Looking back at Mongolia

Wow, it is amazing how busy two little girls can keep a guy! That is certainly what I have been feeling with Jami sort of out of commission with being on bed rest. Because of that this post feels a bit outdated, but it is certainly worth it. I want to share about the trip the "triggered" this tough time for us. Okay, so the trip didn't really do that, but it sure feels like something crazy happens in the family every time I travel somewhere for a little while. Back in January I was invited to come to participate in a mission conference in Mongolia at the beginning of November. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was going to be given the opportunity to stand up and share with over 500 Mongolian brothers and sisters representing 81 churches and 10 mission organizations. I shared from the book of Acts, looking at the multicultural mission team that traveled with Paul, and how that was such a great testimony, and how today we can be a great testimony as we work together as Mongolians and Russians and Buryats and Americans. God loves it when we don't let cultural differences destroy our fellowship and service together, but honor and love each other as who God has made us to be. It was so encouraging to me to see this large group of Mongolians worshiping their creator in their language. I hope that I will get to see more and more Buryats able to do the same thing. God even opened up some opportunities to talk to people who are interested in moving to Russia to help bring the good news to people here, and we are trying to look at ways we can better connect the churches in Russia and Mongolia so that we can work together. Hopefully we will even do some sort of training together this coming year. Please pray that God will lead us in how we should continue to network together to see the good news spread!

Fumes

I probably should not be writing a blog right now, as all I can really think about are fumes. They've been painting in our hallway the past few days, and the fumes are SO STRONG! We've had our windows open and I've shut myself in the back room, but we can't fully get away. Leif told me yesterday that they even painted our door. It used to be a nice wood color. Now it matches the walls! I'm sure the hallways are much nicer, and we're thankful for the improvements. I will just be very happy when the fumes are gone.


The I.V. treatment worked temporarily but didn't stop the contractions. Now I'm on a couple of other medicines. I passed the sugar test, so I'm assuming that means no gestational diabetes.

Even though my feelings are kind of like a roller coaster right now, God keeps reminding me to trust Him and He keeps showing me how much we have to be thankful for through this hard time. I will write more on this in the days to come (right now I have a headache from the fumes), but I'll share a couple now. I had to wean Ella suddenly when the contractions started. I had planned on nursing her these winter months to give her the added benefit of antibodies. And with all of the guests and changes and the move, it seemed like weaning her wouldn't have been good in the middle of those times. But anyways, she used to NEED her Mama all of the time and was totally jealous of anyone else who got my attention. But now she happily goes to lots of people and is content without me. This is so nice to know that she's happy, and it will help prepare her for the new baby, I'm sure. I've also had some really nice times with Anneka, talking and reading together. Almost every night I let her fall asleep next to me while I sing to her and rub her head. (and Leif carries her to her own bed later). It's been really sweet to have this time with her.

Okay, my head won't last any longer. Thank you for your continued prayers!

I.V.s and More Help

So, it's been concluded that I have too much amniotic fluid and that's what's causing the contractions. The baby is big- weighing over 3.5 pounds (and he's only 27 weeks). My Ob/Gyn in the States wants me tested for gestational diabetes, as this often causes too much fluid. I'll get the glucose screening test on Monday. To stop the contractions I'm on an I.V. of magnesium every other day and on the off days I have an I.V. of some sort of nutrient from a calf that's supposed to help the baby. I'll get these I.V.s for 10 days. Already I've noticed a huge difference in not cramping/contracting. Unfortunately, there are other strong and negative side effects from the magnesium that I'm not enjoying so much. Two days down, eight to go! We're praising God that the baby is healthy and that he's staying right where he should be!

I'm so thankful that Leif's been with me these days. He helps distract me and keeps me company. Today there was a sewage problem underneath the building and the room was really stinky and cold and stuffy and I got really lightheaded and almost fainted. Leif called the nurse and she took out the I.V., opened the window, and rubbed my temples. It was very sweet. Tomorrow I'll be in a different room and Nettie will keep me company.




While Leif was leading the Buryat Partnership this afternoon, Lisa and Martina came over and made a TON of really yummy food for our family for this next week. What a HUGE gift! Anna watched the kids and got Ella down for a nap- and even cleaned!- while they cooked and I slept (It was hard to sleep last night as my heart was racing from the magnesium). God is teaching me so much about His love. I see how valuable it is to reach out to people in tangible ways when they're in need. I'm so thankful for the family we have in Jesus!

Thankful for Help

On Tuesday, Leif had to take care of a lot of running around/document stuff and Renata and Nettie were so sweet to take the girls and Matty while Leif and the Brubachers did their necessary work. Renata emailed me these pictures later that day. I'm so thankful that the girls are having fun, even during this hard time.



Ella was SUCH a good girl and fell asleep right on Renata's bed for her nap time. I guess she seemed pretty delighted that the kitty was right there with her. She was in baby heaven.



Anneka always loves it when she can be with Matty. (take note of her skirt over the pants... Anneka has been picking out her own clothes and dressing herself. Sometimes the combinations are quite interesting).


Today more helpers will come over to watch the girls. We're so grateful!

Tomorrow I will have a doctor's appointment and will be able to get a whole gamete (sp?) of tests as well as an ultrasound to try and figure out what's causing the contractions and hopefully get them to stop. As always, we appreciate your prayers!

Bed rest

This past week has been scary, as I had contractions and other worrisome symptoms. Leif was gone in Mongolia at the time, and at one point my friends were packing my bag for the hospital and I was saying goodbye to my little girls... and didn't know when I'd see them again. Thankfully God took good care of me and provided many different friends to stay with me and the girls until Leif returned. He was able to get on a train that only goes every 2 weeks and return early. It's so nice to have him back!

For an undetermined time, I'm on bed rest. This can be hard to explain to little Ella, who wants her mama's attention frequently. Leif has been really good with the girls, though, and he is good at distracting them away from me.

There were so many things going through my mind as Renata, Martina, and Shawna (midwife) were taking me to the hospital. I'm only 26 weeks pregnant, and Shawna was told they don't try and save babies here that early. I kept going back to the fact that this little boy is God's and is in His loving hands. When things are scary or sad or confusing, there is this wonderful truth to hold onto.

And now that I'm home, there's so much to be thankful for! The contractions have stopped, God provided so many people to show His love and care for me, I'm not in the hospital and can rest at home, Leif was able to come home early, etc. I'm amazed at how many people have called or stopped by to pray for me or to offer help.

And now that I'm on bed rest, I want to use this time wisely. It sounds tempting to just watch movies all day (and maybe some day I will do this), but with little ones it's often hard to take time to really focus on God and His Word and to draw near to Him without a bazillion distractions. I want to use this time for these things... and to read to the girls and to pray and to sing praises to Jesus.

We appreciate your continued prayers for this little one inside of me. We pray that he'll arrive fully developed and at full term. Pray for Leif, too, as he now has even more on his plate. Pray that we'll all go through this time well, drawing nearer and nearer to God.

Learning More About the Culture We Live In

We've had a conference this past week to learn more about the Buryat culture and specifically about Buddhism and Shamanism. It's been very helpful, with good discussions in groups about what this means and how our western worldview is very different from many peoples' worldviews here. Most of the group went to a Buddhist temple on Saturday to interview a monk and to learn. One Buryat lady that has been attending our seminar is a Christian and wants to know how to share Jesus with her mother, who is a Shaman. We all want to learn how to share Christ in ways that are understandable.



While most of the group was at the temple, three of us stayed and helped make a traditional Buryat meal with a Buryat family (and several of their friends) for everyone. It was so fun to talk with these ladies and to hear their stories... and specifically to hear how God has brought them into a relationship with Himself. It was also very fun to learn how to make the food! In the picture above, the ladies are cutting up noodles to go into a soup of just meat and noodles (and salt). They added potatoes to ours, but traditionally there are no potatoes.



I've had posie (meat dumplings) many times, but I've never made them before. I was so proud to make my first posie! Everyone was so helpful and encouraging in teaching me and the others how to make them.



In this picture, I'm holding a posie and she is holding a vareniki- both noodles with meat inside, but different shapes and ways of eating them.




Posie is steamed in a big pot. When you eat it you take a bite out of the noodle and then slurp the meat juices out of the hole. Yum, yum!



We enjoyed eating together and hearing one lady's story of how God has drastically changed her life. She was filled with joy and peace and it was such a gift to hear from her. We're so thankful for these opportunities to learn and reminders of how God is at work, drawing people from all over to Himself.

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!