Much to be thankful for!

     Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday to be in the States for, so it was especially sweet to be here with family this year!

      I just decided today that turkey dinner (with mashed potatoes and stuffing) is my favorite meal.  Not only did we get to eat it on Thanksgiving, but a sweet lady who prays for us and supports us served us a FEAST after church today.  The abundance of food in America is quite shocking.  I gained 16 pounds within the first 6 weeks of being back here.  There's no getting away from the food!  But, oh, it's so delicious!

     The kids enjoyed a tractor ride on uncle Dan's tractors.  And Leif was so happy to watch both of his football teams play live... and both won!

     Family, of course, is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, and the thing we miss most when away (yes, even more than food, tractors, and football)!  This is me and my mom.

      Our kids ADORE their cousins, and it was so wonderful to see them giggling and running around.  Myah, Nora, and Erik are so sweet to play with them and show them such love.

     We are aware of all that we have to be thankful for! 

     Our time here has been racing by, as time seems to do.  We're now working hard to focus on Jesus in the middle of the Christmas season, wanting to make special memories with family, and also preparing to return to Russia very soon.

     We have a small window of time where we need to raise our remaining monthly financial support in order to buy our plane tickets back to Russia.  We need to be at 100% of our support before we can buy the tickets, but we will lose our residency in Russia if we wait past early January.  Your prayers for this are appreciated.  We are reminded that God always provides, and often in the last minute!  He loves to increase our faith!

Encouragement

We visited our dear friends and former Ulan-Ude teammates up near Calgary, Canada.  We enjoyed walks outside in beautiful places and a trip to an indoor mini water park for families.

We had fun visiting Matthew and Heather Ann as they worked at Starbucks.

Leif pretended to be Heidi's bodyguard and picked up her boyfriend, Josh, from the airport.  He was very surprised and was worried that he may be kidnapped!

     Our past few weeks have been filled with encouragement.  We have gotten together with many dear people from various walks of life and have enjoyed times talking with them, hearing about their lives, sharing from ours, and praying for one another.  As you can see from the pictures above, we had the chance to visit our former teammates, who are now living in Calgary, Alberta.  It was really fun to laugh with them and share our hearts with one another.

     There have been two things that have really struck me the past few weeks as we've been talking with many dear people.  One is that SEVERAL different people and families, when asked how we can pray for them, said that they want to serve God and to be shaken out of their comfort zone.  They want to be willing to go and to do whatever He asks of them.  Wow!  I love this.  It's so encouraging, and it creates a snowball effect.

     The other thing that has blown us away, is the increased prayer support we have received from many for our family, our ministry, and the people of Siberia.  Several people have told us they are committed to praying for us DAILY and one couple would like to start a prayer group for us and a handful of other missionaries.  People have written us letters saying "I'm in!" with praying, and we are deeply humbled and oh-so-grateful.  We are excited about what God is doing, and have a renewed sense of hope for the days ahead.  What would we do without the body of Christ?

Upcoming Churches

We've been enjoying the beautiful fall leaves and jumping into them!

We'll be at these churches in the next couple of weeks:

Sunday, November 30th- Cheney Church of the Nazarene

Sunday, December 7th- Addy New Life Christian Center

We'd love to see you if you're able to make it!

The next two Sundays....

We'll be at Cheney Church this Sunday (Nov. 2)
and New Community in Spokane the next Sunday (Nov. 9)

We look forward to those we will see there!!

Settled Into a Bit of a Routine

     Besides sharing with lots of churches and people about our ministry, catching up on doctors appointments, raising support, and utilizing the library to catch up on books on the recommended reading list from our organization for where we live and work, we've also settled into a bit of a routine with our family.  One of the biggest blessings is that my mom is homeschooling Anneka!  She is in first grade now, and they both are loving this time together.  It's fun to see my mom have the joy of teaching and Anneka have the joy of learning!

 

     Another blessing of being here is getting time with my grandma. She has special toys and puzzles that she bought for the kids to play with when we visit her.  They have liked eating at the dining hall in the assisted living place where she lives, as it's like a restaurant and they can order whatever they want.  =)

 

     Each Wednesday we take the kids to library story time at our local library.  The librarian leads the time with reading books, singing songs, and playing with educational toys.  We've really enjoyed having access to so many books in English for our kids.  Anneka is really taking off with reading and Ike and Ella love when she reads to them.  On this day there was a special fort making time at library in Cheney.  We met up with some friends and their kids and had a good time together.

 

     Also on Wednesdays, our kids are in a Bible club called Awanas.  I was in this club as a little girl and still remember many of the Bible verses I learned almost 30 years ago.  It's so great because they even have a class for 2 year olds!  Each of our kids love it and are learning a lot and sharing what they learn.  It was so cute the first night when we asked Ike what he learned.  He told us that God made the sunshine and the clouds and the stars.  I loved to hear his little voice speaking these truths. He always asks when he can go to his school at "Mawanas".   Ella and Anneka have been learning Bible verses and enjoy the songs and games there. Leif and I take advantage of this time to go on a date!

     On Friday nights, the girls are in a Russian school.  Ella is in the zero grade and Anneka is in first grade.  They are making friends there, and growing in their skills in reading and writing.  It goes until 9:00 which is pretty late for the little ones, but the girls have a good attitude about going and it's been really positive for them both.  Often my parents will take Ike on this night, and it's freed Leif and I up to do things like to go a conference about God's passion for the city, visiting one of our supporting life groups, going to a prayer meeting for some of our friends who are missionaries in Africa, and getting together with others. 

     We feel thankful and blessed for these opportunities that our family has had this fall.  Our kids have made the transition to the States well.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for this!

October Church Schedule

Sunday, October 5th- Crossroads Community Church (Valley, WA)

Sunday, October 12th- The Vine Community (Deer Park, WA)

Sunday, October 19th- Southside Christian (Spokane on the south hill)

We look forward to seeing any of you who can make it!

Upcoming Churches

Here's where we'll be the next couple of weeks.  Thank you, Harrison Church family for so warmly welcoming us in this past Sunday.  After our day with you, our little Ella said, "Church today was GREAT!  It was like a celebration!"  As it should be.  =)

We are in the Spokane area now for the fall!

September 21st- Nine Mile Falls Community Church
September 28th- Olive Branch Community Church

We should know our October schedule in the next few days and will post it soon!

A Special Day for Darrington... And For Us!

     We've been traveling here, there, and everywhere the past month and a half.  I counted, and we slept in 14 or 15 different places (depending on the family member).  I'll take the next while to post pictures and stories from our time (not in chronological order).  But today I want to share about a special time for our family in Darrington, Leif's hometown.

     Probably most of you have heard of the devastation from the Darrington/Oso mudslide this past spring.  I snapped this picture as we were driving and it doesn't begin to show the devastation to a MASSIVE area- houses and lives totally obliterated.  When we first learned of the mudslide (Leif knew several people directly affected or killed by it), Leif had a really hard time concentrating on anything else for about a month.  He was continually checking the news for body counts and checking in with friends to hear if they'd found their missing family member.  It was very much on his heart to return to his hometown this summer and talk with people and hear how they were doing.  We were blessed to have a week in a family cabin and God opened up opportunities to talk with several people while we were there.

     On the Saturday we were there, a church from Stanwood (nearby town) hosted a special day called "A Day for Darrington".  It was all FREE, and was a wonderful time of food and fun for everyone with the intent of bringing hope and a new beginning.  We felt so privileged to be there for this day!  The kids got snow cones, and Leif got a free haircut.

     The girls had their faces painted, and all of the kids enjoyed the many carnival games with fun prizes!  If they didn't win the prize they just went back to the booth later to try again.  One game had stuffed animals as prizes.  I think our family left with 6 or 7 stuffed animals!

     There was a kiddie pool full of bubble-blowing equipment.  We spent a long time making lots and lots of bubbles!  It's such a beautiful place.  We all loved being tucked in the mountains.

 

     They had a jumping castle as well as this fun bouncy slide!  We met a man who showed great love to us and prayed for our family.  It was wonderful to see the body of Christ working together to bring encouragement to this town, and to us, too!

     Leif's friend, Darrin, was there with his daughter.  Our girls played while the Dad's talked and got caught up.



     There were free burgers, chips, drinks, and watermelon.  Ike was all about the watermelon.  I don't know how many times I went back to get him another piece!

     It was so special for Leif's mom to be with us all week in the Darrington area.  The kids enjoyed their time with their grandma, and the feelings were mutual!  Ella didn't want me to take a picture of her face paint all day.  She was Hello Kitty.  =)

 
     We had opportunity to share at 3 different churches that week in Darrington what God is doing in Russia.  It is always so amazing and humbling to me how many people pray for us.  Even people we've never met!

After one of the services, the pastor and his wife treated our family to a special lunch at a ranch where the kids got to ride horses!  Thank you, God, for these special times!

August Schedule

Here's where we'll be in August.  We'd love to see you!!

August 8-10 Vashon Island

August 17 (Sunday) Darrington First Baptist Church

August 20 (Wednesday) 6:30pm dessert and sharing at Mountainview Baptist Church in Darrington

August 24th (Sunday) Darrington Gladtidings AOG Church 

August 31st (Sunday) Coupeville United Methodist Church

Conferences in Michigan

Families at the SEND Reconnect Conference

      We enjoyed time in Michigan at two different conferences put on by SEND.  The first was called
"Reconnect".  It was smaller scale and allowed for great times breaking into groups to process through our last years on the field as well as training times to prepare us for the future.  They had a great kids program that helped the kids in this time of transition to America.  We enjoyed the connections we made.  We were also able to do things like make new prayer cards and brochures that explain our ministry a bit more.

     One morning we all shared a couple of short stories of how God is at work in our countries.  Afterwards, people prayed for us.  It was encouraging to hear the many accounts of all that God is doing!

     In between the conferences, we rented a car and drove to our teammate's (The Jordans) house for the weekend.  We were still struggling with jetlag, so it was very nice to be with a family who understands and didn't mind us getting up EARLY in the morning!  On Saturday we walked to Lake Lansing.  It was so special because Juli invited Jennifer (who came to Ulan Ude on a short term trip 3 years ago) and Diana (who prays for us FAITHFULLY) to come and join us.  Diana had made a special backpack full of goodies for our kids.  It was PERFECT to have for our travel back to Washington! We cherished these times of talking and sharing.

     Saturday evening John and Sharon (old teammates) flew in and also stayed with the Jordans.  Their hospitality was amazing, as they had just moved into their new home that week!  We had a good time going to their church with them the next morning and meeting the people who love and support them.  What a gift to have time with these two families!

     The next conference was a lot bigger.  I think 300 people were there, and I didn't really get many pictures.  But it was a week of great teaching from the Bible, good seminars for growth, times of hearing what God is doing all over the world and praying, and connecting with others.  This family (pictured above) became very dear to our hearts.  They loved on our kids and we really enjoyed one another.

     Our kids were each in different groups for the kids program, and it was a week full of wonderful teaching and fun activities for them.  Both girls made friends.  Here, Ella is posing with Ella.  =)  By the end of the week, Ike was tiring of being away from us, so we let him nap next to us on the bench and run around with us in the afternoon.  But overall, the kids did great and made many fun memories!

     All of the meals were incredible.  I didn't know it was possible, but I've gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks!!  One meal we looked over to see our kids like this, under the table.  There was a service assistant dog under there!  They had a little tradition to go and run with their friends in the lobby after the meals.  There was fun to be had around every corner!

Green Planes, Stuffed Dogs, and Jet Lag

We walked around a bit in Bejing during our 15 hour layover.

     We've arrived in Michigan after our long travel around the world!  I say "long", but actually we got here in TWO PLANES which is the least EVER.  (We have had to take up to 5 planes before.)  It helped that Ulan Ude now has a flight that goes to Bejing once a week.  And there was a direct flight from there to Detroit.  We ended up being on the overseas flight about 15 hours because of a storm, but I can't tell you how wonderful it was to ARRIVE after that flight instead of saying "two more planes to go!".  The kids did great traveling.  Since we've had 3 kids, it was our easiest trip yet.  

     A couple of hours before we left, our friends Ira and Sasha came over and brought us gifts.  They gave each of the kids a stuffed dog.  Between their dogs and each getting to wear their own backpacks, the kids were so happy and cute.  Ike was very happy that we got to fly on a green plane.  Simple pleasures.

     Now we have a couple of weeks of conferences.  The kids are VERY jet lagged right now.  They've been waking up very early (as early as 2:00am) and then falling asleep at random moments throughout the day.  They are falling all over the floor at meals (and not really eating, but then really wanting to eat in the night), walking into walls and people, giggling crazily one moment and crying really hard the next. We appreciate your prayers to get back on schedule soon!

    So far, we've enjoyed the pleasures of Cheerios, chips and salsa, running barefoot in the grass, drinking water out of drinking fountains, swimming in a pool, and speaking English everywhere!  (although, Ella has been breaking out her Russian like never before!).  It's good to be back!

There's always time for fun!

     After everyone finished working for the day last Friday, we went to the river for a picnic of shashlik (shish kabobs) with side dishes and s'mores for dessert.  It was the 4th of July, too, so it was nice to be able to celebrate on our Independence Day.  Of course, most of the people there were Canadians, but we didn't hold it against them.

Ike and Matty played catch.

Ella and Anya played with the frisbees.

And after dinner I took the kids to the shore to swim.  The water was COLD!

Getting warm with Renata and a toasted marshmallow!

     Then Saturday was a very special birthday party for two babies who each turned 1!  Last year we threw a joint shower for the moms, so it was special that they had their birthday party together.  It was a grand affair!!  Lots of food and activities and games and treats!

     It was held at the church in the middle of the construction.  It was amazing how much they cleaned everything up to throw a birthday bash!  They rented these bouncy things for the kids to jump on.

There was a slide show that showed pictures of Dasha and Ilya from this past year.

     Then on Sunday after church, Leif took the Canadian team to the Buddhist temple to share with them more about the religion and about Buryat culture.  Afterwards, we met up with them and joined them for dinner at an outdoor museum where they serve posie (traditional meat dumplings).  The kids all rode on horses and loved it!  Ike must be allergic to horses because he broke out in red spots all over his back and his eyes were puffy and red.  Poor guy!

Such fun to ride a horse!

Happy girl!

     When our family came home, we got ice cream and let the kids play on the playground.  We're totally on a late summer schedule right now, as it's light out really late.  

     Then this Thursday we got together with our Swiss friends and their parents.  We wanted to connect with them before we head out for America.  On the table in this picture is both salted and smoked fish from Baikal that we ate.  Mmmmm!

     These two friends ate together on the covered balcony.  They were both sad to be saying goodbye to one another for the next 5 months!

     After a wonderful chicken dinner, we went for a walk, ate ice cream, and hung out around the fountain.  The weather was perfect and the kids were so happy!

     It was fun to watch the grandmas, as they were concerned that the kids would fall into the fountain!  They stayed near and frequently grabbed a shirt or some pants to pull a child back!

     There was a sign that said not to feed the birds, but people everywhere were feeding them.  Ella and Anya would pick up food from the ground and lure the birds with it.  There were roller bladers everywhere!  I love seeing families out and enjoying the evening and one another!

     Tonight we fly to Bejing for a long layover before we go to Michigan for a couple of conferences.  Let me just say that it is HARD to pack with three young kids!!!  But I think we're almost done.  =)  We appreciate your prayers as we travel and transition to a whole 'nother world!