Our Mailbox But Not Really

This is a picture of the mailboxes at the side of our apartment building, and Leif is standing by ours. As you can see, they're not exactly safe... this is why we have another mailbox at the post office. Speaking of which, once I forgot the key to our mailbox and there was a lot of mail in there (we share with teammates). There's a slit in the mailbox, so I stuck my hand in and pulled out what I could. I couldn't reach the stuff at the bottom of the box. But then I tried one of my keys (to one of the seven locks on our front doors) and it worked! However, if we want to pick up a package that someone has sent us, the process is very secure. Nobody else can pick it up for us (unless we have a signed and notorized letter granting permission), and the process goes like this: Open the mailbox and pull out an addressed envelope. Open the envelope to find a package slip. Fill out the back of the slip (it's a little form), including information like your passport number. Go up to the counter and give the lady the form. She gives you another addressed envelope. Open the envelope and find a package slip. Fill out the back of the slip (the form again). Go to another post office. Wait in line (however, we've discovered which times to go to minimize the line). Give the lady your passport and the slip. Wait for her to fill out paperwork (about 3 forms plus recording it in a notebook). Watch the lady dump the package out of a burlap sack onto the floor. Sign another form. Go home with the package!
It's so nice because our teammate and neighbor, Inka, usually picks up our mail for us and gives us the second envelope. And the second post office is right next to where Leif has his classes, so this process is drastically shortened.
Speaking of classes, we've been taking them this week. My first class began with a long grammar test. Oh, my! It was hard. I missed 22 out of 114. I guess it'll just help us to know what to work on. But it made me realize how little I really know in the scope of the language. Yikes. It was perfect because Anneka fell asleep for her nap three minutes after my teacher arrived and woke up just as she was leaving. I had prayed that this would happen and knew that it was God answering that prayer. I need my full brain to focus on this difficult language, and it definitely helps if the little one is sleeping.

Babushkas and Babies

At church today, Baba Ira swiftly stole Anneka from my arms and held her on her lap until she got squiggly. I was thinking about how babas and babies can get away with a lot that other people never could get away with. If a Baba wants to sing a certain song in church, she'll say so in the middle of the service and everyone will accomodate. And if a baba wants to stand up and share something or go to the front to read a poem, she is much entitled. (I like this, by the way) And if a baby pulls on a baba's head covering or pinches her neck with strong hands, it doesn't matter. Babies can just do that. But nobody else would get away with it.

Speaking of church today, Anneka was so noisy! She's been babbling more and more. It's funny because she's not saying any recognizable words, but she talks as though she's a part of the conversation and her inflections sound like they could be a real language. But she was doing this in church, and there's really nowhere to go for a noisy baby. I put her in the baby bjorn and then stuffed her inside of Leif's coat and we went for a little stroll until she fell asleep.

Our language lessons resume this week. It's SO nice because Leif's teacher from last year will come to our aparment two days a week to give me formal teaching. I can learn while Anneka is napping and then on other days have Russians over to learn more conversationally. Leif will also have Alexandra Danielovna as his teacher, but he'll travel to her. We're looking forward to these lessons.

The Other Half of Anneka's Room

So, here's the other half of Anneka's room. It's a small room, so it's hard to really show how everything looks all together. I love the little cheetah shoes from my friend Erin. I can't wait until Anneka fits into them, but I love them as a decoration in the meantime.

We got all of our documents in on Monday! It felt SO good to be done with that part of the process. We'll know if we've been approved for temporary residency in no more than 6 months (and as early as three). The lady at the police station was so nice to us. She let me sign all the papers I needed to at the beginning so I could walk around with Anneka outside (she could see that Anneka was roasting with all of her warm clothes on). And we forgot to turn in one document, and she CALLED us right after we left to tell us... and Leif was able to go right back and turn it in. So nice.

I've discovered one of the main things that make people think that Anneka is either too cold or warm enough, and that's if every part of her ear is covered. If just a little part of her earlobe is showing, everyone will point it out to me. So, we pulled out one of her hats that has little ear flaps. You can't really see it that well in this picture, but I love how Anneka is cuddled up with her Papa, so I had to post this picture, too.

Our Ways Are Not God's Ways

Happy Easter to those of you in America. We’ll be celebrating Easter here in a few weeks.

We’re still looking for a little plastic piece to put up the valance over Anneka’s curtains, but here’s half of her room. (I’ll show the other half after the valance is up). Sadly, our wallpaper border won’t stick- even with the “best” glue. I think it’s because the wallpaper that covers the wall is textured vinyl. But I have plans to use the border to decorate boxes for storage in her closet, so it won’t go to waste. Our friend, Kadie, made the pictures of a hippo, giraffe, and bear directly above Anneka. I think they’re so cute. Incidently, the dress Anneka is wearing is also from Kadie. I love little girls in sweet dresses. The dresses hanging on Anneka’s closet represent the two cultures here: Buryat and Russian.

So we’re hoping to turn in all of our documents for residency tomorrow. This has been such a long process! But God’s been using it to remind me that His ways are not ours. I got to thinking about this when Leif text-messaged me on Thursday, saying that he was at the police station ten minutes before it opened and was already 12th in line. I started thinking about how in OUR minds, the goal is to get all of this paperwork and running around done so that we can get on with what’s “important”, but God is not surprised by any of this stuff and we can trust that He has purpose in waiting in lines and multiple trips to the translation office. When Leif got home, I saw how true this is. His seventh time to the translation office opened up much more conversation with the workers there… and then he ran into a girl from Arlington, Washington (30 minutes away from his hometown) who is looking into starting the process of getting her residency and was so grateful for help that we can give her. This process has also made us feel so loved and cared for by Russian friends who have offered help and encouragement. It’s a reminder of how God loves to show us His love and provision. So, anyways, I’m thankful that God has wonderful plans for us. They may not always include what we anticipate, but we can always trust that He is good.

Still in Process

Well, it was a little optimistic to think that we'd have our paperwork all in on Tuesday. We stood in line at one office and they told us we needed to go to the police station, but when we got there, they said they were only open on Mondays and Thursdays. In the meantime, we discovered that ALL of our documents that we've had translated and notorized have our names misspelled on them. And we've done A LOT of documents- probably at least 20. The translation place will change it all for free because it's their mistake, but we need to have them all notorized again. And poor Leif has stood in long lines at the notorization place for hours. (he's there again right now). And then once it's his turn, it's a detailed process of stamping, signing, being run by the head person, and then having the papers sewn together (with needle and thread). If it all is done in time, we'll go back to the police station this evening to turn everything in. If not, then we'll need to wait until Monday.

The funny story of the week was a taxi ride we took on Monday. We don't normally take taxis here, but we'd had to do a ton of running around downtown and we needed to get Anneka home to feed her (there's really no place to feed her downtown), and the taxi would've saved us 20+ minutes. So, we got in the taxi and the driver went about 6 blocks and his car stopped. He started it and went about one more block and it stopped again... we'd run out of gas! So he left us in the car and we didn't see where he went, but after a few minutes he came back with a water bottle filled with gas and poured it into his gas tank. We're guessing he syphoned it from another car. Then he proceeded to drive to the gas station to fill up and then he took us home. It turned out taking as long or longer than public transportation. The good thing was that I could feed her in the taxi since they don't have carseat laws here.

Today Anneka and I went to our little local store, and one of my favorite ladies was working. It's terrible because I've asked her her name twice before, but it's a name I've never heard and she said her full name, so my brain never grasped what she said... so I need to ask her again. But she was so happy to see us and said she thought we'd never come back. She held Anneka while I sniffed all the different types of deodorant (everything is behind the counter and she brings it to me). In the picture, she's giving me my change. She kept telling Anneka that she was such a little potato. All the store clerks wear uniforms... I think they're really cute.

Anneka's Boyfriend

Our friends Chingis and Ksusha came over the other night with their 11-month old, Danya. He was crawling and walking... and he's so FAST! It's crazy that he's only 6 months older than Anneka! Both babies seemed fascinated with each other. It's been nice to reconnect with people between all of our medical tests, errands, and paperwork. We hope to be done with all that stuff by tomorrow and really be able to step into life again here.

Paperwork, Paperwork, and More Paperwork

Our sweet neighbor, Katia, just left after helping us fill out form after form for applying for temporary residency. We are so grateful for her help. It would've taken us ten times as long without her, and even as it was, it took a couple of hours. Katia stayed in our apartment while we were gone and took really good care of the place. It was so nice coming back to a clean apartment that was in order.

Today at our tiny church, there were two other babies there. The boy on the left is seven months old and the girl in the middle is nine months. All three of us moms had to go into the kitchen (really the only other room that there is) because of either wiggly, noisy, or crying babies. It was nice to be able to connect with them and to not feel isolated. I put leg warmers on Anneka so that her legs would look like warm Russian baby legs. Russians keep their babies nice and toasty.

Buryat Believers' Meeting

Today we went to the Buryat believers' meeting. People from different churches in Ulan Ude get together a couple of times a month to pray and talk about how to reach the Buryats with the news of Jesus. Today there was a speaker from Finland as well as a Buryat speaker. The Buryat speaker told us that they are building a Buryat center where all the churches in Buryatia can work together and have good communication- for example if one church is planting a new church in a new village, then it makes sense for another church to plant a new church in a different village. This center will help to be a "home base" for sharing that kind of information.
As soon as we walked in today, Anneka was accosted by all the Buryat ladies. She liked it. The lady pictured kept walking around with Anneka, saying, "she looks like me, don't you think?" hahaha.

Under Construction

Our church is undergoing construction to add a classroom, enlarge the sanctuary, and to do a bunch of other stuff as the funds and labor are available. Leif has been helping out this week between our running around doing medical tests. Anneka and I took the guys cookies and juice today as a little afternoon snack.

Yesterday we arrived at the clinic to get our STD tests, and there was a HUGE line. The entire hallway was crammed with people, waiting to be tested. I thought we'd NEVER get in. In Russia, you don't make appointments at clinics, you just show up and hope that you won't have to stand in too long of a line. We waited and waited and then a miracle happened. Anneka started squawking. Lately she squawks when she wants us to know her displeasure. She doesn't cry- she just is REALLY loud and kind of sounds like a pterodactyl. Well, the lady administering the tests poked her head out in the hallway, and said, "You have a baby, so you can cut in line". I couldn't believe it. I was so so happy. And then today at the narcotic center, we got to cut again! (the line wasn't so long today). Who knew that having a baby would be a benefit in so many ways?!

A Trip to the Hospital

Don't let the title concern you. Today we went to the hospital (pictured behind Anneka and me up the hill) to get our lungs x-rayed. We have to get a bunch of medical tests done before we apply for temporary residency here to show that we're not bringing a lot of diseases into the country. THANKFULLY, Anneka does not need these tests. Our friends in another Siberian city had to have all the tests done for their kids, too. But in Ulan Ude, they'll let Anneka go without the tests. Whew!
So we had our lungs x-rayed and then they handed us a picture of our lungs. Then we need to take that picture to the tuberculosis hospital for them to look at the picture and deem that we don't have TB. Then they'll give us a piece of paper with an official stamp on it. We also have to get AIDS tests, STD tests, a skin test, and drug tests (all at different locations). It's quite the process!

Back to the Land of the Living

Okay, so the cold that I mentioned in the last blog turned into probably the worst cold I've ever had in my life! I think it got so bad because I tried to stay up in the day to get adjusted to the new time zone and then I couldn't sleep at all at night. And then little Anneka couldn't breathe through her nose very well. We spent a lot of time sitting in the shower room with the hot water running and steaming up our airways. We also both had fevers. Thankfully Anneka's was just for a couple of days and never got too high. Mine lasted almost a full week and was up above 103F. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Thankfully, we're both feeling MUCH better. Today we entered the land of the living. I don't have any amazing to pictures to show because the lady at the store today was new and it would've been strange to take a picture of her (or of ourselves for that matter). And all of the decorations and organization that I'd hoped to do in our apartment this past week has been put on hold. We got bedding in Anneka's crib and our belongings put away, but that's about it.

Our excursion today was pretty successful. The store that has toothpaste and batteries and things like that was closed, but the store with food was open. I figure that's more important anyways. The clerk yelled at my for not having a second hat on Anneka, but I think she really liked us. She was okay with me not having the perfect change and she even put my groceries in the bag for me! This is the first time this has EVER happened to me. I think it's because she thought my hands were full with Anneka. I like this new clerk a lot and look forward to getting to know her. And next time I'll put Anneka in two hats.

It's not that cold here. It was only about 7F when we flew in a week ago. I don't know what it is now, but it doesn't seem that cold. And our apartment is so hot. Anneka's sleeping on our bed right now becuase her room is like a sauna. The heater is hottest in her room anyways and in midday, the sun shines in and makes it even hotter. I'll include a pic of her on our bed, too. That's all family wants to see anyways. =) The other two are of Leif putting Anneka in a cloth diaper and of Anneka saying hello while keeping me company in the kitchen.

Today Leif is hauling heavy stuff with a guy from the church. I'm not really sure what they're hauling or what it's for. We'll find out!

We're Home!

After five flights, sixteen time zones, and a day and a half of traveling, we made it home!! Thank you so much for your prayers. While it's not a trip we're aching to do anytime again soon, God helped us each step of the way. All of our bags came through unharmed and we caught all of our flights. When we got to the airport in Seattle, we learned that the e-ticket computers weren't accepting leap year and so everyone had to stand in line to check in. Amazingly, all of our flights were early- even one that started 40 minutes late... the tailwinds still got us to Moscow a little early. The flight attendants were so nice and changed our seats so that we could have a baby bed (for free!) for Anneka. This helped us to get a little more rest than if she'd been on our laps the whole time.

It's good to be back. It's always a weird feeling to change from one world to the other in a matter of a couple of days. Already more people are talking to us becuase of Anneka. She seems to like it here. She caught her first cold today and is really sleepy and lethargic, but she's still happy. I introduced her to the ladies in our local store today, and she smiled alot at them. Then a Russian man came in and she laughed a belly laugh when she heard his voice. Maybe she knows it's a different language? It was funny.

We're super tired. Today we got a lot done, but everything just takes longer here. Please pray for energy and strength. We love you!

Our Visas Came!!!

The doorbell rand today, and we were shocked and happily surprised to see the FedEx man at the door, delivering our visas! I would have hugged him had he not already been walking away. I'm sure FedEx workers meet a lot of either really happy or really angry people.

So now our biggest obstacle is packing. There's so much stuff you need for a baby- especially when you're factoring clothes for the next couple of years and she grows so fast! We found out today that even if there's an empty seat next to us on the plane we can't put a car seat there. And the car seat will cost $137 to check. Oh, brother. Basically we just need it for transporting between airports in Moscow, so we're looking into finding a taxi that comes with a car seat. I hope there is one because that'll be one less thing to carry.

Thank you for your prayers! We definitely feel surrounded!

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

Today my Dad flew to Louisiana to visit my brother and so we had to say goodbye to him... for who knows how long. It's always so hard to say goodbye and to know we're taking Anneka away from her grandparents and so many others who love her so dearly. But I also am struck by the beauty and depth of time that we have with people simply because of this path we've chosen. I find that I'm much more intentional in getting time with family and sharing with them how much I love them. I'm thankful for this special gift. We also had a dessert time with other family members this evening. We are blessed with such a wonderful family!

Speaking of family, I realized that we've posted pictures of all the great grandparents except for Anneka's "Grandpa Great". So here they are together. =)

The Polar Plunge

Dad, Leif, Anneka, and I went on a walk today and at the other end of the lake came across a polar plunge. Different groups of people jumped from the ice into the freezing water as a fund raiser for the Special Olympics. We were happy to just be watching!

He Did It!!

Leif did it! He finished reading the Russian Bible before we head back next week. Hooray!! I am very proud of him, as this is a huge feat and is indicative of many, many hours of study.

Our letter of invitation came in the mail today at about 4:00. We just found out that Monday is a Russian holiday and the consulate will be closed... so we'll need to rush our visas to get them back by next Thursday. We're thankful that we found out about this holiday and would much rather pay a little more for rushed visas than a lot more for all new plane tickets. Please continue to pray for all of that!

Sew Fun

My mom and I have been in a Bible study on the book of Daniel since September. One of the blessings in our having to be in the States through February is that I get to be there until the last day of the study! Yesterday the women from the Bible study got together and made baby quilts for a crisis nursery in Spokane. It was really fun to have the time together. I'd never made a quilt before (except for one for my cat, Dorothy, when I was about 12). I felt quite proud of myself!

On another note, our letters of invitation are in route from Siberia to the States right now! If all goes smoothly, we should get them just in time to get our visas (hopefully with a day to spare!) We joke that no matter how much time you give, visas always come the day before (or the day of!) departure. Please pray that there will be no hangups with this. Also, as I write, Leif's mom is in the Seattle airport, waiting for her plane to be fixed before she comes to visit us one last time. I had forgotten about the reality of late flights until her call, and then I started thinking about how all 5 of our flights are back-to-back to get to Ulan Ude. So then I started worrying a little about that. I know, I'm not supposed to worry. But please pray, too, that we won't have any delays as we fly home. One delay could cause having to buy all new tickets and being stuck at any number of airports around the world for a day. No fun.

Our latest understanding of the visa situation

Acually the picture of the deer on the deck has nothing to do with this blog other than it has been fun to see these fearless deer around Medical Lake since we've been here.

Laws and rules can be tough to figure out some times. And it feels like we are often thinking that one thing will happen, and then realize that maybe it will be something else. Up until a couple of days ago we thought that we would be going to Russia on the 29th of February on a three month visitor visa and would begin the process of applying for residency. Actaully that part is still the same, but there is still new information. We thought that according to the rules we would need to return to the States for a full three months following that three months in Russia. Well as people have been visiting the registration office in Ulan-Ude for us to get our letter of invitation for that visa they found out that we would probably be able to get a second visa directly following the first without the three month wait and that we could probably process that in Mongolia (much closer to Ulan-Ude than the States). We may even be able to get our original visa extended because we will be in the process of getting our residency. That is good news as far as not having to endure that long travel and saving money, but it is a bit sad as we had thought we would see family and friends again soon and will miss some big events here in the States. We also have a bit more stuff (e.g. Anneka hand-me-downs for bigger sizes) that we will have to sort and pack that we thought we could put off until this summer. Of course this is the latest plan and understanding, and that is always subject to change. Please continue to pray for our visas to be processed and sent to us quickly and for the residency process in Ulan-Ude to go well when we arrive in Ulan-Ude.
-LG

She's not a criminal!

The other day my mom answered the phone, and I could tell the person on the other end was asking for Anneka because my mom started laughing and said, "Yes, she is, but she's a baby". The person calling was confused because she was running a criminal check on Anneka (for us to have to apply for temporary residency in Russia), and she thought the date of birth must be wrong. We've been in Russia long enough to know that when they have document requirements we need to have them- thus, a criminal record of our baby daughter. But the good news is that she came back clear! She's not a criminal!

Fun Pictures

When Anneka was a month old, our friend Angela took these pictures (and many more great ones) for us. She has such an eye for details and she set up a little studio here at our home. She has a website. You should check it out: www.stillpointphotography.net

Thanks, Angela!!!