photos

I have not been able to post all the photos I would like too. I made the switch on my blog to BloggerBeta. And since then Picasa won't work to post photos. So I have to post them one at a time. Spencer still has the old Blogger account so he can post mulitple photos without a problem.

Please enjoy our banquet photos at:
www.sharpkidphotos.blogspot.com


I am off to school soon with the guys but I am not going to wear pajamas... even though Tom asked us all again before he left this morning!

practical jokes!

Yesterday Tom was teasing me about today being Pajama Day at school. He tried to tell the boys about it and of course, none of us believed him. This morning Madina called to let me know that Dima my teacher was ill and wanted to know if I could come to class tomorrow instead... she had already spoken with my classmate Elizabeth. I told her that I could come in tomorrow and that it was not a problem to change days.

Madina called me again late in the afternoon. She apologized for forgetting to tell me something this morning. She went on to say in Russian that tomorrow is “Den Pajam”. I asked her “what?” I thought I misheard her. She said in English “tomorrow we will all wear pajamas to school” For a split second I thought she was serious... after all this was Madina calling, she is usually serious! I told her “NO!” and I started laughing. She tried again to convince me that she had simply forgotten to tell me this morning. And I could not stop laughing. I asked her if Tom had told her about Pajama Day. And she said “yes. She admitted she was joking with me. We said good-bye and I went in to confront Tom. He was in the other room cracking up!

He told me that he actually took the time to explain to Madina what Pajama Day is in the states. He explained about Spirit Week in schools. He said that one day everyone might wear the same color, the next dress as farmers or even wear pajamas at school. She said that if people did that here they might be arrested!

I don’t think the school and our teachers will ever be the same after having our family, especially Tom, at school!

another photo

setting the head table


















I set the table using the platinum trimmed China that Tom gave me for our 20th anniversary. He took a full place setting with us to Hawaii and I was shocked to receive it! This was the first time we have used it. I have been told that we need to do a better job of using our "good stuff". We have service for 6 so I plan to take it out for Christmas, New Year's and whenever we have guests!

Russian Post Starts Delivering Letters, Parcels Sent From U.S. in 1999

MosNews
Russian Post has started delivering 4.5 tonnes of letters and parcels that were sent from the United States in 1999, Reuters news agency reports.

The state-owned postal service said the delay was not its fault — a shipping container with the mail inside had languished at a port in Finland for years.The container finally reached Russia on December 8.

“The loss of mail usually happens because of force majeure circumstances, such as natural disasters, traffic and other accidents,” Russian Post told Reuters via e-mail.“All of the mail has been very well preserved because the container was hermetically sealed.”

head table

Tom made the heartshaped ornaments. Now they are on our Christmas tree here at the house and the garland is adorning the top of our bookcase decorated with silver balls.

I just talked to Spencer about posting our photos on his blog. He took all the pictures that night so the few that I have posted this week are ones that he took!

tired and happy

Tom and Alida , circa 1964














Tom and Alida age 18
Dec. 13th, 1981













Tom and Alida at age 43
Dec. 13th, 2006













Thanks to everyone who contributed to Tom's gift for me. It was such a surprise and a wonderful blessing to read all the letters and remember the times I have spent with each of you.


Nathan is sick. Madina called this morning and asked Spencer to tell her honestly if anyone at our house was feeling up to coming to school. He told her no and she was not surprised.


Olya came over to clean the house today. It was so nice to have her here to help with all the dishes that didn't get done yesterday!

Let there be light!

Here is one view of our cake. Our names are spelled out in Russian!













Our evening went well. We are very grateful to Valodia and Klaus for getting the electricity back on in time for our banquet!


Tom went over to a store not far from our home to pick up candles this afternoon for "just in case". While he was there he saw Klaus with the electrician. The church needed a new breaker. Tom paid for the breaker and then came home to tell me that we were going to have lights.


I will write more tomorrow. Spencer took pictures and Robert did a video. We feel blessed to have shared our evening with others. It was very humbling to recieve gifts from people who have so little. I can remember thinking that it was hard to shop for Tom's folks because they "have everything"... well that was said about us a few times tonight. Here in Russia it does seem as if we "have everything". We own our apartment and it is beautifully furnished. We have money to pay our bills and purchase food and that makes us well off.


It is all a matter of perspective!

D Day

As I sit here typing this we are waiting to find out if the church will have electricity or not. If not, we will have a candle light dinner for 40. If yes, then all will go as planned. Hopefully, they will get everything fixed in time.

Christmas party

Today is the day before our anniversary and we have already attended a Christmas Party. We were able to tell Ded Moroz aka Santa Claus what we wanted. He looked a little bit like Jim H....hmmmm. Snegoruchka was cute. She is Ded Moroz’s helper. She looked a bit like Jim’s daughter Hannah. Oh well. I liked the fact that she gave us lots of candy. She even gave me a handful to take home for Nathan.

The highlight of the party was Joseph. He taught us about Korean culture. He told us about Kim-chi and for each ingredient that he added, he had someone sing it. He put together a “beat box” of the voices. On top of all that he sang Angels We Have Heard on High in Korean. It was so cool! In Russian we would say “klassna!”

Here are the words in case you feel like singing:

Angels We Have Heard on High in Korean

Chun sa dree no-rae ga, Ha-ne-pae-so duh-le-nee.
San gwa de-rae du-ra-sa, me-a-pee-cha oo-len-da.
Yo-----ung. Kwang eul na-pee ge-seen chookay.
Yo-----ung. Kwang eul na-pee ge-seen choo-neem-kay.


Since we have students at the school from Korea, Germany and America we were able to hear Silent Night sung in all Korean, German, English and Russian. The Christmas story was read in sections by four different people. It started in Korean, and on to German, Russian and ended in English. It was a touching moment to hear the Bible being read in each of the four languages represented in the room.

Our evening was just getting started after leaving the party. Tom, Spencer and I met up with Olya, Ira, Lena and Joy to decorate the church for our banquet tomorrow night. It looks very pretty. I am pleased with how it came together. Spencer will take pictures tomorrow. And he will be able to feature them on his photoblog the following day.


Please pray for us all tomorrow night. We realize this event will not be what we would have done in the states. It will be us celebrating Russian style. There is culture stress related to that for us. There won’t be people there who have known us our entire marriage because all of our family and close friends are in America.

God is God and we do believe that this event is supposed to happen here. It will be a time for us to bond with our Russian friends. And ours is not the only anniversary in the church. We will be here to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Valodia and Lena Rajabov in February. I actually had them in mind as I was purchasing silver items, knowing that they could get used more than once!

counting down...

Spencer, Tom and I got up this morning and went with Tim to get tables for our anniversary banquet on Wednesday. We started at our church. We had to survey what was there... we then went over to the BLTC and picked up what they had, then we were off to Tim and Joy's and got a few more tables there. I was dropped off at Joy's while the men went back to the church to unload all the tables and set them up.

Joy and I had a cup of tea and some Thera-flu and chatted for awhile! When the guys came home we ate lunch together. And then Tim drove us to school. Today is TJ's actual birthday and it was fun to see him be so excited about being 9!

After school Spencer and I went to Krasnaya Ploshad to pick up an imitation fir garland. And we found some little 8 inch Christmas trees decorated with silver ornaments and ribbons. I was glad that they had those there just for our 25th anniversary... I wonder if they planned it just for us!?!

Spencer was excited to see that the skating rink opens for business tomorrow. It will cost 150 rubles ($5.71) for an hour on the ice on a weekday. Or 200 rubles ($7.61) on the weekend. Spencer is hoping to give lessons to some of the kids here and make a little money. Krasnaya Ploshad will provide a teacher for 150 rubles for a half an hour... Spencer is willing to do it for 100!

Bad cold blues

I have been hanging around the house watching TV. Tom didn't sleep well last night and neither did I. So our family ended up missing church.

I watched Dancing with the Stars... our Russian version. So we don't know the celebrities who are participating. Last night we saw Stars on Ice and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

I talked to Joy and found out that she and Hannah were not feeling well either. She had TJ's party yesterday and I hear that was a big success. Spencer had a great time there.

Our big news story of the day was the fire in Siberia killing 9 in a mental health clinic the day after the fire in Moscow in the drug rehab center and the death of 45 women.

You can read about it here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061210/ap_on_re_eu/russia_hospital_fire

The plans for the banquet are coming along nicely. Spencer and I got the tablecloths washed and dried. Now they need to be ironed which we won't do until just before we put them on the tables.

Lena and Alexei stopped by this evening. Alexei is very tired. He just finished up a training session on Codependency at OPORA in Moscow. He is preparing to do the informational seminars that we will have before we start the Al-Anon meetings here and in Artirka. Anyway, he stopped by to tell me how he would like the tables arranged for the banquet. He says "for games". He also had a secret with meeting with Spencer. Spencer has come along way from being the little boy who could not keep a secret. I don't know what he and Alexei have in mind!

Please continue to pray for us all here. This winter is warmer so far than it was last year. But, we still seem to be struggling with health again. I would like to be able to enjoy the banquet and not be coughing and/or nose blowing mess!

Leading killer in Finland? Alcohol.

Leading killer in Finland? Alcohol.

By MATTI HUUHTANEN,
Associated Press Writer

Alcohol is now the leading killer of Finnish adults, with consumption reaching an all-time high last year in the Nordic nation, officials said Friday.

More than 2,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 were killed by alcohol poisoning or illnesses caused by alcohol consumption last year, the government's leading welfare and health agency said. Nearly 1,000 people died in accidents or violent incidents caused by alcohol.

"This is truly a worrying trend," said Kristiina Kuussaari of the National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health. "The serious negative effects will continue to grow for years to come."

Alcohol was responsible for 17 percent of all deaths among 15- to 64-year-old men, surpassing heart disease for the first time, the agency said. Alcohol also caused more than 10.5 percent of all deaths in adult women, alongside breast cancer, for the first time.

Since 2003, the cost of treating alcohol-related illnesses has grown by 14 percent, peaking at $1.1 billion last year in this nation of 5.2 million known for heavy drinking.

The government has traditionally kept a tight control on alcohol consumption with high prices in its Alko monopoly retail outlets, and supermarkets do not sell beer with higher alcohol content.

However, in March 2004 it slashed alcohol taxes by more than 40 percent to discourage growing "booze cruises" to Russia and neighboring Estonia, where alcohol is much cheaper.

The move caused an outcry from health officials who warned of negative health effects, and police who reported a rise in public drunkenness and anti-social behavior.

Officials reported a 10 percent growth in binge drinking among 17-year-olds in the first six months after the tax cut, and general consumption began to grow, reaching new records.

Last year, Finns drank the equivalent of 14.5 million gallons of pure grain alcohol — a 14 percent increase from 2003, just before the alcohol taxes were slashed.

end of the week

We received movies in the mail. We have already watched 2 episodes of CSI and still have Cars and Cirque De Soliel to see.

Spencer went to City Center on his own to purchase a birthday present for TJ. He had an adventure getting on a bus going to the wrong way. But, like the trooper he is he stuck it out until he finally got there and back home. He said it took 5 buses and one marshutka to get there and back!

I have a cold so I am not feeling my best. Today has been a pretty gloomy day. There has been a layer of fog so thick in our region we cannot see the street or the playground underneath us.

Our friends left for the states yesterday and they were supposed to leave at 11:30 am but, because of the fog they were grounded until around 2:30 in the afternoon. Tonight on the news they interviewed people who had been in the airport for 24 hours.

Alexei is heading back here to Krasnodar by train. We pray that he gets here safely. Volva and Slavik made it home safely by bus this morning. Olya came to work and told us that everyone was asleep at her house! I don't think Volva slept much on the ride home.

job switch

Volva has been in Moscow working with his brother Slavic for the past two weeks. He was supposed to come home today. Olya needed a break from being a single mom of two so she switched with Lena and was our language helper today while Lena stayed with the kids.

It was fun to work with her. She has lots of interesting stories to tell. I don't blame her for needing time off. I remember those days when Tom was traveling and the kids were little. I could handle all day being with the boys when I knew he was coming home later that night. But, when he traveled the kids got their routine upset and it was always frustrating for us all.

Hopefully, Vovla and Slavic will make it home tomorrow. Getting train tickets is always an adventure. One never knows if they will be available for the day you need them or not!

dinner with Dave

anniversary gift from Dave and Sherie













We had dinner with Dave H. (our field supervisor from Moscow) tonight. We enjoyed laughing and joking with him. It was good that he came later than he had planned. I was late getting home from school so I got a late start making dinner.


I made Shepard's Pie which was very easy to put together really quick and was a filling meal for everyone. For dessert we can thank Judi H. She made peanut butter fudge and also some chocolate fudge for our family for Christmas. We really like the peanut butter fudge. I said I need to ask her for the recipe... Tom said I just need to ask her to make some more!



Dave came bearing gifts. He gave our family a DVD and he gave Tom and I this beautiful candle. He and Sherie had been in Spittal, Austria. That is where the candle and holder came from. You can read about that city here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spittal_an_der_Drau


It will be a nice addition to the table at our banquet!

Spencer's haircut

Spencer has needed a haircut for awhile. Tom told the guys they were going to have to either cut their own hair or find someone else to do it for them. Spencer called Lena our language helper and asked her to help him fond someone. She took him to a place not far from our home. The woman there did an excellent job. And it cost him 100 rubles ($3.82)

When he came home he announced that this was our anniversary gift. Him looking nice for the banquet!

He said it was a different experience from going to a barbershop in the US. He said that no one really talked to each other. Back at Joe's Barbershop in Irvine the men talked about sports, news, watched Court TV and Oprah. All the while cutting hair and laughing with the customers. If you have ever seen the movie Barbershop... Joe's place was like that. And I don't think that Spencer will find that here!

another Monday

Tom will be in class alone this month. Please pray for him. It can be intensely draining to be the only one doing the excercises and drills for an entire class period. Many students are heading out to various destinations for the holidays. I thought I was going to be alone but I am not. Elizabeth joined me today and that was nice. She is such a sweet lady.

I went out to purchase new internet cards. We are buying a month's worth at a time and doing well rationing our minutes on the internet.

While downtown, I saw more pig figurines. I asked Olya why there were so many pig figurines dressed up like Santa Claus. She said because of the horoscope. 2007 will be the year of the pig. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(zodiac))

We started watching a TV series that Nathan borrowed from Jim. It is called Firefly and so far we are enjoying each episode!

communion sunday

I woke up with a headache. I was tempted not to go to church. However, when I realised that our neighbor was going to play her TV at top volume and our other neighbor was going to keep on hammering... I decided leaving was better than staying home. So after taking two extra strength tylenol I left with our whole family for church.

It was a great morning. The music was good, Valodia spoke, and we had communion.

The exciting part of communion was that today there was juice instead of wine! When we got here we asked if juice could be served. It could but we had to buy it. We purchased it for over a year and then last month it was purchased by the church secretary. More and more people kept choosing juice and leaving the wine. This month... no wine at all only juice. We see this as a sign that things don't always have to be done the way they have always been done. There is room for change!

With the number of alcoholics present here in Russia and within our the church it is indeed a blessing to see this type of support.

just another day

Earlier today I went over to the grocery store and when I left I forgot the 8 roll package of toilet paper I had purchased. Tom went back over to pick it up taking the receipt with him. He talked with the manager, who went to get the security officer. The security officer asked what was wrong and the manager simply nodded his head toward Tom and said, "Toilet paper." The security officer opened up locker number one and took out a key for locker number eight. He gave it to a cashier who asked, "What's this for?" The security officer nodded his head towards Tom and simply repeated, "Toilet paper." The cashier laughed, opened up locker number eight and handed Tom the paper, telling him to tell his wife to enjoy it.


We're grateful that they so carefully guarded our 8 roll pack of toilet paper, and were so diligent in their honesty.

25 years of memories

Tom spent 5 hours today over at Robert and Ann's house scanning old photos. He will be putting together a powerpoint presentation of our memories.





















Nathan is 8 and Spencer is 5.




















Here they are at 9 and 12












and this is the most recent photo and they are 16 and 19!