Settled Into a Bit of a Routine

     Besides sharing with lots of churches and people about our ministry, catching up on doctors appointments, raising support, and utilizing the library to catch up on books on the recommended reading list from our organization for where we live and work, we've also settled into a bit of a routine with our family.  One of the biggest blessings is that my mom is homeschooling Anneka!  She is in first grade now, and they both are loving this time together.  It's fun to see my mom have the joy of teaching and Anneka have the joy of learning!

 

     Another blessing of being here is getting time with my grandma. She has special toys and puzzles that she bought for the kids to play with when we visit her.  They have liked eating at the dining hall in the assisted living place where she lives, as it's like a restaurant and they can order whatever they want.  =)

 

     Each Wednesday we take the kids to library story time at our local library.  The librarian leads the time with reading books, singing songs, and playing with educational toys.  We've really enjoyed having access to so many books in English for our kids.  Anneka is really taking off with reading and Ike and Ella love when she reads to them.  On this day there was a special fort making time at library in Cheney.  We met up with some friends and their kids and had a good time together.

 

     Also on Wednesdays, our kids are in a Bible club called Awanas.  I was in this club as a little girl and still remember many of the Bible verses I learned almost 30 years ago.  It's so great because they even have a class for 2 year olds!  Each of our kids love it and are learning a lot and sharing what they learn.  It was so cute the first night when we asked Ike what he learned.  He told us that God made the sunshine and the clouds and the stars.  I loved to hear his little voice speaking these truths. He always asks when he can go to his school at "Mawanas".   Ella and Anneka have been learning Bible verses and enjoy the songs and games there. Leif and I take advantage of this time to go on a date!

     On Friday nights, the girls are in a Russian school.  Ella is in the zero grade and Anneka is in first grade.  They are making friends there, and growing in their skills in reading and writing.  It goes until 9:00 which is pretty late for the little ones, but the girls have a good attitude about going and it's been really positive for them both.  Often my parents will take Ike on this night, and it's freed Leif and I up to do things like to go a conference about God's passion for the city, visiting one of our supporting life groups, going to a prayer meeting for some of our friends who are missionaries in Africa, and getting together with others. 

     We feel thankful and blessed for these opportunities that our family has had this fall.  Our kids have made the transition to the States well.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for this!

October Church Schedule

Sunday, October 5th- Crossroads Community Church (Valley, WA)

Sunday, October 12th- The Vine Community (Deer Park, WA)

Sunday, October 19th- Southside Christian (Spokane on the south hill)

We look forward to seeing any of you who can make it!

Upcoming Churches

Here's where we'll be the next couple of weeks.  Thank you, Harrison Church family for so warmly welcoming us in this past Sunday.  After our day with you, our little Ella said, "Church today was GREAT!  It was like a celebration!"  As it should be.  =)

We are in the Spokane area now for the fall!

September 21st- Nine Mile Falls Community Church
September 28th- Olive Branch Community Church

We should know our October schedule in the next few days and will post it soon!

A Special Day for Darrington... And For Us!

     We've been traveling here, there, and everywhere the past month and a half.  I counted, and we slept in 14 or 15 different places (depending on the family member).  I'll take the next while to post pictures and stories from our time (not in chronological order).  But today I want to share about a special time for our family in Darrington, Leif's hometown.

     Probably most of you have heard of the devastation from the Darrington/Oso mudslide this past spring.  I snapped this picture as we were driving and it doesn't begin to show the devastation to a MASSIVE area- houses and lives totally obliterated.  When we first learned of the mudslide (Leif knew several people directly affected or killed by it), Leif had a really hard time concentrating on anything else for about a month.  He was continually checking the news for body counts and checking in with friends to hear if they'd found their missing family member.  It was very much on his heart to return to his hometown this summer and talk with people and hear how they were doing.  We were blessed to have a week in a family cabin and God opened up opportunities to talk with several people while we were there.

     On the Saturday we were there, a church from Stanwood (nearby town) hosted a special day called "A Day for Darrington".  It was all FREE, and was a wonderful time of food and fun for everyone with the intent of bringing hope and a new beginning.  We felt so privileged to be there for this day!  The kids got snow cones, and Leif got a free haircut.

     The girls had their faces painted, and all of the kids enjoyed the many carnival games with fun prizes!  If they didn't win the prize they just went back to the booth later to try again.  One game had stuffed animals as prizes.  I think our family left with 6 or 7 stuffed animals!

     There was a kiddie pool full of bubble-blowing equipment.  We spent a long time making lots and lots of bubbles!  It's such a beautiful place.  We all loved being tucked in the mountains.

 

     They had a jumping castle as well as this fun bouncy slide!  We met a man who showed great love to us and prayed for our family.  It was wonderful to see the body of Christ working together to bring encouragement to this town, and to us, too!

     Leif's friend, Darrin, was there with his daughter.  Our girls played while the Dad's talked and got caught up.



     There were free burgers, chips, drinks, and watermelon.  Ike was all about the watermelon.  I don't know how many times I went back to get him another piece!

     It was so special for Leif's mom to be with us all week in the Darrington area.  The kids enjoyed their time with their grandma, and the feelings were mutual!  Ella didn't want me to take a picture of her face paint all day.  She was Hello Kitty.  =)

 
     We had opportunity to share at 3 different churches that week in Darrington what God is doing in Russia.  It is always so amazing and humbling to me how many people pray for us.  Even people we've never met!

After one of the services, the pastor and his wife treated our family to a special lunch at a ranch where the kids got to ride horses!  Thank you, God, for these special times!

August Schedule

Here's where we'll be in August.  We'd love to see you!!

August 8-10 Vashon Island

August 17 (Sunday) Darrington First Baptist Church

August 20 (Wednesday) 6:30pm dessert and sharing at Mountainview Baptist Church in Darrington

August 24th (Sunday) Darrington Gladtidings AOG Church 

August 31st (Sunday) Coupeville United Methodist Church

Conferences in Michigan

Families at the SEND Reconnect Conference

      We enjoyed time in Michigan at two different conferences put on by SEND.  The first was called
"Reconnect".  It was smaller scale and allowed for great times breaking into groups to process through our last years on the field as well as training times to prepare us for the future.  They had a great kids program that helped the kids in this time of transition to America.  We enjoyed the connections we made.  We were also able to do things like make new prayer cards and brochures that explain our ministry a bit more.

     One morning we all shared a couple of short stories of how God is at work in our countries.  Afterwards, people prayed for us.  It was encouraging to hear the many accounts of all that God is doing!

     In between the conferences, we rented a car and drove to our teammate's (The Jordans) house for the weekend.  We were still struggling with jetlag, so it was very nice to be with a family who understands and didn't mind us getting up EARLY in the morning!  On Saturday we walked to Lake Lansing.  It was so special because Juli invited Jennifer (who came to Ulan Ude on a short term trip 3 years ago) and Diana (who prays for us FAITHFULLY) to come and join us.  Diana had made a special backpack full of goodies for our kids.  It was PERFECT to have for our travel back to Washington! We cherished these times of talking and sharing.

     Saturday evening John and Sharon (old teammates) flew in and also stayed with the Jordans.  Their hospitality was amazing, as they had just moved into their new home that week!  We had a good time going to their church with them the next morning and meeting the people who love and support them.  What a gift to have time with these two families!

     The next conference was a lot bigger.  I think 300 people were there, and I didn't really get many pictures.  But it was a week of great teaching from the Bible, good seminars for growth, times of hearing what God is doing all over the world and praying, and connecting with others.  This family (pictured above) became very dear to our hearts.  They loved on our kids and we really enjoyed one another.

     Our kids were each in different groups for the kids program, and it was a week full of wonderful teaching and fun activities for them.  Both girls made friends.  Here, Ella is posing with Ella.  =)  By the end of the week, Ike was tiring of being away from us, so we let him nap next to us on the bench and run around with us in the afternoon.  But overall, the kids did great and made many fun memories!

     All of the meals were incredible.  I didn't know it was possible, but I've gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks!!  One meal we looked over to see our kids like this, under the table.  There was a service assistant dog under there!  They had a little tradition to go and run with their friends in the lobby after the meals.  There was fun to be had around every corner!

Green Planes, Stuffed Dogs, and Jet Lag

We walked around a bit in Bejing during our 15 hour layover.

     We've arrived in Michigan after our long travel around the world!  I say "long", but actually we got here in TWO PLANES which is the least EVER.  (We have had to take up to 5 planes before.)  It helped that Ulan Ude now has a flight that goes to Bejing once a week.  And there was a direct flight from there to Detroit.  We ended up being on the overseas flight about 15 hours because of a storm, but I can't tell you how wonderful it was to ARRIVE after that flight instead of saying "two more planes to go!".  The kids did great traveling.  Since we've had 3 kids, it was our easiest trip yet.  

     A couple of hours before we left, our friends Ira and Sasha came over and brought us gifts.  They gave each of the kids a stuffed dog.  Between their dogs and each getting to wear their own backpacks, the kids were so happy and cute.  Ike was very happy that we got to fly on a green plane.  Simple pleasures.

     Now we have a couple of weeks of conferences.  The kids are VERY jet lagged right now.  They've been waking up very early (as early as 2:00am) and then falling asleep at random moments throughout the day.  They are falling all over the floor at meals (and not really eating, but then really wanting to eat in the night), walking into walls and people, giggling crazily one moment and crying really hard the next. We appreciate your prayers to get back on schedule soon!

    So far, we've enjoyed the pleasures of Cheerios, chips and salsa, running barefoot in the grass, drinking water out of drinking fountains, swimming in a pool, and speaking English everywhere!  (although, Ella has been breaking out her Russian like never before!).  It's good to be back!

There's always time for fun!

     After everyone finished working for the day last Friday, we went to the river for a picnic of shashlik (shish kabobs) with side dishes and s'mores for dessert.  It was the 4th of July, too, so it was nice to be able to celebrate on our Independence Day.  Of course, most of the people there were Canadians, but we didn't hold it against them.

Ike and Matty played catch.

Ella and Anya played with the frisbees.

And after dinner I took the kids to the shore to swim.  The water was COLD!

Getting warm with Renata and a toasted marshmallow!

     Then Saturday was a very special birthday party for two babies who each turned 1!  Last year we threw a joint shower for the moms, so it was special that they had their birthday party together.  It was a grand affair!!  Lots of food and activities and games and treats!

     It was held at the church in the middle of the construction.  It was amazing how much they cleaned everything up to throw a birthday bash!  They rented these bouncy things for the kids to jump on.

There was a slide show that showed pictures of Dasha and Ilya from this past year.

     Then on Sunday after church, Leif took the Canadian team to the Buddhist temple to share with them more about the religion and about Buryat culture.  Afterwards, we met up with them and joined them for dinner at an outdoor museum where they serve posie (traditional meat dumplings).  The kids all rode on horses and loved it!  Ike must be allergic to horses because he broke out in red spots all over his back and his eyes were puffy and red.  Poor guy!

Such fun to ride a horse!

Happy girl!

     When our family came home, we got ice cream and let the kids play on the playground.  We're totally on a late summer schedule right now, as it's light out really late.  

     Then this Thursday we got together with our Swiss friends and their parents.  We wanted to connect with them before we head out for America.  On the table in this picture is both salted and smoked fish from Baikal that we ate.  Mmmmm!

     These two friends ate together on the covered balcony.  They were both sad to be saying goodbye to one another for the next 5 months!

     After a wonderful chicken dinner, we went for a walk, ate ice cream, and hung out around the fountain.  The weather was perfect and the kids were so happy!

     It was fun to watch the grandmas, as they were concerned that the kids would fall into the fountain!  They stayed near and frequently grabbed a shirt or some pants to pull a child back!

     There was a sign that said not to feed the birds, but people everywhere were feeding them.  Ella and Anya would pick up food from the ground and lure the birds with it.  There were roller bladers everywhere!  I love seeing families out and enjoying the evening and one another!

     Tonight we fly to Bejing for a long layover before we go to Michigan for a couple of conferences.  Let me just say that it is HARD to pack with three young kids!!!  But I think we're almost done.  =)  We appreciate your prayers as we travel and transition to a whole 'nother world!

Working Together

     These past couple of weeks, we've had a team of 6 men come from Canada to help us with construction on our church building.  They put in a system so that we can have running water and a real live toilet!  Also, we now have a room ready for a kitchen (with all new kitchen cabinets and sink), a new heating system, a retaining wall, a repaired roof and siding (among other things).  Above is the before picture of our church building.

     And this is the "after" picture after the siding.  (I used a different camera, so that's why the coloring of the fence is different.)

     Adriana's daughter stayed with our kids two days each of the two weeks so that I could be at the church and help to prepare lunch.  It was fun to be a part of the energy and the bustle.  Each day we served soup as a first course and then a second course such as buckwheat or fish or rice and meat.  

     There were between 20 and 25 people there for lunch each day.  After the meal, one or two people gave their stories of how God showed Himself to them and drew them to Himself.  It was an encouraging time to celebrate what God has done!  I also love seeing so many people working together for a common goal.  Many of the Canadians said that they now have a burden to pray for the people here and know better how to pray.

     Leif was there each day.  His main jobs were to put in a new chimney, repair the roof, and to build a couple of brick walls.  Who knew that he knew how to do these things?!  When he ran out of bricks, he continued to make a wall out of different shaped rocks.  I was impressed.  On Tuesday when I was there, there was a loud explosion and a huge gust of hot wind blew into the kitchen.  Debris was flying everywhere.  It totally sounded and felt like the roof had caved in.  Apparently, the inside of the water tank had been painted the day before and the fumes were trapped in there.  When Dima went to cut a hole into the tank, a spark went inside and it all caught on fire.  Leif and Denis were down in the basement at the time.  It blew Denis back and slammed the metal door into Leif.  I was SO relieved when I saw that they were okay.  When we first heard the explosion, we were certain that someone must have been seriously injured!  Another day, both of Sasha's legs fell through the roof as he was part of repairing it.  And another day, John fell down into the hole around the foundation.  But thankfully nobody was seriously hurt.  God was our protector!

This room was prepped and sanded and painted to be our entryway/kitchen.

     Yesterday I brought Ella with me.  We've been packing away our stuff this week, preparing to go back to the States, and we can tell that this has been hard on Ella.  Even though we've tried to make things as calm and positive as possible, she's been emotional.  Because of it, we've made an effort to give her more attention.  She liked coming to the church and played with Matty and Nathan while we were there.

We have hot water right now, so the guys came over each day to take showers after working so hard.  

     And Adriana's other kids came, too, and played with our kids.  It was nice for them to get this time together!

     I didn't get too many other "after" pictures of the construction.  Maybe I can post some after I get some from friends.  We know that church is so much more than just a building, but we pray that this building will be used for good things.