you why He should let you in, what would you say?"  We all answered and then he went on to explain parts of the gospel.  In the moment both Inka and I felt that it was maybe too soon to share all of this, as it was the husbands first time to meet any of us!  But we had a good talk with Valera later, and he said that he felt prompted by God to share.  When I reflected on it later, I thought that it probably is better to err on the side of sharing than not to share at all!  Of course we pray for this family, that they weren't weirded out or scared away!

Leif enjoyed a game of checkers with their son (this was three days before his accident!).

     While Leif drove the family home that night, I got Anneka settled, and Inka watched the little ones.  I caught them in a cute, cuddly moment!

     We also had four Russian men from Chita stay the night on their way to a meeting.  We didn't know how many were spending the night until after 10:00pm.  Thankfully I had enough clean sheets!   I was so thankful for Lena's help that day... she made an amazing dinner that they all loved.  She is such a blessing!

     This week we've had a guest from Moscow staying with us.  He's Irish, which is fun.  I love that we get to meet people from all over the world!  I think this is a special privilege for our kids, too.  Especially as they get older, this will be a great opportunity to learn about different cultures and countries naturally.

     On this afternoon, Leif met with these two guys (the other is here from Yakutia) to talk about vision and what's going on with other missions organizations across Russia and how we can work together.  As you'll notice, his poor right arm is tucked up under his shirt.  He has to wear the sling for a month!  So far it looks as though everything is healing okay.  Today the doctor will look at the wound to talk about when the stitches will be removed.

     I've been finding it challenging to keep up with everything around here.  Ike gets into EVERYTHING!  Even though I have duct taped the freezer and refrigerator and certain cabinets, he somehow gets into them and strews everything about!  I found cheese in my socks yesterday.  He also can easily transport chairs ans stools anywhere in the apartment, which is a handy ladder to whatever he wants to reach.  This past week, the girls left the bathroom door open, and I found him playing in the toilet... three different times!  And it's not that I don't watch him.  These things happen in the moments I'm in the other room to wash my hands after changing a diaper or am mopping up spilled milk on the floor.  At times I feel like I'm going crazy!  But just about when I think I AM going crazy, God gives me just what I need.  Yesterday I had a migraine so I stayed home from church.  Ella and Ike stayed with me, and we ALL slept the whole time Leif and Anneka were gone!  I think we all really needed it!  I'm thankful that He never gives us more than we can bear!  

It's getting warmer!

     It's getting warmer and warmer!  Before Leif's arm injury it was warm enough to go sledding.  And now it's warm enough that we can't even use the sled for kid-transportation on the way to school anymore!  Three days have risen above freezing.  This leaves frozen sheets of ice everywhere.  Anneka fell down more than 20 times on the walk to school on Friday (no exaggeration)!  I'm hoping for one more good snow day so that we can make SNOWMEN... and then I want spring.

     The girls loved sledding and went fast, with no fear!   I went down with Anneka once and we ran into a big shrub.  She was mad at me after that, so I became the official baby holder.

... and the official baby picture taker.    He wants to be bigger so that he gets more turns on the sled.

     The other day on the way to pick up Anneka from school, this mangy cat jumped into the stroller with Ike.  He was very happy about, and Ella thought it was so great!  The cat was happy for a moment of extra warmth.  

A Run-In With A Chainsaw

      This week all of the guys in our church were asked if they could help with the construction... a big push in hopes of getting the main room done in time for Easter.  Leif cleared his schedule and committed to helping, but his help was soon halted on Tuesday when he hit a wire with a chainsaw in the frame of a window.  It jumped back at him and lacerated in and under his arm.  He ended up with a trip to the hospital that included stitches deep in his muscle and also in his skin.

     I was thankful that I was able to meet Leif at the hospital while Lena watched the kids.  This is how I found him, on a gurney in the hallway.  He lost a lot of blood, so they gave him an I.V. with fluids.  What a brave guy!  We kept marveling that the laceration was where it was and didn't get any major nerves or veins or tendons.  We know that God was protecting him and are so thankful.

     We stopped by the church on the way home, for Leif to collect his things and touch base with the guys.  These poor guys also witnessed Dima getting himself with the same chainsaw on Monday in his FACE!!  That also was a miracle that it didn't get him worse.  Part of the cut was even in his eye... a little more and he could have lost his sight... or even his life

     Here they were revisiting the site of the accident.  Leif had been up on this scaffolding, using the saw to widen the side of the window frame where there were metal wires. Once the saw hit metal it jerked back.  Leif said that if he were in North America he wouldn't have tried something like this.  But he said that being in Russia so long he got acclimated to seeing people do crazy things with chainsaws.  It just becomes normal and you forget how dangerous certain things are!

  After they bandaged him up, they put him in this plaster cast.  It kind of freaked me out at first because they whisked him away on the gurney after checking his I.V. and yelled at me not to follow.  The rational part of my mind told me they were just going to put a cast on him.  But the longer I waited, the more I started thinking about blood transfusions, etc!  It made me grateful for the informative part of health care in North America!  In this picture above, the nurse is cutting off his cast and about to change his bandages.    He has to do this every day for 12 days and get shots of antibiotics.

   The nurse and doctor at our clinic thought the cast was too cumbersome and cut it off.  So now Leif has to be more careful not to move his arm.  But I bought him a nice big babushka scarf for a sling, and that seems to hold it pretty well.

   
     I almost didn't post this picture because it shows our messy room.  But that's how it is.  And Ella was so cute helping Leif put on his socks.  It's a little more challenging around here, as Leif isn't able to do as much as he usually can (which is a lot!).   I'm actually amazed at what he can do with his left arm, though.   And we've had guests this week- both unexpected and planned, so that's been more work in regards to cleaning and meals.  But we've also been blessed by these guests, and are thankful for the strength God provides.

We trust that Leif's wound will heal well.  Again, we're thanking God for his protection!  I don't know what I would do without wonderful Leif!

Papa-Daughter Date

     On Valentine's Day, Leif had planned to pick Anneka up from school and take her out on a lunch date at a cafe near our apartment.  When he got there, she said that her stomach was hurting... but as soon as she found out about the date, she said she really wanted to go and that she'd be fine.

     They started walking to the cafe (with Anneka riding on the sled), and after a few minutes she threw up in a snow bank.  The timing was perfect as far as not being at school!  But it was a bummer that she had to come home and miss her date (and was sick throughout the day here, too).

     So a couple of weeks later, Leif picked up Anneka again and took her out, this time for a perfect little date.  This cafe has fun entrees for kids where the food looks like animals.  I think this one was supposed to be a little girl.  =)  It was so sweet to see how Anneka's face lit up when she told us about her date with Papa.  She happily said to Leif, "usually just Mama gets to go on a date with you.  I've never been on a date with you before!"  I just love that he did that and know that he'll keep pursuing his little daughters over the years.

     

International Women's Day

     International Women's Day is a very big deal here.  It's a holiday from work, and women are highly honored!  Men bring home cakes and flowers and toys for all of the women/girls in their lives.  And women give each other cards and gifts, too.  Anneka made this picture of me at her preschool.  They were all on display the week before Women's Day, and I loved seeing all of the moms and especially this one of me!  

     Anneka's class had a special Women's Day program that they'd been practicing for for weeks.  We made each of her teachers a little cake in a mug and Anneka wrote them cards in Russian.

     Ike and Ella fell asleep on the way to the program.  Ike slept longer than Ella inside, so we opened up some of his layers and let him sleep on the sled.

Me with  my little sweetie, waiting for the program to start

The boys came out first and said a little poem to introduce the girls.

We loved seeing all of the little girls in their gowns!

     I had hoped to take Anneka to the neighbor's to get her hair done before the program, but she wasn't home.  I was talking outloud, trying to figure out what to do, and Anneka said, "my teacher said to come to her before the program and she'll do my hair for me".  Perfect.  I love how God works things like that out.  It looked really cute.

     Ella wanted to see better and ended up with the ladies on the row in front of us.  When she realized later that she was cuddled up with strangers, she got embarrassed and shy.  So cute and funny.

Playing a little cymbal

Dancing! I love that they learn to dance at school.

     Even Leif had a role!  He was working construction at the church that day, and the teacher asked me if he could come in an hour before the program.  I called him and we were all able to get there 30 minutes early.  She gave Leif some lines (a little poem) and he and this other dad had to draw faces of their love and dance around with the balloon.  The kids giggled and giggled.  Leif was perfectly dramatic!

It's so great to be a girl!

 Anneka with a couple of her sweet friends.

     On the ride home, Ike fell asleep and Anneka pretended to sleep.  I just bought a double sled today (not pictured), and it works great!  I'm excited to try it out with the crew.

     Leif brought us breakfast in bed on the actual date of Women's Day (March 8th).  Thankfully Ike was still sleeping, so he didn't crawl all over our food!!

      Then Leif went to go and get (and relocate) a bunch of gear for the mountain climbing trip he's preparing for with one of the guys, and the kids and I went to visit a 70 year old lady in our building.  She's diabetic, so we got her a bunch of different types of tea in a decorative mug.  Anneka figured out all on her own how to write her a card after looking at a card she'd made for me at school.  Also, she dismantled (and reassembled) a paper flower the boys had given her to figure out how to make flowers for Baba Masha.

     When we got there, Baba Masha was so happy to see us and so sweet and welcoming!  She gave me a pretty kitchen towel and then had us come in and wait while she sewed the girls little scarves.

     I just love Ella's attempt to smile for the camera here!  Each kid took turns bouncing on Baba Masha's knee while she did something to pump up her sewing machine.  Ike was really tired, but the girls wanted to stay, so Baba Masha told me to take him home and she'd bring the girls later.  She gave them tea and fried bread and I think cabbage and then brought them back to our apartment to get warmer outdoor clothes and then took them for a walk.  The entrance to her apartment is literally 10 seconds away from our entrance, and inside her apartment is hot like ours (80+F or 28C), and I had them in coats and boots and hats to go the 10 seconds outside.  But when she saw them, she said I had great faith to dress them like that!  And she really meant it.  Haha!  

  On Sunday Leif gave the talk at the service and all of the guys sang a song for the ladies and gave us flowers.  Leif made apple pies and pizza for everyone for lunch afterwards.  What an amazing guy!

Plugging Away

     The guys are still plugging away at chruch construction.  Leif still goes one day a week, as he is able, to help.  This past week, they tackled the floor in the main room.  This was no small job! 

They measured everything to make the floors as even as they could.

     This part of the floor was harder to do because they had to use a jackhammer underneath where the old stove sat.

     There is actually a huge pit underneath the entire floor.  But this is the old door to the "cellar" (a.k.a. the hole) where they used to store potatoes.  They closed this over, as we now have a basement in the new addition.  I feel like each year we are here, we learn all the more what a HUGE part potatoes are in Russian culture.  Almost everyone I know has either a locked box in their hallway outside of their apartment or a garage that they rent or space underground near the bus stop that they own or rent, or a cellar... all for their yearly supply of potatoes.  I asked Vera last week if it was actually less expensive to rent her hole in the ground and buy potatoes from her friend than to just buy them as needed at the store.  And she said that the quality is far better if they are local Russian potatoes.  And that makes it worth it to her.  I never thought of it before!  Our apartment is so warm that I just buy a small bag at a time for the refrigerator (which is far more than I ever bought in America!).  But it would take some great convincing for me to buy a special box for the hallway to store huge sacks for the winter!

 

Here they are, insulating the floor.

It took lots of screws to pin the plywood down.

Already it's looks SO much better than it did!

     The guys have a goal to have this whole room completed by Easter (which is a month later than Easter in America).  Our church has been full each week, and this new space will triple the seating.  It will be nice to have.

Jump, jump!

Little Miss Independence

     I needed to make some frosting for some cupcakes for our home group a couple of weeks ago, but Ella really wanted me to sit and hold her (it was the day after she got her "owies" from the treadmill).  Anneka said, "it's okay, Mama and Ella, you sit right there on the couch.  I'll do everything!"  And she totally did.  I told her what to mix in for the frosting... she got out the beaters by herself and scraped everything with the spatula and put it all on the cupcakes.  And then she got out the sprinkles and sprinkled them.  And I just sat and held Ella.  Of course, there was WAY more cleanup later, and Ike got a nice fistfull of cupcake along the way, but I love how she's so confident to do stuff like that... and Ella was happy, too.  =)

     For a few months now, she's been into making her own cakes.  They're always a little different, but she does the whole thing by herself (except for actually putting it into the oven and taking it out.)  In January the ladies from our team were all over for a clothing exchange party, and Anneka made a cake with her friend Kristina (who is the same age).  Kristina's mom was shocked to walk into the kitchen and see the little girls dumping flour and sugar and oil into a bowl with no adult around!  Leif helped them put it in and out of the oven, and when it was finished, the girls proudly brought us each a piece of cake to try.  And it was pretty good!  Sometimes she'll add things like pretzels and Cheerios... but most of the time they're pretty basic.  This also creates a huge mess, so I have to be feeling energetic to let her bake by herself!

     Anneka is also very into making everything.  If she wants something and doesn't have it, she makes it (masks, notebooks, wings, earrings, etc.)  The other day she was thinking about our friend, Masha, who is expecting a baby in June.  Anneka said, "Mama, you call Masha and tell her that she doesn't need to buy any clothes for the baby.  I'll make them all!"  And she proceeded to make this little outfit.  Gotta love it!

The Rabbit Family and Other Snippets

     Ella has a nice warm winter coat that our friends gave to Anneka to use when she was 3, and now Ella uses it.  Ella is going through a phase where she asks "who gave this to me?" about EVERYTHING.  It's actually really cute.  After I tell her who (and if you've ever given us anything, I'm sure she knows about it!), she tilts her head and smiles and says "oh!" or "oh! That's nice of them!"  The family who gave the coat has a last name that when translated into English is "rabbit".  So I always tell her the rabbit family gave her her coat.  She really likes that.
     Ella was happy to finally meet the rabbit family a couple of weeks ago when they had us over for dinner.  The kids played really well together, and it was nice to catch up after a long time of not seeing them.  Sveta is pregnant and is expecting their fourth child very soon!

   
     I've noticed that an important part of Russian culture is for little girls to have their hair fixed nicely.  I fix Anneka's hair every day for preschool (and sometimes Leif does, too), but her hair is so fine that it comes out easily (even with teeny-tiny rubberbands that grip really well).  I'm learning how to do french braids, but it always hurts Anneka when I do it, so this minimizes my practice times!  Sometimes if Anneka's hair falls out too much then her teacher will fix it.  She comes home with beautiful designs sometimes.  This picture was taken AFTER a hat and after it came out a bit, but it looked really cute.  Some days Anneka will ask for just a ponytail because then she knows her teacher will do her hair- a little sneaky, but I let her get away with it, because I like it, too!  =)

   And of course, I had to take a picture of the twins!  Ike is still very busy these days!  He knows both the words and signs for "all done" very well and uses them shortly after beginning a meal... not because he's really all done eating, but because he has too much to do to sit still for too long! 

Exercise

     We bought the Wicker's treadmill from them when they moved back to Canada a year and a half ago... and we're just getting around to actually using it!  These last few weeks, Leif and I have started running, and it feels SO great to get this exercise in the middle of the winter.  Today is officially "spring" on the Russian calendar, but it was -28C/-18F.  It took me 2 hours to bundle the kids, pick up Anneka from preschool, and come back home!  Needless to say, we're very thankful for this treadmill and a way to exercise without burning our lungs.  And even when the weather gets a bit nicer, it's still convenient to be able to run at home.

  
     The kids really like the treadmill, too.  The girls can actually go really fast!  We always make sure one of us is spotting them, of course.  The other day, Anneka was running as fast as the treadmill would go, and she wanted me to take a video of her accelerating.  I was holding Ike, but then he got squiggly and Anneka was nearing the #12 speed (the highest) and I knew my little video would be done in a few seconds.  So I let Ike down and warned Leif that he was coming.  Leif picked him up and in that second, Ella (who was watching) stumbled and got rug burns from the treadmill on both elbows and both knees.  Poor girl!  Thankfully Anneka was okay (as she was the one running)

     Ella got lots of attention that night- cuddles, ice cream, and a little show past bedtime.  She really wanted tights on her legs to cover up the burns.  We figured it would be okay, so we put them on her.  But the next day her "owies" had oozed and were totally stuck to the tights!  So then she incurred worse "owies" by me having to peel off her tights.  She has been very protective and doesn't want us to look at her "owies".  We sneak peeks of course and they're all healed now.  Next time I'll know not to let Ike down, even if it makes for a bouncy video later!