Thanksgiving Blessings

   Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a sweet Thanksgiving with friends and family, aware of our many blessings, even as we missed those who are far away.  The kids all really got into Thanksgiving preparations this year.  They all colored pictures for this board, but Ella made the most.  

     Anneka made Native American dolls for Ella and Ike as surprise presents for them to open Thanksgiving morning.  She made Ike's two-sided so that one side is frowning and the other side smiling.  They both loved their new toys.

Ike was very helpful in spraying the tablecloth with water to get out the wrinkles.

Anneka made the rolls

Ella made the "Mayflower" for a skit.

...and Anneka worked on other props.

     Nettie came early to make monkey bread with the kids.  Monkey bread is a tradition in her family, and it's one that we've been happy to adopt, too, the last several years.  The kids also treasure the tradition of preparing it together with Nettie.

     The girls decided on the seating arrangements.  Anneka is wearing an apron my aunt made out of fabric from her grandmother- so, our kids' great great grandmother!  It's over 100 years old.    Do you notice anything interesting in the pocket?  Ratty Pie wanted to be a part of the festivities, too.


     When people arrived, they added leaves to our Thanksgiving tree of things that they're thankful for.  We read them aloud at the end of the dinner.


     We made a couple of chickens, but Bruce also found a couple of large turkey breasts right before Thanksgiving and cooked them up for us all to enjoy.

     The day before Thanksgiving, Ike asked us if there would be presents.  We told him that Thanksgiving isn't usually a holiday for giving presents, but for being thankful for what we already have.  Then that gave me the idea to wrap things (one per person) that represent things that we have- food, shelter, Bible, money, etc.  Anneka had the idea for us to pass around the presents to music and open them after the music stopped.

 Anneka shared with everyone some words that she wrote about being thankful.

  

   We also played Headbands and a game kind of like charades.

Lots of giggles and sillies!

The kids along with Leif, Bruce, and Nettie acted out a skit about the first Thanksgiving.

They were quite entertaining to watch!

     The next day we were able to Skype with family on their Thanksgiving (as we're a day ahead).  It was fun to see their faces and hear their voices.

     We are thankful for our many blessings!

The Few Days of Fall

     We often joke that here in Siberia we get two months of spring, one month of summer, four days of fall, and nine months of winter.  We joke, but it's based largely on truth.  Fall was already gone long ago, but we enjoyed it the few days that it was here! 

     We love to buy fresh produce from babushkas at the side of the road.  They often give the kids free berries or nuts, and it's so great to support them and to get organic goodness.

     I got to be with my friends as they tasted raw broccoli for the first time! (they liked it) This is a food that I always buy if I see it for sale (which is rare).  You can buy frozen broccoli here, but fresh is something extra special.



     Leif was asked to give the talk at church on Harvest Day.  He's been able to share several times recently, as our pastor has asked for help.   We enjoyed a yearly feast with everyone after the service.  I was so into it that I didn't take pictures!


     The kids like to hang out on this woodpile after church.  We like to see the fun and creative games they come up with as they play outside.

     This year we were given a lot of zucchinis from the abundance of friends' gardens.  Our kids made them into babies.  (The dark green zucchini babies didn't show up for pictures as well).  This was fine with me until one day I started grating a bunch of zucchinis and I heard sobbing coming from my children.  They were so upset that I was hacking up their babies.  So we then bought more zucchinis from some babushkas so they could have babies again.  And thus begun a fall full of zucchinis!

Ike with "his dog".

   We've had several new people at our English Club this fall.  We start out the evening with a game of some sort.  On this day, we had a panel of people that had to go on a scavenger hunt.

      Then we break into lesson/discussion groups.  Our focus these months is on the life of Jesus by studying different passages and parables in the New Testament.  We've had some good discussions both during and after the lessons (during tea time).


     Ike is my helper each week to make pizzas for our small group.

     Each Monday we drive to the village  and have dinner with these friends before our small group.  We are excited each week to see the progress on the building of our house.  This is what it looks like now:

   Lots of progress!  

      We typically return home at about 11:00pm.  Often at least one of the kids falls asleep in the car.

     This fall, I've been trading off every other week taking the preschoolers at church for Bible times and crafts.  We recently finished a series on creation.  On the off weeks I've been helping with the worship team.  I don't really know how helpful I am with Russian not being my first language, but the leader begged me to help them, and I agreed to do it for a few months.

     I was recently invited to a "sushi night" with some friends.  It was a lovely evening, and I really enjoyed praying with these ladies at the end of the night. 

    Yulia invited Nettie and me to make sauerkraut with her.  It was all of our first time to make it, and we made A LOT!  I'm using it now in soups.   Borscht tastes so much better with sauerkraut in it than fresh cabbage.

     Here's the jack-o-lantern we made this year.  We don't celebrate Halloween here, but it was fun to carve a pumpkin as a family . We each chose a part of the face to design.

    Leif's been taking an online course this fall, working on the understanding of the gathering of believers.  It's been challenging him in different ways and it's been giving us good things to think and pray about and to dialog with others.

Groundbreaking News

     It's official!  We bought land in the village and are planning to move there, along with Nettie!  Last week we had a special "groundbreaking ceremony" with the team to celebrate and commit everything to the Lord.

     It was very cold, so our time there was pretty short!  We prayed together and sang a couple of songs.  Dave also read a letter than John Wicker sent to us with words of encouragement.  While we were there people from the community came to talk.  At one point when we were praying I looked over and saw Leif talking with a neighbor who came over out of curiosity.  It was a beautiful picture to hold onto as we entrust this move and this place to Him. 

     We were told that we needed to have the foundation poured by the end of October so that it's not too cold to harden properly.  Thankfully, it was poured this week!  We are excited to move forward and move through these open doors!

A Real Surprise Party

     About a month before her birthday, Anneka strongly hinted at wanting a surprise party.  Of course, this is a little hard to pull of if the person is expecting it.  But, amazingly, we truly did surprise her!  We had a party at the banya (bath house).

     This suprise worked so well because Anneka already had this party planned for Monday, her actual birthday.  She had planned the guests and the food, how long we would rent the room, and how many balloons there would be (amazingly, these fit perfectly into what we'd already planned!).  The only thing we needed to do (supposedly) was rent the banya room.  So, on Saturday, Leif and the kids and guests all arrived a few minutes before us at the banya.  Anneka thought that she and I were going to check out the place and reserve a room.  When we walked into the main building, I realized I didn't know what to say to the lady at the desk.  I tried to send her all sorts of non-verbal cues and asked her to show us what kind of rooms they had.  Thankfully Leif had told her we were having a surprise party, and she escorted us in and closed the door behind us. When everyone jumped out with noise makers and exclamations of "Surprise!",  Anneka was so startled she jumped!

...but her shock soon turned to joy!

... and it turned out to be her favorite birthday party ever!

There's a small (very cold!) pool in the room.

.... and a sauna to warm up after the pool.

There are also nice places to sit and a big table where you can eat.

It was fun for everyone

     I made and brought some pizzas  and fruits and veggies and Leif made strawberry rhubarb pies (Anneka's request).

We also ordered ice cream as a special treat.

     Anneka had made little gifts for each guest and delighted in passing them out.  Each friend got a new pencil, a balloon, and a pack of TicTacs.

     But the partying wasn't done after that!  We also had a party at home for her Russian speaking friends that evening.  This party was pre-planned and not a surprise.  =)  At first I thought it was maybe too much to have 2 parties, but Leif convinced me that it's good to encourage these friendships and to bring in people that are outside of our team and church circles.  I was soooo thankful for Leif this evening!  Anneka and I had decided on some games, and Leif was so good to lead them all!  Musical chairs was one of the games.  

     We had chocolate mint brownies (per Anneka's request) and chocolate cake and a bunch of other simple kid-friendly foods. Something else we talked through was that it seems people here often either have a HUGE party or nothing at all.  We decided that it was okay to set an example of a simple party.

Everyone loved the food!  It was a treat to have Inka with us for the evening, too.

In this game, each kid got a cup and a straw.  They sucked on the straw to pick up Skittles.

The person with the  most Skittles was the winner.

We had a girls' round and boys' round of Twister.

So fun to watch!

    We took the local girls home when the party was over.  Everyone got along well, even though they didn't all know each other before the party.

     Ike was thrilled to have his buddy, Bogdan, spend the night (as Bogdan's sister was also spending the night).  The kids all got to sleep around midnight.

     Then on Anneka's actual birthday, we awoke to a snowy, sunny, beautiful day!  I heard each of our kids say, "Thank you Lord for the snow" when they looked out the window.  We had a family breakfast and time to open presents and skype with grandparents before school.  After school some new friends in the neighborhood called and asked if our kids could play outside with her daughter.  The kids were all delighted that it was packing snow and made a snow bear.  We knew this snow was a birthday gift from God!

     On the evening of her birthday we went to our small group out in the village.  We brought a cake for Anneka and sang to her.  She enjoyed being there and holding the pregnant cat most of the evening. 

     What a full and wonderful 9 years we have had with this delightful, creative, lively daughter!  Each day together is a gift, and we celebrate you, Anneka!