English Day Camp

Most workers have a 10-day vacation right now and university students have almost a month off. It's a good time of the year to plan outreaches and events to invite people to. This week, we're helping with an English Day Camp. The theme is centered around Chrismas and the meaning behind it. Leif and I are in charge of the icebreakers at the beginning. Yesterday was fun with games, songs, a lesson time, and a time for chatting over tea and cake. This picture was taken during a game of Christmas bingo with one of the language groups. We look forward to more fun this week! Pray that many students will come and their hearts will be pierced with the message of Christmas.



Anneka is getting more and more independent with her eating. She likes to be the one with the spoon. I found this bowl with a suction cup on the bottom, but as you can see, it's not fool-proof.

Yuck

While New Years is the biggest holiday of the year, the days following are some of ickiest (in my opinion). The buses stink of alcohol and are filled with either drunk or hung over people. The stairwells are filled with trash. And every year people die because they pass out in the cold and are frozen. Another reminder of the depravity of man and our need for a savior. This is a little picture of a cigarette box, empty bottle, firework packet and other debris in our stairwell.

С Новом Годом!

Happy New Year!! New Years is the biggest holiday in Russia and as Leif says, it's kind of like putting all of the American holidays into one: Halloween-like costumes for the kids, fireworks like July 4th, a Christmas tree, presents, and Santa (known as Grandfather Frost), big feasts, and lots of partying. I went grocery shopping on the 30th and it was a nightmare! It was wall-to-wall carts and people were pushing and shoving (literally) and arguing in the checkout lines. It took probably 1/2 an hour to check out and our friends who went to the same store on the 31st stood in line for 1 1/2 hours!! New Years is traditionally celebrated with family until midnight and after midnight it's often celebrated with friends. To many people, the party doesn't begin until AFTER midnight. We celebrated with friends from church, at the church.



Sasha, one of the youth from our church, LOVES Mars Bars, so I made some homemade Mars Bars and Leif decorated the top with fireworks.



This is our friend, Dima. His shopka (hat) is huge... not like I needed to tell you this. I love big shopkas. I kind of have shopka-envy with people who own big shopkas. My dream is to trade shopkas with someone who owns a big shopka one day.



We put Anneka to bed at 6:30pm and then woke her up just before 9:00 to head to the church. She did so well, even though she was sleepy. It was nice because most of the time she just cuddled on my lap. Normally she doesn't cuddle because there is simply too much to see and do. She fell asleep about 5 minutes before midnight but then woke up again with all of the commotion and fireworks outside. Leif stayed until after 3:00, but Anneka and I (along with a few others) headed home soon after midnight. She sang all the way home as she rode on her little sled.






We feasted on posi, the national Buryat dish (top left). It's a meatball inside of a noodle. We also had salted fish and liver pancakes (also pictured), different kinds of salads and desserts.



After 11:00, we each shared ways we'd seen God work this past year along with hopes for this next year. Then we prayed together up until midnight. It's such a great reminder to know that no matter what this new year holds, God is right here with us, leading the way!

A Visit To The Orphanage

The kids from our church put on a little play, recited some poems, and sang some songs about the meaning of Christmas at an orphanage yesterday. I went with them, as this orphanage is nearby and it has been on my heart to go. It is always so sad for me to see kids in orphanages. The caretakers there are very kind and loving to the kids and the facility is clean, but there are probably 15 kids per 1 adult and over 100 kids in the building. And even though these kids are aged 2-5 (and probably some older) the two and three year olds looked to be the size of Anneka and the older ones weren't much bigger. They just aren't thriving the way that kids should thrive. And that makes me sad.

The above picture was taken outside of our little church, on the 5 minute walk to the orphanage- carrying little presents (candy, pens, little notebooks) to give to the children.



The kids from church who put on the play did a really good job and were so cute. They acted out the story of "Jesus" appearing to a man in three different forms and he gave them something to drink, eat, and clothing to wear.



During the play, one little girl walked over to the door and tried to open it. As I steered her back to her seat, she called me "mama". Another little girl sat in the front row, rocking back and forth. Inka later told me that she just wanted to hold her. Another little girl looked a lot like Anneka (a sickly form of Anneka). What would her life be like if she had a loving family?

Inka and I and at least two others want to go back regularly to this orphanage, to form a "team" to reach out to them. It's close by, it's on our hearts, and we really have no excuse not to. This is kind of risky because I probably will want to take them all home with me, and no doubt there will be heartbreak. But these kids need to know that they are loved and that they have a heavenly Father who loves them perfectly and who will never fail them.

We started a new tradition this year: sleeping in the living room the night before Christmas. The Wicker family does this every year and we think it's cute and fun. This year we wheeled Anneka into the living room after she was asleep. She was so happy when she awoke at 6:00am to find her mama and papa sleeping nearby!



Anneka was intrigued by the presents. She thought everything was really interesting. Santa put horse meat and rabbit meat in her stocking. Yum yum. Now that it's been a few days after Christmas, we see that she's enjoying her toys more and more: a new doll, books, a toy phone, a wallet of her own with "credit cards" and pictures of her own, and other fun things. Our family sent us presents from the States and it was so fun to have them to open!



The way Anneka is standing in the above picture looks so much like pictures I've seen of Leif as a little boy, sticking out his belly. So cute.



Leif found a grill and gave it to me for Christmas! We have a tradition of making Swedish pancakes every Christmas morning, and the grill worked SO well for that! They were the best Swedish pancakes yet!

We had a relaxing, enjoyable day as our little family.

Christmas Eve

We enjoyed a really nice Christmas Eve with Inka and Elisabeth (from Germany), the Wickers (from Canada) and the Hoffstetters (from Switzerland). There were only 13 of us, but our small living room was full- of people, warmth, laughter, and love.




Inka and I found real (large!) hams at the store and were so excited. We each prepared one. She picked out one that was covered in garlic and Elisabeth wrapped it in dough (a tradition in Germany). She even braided the dough, and it looked so pretty! I glazed ours with a pinapple sauce. I was thankful that Leif was willing to carve it!



I didn't really get a good table shot with everyone, but this is the idea (minus a few people and towards the end of the meal).


After dinner, we watched a video that Matthew and Heather Ann had put together to a great song by Reliant K (sp?). I didn't know that they had done it when we were watching it- it was so professional. I was SO impressed to find out they'd put it together. It was really powerful and worshipful. Then we sang some carols (and the German speakers sang some beautiful ones). Leif read us all the book "Annika's Secret Wish". It's a great children's book. You've gotta read it. Then we all played a game called "nouns in a bag" that involves describing with words and motions particular words. Our teams were really even, which made it fun. Inka and Elisabeth brought presents for the little girls. Anneka's is book about a princess where her little face is on every page. She likes it.




Each year since we've been married, Leif and I have celebrated advent for the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas with different readings and songs. We love it. This year, we did half of the nights when Anneka was awake and could join us and half when she was already tucked into bed so that we could focus without a busy girl running around. It's so great to reflect on Jesus' coming to earth and to joyfully anticipate His return!



Here's our nativity set. We have a "pregant Mary" that next year we'll begin the tradition of she and Joseph walking to Bethlehem and then we'll bring out Jesus on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

Sled Ride

It just keeps getting colder and colder! Yesterday it got down to -37C/-33F. That's COLD. Especially on the walk back from church when you come up over the hill into our neighborhood- the wind blows something fierce and you feel like you can't breathe and you want to run or walk backwards or cover your whole face with your scarf or all three at the same time. Anneka likes riding on her sled. We pulled it out before Christmas because it's way more practical than a stroller. It's a little funny/crazy/scary watching when Leif pulls her over curbs or down hills, but she seems unphased by it. She fell asleep on the way to church, despite the jostling and the weather. However, I didn't let her stay sleeping outside. It was just too cold today. Here's a still picture of her, too:

Team Christmas Party

Last night we celebrated Christmas with our SEND team and two other missionary families. There were 35 of us crammed into the Kerin's living room (14 people aren't pictured). It was cozy and busy and fun. We ate lots of yummy appetizers and cookies and candies, sang Christmas carols, heard a devotional on Christmas from Michael, and opened presents. We did the kind of gift exchange where you draw numbers and pick gifts out of a pile or steal them from others. It's always fun to see what the "hot items" are. The things people want when living in Siberia are much different than what you would want while living in the States. Examples are: Hershey's syrup, mapeline, good Christmas music. We are blessed by our teammates!