Connecting With Others During the January Break

   
     In the first week in January, everything shuts down.  This was perfect for us, as we were just plain TIRED.  Leif had been running and had had responsibilities from early in the morning until late at night every day.  We took advantage of this time with no school and no regular weekly ministry to rest, spend extra time with God, have fun as a family, and connect with others.  One day the kids and I went with  Ira and her son to a performance at the Opera House designed for kids.  We stopped at the square first to check out all of the fun things made out of ice.

     We got there early and had time to get a little snack at the cafe inside.  I took this picture before the Opera began.  It was fun for the kids with the amazing music and people dressed both in Buryat national costumes and animal costumes.  The kids sat really well (and at the end when Ike got wiggly, we walked up and down our row, which was free of other people).

     Surrounding New Years, all of the performances geared for kids have a "yolka".  Everyone gathers around a tree and there is GrandFather Frost and his Granddaughter.  The kids all sing songs and dance and those who say a poem get a prize.  Anneka said the poem she learned for church about Jesus' birth and got a pack of colored pencils.

     Our friend, Lena, is a missionary in another Siberian city and was home for the New Year.  It's always encouraging to see her and hear of how God is using her to reach her own people.  And our kids love her!

     Another day we went to the puppet theatre with my friend that I met at the outdoor market last summer and her kids.  The show was very interactive (perfect for little ones) and the three girls went up on stage three different times as volunteers.  At the yolka afterwards, Ella said a poem in English in the microphone and got chocolate.  She was so happy!

We loved the Buryat Grandfather Frost!

Us ladies with our little guys!

     The few days following New Years were very warm.  We went to the ice slides with our Romanian friends one day and it was a heat wave (-6!)  The kids played and played!  This is a slide for the littler kids.  Ike was happy to go down  with his friend Ioanna.  It was so nice to go with a family who has older kids, as they took our kids under their wings.  It made it very fun and restful!

Sweet little friends.  They had their little sleds so they could go down the slides faster and farther!

     I took Ike down the big slide and we didn't go as far/fast because we didn't have a sled.  Because of this, we got hit by the people behind us, and it scared little Ike.  After that he just wanted to be held.  "Hold you!  Hold you!" is what he says.

     Ella far preferred her friends Naomi and Ioanna to Mama and Papa.  Even when she got hit by someone,, she got up like nothing happened and was ready to go again!

The little crew, at the top of the slide, ready to go down!

Weeeee!

So fun!

Naomi is so sweet.

     Another day, Anneka's friend stayed the night and the Sheesh family came over to do laundry and take baths.  It was really nice to see them.  They used to live nearby and we saw them more frequently.  They now live farther away and Sasha (the husband) has been in the hospital with some really serious operations and complications.  I know they really appreciate people's prayers.  It has been a long two years for them without an end in sight.

     Leif translated our kids' Bible into Russian as he read to Angelina.  She was enraptured!

I don't know why, but this picture seems very Russian to me!

  Although Anneka isn't back in school yet (some problem with the pipes), everything else is returning to normal.  But we feel more refreshed and thankful for the break in routine.  When we're not preparing or hosting, I try to find creative ways to not go crazy with it so cold and dark outside.  The weather has been a lot colder these last days, which means we can't be out for long.  When it takes 30 minutes of hard crying and bundling to get out the door, it almost isn't worth it.  Yesterday we walked to go and pay bills and let the kids play along the way on some simple ice slides.  We didn't last very long, though!  I've been looking online for good ideas of what to do.  We've played a bunch of silly games, gotten the mattresses off of the beds for jumping off the couch in the living room, made an obstacle course, lots of beanbag games and even some science experiments.  It takes more initial effort to do these things, but it sure pays off!

A Little Glimpse

     Yesterday evening our neighbor came to the door, wanting to talk.  Leif has talked with him several times before, making the most of the opportunity to share with him about the hope we have (and that he can have) in Jesus.  

 

     When he came, I took the kids back into the bedroom and we prayed together that God would help us to be hospitable and to show love to this guy.  And that Leif would have words to share with him.  We  hid out for awhile, but then I knew the kids were getting hungry, se we made our way to the kitchen to make something for dinner.  It's always a little more challenging for me to know what to prepare last-minute with Russian/Buryat guests because we simply eat different foods.  Thankfully, our friends had recently brought us a big bag of potatoes, so Anneka and I got to work preparing them while Ella and Ike pulled everything out of the kitchen cupboard onto the floor.  The washing machine (which is in our kitchen because of space) was whirring and is so loud it sounds like an airplane.  We managed to pull together something and the kids put everything back more organized than it's ever been.

 

     This is a funny cultural thing.  Almost every Russian needs bread with their meal... EVEN if you're serving rolls or something else that's starchy, bread is very important.  I'd totally forgotten about this, and the first thing he asked was, "You don't have any bread?"  I was so happy because Nettie had brought bread earlier that morning (I'd made lunch for the crew that helped the Blakers to move and she brought bread to contribute and this loaf was leftover).  I wanted to kiss her right then.  I love how God loves to show us how we are a part of a larger body and he cares for us through one another.

 

     Who knows if our neighbor was touched by anything shared, but we can pray and do our part to share.  He did invite us to his place for dinner sometime soon.  We'll see where it leads!

Happy New Year! С Новым Годом!

     New Year is the biggest holiday here in Russia.  We had a fun time celebrating with two special families.  With all of the kids and adults, there were 16 of us and everyone slept over.  Even the little ones stayed up until well past midnight.  (well, Ike had a long nap until about midnight and then stayed up until 3:00).  If we were in America, this would just seem crazy... to keep our kids up so late.  But here, it's just what you do!  And while you sort of regret it a day later when everyone is crabby, it's still totally worth it and you forget by the time the next year rolls around.   We have a tradition of fondue for our New Years Eve dinner (we adopted this tradition from our late teammate and dear friend, Shannon).  We had a great feast with different sauces and things to dip in the sauces.  It's a meal everyone really gets into.

Ike is a social guy.  He loved all of the attention Marius gave him!

     Throughout the evening we played several games.  Here, they're playing Candy Land... a nice game if you don't all speak the same language.

Naomi and Darin made this gingerbread house.  All of the kids enjoyed eating it!

     Getting ready to go outside... it was really warm this year.  I think it was only -5 or something crazy like that (usually it's -30).  The Jordan boys bought some fireworks with their own money and we all went out to enjoy them with them.  This is our elevator.  You can ask my mom how scary it is.  Scary isn't the first word I would use for it, though.  I'd probably use the word "stinky"  =)

Most of the kids jumped on the merry-go-round for some playground fun.

Adriana and me

Ike with Naomi

    
     Hanging out, watching the fireworks.  The thing in the background is a paper lantern that floats in the air when you light underneath it.  Pretty cool.

Sparklers!



Mama with her sweetie

     It was so sweet how Ryan read books to the younger kids.  They really enjoyed it.  Speaking of books, the Jordans gave us a TON of new children's books that they've outgrown.  We've been reading several books a day and loving every minute!



     More games.  Anneka stayed the night with Christia the night after New Years and they stayed up past midnight again.  It's really cute to see them play together.



Our friends, Kadie and Josh, gave us "Ticket to Ride".  It's a really fun game.

another game



     The kids on the couch watched "Mr. Bean's Holiday".  They giggled and giggled.  I thought it was more entertaining to watch them than the movie!



     Playing the bean game.  This is one that Leif takes to English Club sometimes because a lot of people can play and it's really easy to explain.

     The crazy time between watching midnight fireworks (we have a great view from our windows!) and bed.

Ella and Bogdan liked hugging each other.

     It was extra special having the Jordans celebrate with us, as we don't know if they'll be back in Ulan-Ude.  And the Giuras are always super fun to be with.  Happy New Year!

Leif as Grandfather Frost

     Anneka's kindergarten had a special New Year's program, and Leif was invited to be Grandfather Frost.  He had a lot of lines to learn (two of which were long poems).  But he did great!  Anneka didn't know beforehand that her Papa would have such a role.  It was fun to watch her eyes at her moment of recognition!

     

     In Russia, Grandfather Frost is always accompanied by his granddaugher, "Snow Girl".  They both had quite the costumes!

     It's fun to watch the difference in Anneka between last year and this year.  Her understanding and language abilities are much stronger this year, and she is much more confident.  Here she is, playing the xylophone.  Leif's head is poking through in the background!

     They had parents participate, too.  All of the moms had to get up and dance at one point.  I don't have any pictures of that!  =)  Apparently, some very important lady was visiting on this day, watching the performance.  They made us wear medical booties on our feet and asked that we leave our other kids at home.  This made for some last minute calls to find a babysitter, but thankfully God provided.  And it turned out to be very relaxing and enjoyable to watch Anneka and Leif!

      Our friend, Erin, sent these beautiful butterfly wings to Anneka for Christmas.  She loves them so much and immediately wanted to wear them for her New Year's program.  They were perfect, as most kids had some sort of costume.  Anneka wanted her picture with Snow Girl, but wasn't so sure about getting her picture with Grandfather Frost...

... of course we made her!  All of the other kids were standing in line to get their picture with our star!

This is Anneka's class this year.  At first it was mostly boys, but they've gotten a couple of new girls.  

He had SOME makeup!!!

Anneka and this little friend traded names.  They call each other the other's name.  So cute.

...and this is probably her other closest friend.  Although she gets along well with all of the girls

     Afterwards, the kids had a little snack.  I snapped a picture, as they're all so cute at their desks.  We're so thankful that kindergarten has been such a positive thing.  Leif's involvement as Grandfather Frost, I think, was also a way to serve and connect with others in the school.  Happy New Year!

Celebrating Christ and Christmas

     The Christmas season isn't over yet, as the church here celebrates Christmas on January 7th.  But we like Christmas so much, that it's our pleasure to draw it out a long time!  Starting four weeks before Christmas, we lighted the advent candles each night and read verses from the Bible that centered around the main themes of hope, love, joy, and peace.  Then we sang a song.  The kids were busy and squiggly, but it was still something that we looked forward to each day.  It's cool because one evening a young man from our church was over doing laundry when we had our family advent time.  A few days later he called Leif and asked him about it and said he wanted to lead something like that with the youth.

     We also had a special calendar, starting on December 1st and leading up until Christmas.  Every day there was something special in the envelope that we got to do.  The kids loved it and looked forward to what would come next.  

... But even with all of our special activities, they loved these calendars with chocolates inside the very best!!  A sweet family from Germany sent them to us.  Even Ike would hop up and down each day saying "calendar, calendar"  and he didn't mean the other calendar!   I guess you can't quite compete with chocolate!  And I guess we also do special things on lots of other non-Christmas days, too.  =)

     One day we made Christmas cards for family.  It's sad how difficult it is to send letters from here and how long the mail  takes.  We ended up scanning and emailing them to make sure people got them before Christmas.

     We also celebrated Thanksgiving with fried chicken and most of the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes with together with friends.  We were in Thailand on the actual Thanksgiving, which was very special.  But it was nice to celebrate at home, too, and use our traditional "thankful tree" with different leaves with things that we're thankful to God for.

     Since Jesus is the reason for Christmas, we try to focus a lot of our days on Him.  One day, the girls chose special things from a World Vision catalog for people in need.  This year they wanted a share of a cow and Bibles.

     On another day, the card in our calendar was very general (something like "give to someone in need").  I'd planned to have the girls go through their clothes and toys later that day.  But our plans changed so that the girls ended up having a friend stay the night.  I was trying to figure out what we should do when an old lady came to the door (sober) and asked us for food.  We'd never seen her before, but she knew the family who lived here before us (3 years ago).  She was grateful and told us that she'd be alone for New Years (which is the biggest holiday here).  We invited her to join us, and her face lit up with such joy!  We gave her some clothes, too, and she was so thankful.  But she had no idea how much she blessed us by coming.  Just her coming was a reminder that God guides our day and He knew how he wanted us to give to someone in need and brought her right to our door.  I love how He cares about every little detail and reminds us of His presence in our lives.

We had many fun times with different friends (old and young) and family game times.

We had fun decorating together.

... and dressing in Elmo shirts.

     Another fun tradition we have is setting up the nativity set so that the wise men are in the east, the shepherds are on a hill overlooking Bethlehem, and Mary and Joseph make the trek all around our living room (moving a little each day) with her pregnant belly.  On Christmas morning, the kids run to see baby Jesus!

Making snowflakes is always a favorite craft.

     For Christmas Eve, we got to host our team plus another missionary family from Romania and a lady from Moldova.  It was so nice to be together for this special time.

    Something that has become a tradition is acting out the Christmas story.  Almost everyone participates and runs and grabs something that will work for a costume.  Here, the wise men were giving gifts to baby Jesus (Ike).  This was probably close to the actual age of Jesus when the wise men arrived.

... and it's wonderful to sing Christmas carols!  

     And each year our whole family sleeps under the Christmas tree.  We had a nice day as a family, celebrating baby Jesus being born, opening gifts from family and friends, skyping with family, eating good food, watching a movie, playing a game, and resting.

   ... and the Christmas season continues!  But I'll write about that in a future post.  =)