Summer Flashbacks (Part 1)

     I'm going to attempt, in this next week, to finally catch up on summer blogs.  I realize that when I'm this behind, things that should have been full stories become condensed into one picture!  I also realized that there are a lot of things we didn't get pictures of that we'll just have to treasure as memories.  Leif was a part of the Training National Trainers program again this June.  They stayed in these yurts.

     The theme was the book of Psalms and each of the men really grew to love the book as they studied the passages deeply and as each prepared and gave sermons from the book.  It's been encouraging to see the men in Ulan Ude growing from the second generation group that has come out of these bi-yearly sessions.  

The Blakers planned a special party for the last day of school.  The kids cherish these memories!

     I picked up the kids from the party and Kandid and Daniela invited us for cherry pie and to meet their new kitten.  It was a lovely afternoon.

   
     This year Inka turned 50!  She threw an amazing party (it's normal to throw a party for yourself, especially on a "Jubilee" year.)  Many, many people came and shared skits, songs, slideshow, and stories of the blessing that Inka is to them.  I felt so grateful that we got to celebrate her at such a happy occasion and not because she was moving away or something.  =)  Lena Belaganskaya asked me to collect money from a bunch of people and to purchase a piece of Buryat art for Inka (from the church).  Our artist friend, Larisa, took Martina and me to meet her friend who is a famous and incredibly talented Buryat artist.  We fell in love with this picture of Buryat children laying on the grass, looking up into heaven.  We felt it was perfect for Inka, as she works with children, pointing them to heaven (to Jesus!)

     The Sunday school teachers planned a special end-of-school celebration for the kids out in the village.  They played games, heard the good news of Jesus from the wordless book, made bracelets, and we all had a hotdog lunch. This is one of the traditions that is a highlight to our kids' year.

     Early on in the summer, we met this dog.  He took a liking to Ike right away, so we started calling him Ike's dog.  He shows up on playgrounds everywhere, and Ike and this dog have a calming effect on one another.  I've seen Ike sing this dog to sleep while sweetly petting him.  I love their relationship!  =)  These girls are friends that we've connected with a lot other summers but hardly saw this summer.

Anneka learned to ride a bike this summer!

     Ella's kindergarten went so late (into the summer) that Anneka and Ike would play together in the mornings while we waited for her to return home.

     Our neighbor's cat had kittens!  This meant that our kids really wanted to find homes for these kitties.  Several times this summer, they went around from playground to playground, asking if anyone wanted a kitten.  As a joke one evening we left the bucket with the kitten outside the Brubacher's door, rang the doorbell and hid.  But it didn't work.  ;)

We spent time with my friend, Asya, and her kids.  She always buys cotton candy for the kids to share.  Our kid think it's great!  I think it's so gross (but very kind of her!)

We went to a greenhouse to pick out flowers for our balcony planter box.

     A common sight- playing with kids on the playground, taking the rat for a walk, holding a kitten.

Another common sight:  finding stray cats on the playground and cuddling them.

.....and picking flowers (the whole thing, roots and all) was another common summer occurrence.  =)

I have yet to find a good vase!  I usually use a jar or bottle.  They still display the flowers nicely.  

     We got our tick-borne encephalitis shots this spring and summer, along with the Brubachers. Encpehalitis is so serious and we're in the woods enough, that we decided it's pretty important to take action to prevent it. Ice cream was the perfect reward after the pokes.  =)

Here's the village we're moving to!  

     ...and the people we'll be living/working with (except for Nettie's friend, Andrea, who was visiting)

 We took one evening to pray together down at the river and to pray over the area.

     Ella cuddling with the Sharlanov's pet bunny.  We ate him a couple of weeks ago! Shhh... don't tell the kids.  ;)

     After last summer's drought and poor crop, this year's rain was an answer to prayer!  People this year are thrilled with their wonderful harvests and nice plump potatoes.  On this day it wasn't raining at all when the kids and I left to run errands, but it turned into a torrential downpour.  

     There's been a lot of construction going on in the city this summer, and specifically new roads.  Of course, this is very exciting for a 4-year old boy to watch!

     Even though we didn't have English Club every week, we still had special game nights throughout the summer to connect with people.

     We enjoyed getting together with Leif's friend Chingis and his family.  He taught us this knife throwing game.  With little kids!  They all loved it, of course.

     Ike got along really well with their boys.  It was so fun to watch them playing together and to hear Ike using his Russian.

     We set aside a day each week for rest and family time.  We took advantage of the good weather by often going on picnics on these days.

... or playing in the local fountain!

     These last two pictures are funny to me because I found them and had NO IDEA whose home or baby this was or whose rabbit Ella is holding!!  Then I remembered that Leif and the kids went to a village a couple of hours from here with another family.  The pastor moved away, so different men from Ulan Ude are taking turns to go and share with and encourage the church family there each month.  There wasn't room for me in the van.  It looks like they had a grand time!  ;)

Stay tuned for more summer fun....!

The Beginning of School

     September 1st marks the first day of Russian schools, no matter the day of the week.  This year none of our kids are in Russian kindergarten, but Ella and Ike are in a special program for young kids at the school of arts.  We met outside with other parents and students for a welcome-to-school celebration.

     There was singing and dancing and special skits for the incoming students to enjoy.  On this day, Anneka still thought that she may be in the drama program again for this school year.  But later she decided it was just too much and chose art and piano lessons for her extracurriculars.  The program for Ella and Ike is a perfect introduction for young kids to dancing, music, art, and public speaking. 

 

     This was the first day of fall on the calendar, but the weather was wonderfully still summer-like!  We knew that it was likely the very last summer day (and it was!), so we took advantage of it by making a trip to the ethnographic museum in the afternoon.  The kids enjoyed feeding the goats.  Leif used that time to give Ken Guenther (visiting from another Eurasia country) a tour of the datsan (Buddhist temple).

     Then we met up with Ken and Bertha and our team for a pozie dinner.  There were many kids out and about in their new school uniforms and braided hair.  It's a very festive day!

     Then on September 6th, our girls started school with the Blakers.  Ella has been so excited to start 1st grade!  I took the girls shopping for outfits for their first day at a new local kids consignment store (the first time I've seen one here!) and they picked out these dresses.  Ella was certain that a dress with lots of sparkles would be perfect.  And it was.  =)

     We're so grateful for the Blakers and the ways they invest in our kids.  Both of our girls are learning so much and having fun in the process.

     That evening Ella and Ike started their classes at the school of arts.  Ike was very hesitant to go, but both kids had huge smiles at the end.  I've heard them both singing songs from school at home, and I think it's helping them with their Russian.  Ella is happy that she made a new friend in her class.  It's so nice because Ella and Ike are in different classes, but they go the same evenings of the week.  The head teacher helped to make this work for us by putting Ike in a group with 5 year old boys and girls (even though he's still 4).  It's been working out well!

     Anneka and I take advantage of this time to be together, talking and playing games.  I always love one-on-one time with each of my kids.  This is really special time that both Anneka and I cherish!  =)

Team Conference

    Every second year we have a team conference.  The first day is all meetings and business and the next three are times of refreshing- prayer, praise, eating good food, and having fun together.  We were on home service the last time our team conference, so it's been 4 years since we've been a part of one.  We were able to use our friends' hostel at Lake Baikal instead of camping in tents this time.  

     These times are so special for the kids as well as the adults!  These four liked hanging out on this rooftop together.

It was really windy one day so we spent a bit one afternoon flying kites.

     Even though it was the end of August (often a cold time), we were blessed with sunny weather and often ate meals outside.

     Carl made a game called Mulky (sp?) out of blocks of wood for us to play.  It was really fun!

     We played board games in the evenings, too.

     During a couple of the morning sessions I took the kids outside and we had a fun time taking pictures.  Here are some of them....

     We all hung out on the beach one nice afternoon.  The guys played catch.  It was too cold for swimming, but a few brave souls went into the water for a few seconds.

Matthew and Ike liked jumping off of this ledge with this huge frisbee.

Cute and funny little friends!

     The last morning Carl and John took the kids so that the rest of us could have some time alone with God.  Nettie gave us all some great ideas for "soul care" from a retreat she went to the last time she was in the States.  We all enjoyed hearing from her and gleaning from her.

     Here's our group! 

      One more story worth mentioning is that we brought our pet rat with us to the retreat and on one occasion he was let loose outside and ran out under the fence, not to be found.  The kids were beyond upset, crying and searching everywhere.  I prayed with them and asked God to help us to find Ratty Pie.  We went inside for breakfast and then an hour or so later, John saw a little rat head poking up from the rocks outside.  He rescued him, and the kids' grief turned into shouts of joy!  We stopped and thanked God together for answering our prayers.  It was a sweet reminder of how God cares about even little things like rats and how He delights in showing us that he hears us and cares about us.  It was a good lesson for the kids, too in seeing His care for us!

90th Jubilee Celebration and a Dog Bite

     This August we celebrated 90 years of our little church's mother church being here!  It was an all-day affair, with people from all over the region coming to celebrate, perform, and share stories and words of encouragement.  It was also on the tail of a new room being added to this church building.  Up to right before the celebration, they were putting in the sink in the bathroom.  This is the first bathroom the church has had in 90 years!  I heard one lady said "Finally!  A Toilet!  We waited 90 years for this!"  =)

   There was a time when the elderly were honored and shared memories of the church from their younger years.  And there was a bounty of amazing music from many participants.  I (Jami) got to sing an old gospel song with some fellow teammates.  It was very fun!   Our whole team also sang a song together in English, German, and Russian.  It was a special moment for me as I looked out at all of the people and realized how much they love us and we love them.

     And then, near the end of the song, Ike came running up the middle aisle, straight to me.  He whispered in my ear that a dog had bitten him.  At the time, I wasn't sure which dog, as there were dozens of kids playing outside and a few dogs.  I asked a nurse from the church, and she suggested we take Ike in to urgent care, just in case.  So even though it was just a little bite (and later we found out it was the church dog who had been eating and probably just didn't want Ike and his buddy hanging too close), he was treated a round of anti-rabies shots.

     We were only gone a little over an hour and had plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the festivities with everyone!

     Over the next week, Ike and I made little dates out of our trips to get his shots.  We both loved the time and counted it a blessing!  We were also required to fill out a police report and to have the church dog tested by a veterinarian. Thankfully, that was all very smooth and the church dog is healthy.  Something that could have been really awful turned into a gift!  =)