Our Little Smurf

     The past few weeks have been very busy for Anneka with rehearsals for a play every day!  She had six performances from December 23-25 (with 3 performances on Christmas).  She was a smurf and had the most lines out of the smurfs.  I have to say that I was rather stressed about this because I couldn't help her with her lines the same way that I could if she were memorizing them in English.  I didn't want her learning lines with a funny accent! 

     One night a few weeks ago I had a dream that Leif and I gave Anneka permission to get married.  After she said her vows, I thought, "oh no!  She's not ready for this."  And then I preceded to think of every way possible that I could try and prepare her for marriage.  When I woke up, I realized that this is how I was feeling about Anneka's theatre class.  She was already enrolled and was already casted in the play.  There was nothing we could do, and I was worried that it was too much for her.

     So we did the best thing that we could do.  We sat down as a family and prayed together about it.  We prayed for Anneka to have peace and joy in the process and we prayed for her to supernaturally learn her lines and to know her dance moves, etc.  That afternoon I sat down with Anneka and within an hour she knew all of her lines!  We knew that it was the Lord answering our prayers and we thanked him for it!!  Then the day before her first performance Anneka was near tears because she didn't understand what she was supposed to do for a fight scene.  Again we prayed together.  That evening instead of having a dress rehearsal, the teacher spent the whole time with them going over just that one scene.  Again, we thanked God for His provision!  I think it was a faith building time for all of us and a reminder that God is ever present- in big things and little things.  We can always come to Him, and he hears us! 


     Needless to say, Anneka did great!  And she had a lot of fun, too.  Even though it was a tiring few weeks, she said, "I love this!" and has had such a rich experience through preparing for and performing in this play. 

     The play was a modern version of Snow White.

The prince was turned into an Angry Bird until the spell was broken by Snow White's kiss.

     At the end of the performance, the girls in these dresses came out and danced with the little kids in the audience.  Anneka was so excited for Ella and Ike to be able to do this.  Ike was dressed as Batman, and Ella as a princess (it's tradition to wear costumes at this time of year to performances).

     It's also a tradition around New Years for Grandfather Frost and his granddaughter to come out and play games and give candy to the kids. 

       After one of her plays, Anneka saw her dear friend from kindergarten.  They hugged each other and were so happy to see one another! 

     Being in the play has also been a way for Anneka to deepen friendships and make new friends. 
I thought this story was funny:  during an hour break between a performance and rehearsal, Anneka's friends really wanted Anneka to read her English book to them outloud to hear how it sounded.  Anneka told them that if they let her use their lipstick she would read them a paragraph.  Of course, they happily agreed.  She just loved wearing all of the makeup that performers get to wear!

Inka and Anneka, after the show

     Because of everything else we had going on (including Ike's and Ella's programs each being at the same time as 2 of Anneka's performances), we only made it to half of the plays.  But the cool thing is that Anneka had friends come to every one of her performances.  We feel so blessed by the love and support of so many people here!  It was very special for Anneka, too.

     ..... And here's a picture of Ella and Ike sliding down the 2016 ice sign outside of the theatre.  We love how there are so many ice sculptures and slides here in the winter.  2016 is just around the corner!

A Little Dream In the Middle of the Winter

     We recently got to go to Thailand for a conference for all of the SEND Russia missionaries.  It's a direct flight south from Irkutsk (the next city to the west of us) and only one hour difference in time zones... but it felt like a dream to be transported from winter and snow to sunshine and warmth!  It was an amazing time of spiritual food, cross-cultural training, fellowship with other believers, and refreshment!  The kids were a part of a wonderful program,too,  They loved each minute and connected with the other missionary kids there.  They are stil singing songs and sharing truths they learned.

     ...And a very special gift was that we were able to stay with my dear friend, Kim, and her family in Bangkok after the conference for few days.  I first met Kim on a summer project to Siberia in 1999 and then we lived together in Kyzyl (in Tuva in Siberia) for a school year in 2001-2. They hosted a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with a real organic turkey.  Even though we missed being with family, it was so sweet for our hearts to celebrate this holiday with other Americans that we love so much!

     Now we are very much back to life here in Siberia.  And as much as we enjoyed Thailand, it's good to be back!  It wouldn't feel like Christmas without snow!  ;)  Leif left for a week the day after we returned for a TNT training time in Chita where he led one of the sessions.

Also, the day after we returned, Anneka was in a performance (one that we didn't know about until a couple of hours before!) 

     ... and that same day, Ella had a Pie Festival (also a surprise to us!)  Ike and I quickly whipped something up and took it to her kindergarten.  =)

      The next day she had a Mother's Day performance.  I got to be in a few of the things up front- dancing with Ella, and playing a couple of funny games with moms and kids.

      They had a special tea time afterwards.

 

     We've had a busy advent season with our regular life and ministry, our family's extra daily special activities to focus on Jesus and enjoy one another, and extra practices for all 3 kids' holiday programs.  Anneka has drama practices every day and will have six performances!!  I'm getting a lot of exercise toting these two around on the sled.  I'm thanking God for lots of nice snow for the ease of transport!

      Leif and I got to go on a 24-hour anniversary getaway.  Our kids each spent a special night with different friends/families. (what a gift to us!)  They loved it, and we did, too!  Here's a picture of  Leif singing me my 13th anniversary song.  He writes me a new song every year.  I love this guy!!! 

God's Word is Living

     God’s Word is living and active, sharper than a double edged sword.  Besides being our personal life source, we’re encouraged lately by how the Bible has been an encouragement to others in our life.

     Two years ago when I (Jami) went back to the States for my Grandpa’s funeral, I returned with a bunch of Bibles that I passed out during a layover in southeast Asia.  I felt that I was to keep one, and it sat on our shelf.   Just recently our friend Nettie asked me us if we knew where she could find a Bible in the particular language of this country, as she met a girl from there who is hungry spiritually and was asking for one.  She was happily surprised to hear that we had one!  I just love how God does that!  This girl is reading and growing and going to a Bible study and church with Nettie.  There are several other girls from southeast Asia that come to Nettie’s English Club where she seeks to share about the Lord and go over Bible passages.  Pray for these girls and praise the Lord for how He’s at work!

     Also, I received a phone call from one of my Russian friends this week, telling me that she’s been reading a Bible I gave her over a year ago.  She said it sat there for a long time.  She hadn’t even noticed the inscription I’d put in there for her until recently.  =)  She said that she had had a bad attitude about God and spiritual things, but that her heart has totally changed.  “I believe now, not just in my head, but in my heart.  And there’s a big difference”.  I was so encouraged by this phone call.  It’s a reminder of the power in God’s Word.  I look forward to continuing this dialog with her, and I pray that she will grow up strong in the Lord.

From Fall to Winter

     Not too many weeks ago we were able to still sit outside in some comfort, watching the fall leaves swirl around us.  Here is our little neighborhood friend and neighborhood dog (inside of Anneka's coat, of course).

     Then we had a few snows that came and went.  And then the kind of snow came that we knew would never leave for 6+ months.  And then it dipped down below 0F.  Winter is officially here. 


          But our spirits aren't too low about it.  We've had special things to keep our minds off of the weather.  ;)  One exciting thing was that our teammates, the Brubachers came back!  We met them at their apartment the morning they arrived.  The kids were happy to see one another and promptly began putting together the boys' lego sets that they'd disassembled before heading back to Canada.

     One not-so-fun thing is that Ike's sickness (likely Scarlet Fever/strep) traveled to Anneka and then to Ella.  We were able to get them on antibiotics more quickly (Ella the very quickest), which sped things along.  One minute the kids and I were playing with moon sand and the next minute, Anneka was on the couch sleeping.  That's when I knew she was really sick!  I took her in to get a throat culture, and the nurse said her throat was so bad that I had to take her to the ear/nose/throat doctor.  The ENT said her throat looked like diphtheria.  She was thankful when I told her that Anneka had had several immunizations against it.  The culture turned out to be for the wrong thing, so we'll never know for sure, but it was likely the strep bacteria, as the symptoms go with it, and the antibiotics helped so quickly.

   Anneka missed her theatre class on Monday, but on Tuesday her teacher called us 2 times, asking for Anneka to come to a special thing.  We told her we didn't know, as Anneka was still recovering from being sick, but she said "She doesn't even have to come to class, she can just come to the special thing at 6:00".  Anneka was feeling quite a bit better by then, as she'd been on antibiotics for a day and a half, and she really wanted to go.  We had no idea what it was, but thought it must be special/important if her teacher was practically begging her to come!  It turns out it was a haunted house that some of the older theatre kids had put on!  Anneka knew the kids, so it wasn't scary at all, just silly (crawling through tunnels, getting flour thrown on her face, etc).  I thought it was funny because I never in a million years would have guessed that that's what it was!  It seems like this year a lot of Russians have started celebrating Halloween.  Who knew?

     And then on actual Halloween day, we met some friends from our neighborhood and drove to the river for a walk. There was ice on the river (the first sign that winter is here!).  But it was nice to be outside and to be someplace pretty.

 
     There is a new mall by the river, and we went in and got ice cream.

      Then, we looked over and dozens of kids were gathering for a big Halloween celebration of games.  I hadn't even told the kids it was Halloween because I seriously thought that nobody celebrated it here. (and to be honest- it's not my favorite holiday!)  Ella was the first to run over and get in line.  She's so cute and brave.  Soon all of the kids joined into the relay races and obstacle courses.

      It was really LOUD and festive.  It was the never ending party, and we left before it was done.

      Last week was a vacation week for school kids, so we visited our Romanian friends one day.  All of the kids dressed up like princesses/super heroes.  Then we took all 8 kids downtown shopping because Adriana had heard of a place that was selling shoes for liquidation prices.  It was pretty crazy with everyone, but I found dress shoes AND winter boots for BOTH girls.  This was truly amazing, as shoe shopping is usually a very complicated process with Ella.  And the prices WERE great.  Normally winter boots are super expensive, but I got each pair for less than $10 each.  American kids boots usually don't come close to being warm enough, but these are perfect for the middle of winter.  I loved this unexpected gift from God!

 
     Our friends, the Zaitzevs, can't meet for our home group on the same day as us, so we've already multiplied into two groups.  We had one girl come who had to walk 30 minutes to a bus stop and then take two 40 minute bus rides to come!  It was nice to have her and to get to know her a little.  I thought that was very brave of her to come somewhere new all by herself!

      Ike and Ella's new thing is to set up a lemonade stand in the hallway.  They even go through a tedious process of straining the water and swishing around soap before it goes into the cup to make a "special recipe".

 
     I've been running more lately, and Leif's also been working out more regularly. We'll have to figure out indoor workouts soon, as it is torture to run in negative temperatures.  But it's been nice for this season at least!  Both Leif and I have been enjoying listening to great sermons as we walk to pick up kids from school, exercise, or travel to and from places. 



     ...And on Mondays, Anneka and I have the tradition of going to the local swimming pool together.  It's nice to both get exercise and to have some one-on-one time.

     Last Saturday our friends invited us to the puppet theatre.  They live far away but were in town for the school's vacation days. 

      Afterward we went to a playground, which was INSANE because it was so cold and windy.

  Like really, really cold.

 These kids are tough ones!  I'm glad they still can have fun!

    

The Prize of a Thanksgiving Dinner

 
     As a way to motivate people to invite their friends to our English Club, we told everyone that there would be a prize for whoever brought the most people in September and October.  Zhenya (far back, black shirt) won the prize- which was a dinner with us for him and all of the people he brought to the club.  We let him choose between a hamburger-type dinner or a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and he and all of his friends unanimously agreed on the Thanksgiving dinner.  This prize was a plus for everyone, as it gave us a chance to get to know one another in a more personal way.


     We looked at our schedules and realized that the only day that really worked for everyone was 2 days later, on a Tuesday evening.  Monday is our rest/family day, so we literally did everything (from cleaning to meal planning to decorating to food preparation) all on that Tuesday.  Even more of a surprise was that we had a group of guests come for several hours in the day while we were preparing.  We scrounged up some lunch- pelmeni and macaroni and cheese (thank you, Sharon, for those packets of cheese powder!!) since our counter was covered with all of the fixings for rolls, green been casserole, stuffing, etc, etc.  =)  Our kids loved having other kids here to play with, and that kept them entertained.


     I have to say that Leif is AWESOME.  He did so much to prepare for the dinner.  It was interesting for our friends to hear about the foods we were making and our traditions.  I had them help me with a Mayflower craft for the kids and cutting leaves for our Thanksgiving tree.


     Nettie, who is also an American, joined us for the evening.  It was a later dinner, and I could tell that Ella and Ike were tired after a busy day with other guests, so we fed them earlier and put them to bed.  Anneka thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the evening.  About an hour into it, her eyes were quite droopy, though!



     I ddn't get any pictures of us doing the Thanksgiving tree that evening, but this is from another day.  Each day leading up to Thanksgiving, we hang a leaf with something that we thank God for written on it.  We made thankful leaves with the English Club friends, and it was neat to hear what they were thankful for and fun to share our tradition with them.

We're thankful for the new people that we're meeting through the English Club and pray for the believers there to have courage to share Jesus with their friends!

Eight is Great!

     We recently celebrated Anneka's 8th birthday!  It's so fun to see how much she's growing and to watch her personality develop more and more each year.  We started celebrating the evening before her birthday, as we were invited to a wedding on her special day.  She was very gracious about flip flopping our plans around.  She requested crepes for dinner and we ate by candlelight.



     A few days prior, we had gone to a Smurf/Dinosaur musical (yes, it was an odd combination!), and they were selling balloons like this there for 100 rubles each.  The kids all wanted them, but I thought it was a waste of money and didn't get them.  We figured out how to make them at home, and Anneka (and Ella and Ike!) were so excited to see our apartment all decorated the next morning with these special balloons.

     Anneka's breakfast request was oatmeal and fruit smoothies.  She enjoyed her time of opening presents with the family, and then we set off to celebrate at a newer mall in the area....


     We picked up Anneka's friend, Christina, and the kids all had a great time!  They first played for an hour on a big indoor play place.  Then they were each allowed to choose 4 other games to play.  The girls rode on this simulator, in which they were moved around as they watched a screen where they were flying through caves. 


     Then we all rode on the bumper cars.  Anneka was so fast that all of the pictures of her are too blurry.  =)

Such fun!

... and a ride on the carrousel!

 

 Leif and Ike rode on motorbikes while the girls were in the simulator.

Then we enjoyed a lunch of pizza and chicken nuggets.

     Anneka had picked out her own cake, and was excited for us to sing to her and to blow out her candles.

     Then we all got dressed up and ready to head to the wedding.  This was when Ike was starting to feel yucky, so we didn't make him put on his tie.

     I took sick Ike and Ella home after the wedding to rest, and Leif and the girls went on to the reception.  They had a great time and danced the night away... well, until 11:00 or so.  Leif brought home a very tired but very happy birthday girl.

     Anneka, you are such a beautiful person- so fun and creative and full of life!  We see an increasing desire in you to love God and to show His love to others. You have such a sweet and sensitive spirit.  It is such an honor to be your parents and to have you in our lives.  We love you!!