Team Christmas Party

Now that it's 2011, I should probably post our Christmas pictures! I'll start with the team Christmas party. We're now too big to meet in someone's living room, so we rented out a room from a church. Anneka chose this picture (above) for the blog. =)



The girls wore their Christmas dresses.





The Wickers came up with fun games for all of us, with the kids in mind. In this game, we had teams and had to guess whose nose was poking through Rudolph's face.



This was another game where we had to guess what the "ice sculptures" were displaying. There was also a devotional time, singing of Christmas carols, and a wonderful illustration from the men on our team of all of God- his power, wisdom, love, etc... wrapped up into a tiny baby. It truly is amazing.



The younger kids drew names for gifts and the rest of us had a white elephant gift exchange. As you can see above, the kids at one point made a train and had a great time.

Our team has grown! We are blessed by these people in our lives!

Mama!

Oops... Leif was really sweet and cleaned off this computer so that it would run faster. He asked me if there was anything I wanted left on here and I said, "no", forgetting about the pictures for the blog that I'd just put on the desktop. So I'll blog about Christmas sometime soon (Leif took Anneka to the neighborhood kids New Years party and has the camera with him). I took this clip the other day at Kristina's birthday party. Ella has been saying "mama" for over a week now! She says it all the time and I think she knows what it means because she'll reach out to me and say it. And she'll say it from her crib when she wakes up instead of crying for me. I love it!

Ice Sculptures And Ice Slides

On Monday evening, we headed down to the city square with the Brubachers to look at the ice sculptures and for the kids to slide on the ice slides. It was so cold!! I had left the diaper bag in the van and had left Ella's scarf in there, so I had to put her hat on differently than if I'd had a scarf. A lady came up to Anneka and fixed her pants, coat, scarf, hat, etc... then she looked at Ella and gasped! She told me that it was very dangerous and the way I had Ella dressed was a nightmare. Normally I'd let it go, but I'd been worried about her hat situation to begin with. It was -17 outside, and I know that it IS dangerous. So Ella and I headed into a cafe across the street until I could get her dressed better. Above is what she looked like when the lady gasped.




It really is amazing all that they carve out of ice!





Here's a little kid slide for the tots.





These are all of the animals for the different years. I think this next year is the year of the rabbit (at least that's what the central ice sculpture looked like!)





Anneka loved sliding!




Here she is with Nathan on his back.




After the men had payed our phone bills, they came back and went on the bigger slides with the kids. They got going pretty fast!!




The kids were so cute. Anneka looks like a funny ragamuffin.



And, of course, we had to get our picture with Grandfather Frost and the Snow Granddaugther!

We don't get to drive around and look at Christmas lights like families do in the States, but this is pretty cool, too... arguably even cooler! =)

Salvation Church and The Answer

Today we went to Salvation Church. The pastor there was officially ordained, and people from three different churches came to celebrate. This church building has been in the planning/works for a few years now. It's neat to see how God has answered prayers of resources and funding and leadership. The service was over 3 hours long. It was just about to be over at the 2 hour mark, but then someone wanted to go up front and repent (turn her life to God) and then a bunch of people did that after her as well. God is at work.




Anneka and Ella were champions in the long service. Something fun happened today, too! Yesterday I looked in several stores for a hat for Anneka for Christmas (her current one is ratty and falling apart)and didn't find what I was looking for. I came home empty-handed and realized that I probably wouldn't be able to go shopping for hats again before Christmas. Well, at church Sveta came up to me and asked if we'd want to borrow a certain hat and coat. And I LOVE the hat! This picture doesn't show the front of the hat, but I thought it was cute of Leif and Anneka. I love how God provides in such fun ways!

After church we went to the Blaker's house for lunch (with the Hofstetters, too). It was nice to have that time with them. Anneka delighted in playing with Anna's new puppy.

In answer to the question a few days ago about who was Anneka and who was Ella, Ella was on top (with me in the striped sweater). Can you guess who is who in the pictures below?

A Trip to Zaigraeva

We drove out to Zaigraeva today to see Inka and to pick up Katia and her babies and bring them back to Ulan-Ude. It was really good to see everyone, and we hope to make frequent trips there. I can't remember how much I shared before but Valery and Tasia and Inka are starting a church there... the first! They're already reaching out to their neighbors and living well in the community. It's exciting. Today Inka made us delicious soup for lunch. Ella is a grabber, so I had to keep my bowl far away from her little hands. Speaking of which, last night we had some guests over and Ella was hanging out in the kitchen with me. While I was preparing dinner, I had a bowl of cookie dough on the table. It was originally pretty far away from Ella. When I turned around, this is where the bowl was:


Ella is now 6 months old! We started her on solid foods this week, but she doesn't quite have the hang of it yet. I'll have to take pictures soon. I weighed her at Inka's (she has a digital scale), and Ella is now almost 19 pounds!! I'm SO happy. For her age of baby, this is huge. Even so, she's only gained the minimum of what a baby should gain the past three months. Still, she's in the normal range of growth, so I'm thrilled. And I've decided to officially stop worrying about this. Back to Inka's...



Anneka wanted to hold Katia's new baby, Rastoslav. He's six weeks old and very cute. Anneka is also growing! Yesterday she peeled her own boiled egg at breakfast and her own orange at dinner. She asked me if I knew how she could do it. "How?" I asked. "Because I'm getting big!" She's actually been peeling eggs and oranges for awhile now, but she definitely does it with more confidence and less mess than before. She's very aware of the new things she's able to do.



Lyena came over this week, too. I feel like I'm starting to feel a bit more normalcy in life (don't get me wrong, our apartment is usually messy and it still takes forever to do things, but we've rounded a corner).

Leif has had a lot of responsibilities lately (when doesn't he?) Tonight some of his Russian friends invited him to play basketball. I'm so happy for him. He's been wanting to do that for awhile now! Oh, and speaking of basketballs, I bought a new one for Leif for Christmas. I took both Anneka and Ella shopping (no small feat on public transportation), and I told Anneka to keep it a secret. About 10 minutes after we got home, Anneka said to Leif, "We got you a volleyball for your birthday". We'll have to work on keeping our lips sealed.

We co-own a van!!

We have a van! Leif and Dave went to Irkutsk this past weekend. It's an overnight train ride to get there (with thousands of dollars under Leif's pillow to purchase the van with). When they arrived in the morning, they saw that it was -37 degrees outside! And then they spent hours in the cold, looking at all of the vehicle options at the car market. It was so cold that the insoles in Leif's boots literally froze! It's so nice because our friend, Vitya, made the trip with the guys to help them make a good choice.

A important selling point for cars in Russia is whether or not the cars have been on Russian roads a long time. Most cars are imported from Japan and Korea. The roads there are nice and smooth, but Russian roads are entirely different. All of the cars for sale say how many years they've been on Russian roads. The guys finally settled on a 2001 Toyota Town Ace Noah. It's 4-wheel drive, which is really nice with all of the ice in the wintertime. On the 10.5 hour drive back (280 mile trip), the guys got to test out the 4wd. The weather was really bad. They got one flat tire, stopped once to have the spare tire fixed, and got pulled over by the police once (a random check). They arrived back to Ulan Ude at 2:30 in the morning, and Leif had to speak at church later that morning. When he went to start the van at 9:30am it wouldn't start! It was too cold. Then the next day Dave and Martina got it started with a jump and got a second flat tire... all this in the first day and a half!! Today the guys bought a good new battery and they looked at good tires. All should be well after these purchases. =)

In America there are 24-hour fast food restaurants and 24-hour convenience stores. In Russia they have 24-hour tire repair places.

Our steering wheel is on the right hand side, but we will drive on the right hand side... something to get used to. We're thankful for the blessing of this van and hope to use it to encourage others in villages and to also make it easier traveling with kids.




Here's Leif on Sunday. He gave some background on the Thessalonian church from the book of Acts. Both girls were really good through the service.




... and a picture of our little church.

Anneka's quote of the day: "We don't throw garbage on the ground outside. Who does that?" Good question, Anneka. Good question.

Building Snowmen

Someone in America told Anneka that she could build snow houses when she returned to Russia. Who told her this? It is much too cold to build snow houses and snowmen outside except for two days a year in the fall and spring. We went outside on the one day of fall that would work. It was 25F outside, but the snow was still too dry for packing. Now it is 55 degrees colder and simply impossible to even try. Anyways, today our advent activity was to bring the snow indoors and make mini-snowmen. Anneka had a lot of fun with it. She did it once with Leif and once with me. =) I added a little video clip at the end...

Who Is Who?

Which picture is Anneka and which is Ella?

The Advent Season

Since we've been married, Leif and I have celebrated advent in the month leading up to Christmas with candles, scripture readings and songs each evening. Now that we have Anneka and Ella we want to include them in tangible ways as we anticipate Christmas day and the coming of Christ! Martina had a great idea that I immediately stole. She made a calendar starting on December 1st made up of envelopes clipped to a ribbon. Each day we open the envelope and celebrate in some way. Some are more focused on Jesus and others are just silly or fun. For example, today's celebration was to have ice cream for breakfast.



Another part of our tradition is to have pregnant Mary and Joseph journey to Bethlehem. Each day they move a little bit closer to the nativity set, and Anneka LOVES moving them around the living room. Gotta love that morning hair!



Ella likes to watch her sister.



On this day our activity was to make Christmas cards for Anneka's grandparents. She loves cutting! We wanted to make more cards, but the main post office was out of stamps. So we did what we could. =)




And this day we put green ice cubes in the bath. They looked more blue after the water froze.



... but they turned the bath green when melted.



Ella chases after her sister and delights in her walker. She is so strong that she can move that thing over carpet, too. Yesterday, I caught her pulling on (and trying to eat) the advent calendar. Gotta watch that girl!




You probably noticed Anneka in her coat and Ella in her hat indoors. This morning I had her in her snowsuit in our living room because it's SO COLD! It's -33F outside and who-knows-how-cold inside. Brrr.

I haven't blogged much, as Leif has had the camera a lot this week and when he's been home he's needed the computer for various meetings (area counsel, working on getting "Sharing Christ in the Tibetan Buddhist World" translated into Russian, etc).

But Leif is gone with Dave today to hopefully find a van for us to co-own. We hope they find one! Anneka is hoping for a light pink van.

Birthday At The Banya

On Saturday we got to celebrate John's birthday with his family at the banya. It was so fun, and we felt honored that they invited us! I thought I'd taken a good picture of John and Sharon that day, but I can't find it now!



A banya is a bath house where there's steam and a sauna (and sometimes a pool) for getting nice and clean. Normally the sauna is too hot and the pool too cold for kids, but this pool was a perfect temperature and both girls really enjoyed it. Of course, anything with Heidi is 10x more fun!!




This picture is steamy, but I think it's cute of Leif with his girls in his banya hat. We got John a banya hat for his birthday, so now he can be stylish like Leif.



It was SO CUTE how Ella loved splashing the water with her little hand. There's a lap pool not far from our apartment, but I heard that it's cold. I wish there were a pool for the kids to play in close by. It's such a fun thing to do... especially as it's too cold to play outside. We were thankful for this fun day!

Hanging Out Together

"Let's talk about Ella being big", is a common phrase from Anneka. She loves her sister as she is (a baby), but she also loves to think about Ella being big enough to play with. Ella loves to watch her sister and hang out with her. Anneka plays so nicely by herself, and Ella is an avid fan.




A couple of weeks ago we went to visit Inka in Zaigraiva (the village where she moved to). I didn't take any pictures that day, as it was kind of rough. Anneka fell down the stairs before we went, had a "pee-pee accident" while we were there (with no change of clothes), and it was just before we knew she had a cold so she was tired and kind of cranky. And Ella wouldn't eat while we were there. Anyways, we'll need to go and visit Inka again and hopefully things will go a little better this next time. We miss her!! Here is how Anneka fell asleep in the car on the way out there. It's so funny how she had her leg propped up on the other.

Counting Our Blessings

We celebrated a nice Thanksgiving at the Kerins with teammates and friends. The night before, Leif and I counted our blessings by writing many, many things we're thankful for from this past year into our "thankful book". It's amazing all that can happen in a year and how many prayers are answered and sweet moments there are to celebrate.



This is what we looked like as we prepared to leave our apartment. It's cold out now... even as I type it's -22F. Brrr. Ella was dressed in her snowsuit and a snowsack. She looked like a Russian baby all bundled up.



There were 20 of us total. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal with chicken substituting the turkey and carrots prepared like sweet potatoes. Leif and I brought stuffing and apple pie. He rolled out the crust... my least favorite part! Before we all ate we sang the song "Count Your Blessings" and between choruses we each shared things we're thankful for this past year. Later on we sang more praise songs to God.



Rebecca's friend, Nadia, brought a cake with the Mayflower on it! She even dressed like a Native American with a headdress and everything... but I missed getting a picture of that. =)



Ella has begun the stranger anxiety phase of babyhood, but on this day she let other people hold her. She also both ate and slept well that day- something huge to be thankful for!




Here are the kids eating dessert together. Anneka loved playing with the girls, and she did amazing for having no nap and staying up late.

We always miss our families during this time of the year, but we are also always amazed by how God gives us sweet blessings as we are away!