More and More Russian

Anneka and Ella have been around Russian speakers a lot these past few weeks, and I can tell a difference in Anneka's comprehension. She also is getting braver at speaking words and phrases. These high school girls from our church babysat last week for a couple of hours and took these pictures with our camera. It was funny to find later. They're both really sweet.



... interesting pose...




I've also discovered that Anneka is a little naughty with Russian sitters, and I think she pretends to not understand in order to get away with stuff. When I talk with her about it she cries really hard from remorse. And she always has me ask them if she was obedient or not- to kind of tell on herself. Such an interesting little girl.

Guests

We've been living in our new place less than a week, and already we've been able to have several guests. It really makes it start to feel like "home"! We want to make the most of these weeks before going back to the States and have made a list of people in the neighborhood we want to reach out to and people we want to have over during this time. This past week I started teaching English to a lady from our neighborhood and her 8-year old son. Anneka joined us and learned Russian as they learned English. It's nice to have baby books around with simple pictures and basic words to begin with. We had a nice conversation and used lots of repetition!



Ella and Anneka are both my little helpers when we prepare for guests. Ella follows instructions really well- it's amazing how much she understands! She loves to throw things in the garbage for me or pick up items off the floor that I ask her to and take them to designated rooms. Here, she stirred up the garlic butter... but when I turned my head she stuck a big glob of the butter into her mouth. She smelled like garlic for hours afterwards. So, she's pretty good at following instructions, but there are a few kinks to work out. =)





Anneka likes being our photographer. I let her take this picture. I wanted my friend Ira to meet Kandid and Daniela before we leave for the States. We had good conversation and it was nice to all be together.



The kids ate at their own table and then ran off to play. They played together really well. I'm proud of Anneka for trying more and more Russian! I tried to tire Anneka out earlier in the day so that she would actually sleep during her rest time, as I knew the guests would be here past her bedtime. (she often gets pretty crazy when she's tired). But my plans backfired and she didn't sleep at all. Thankfully she was a good little hostess and friend to our little guests.

I love how much room the girls have in their bedroom and how much room in our apartment in general! It really makes it easy- and fun!- to have guests with kids! I still have more to put up on walls, handles to put on the dressers, etc.




And another picture from our little photographer. =) Vitya and Sveta came over for dinner last night. They live in our neighborhood, too. They have three kids and one of their girls is Anneka's age. Sveta and I talked about getting the girls together in the mornings sometimes. She's a great resource, too, for things to do in this community- how to get into the swimming pool, music lessons, etc. We really like this family. Vitya was so nice to help Leif get all of the rest of our furniture and stuff out of the apartment next door. This, of course made more dirt and mess... but once this last batch is clean and put away, we're officially DONE with moving and settling!


And one last picture from Anneka!

Anneka is Four!

This week we celebrated Anneka's fourth birthday! We had a nice relaxing day at home, which hasn't happened in awhile with moving among other things. Inka came over in the evening and we played a few games. I cut a hole in this box for a ball toss.



Anneka is VERY into her babies right now. She makes sure that someone is always watching them if she has to leave the room for any reason. She has a girl baby and a boy baby, but up until this week they were naked. Inka sewed them some lovely clothes, and Anneka loves them! Of course, Anneka likes a different combination of shirt with pants/skirt than Inka had planned, but I guess that just comes with being four- being really decisive. (The orange baby that Inka is holding already had clothes). =)



Anneka requested that Leif make her birthday cake, and she really wanted a strawberry cake. Leif took his responsibility seriously and made a really yummy cake. He tracked down some frozen strawberries and a strawberry jello packet.



A few weeks ago when my parents and the Brubachers were here, we had an early birthday party. Martina helped me to decorate this doll cake. When Anneka first saw it she asked to be alone with it for a few minutes because it was "so pretty". When I returned to the kitchen, a finger-sized chunk of frosting was missing!



Martina fixed Anneka's hair so pretty in a braid that crowned her head. Ella wore her floor-length princess dress.





We played musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey and duck-duck-goose.



Happy Birthday, Anneka Dorothy! We love you so much! You are such a funny, energetic, generous, adventurous, loving girl. You bring us so much joy!

Settling In

The work in our apartment is officially done! This past week, we've started cleaning, hauling out trash, moving in furniture, unpacking, etc. Alan, Art, and Eric came and helped move the big things and assemble furniture.



Thankfully, through all of this, the girls have been able to stay away from the craziness. They've had several different babysitters this past week. It's all gone well, but we are all TIRED. Everything takes longer than it seems like it should. Along with this, we've been trying to change our registration to our new place, and Leif has made 4 trips already to the office and has to go again next week. Yesterday we went with the girls and Ella had a meltdown just about the time we made it into the office (after waiting an hour in the hallway).



Nettie came and helped unpack boxes on Wednesday. It was really nice to have her help and company. Vera watched the girls one morning and when I picked them up, Anneka exclaimed, "I ate LOTS of candy today!" When I told Vera what Anneka had said, she told me, "I kept telling her that it wasn't good to eat lots of candy, but she just kept eating it". So funny. So funny that she didn't just take it away from her. I suppose in weeks like this it's okay for a little girl to have pleasures like candy. =)

God's Care For Us In Moving

Last week in our women's Bible study, something we read encouraged me to reflect back on how God has been at work in the past and how He has answered different prayers. I specifically remembered a time that I prayed that God would show me His love, and He answered in numerous, astounding ways. I sensed last week that He wanted me to pray that He'd show me how He cares for us. And once again, I can see the floodgates of His answering. We got a call on Monday from the guy who would bring us the moving truck, saying they were back from digging potatoes in the village. We scurried around, packing and disassembling. Even in the midst of it, I didn't feel stressed. I must admit I had in the back of my mind that we'd have all week to move out smaller stuff with our own van and to clean the apartment (you'll soon find out this wasn't the case, but it was nice to not feel worried!) We even went on a little family picnic in the evening, trying to keep things low-stress and pleasant for Anneka and Ella. On moving day, three of Leif's friends came which was a huge gift! We'd assumed that there would be a few guys coming with the truck to help us move, but it was just the driver. Between the five men, they worked fast and efficiently.

On Tuesday morning (moving day), sweet Vera from church called to ask if we needed any help. "I don't know!" was what I said, as sometimes it's hard to know what is needed. Other than the refrigerator and freezer, our entire kitchen still needed to be packed up. Vera came and I REALLY needed her! She and I packed up the kitchen- with her doing most of it, as I had needy girls and other rooms to help direct and help with. Another answer to God's care for us.

We know two Lenas with the same last name. I'd meant to call one Lena and had accidentally called the other. I told her my mistake, and she offered to come and help. She walked Ella around in the stroller to get her to sleep and took Anneka to the playground. Another huge help and reminder of God's care! I wish I had more pictures to post of everything. Another thing I hadn't even THOUGHT of was feeding everyone who helped us move! Juli called me and told me that it's expected I feed the workers. In the States, this would mean ordering pizzas or sub sandwiches.... but here it's a little trickier without a functional kitchen and in the middle of moving! Juli didn't even pause, though, after telling me about lunch- she simply offered to bring lunch for everyone!! She made a ton of egg salad, baked cookies and cut up fruit (along with pickles and juice) and piled it all in her backpack, hopped on a bus and brought it over! Do you see a theme here? God showing His care- and in ways I would've never even thought to ask for help!! We were all ravenous, too, after all of that hard work. Not only this, but Juli brought our family dinner and some treats for the week, too!

In the middle of moving, Katia called me to say that they wanted to move in the next day. "Ah!", I exclaimed, as we still had all of this stuff (and more) to go to the apartment as well as cleaning (and it gets pretty gross underneath furniture, etc)! She said, "Don't worry, we won't be there until 1:00 or 2:00". So I thought I had the whole morning to clean. Originally I'd asked Anna to come and babysit at 2:00 so that I could clean and I'd called the other Lena to come and help me. I tried to call Lena to ask her to come earlier, but couldn't get ahold of her. While we were loading up the truck with this stuff the next day (around 10:00am), Katia called me again and said that her husband had just left home with all of their stuff and would be over soon... another "Ah!" from me! The girls were wild, undoing stuff I'd done, rolling around in blankets, etc. I put Anneka to task, asking her to help Leif carry stuff down the stairs to the van. She loved it and wanted to carry really BIG things. So I let her. Leif got all of the stuff into the van and I had one room clean for Sasha to put their stuff minutes before he arrived. Then as I was giving the girls a snack next door, Lena showed up! I was so happy to see her... so thankful she came early! Both her help and the use of the Brubacher's apartment right next door (they're in Ukraine right now, getting visas) is another showing of God's care for us. Ella got a nap and Anneka got to watch Berenstain Bears, and Lena and I rushed around cleaning. And we got done minutes before Katia's whole family came back to settle in. Whew! It was a whirlwind, but now that it's done, it's so nice to not be doing all of that stuff now!!

Anna still came at 2:00, which gave Leif, Lena, and me a chance to take a last van load up to cram into the tiny room next to our new apartment. And there was even time for Leif and I to go on a date! I'm so thankful for the friends God has brought into our lives and for His care of us. The picture above is our new kitchen/living room with the wall knocked out. In the picture it's not painted yet, but it's looking good, and I'm feeling ready to settle our family in! And now we are just waiting for the finishing touches in our new place (floorboards, cabinets, outlets, lights). It's nice to have a little time of "limbo", hanging out at the Brubachers. Leif had meetings yesterday and has them all day today. The girls and I are playing- yesterday at our Romanian friends' place and today at the Jordans'. I'm thankful for these many blessings!

"Hey guys, I have an idea. Let's go to a playground and we can play". Great idea, Anneka. The weather was so nice on Sunday. We had to run errands after church. (we've been making multiple trips to the hardware store lately for things like parts and paint for the workers who are fixing up our new place). The girls had been patient, but it was time to be outside! A famous supermodel in Russia funded a really nice playground that we like to go to when we're in the area. And on Sunday, the amusement park next door was open. I'd been wanting to ride the ferris wheel all summer, and this was our chance!

It went really high up and had no seatbelts. I was thankful that Leif held squiggling Ella. Anneka enjoyed the ride and the view!

And last Saturday was really nice weather, too. The girls and I went to the ethnographic museum with my new friend, Ira, and her son, Sasha. The kids fed the goats, and Ira even fed a bear! That's something you don't see in America! I was thankful for this time to be outside before winter officially sets in. It was also a nice reprieve in the middle of our packing and preparing to move.

Leif took apart our bed today. We don't know the exact day yet, but we'll be moving our furniture into our new place early this upcoming week (could be as soon as 2.5 days away!) It's a little tricky because the work is not yet done in our apartment. But we have to move out of this one, and that's when the guys from the rehab center can help us and let us use their truck. We've had some interesting things happen- paint dyed the wrong color, the wrong tiles delivered (and we didn't know it until they were already pasted on the wall for the backsplash), being a little short on flooring and then the store being all out (but miraculously finding it somewhere else), etc. I'm realizing that the more time goes on I don't even care about the mistakes.... I just want to settle in and be done with it! As you can see above, Ella is a little "helper". She took the laundry off the drying racks at least three times today, she climbed in the boxes I was trying to pack, she screamed and dramatically cried while I vacuumed, etc. The poor girl has a cold and is a little on the wild and temperamental side. Sometimes I wonder how we'll make it out of our place in time, though! And then today when I started working ahead for a lunch I need to make for everyone at church on Sunday (together with Katia) all of the water shut off. And my hands were all goopy with zucchini. It's just one of those days.

But on a happy note, the girls have been playing together more and more. They love to take food out of the pantry and bring it into the living room for a picnic. I'm so glad that I allowed this (I almost didn't let them when I first saw it happening). They are entertained for so long and it's so cute. And Ella's the one who takes the food out to Anneka- one item at a time. Praise the Lord for little blessings!

Pine Nuts

Pine nuts are all the rage here. Everywhere we go, we see pine nut shells everywhere- on the ground, on public transportation, bulging out of people's pockets. Pine nuts, pine nuts, pine nuts. Don't get me wrong, I like the taste of pine nuts, but I think they're a lot of work to get out of the shells and eat. I suppose if you were on a diet, it would be good to burn all of those calories chomping and spitting to get one little nut. But Anneka and Leif just love them. Anneka is SO happy when we give her pine nuts. She likes them as much as candy (and she loves candy). Above is about the number of pine nuts that come out of one pine cone.



Someone at church gave Anneka 2 pine cones, and she was thrilled. Here she is showing off one of them.



And when Leif went to Zakamensk a couple of weeks ago, he was given this HUGE bag of pine nuts plus another smaller bag (also a ton of them). Wow. We are set for the winter!

Beloved Baikal

My parents flew out this morning for the long journey back to America. We're so glad that they came and are thankful we'll get to see them again this winter! I haven't been very good about posting these last weeks... the days get so full and then my pregnant eyes can't stay open anymore to do one more thing. But one of the highlights of our time together was a couple of days out at Lake Baikal. My dad loved stopping and buying potatoes and carrots from these people at the side of the road. They even inspired the painting he made for us.



The wind was so strong and it felt so cold that I had the girls dressed in every bit of clothing I had for them. Thankfully I had thrown in their hats at the last minute! We went for walks along the beach, but there was no sitting on the sand or swimming, that's for sure!



The room my parents stayed in must have been the honeymoon suite. The way it was decorated made us all smile, with lots of frills and hearts and pink. The girls hung out in my parents room a couple of times, which was nice for all of us!



Anneka likes climbing and posing.

As I was looking through pictures, I realized I never posted pictures from Baikal when Irene was here. I was so struck by the difference in weather in just 1.5 months time!! (see below for a few from July)



Ella LOVED playing in the sand, and was self-entertained for hours (of course, we played with her, too!)



Irene built a sand castle with Anneka, Nathan, and Matty


... and I had to post one more of little Ella's back. It's pretty irresistible.

If I had posted a blog at that time, I would've told you the more extensive story about how we called ahead and reserved rooms for us and the Brubachers but when we got there, the owner had given our cabins away already. And then she had mercy on us when she saw me holding Ella and let half of us stay in her own private home. Always an adventure!

Little Glimpses with Baba and Grampa

It's been so nice to have "Baba and Grampa" here. Here are a few little glimpses of some times together this past week.





I'm so excited- my dad is painting us a picture to go in our new apartment! He set up a little "studio" on our balcony. Yesterday and today the weather was nice, but earlier this week the temperatures were very cold! He got some inspiration from a village we traveled through earlier this week. We bought a ton of potatoes so that Dad could take pictures of people selling their produce along the side of the road. =)





Last Saturday and today were work days for the whole church. Dad helped the guys put up sheet rock in a room that will soon be for the kids during the service. Today they finished the ceiling. On a side note, my dad wished he'd had his camera today when Denis (a Russian guy from our church) cut up the meat for the soup with his skill saw on the work table. Dad and mom have both really enjoyed whenever we have Russian food.







Anneka plays SO nicely outside during the work days! She loves to explore, dig in the mud, pick vegetables from the garden (the ones that she is told to), and find strange pieces of fabric and wrap them around her head. This week I (Jami) helped clean the inside of the church while Dad did the construction and mom stayed home with Ella.





Leif is in a village this weekend for meetings, but last weekend he and Dad and Anneka went to the church while Mom, Ella, and I went shopping. There is a new shopping center here that feels like North America! It was very fun to go there and have lunch with my mom while Ella slept in her stroller.



Anneka loves for her Baba to read to her before her rest time and bedtime. My mom brought some of my old Berenstain bear books, and Anneka is just eating them up!




The girls love tickles and fun games with their grampa! As I type, Anneka is all snuggled in bed, sleeping between my parents. She was just delighted to go to bed! It'll be interesting to see how much sleep they get tonight. She's quite the squiggler!

It's a boy!

My parents arrived last week, and it's so nice to have them here! On just the second day after they flew in, I was able to schedule an ultrasound, and the doctor allowed the whole family to come in with me- Leif, Anneka, Ella, Mom, and Dad. It was so fun to see the baby on the screen, to hear that he's healthy, and to know that it's a boy! Anneka prayed that morning that we would know if it was a boy or a girl. And the doctor said she was sure. So fun.

I love how having the ultrasound adds to the reality of this little one growing inside of me. And what a special thing to share with my family!

Little Ella

When Anneka was Ella's age, her friend Evie "tagged" her in a blog about herself. I thought it's only fair that Ella gets her own little post, too.

Name/Meaning: Ella Joy. Ella means "light", and Joy is after my mom's middle name, Joyce. She definitely is a light and joy in our lives!

Age: 14 months

Nicknames: Ellie Mae (Anneka named her this when she was about 5 months old), Ella Bella, Baloo, Baloobie, Ella Joy Face, Schnookie

Favorite Activity (ies): anything on Anneka's bed, yelling in the stairwell, climbing up the stairs all by herself (all three floors without us holding her hand)

Favorite Food: fish, plums, olives, sandwiches (she likes to take big bites out of ours... little pieces just won't do)

Least favorite food: bananas, anything that resembles baby food (mashed potatoes, baby cereal, anything pureed in jars)

Favorite Music: all music! She loves to dance-dance-dance and even sing

Favorite toys: the knobs from the stove, shoes (she loves to hide the knobs and shoes in all sorts of tricky places), the phone (the real one- a toy won't cut it), her toy computer, anything Anneka is playing with

Favorite books: any book that Anneka is holding

What makes her happy: being in Mama's arms, nursing, when Papa buzzes her belly, seeing dogs or cats (she says "doggy" and "kitty" so cute and uses a special little voice in her excitement over these animals)

What makes her sad: When Anneka sits on Mama's lap, when Mama goes to the bathroom, when Mama takes a shower (do you see a pattern here?), when Papa leaves the apartment without her

Neighborhood Day Camp

Our church put on a day camp for the youth in our neighborhood (right between where we're living now and where we'll be moving to) this past Thursday-Saturday. 100 kids came on the first and last days and 120 kids were there on Friday! The weather was perfect and all of the kids got to hear about Jesus.



Leif led a group (one of four) of the kids along with a girl we met three years ago through a camp just like this. She came to Christ after becoming connected with our church after that camp. It was so neat to see her (and another girl, too) reach out to the kids, just as they had once been reached out to. I love seeing this kind of fruit!



The kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Our church plans to have outreaches each Sunday in the upcoming weeks for a place to keep connections with those from the camp. Unfortunately yesterday was really rainy. We hope that in the upcoming weeks we'll continue to see and grow in relationships with these kids!