Lyena and Luda's Housewarming Party

This evening we went to Lyena and Luda's housewarming party. There were a ton of us crammed into their living room. We sang songs, ate yummy food, played a trivia game, watched a slideshow, and listened to a short talk from pastor Zhenya.




Anneka enjoyed feeding little Michael (above video).



It was warm enough to snow today. It snowed and snowed and snowed and got up to 19 degrees! Anneka loved tromping through it. Here she is, helping Papa shovel in front of Inka's garage.

Not a Cuddle Bug

Our little girl is not a cuddle bug. She loves to read books and sit on our laps, but she is much too busy for real cuddling. She's got toys to play with and dolls to take to the potty, and fake pancakes to make, etc.

Sometimes when Leif is gone in the evenings, I'll let Anneka read books in our bed and fall asleep there. Then when Leif gets home he likes to scoop her up and carry her to bed and say goodnight to her. And I figure it's good for her to get used to falling asleep in a big bed and not always her crib. Anyways, the other night I realized, "hey, Anneka is in there SLEEPING and I could CUDDLE with her!!" So I excitedly went into our room and climbed into bed next to my sleeping daughter and cuddled up close. Mind you, she is s SOUND sleeper and normally does not wake up once she's out for the night. But you know what happened? She opened her eyes, pushed me away and said, "Mama, nopie". (Nopie is kind of like "no please"). Can you believe it? Out of a sound sleep. Poor Mama. But then I tried again last night and she didn't wake up. Haha.

I said that from time-to-time I'd write a little "day in the life". Here's what we did today:

Leif got up with Anneka at about 7:20 and fed her breakfast while I was able to wake up slowly and pray for awhile. Then he got ready to go to class and I got Anneka and myself ready for the day. While Leif went to class, I went grocery shopping with Inka (and Anneka). We went to three stores today. The first store was a new one that we wanted to try, but it turns out it was a big market (where you have to pay for each thing at separate stands), so we decided to move along. But I found real milk there! It's the kind that's pasteurized but refrigerated and in a bottle. It's the best we've found and we've only ever found it a couple of times. Then we went to another store that's smaller and more expensive... but they had chicken that I like. And then we went to the big/normal store that we go to each week. And they had REAL TORTILLAS and SALSA!! I saw these for the first time last week and was SO EXCITED. I thought for sure it would be gone by today, but it wasn't. So I stocked up big-time.

After class, Leif went to an agency to get letters of invitation for Shannon's family to come and visit in December. We're really happy that they're coming. I think it'll be good for all of us to process together and grieve together. It's still really hard to know that she's never coming back. I'll go for a few days where I'll feel okay and then it'll hit me again. On Sunday at church we sang a song that Shannon always played on her guitar and I started crying and couldn't stop. She's not a person we can just forget about, that's for sure.

Then Leif, Anneka and I had lunch together (fajitas with the new tortillas and salsa!).

After lunch, Leif and I brainstormed ideas for a Christmas party/program we'll be putting on for the kids of our neighborhood. Then Anneka and I both took naps and Leif worked on stuff (I think homework and Bible-study stuff).

At 3:00-5:00 Leif went to meet with the director of the kids' club in our neighborhood to talk about plans for the Christmas party. Anneka and I played/snacked/picked up the apartment after we woke up.

Then Sasha came to shower and do laundry a little before 5:00, and Matthew Wicker came at 5:00 to talk with Leif about going to interview a Buddhist monk together for one of his classes.

At 6:00, we all headed over to Inka's for Bible study. Anneka and I just stayed for the food and social part. Then we came home and read a stack of books, and now she's sleeping in "mama's bed", waiting for me to try and cuddle with her. =) Leif will probably get home pretty soon (it's 9:00 now). Then we'll have time to talk without sweet little girl distractions. Tomorrow is Leif's morning to watch Anneka and I'll go to a Bible study that the women on our team are doing together (every other week). I've been enjoying this study of Esther and a study of Jeremiah that I'm doing with the Russian women from our church. I think it's helped me to feel more connected... and it's good to be stretched in my language skills, too!

Sunglasses, Friends, and Hair Clips

Anneka is really into sunglasses. I can't find hers, so she always wants to wear mine. I really need to clean our room... I'm sure hers will turn up. With little storage space in a small apartment, closets, drawers, and under-the-bed become very full very fast. Here she is riding in Inka's car. I actually drove it for the first time last weekend. I didn't drive very far, but it was a good first step to driving in Russia!



The other night we went to our friends, Marios and Adriana's. Apparently, their little daughter (2 months younger than Anneka) asked about us and wanted to have us for dinner. Marios is taking Buryat classes with Leif. We like them a lot. Another Russian family was there, too. The guys (and kids) played Settlers of Catan while us girls talked in the other room.



Marios and Adriana's 6 and 8 year old daughters put clips in Anneka's hair and she felt so pretty! She didn't even try to take them out.

Leif has a lot on his plate again this week. It's hard because a lot of the stuff he's doing isn't stuff I can really help him with. And everything just takes longer here! He spent hours at an office this afternoon only to find out that he couldn't do what he needed to do. And that was sandwiched between our team meeting and his class. Then he was home for 45 minutes before leaving for a men's meeting at our church. Sometimes that goes until 11:00 (and walking home in the windy-cold... it's been down to -13F that we've seen and probably lower). So I know he'd appreciate your prayers!

Carrying The Potty Around

We bring Anneka's potty with us now whenever we go someplace that only has an outhouse. I think it's easier to bring it along than to bundle her up as quickly as possible whenever she says she needs to "go" and then run outside to hold her over a hole. And also, she thinks that outhouses are really cool, so she likes to go A LOT to have the chance to look at all of the interesting sites out there. Hence, we bring the potty along.

Anneka always carries her potty, but usually we end up carrying her. I taught her a long time ago to say "up please", but she instead says "thank you". She knows that she needs to say something polite and "thank you" usually works. It's a long walk to the bus stop, and it's really windy in our area because it's on a little hill. I usually tell her "walk to the light post" or "walk to the building" and then I carry her. But she's getting to be a little tank! This is the first week since we've lived here that I've actually wanted a car. Especially when I'm carrying bags AND Anneka the 1/4 mile from the bus stop. But I should be thankful for the exercise.

Crash, Boom, Bang!

Just minutes before we were expecting dinner guests last week, our giant cupboard collapsed (6 big shelves!) Everything went CRASH-BOOM-BANG and when Leif opened the door, it all poured out onto the floor. I'd been wanting to re-organize that cupboard anyways, but I wasn't counting on this for timing! We bustled about, finishing up dinner and Leif repairing the shelves... and when the guests came they never knew what happened. I should've taken a picture right away, but this gives a glimpse of all the STUFF that was all over! Now our cupboard is nicely organized again, for awhile anyways. (Anneka likes to use her new stool to reach into new and higher places, so there are always surprises now, like water pitchers in the toy box or dolls in with the ziplocs).



Leif came into the living room the other day, and he found Anneka just like this- bundled under the blanket and reading a Guideposts.

On The Walk To Church

There's not enough snow/ice yet to take Anneka to church on her sled, so this is how we travel (except for sometimes when she walks... but that doubles the length of the walk from 15 minutes to 30, which isn't our favorite option when it's windy and bitingly cold).

Leif's classes were canceled yesterday and today because of the swine flu. It'll be interesting to see when schools will be opened again. It's been nice to have Leif home a little more this week.

Right now Leif is at a men's seminar with some of the guys from our church. It is every other week and is great for the men to grow in being men, fathers, husbands, etc. I think as families grow here in strength and faith, the whole of society will be changed for the better.

A Sign On The Bus

"If you're drunk, don't make a lot of noise."

Murder Mystery Party

It was Rebecca's Birthday last weekend and she hosted a murder mystery party. It was so fun! It was all girls, so some dressed/acted like men. We didn't know who the killer was until the very end. It was a mix of Russian and English, and it actually worked out really well. At the end, one of the ladies Rebecca invited that's not a Christian said that there was such a difference between this party and the many parties she normally goes to where everyone gets drunk. She had a lot of fun and really seemed amazed by interacting with everyone.

Here are some pics:

Bobby Sox, Tiara Diamond, Johny Angel, Peggy Sue


A lovely dinner with BBQ'd chicken and pork, crisp veggies and dip, crackers and spinach dip, baked potatoes, jello salad, baked beans, root beer floats, and cheesecake and mud pie for dessert. Gardner was the BBQer and he was the one "killed" on the patio while cooking. (it was snowing outside, but we pretended it was summer). Rebecca and I were talking about how everything here takes a lot longer to make. She had to MAKE the rootbeer for the floats and MAKE the mint ice cream for the mud pie, and MAKE all of the ingredients for the baked beans. All of her efforts were thoroughly enjoyed, though!! Mmmmm.


Me and Chubby Cheddar reenacting Tom's death later to see if an accusation was probable. Adriana is pregnant, so it was perfect for making a nice middle-aged "beer belly" for her character. haha.


This picture is on Inka's blog, too, but I'm guessing she won't mind if we both have the same one. This was the limbo contest. We also had a hoola hoop contest as well as a lip sinc and dancing. Very fun! Oh, I'll post one more, just for the fun of it. It's really blurry, but it shows ACTION!!

Masks Everywhere

People all over town are wearing masks to prevent against the swine flu, which has apparently arrived. It's so funny because I wanted to get a picture of people in masks when Leif and I were out on a date last night, so I had him stand in front of me and pretended like I was taking a picture of him. But then it turns out that we KNEW the girls I was going to take a picture of, so they posed for the camera. =) All of the schools are closed this week (and next week is a vacation week for schools). Leif is required to wear a mask in his university class, but all of the pharmacies in town are sold out. Hopefully they'll get more in soon. I read that Russia predicts the swine flu will peak in December, with 5,000 people becoming infected daily. We appreciate your prayers for protection!

In other "medical news", Leif has been going from clinic to clinic to get lab work done. The university informed him last week that they needed blood work (I think for the swine flu), a separate HIV test, and a chest X-ray in order for him to continue studying Buryat. This all takes so much extra TIME!! (waiting in long lines, arriving to find out that they only test in the morning, returning the next day to pick up results, etc, etc.) He just has one more test to get, so this should just be two more trips (one for the test and one for the results). He's a trooper!

Welcome, Nettie!

Our new teammate, Nettie, arrived on Sunday! Renata hosted a dinner for her and the team last night, which was really nice. We look forward to getting to know Nettie better as the weeks progress!

Baby Angelina

Anneka is really good with names. I'm amazed at how we'll be in a crowd of people and she'll know everyone's name. Lately, she's been especially enamored with baby Angelina (and saying her name). She talks about Angelina all the time. Sometimes Anneka and I get to watch Angelina while her mom is at a Bible study on Wednesdays. Here's Anneka with Baba Ira and Angelina.



Leif took Anneka out to play basketball, and this flock of boys came to play almost instantly (usually it's a flock of teenage/college guys). Anneka is hidden in this picture (I took it from the balcony), but she had fun with everyone. I love that Leif so easily and quickly connects with different people in our neighborhood through the sports court!

Anneka's 2-Year-Old-Birthday Party

Here is Anneka after chowing down on her butterfly-shaped birthday pancakes with blueberries and strawberries. Mmmmm!



I made a butterfly cake for a little party we had later in the day.




Anneka loves money, and Inka knew this, so she got Anneka a "Moo Coo" bank for her birthday. (moo-coo is the kids' word for cow in German). Inka also gave her a ton of change to put into her moo-coo. She was in heaven.




One of Anneka's favorite new games is to twirl like a ballerina around the living room. She especially likes it if someone (here, it's Matthew) lifts her up high in the air while she twirls!



The Wickers got Anneka a couple of books that have been favorites of their family. Here, Sharon is reading Anneka "Harold and the Purple Crayon".




She felt so special when the cake came out and did a good job at blowing at the candles!



Here's a group picture from Anneka's little party. Anneka was surrounded by fun, love, and laughter.

Butterfly Birthday

Leif made Anneka butterfly pancakes for her birthday to fit the theme for her special day. Throughout the week, Anneka and I made butterflies to decorate the apartment.

Anneka With Hah-Dee

For some reason, I couldn't post all of the pictures and videos together from Anneka's birthday. So here is a clip... with more pics to come.






Anneka LOVED all of the attention she received! Here she is with Heidi. (Anneka says her name with a southern accent, "Hah-dee".)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Anneka!

Two Years Ago:


One Year Ago:


Now She's Two!



I'll post more later about Anneka' birthday. For now, she's a busy girl and a hungry girl and needs her mama. =)

Dolls in the Refrigerator

I found this in our refrigerator today. It's hard to see, but it's a tupperware container with little dolls inside. I wonder how that got there?



















Daniela's parents are visiting from Switzerland. We had their family over on Sunday and it was really nice. Anneka adores their little Maylinne (4). Anneka has been talking about her for the past three days. Leif was playing a little drawing game (pictured above) where Anneka would scribble something and then tell Leif what it was and then Leif would make it into that thing (dog, ball, etc.) It took great talent, in my opinion! I was impressed with Leif's results.



Leif's Dad and his wife sent us a game called "I Spy" last Christmas. It says it's for 3-6 year olds, but Leif pulled it down and Anneka LOVES it. As you can see above, she's really good at it too. Each little puzzle piece has a bunch of tiny objects on it, and she's able to pick out the things she needs to find. It's so fun to watch her grow and develop!

And in other news, we've been potty training Anneka this week, and I think she's getting the hang of it! Today she had no accidents (even with leaving the house three times for over an hour each). I'm hoping to get most of the training part done while our apartment is still warm. It's a lot more difficult with several layers to worry about!

Another Sign In Town

I was downtown yesterday and had my camera with me (yippee!). Here's another of the signs with Leif on it. =)

Zhatva

Sunday we celebrated Zhatva (it's like harvest day or Thanksgiving) at church. Some of the ladies decorated the church so nicely with a plethora of fruits and vegetables all over.



Lira (pictured right) gave Anneka this dress. I love it. It's really warm, made out of wool. Anneka loves it, too. The next picture shows it better.













It was 29 degrees outside when we left for church, so Anneka started out with a short sleeved shirt, this dress, tights, boots, a sweater, and her outside clothes (coat and hat). When we got to the church, it was so hot inside that we took the sweater off. Over time, she lost her dress, her boots, and her tights... and was just in her t-shirt onesie. One lady commented that she was in her swimming suit. But what were we to do? She was sweating profusely. And she was SO much happier in her onesie. We'll have to pull out the wool dress again in November or December.



We had a nice meal together after the service.



The pre-teen/young teen girls sang a song in the service, as did Leif and I. Another lady read a poem. It was a nice time.

Eating Noodles

They have a car seat law here now, so a few days ago we went out and bought a booster seat for Anneka. Since we don't own a car, we most often use it as a seat in the kitchen so that she can sit at the table with us. She loves it. Here's a clip of her eating some pesto pasta at lunchtime.

Our apartment is hot now, as they have turned on the heat. I love it. It went from 56 degrees to 85 (inside) in the period of a couple of days. The best part is that the heat in our room isn't working. I love to sleep in a cold room but be warm in the daytime. Perfect. We will not complain to the building maintenance about this one!

Grandma Violet Viola Smith

We learned of my grandma Violet's passing on Saturday. It's hard to be away from family at times like this, being able to grieve and reminisce together. I don't have many good pictures of Grandma since we've had our digital camera. It'll be good to go through old pictures the next time we're in the States. This little dog (pictured above) and another little dog LOVED my grandma and were so sad when she died. They've been looking all over for her, moping around. She loved them, too.




Grandma was sure that we were going to name Anneka "Baikal" since we lived by the lake. When she found out that we weren't going to name her Baikal, she suggested the name Jasmine Joy. I love how she said what she thought. Of course, the second she met Anneka, she loved her and called her her "little peanut".

I have many sweet memories that have filled my mind these past few days- fishing with grandma and grandpa on opening day (Grandma would squeal SO excitedly when she had a fish on the line!), running to her cookie jar that was always stocked full, sitting in the warmth of her kitchen next to the wood stove while she made something like cabbage rolls, hearing stories of how she and grandpa met and seeing how much they loved each other. I treasure these memories and am blessed to come from such a loving family.


My sister had this picture on facebook, and it makes me smile. I'm the little baby in the middle. =) My mom's parents are on the far outside of the picture and my dad's parents are on the inside. (Grandma Vi is my Dad's mom). My sister is holding my foot and my brother, David, is in front, too. And, of course, my parents are in there, too.

I love you, Grandma!