Nathan copying photos

Nathan is making a file of family photos to take with him. This one is from three years ago at The Aquarium of the Pacific.


















this is him now...

I am not sure how many photos he is going to take but he is searching through all of my files.

He claims I have all the family photos... well duh! I am the MOM!

middle of the week

Someone asked me what I wanted from America. I asked for Raisin Bran. We got the Raisin Bran today and now we can make Mom's Raisin Bran Muffins. I will post the recipe after Spencer and I make them. Mom gave the recipe to him so I will walk him through it.

TV day!

Thanks Dad for all the TV programs that you sent!

So far we have watched a football game, Shark, Without a Trace, Cold Case, CSI and the Rose Parade. As a special treat after the Rose Parade we got to see the first episode of Life With Ed.

It is always a joy to watch American TV... we can make popcorn and tune out our culture stress for a bit. And the good news is that we all finished our homework so the TV did not get in the way of that!

---------

Tom is working with Olya now as his language helper two days a week. Tom and Lena's schedules don't match now he is not available in the mornings to work with the rest of us. So I am watching girls while Olya helps Tom with his lessons. Today just Yanna came over with her mom and she cried the entire time. Olya said that she fed her some new food. I felt so sorry for this little one. She had gas from both ends and it was obvious she was in pain. She would fall asleep in my arms and then a gas pain would wake her up. I pray that she gets some sleep tonight so that Olya can get some rest!

What color umbrella looks good on you?

Today I was listening to a group of women talking about how they choose an umbrella. One of them chose her umbrella color to match her eyes. She had a light blue umbrella and her eyes are blue. The other woman said that because her skin is pale whatever color she chooses changes her complexion to that color... she won’t use a green umbrella because it makes her look green. The umbrella she had was a bright rose color... to make her skin look rosy.

I can admit that I have chosen umbrellas based on how they will look with what I am wearing. I have a pink raincoat so my personal umbrella is pink. I also have a green umbrella for when I wear my green leather jacket. Spencer's umbrella is black with red flames. Tom and Nathan pick up what ever one is handy... sometimes Tom won't even use one. We have an umbrella that has room for two people that comes down over the shoulders... totally shielding both people from the rain. We have exra umbrellas to loan to people who need one to get home.

It was interesting to listen to these women speak. They were not dealing with the practical aspects of using an umbrella they were more concerned with the fashion aspect.

How do you choose an umbrella?

full house

this table held all the preteen girls!











Our New Year's Tree






















dressed in black









Valentin on the left with Alexei M.

Ira is ready to party!

yanna and alida

Spencer took this photo of me with Yanna!

Old New Year

I went over to the church on Saturday to help with setting up for the party. I had two hours of live language that was very insightful. Now I know how to make fried Russian meat pies. I had to mix up the filling. There were some new verbs used and that was helpful. Everyone understood when I spoke or asked a question so I was excited about that. I didn't get corrected today and I don't know whether I didn't make any mistakes or if they were being polite. Normally I get corrected at least once!

I came home and changed clothes and then Spencer and I went back for the party. The church was filled with great smells and lots of people. I took a few photos but am having trouble getting our ScanDisk card reader to work so I cannot load them.

When I got to our apartment building one of our neighbors was fussing at a group of girls for coming over with their goodie bags asking for candy... he told them that tonight was the wrong night and that they should come vack tomorrow. They were asked if their parents knew they were out. And when they said yes they got invited in! New Years and Old New Years is like Christmas, 4th of July and Halloween. Kids go door to door for candy and money. Fireworks are set off and presents are exchanged.

Olya came to the dinner at church with Yanna and Ira. Yanna just about fell asleep in my arms she almost made it through dinner. Lena took her into the mothers room and laid her down. I sat next to Ira and she gave me the crust from her meat pie. I caught her before her little greasy hands were wipe on my skirt. I was quick on the draw with a napkin! Childproofing the table meant moving the candle and the candy away from 2 year old Ira... she was not happy with either being taken away from her.

Spencer and I stayed through dinner and worship. After that games started and we were both getting tired. Before we left Jim told us he was definitely going back to the states at the end of the month. I called Nathan and he is ready to go back with him. That is a relief to know we don't have to worry about him missing a connection in a foreign country somewhere and we would not have any way of helping him out. Now he has a travel buddy and I am glad!

How can you be a blessing?

I recently was told by someone that information on "how to donate" should be posted on the blog. I resisted doing this for many reasons. But, all of them seem silly in comparison to standing in the way of someone who wants to help further the work with alcoholics/addicts and their families and may not know how.

One time gifts & regular monthly support can be sent to:

EastWest Ministries
PO BOX 701560
Dallas, TX 75370
Account # 9231

To donate online click here and fill in the information. You can choose to donate monthly using your credit card!

Thanks to those of you who have sent gifts and support us regularly.
Thanks to those of you who have asked how you can help.

school day

Tom and I went back to school today.

It was hard work. He and I were both in our classes alone. Which means there is no one else there to answer the teacher's questions. You have to go it alone for an hour and a half.

I could not remember the case endings. I honestly had not thought about them during the time we were on holiday from school. She would say to me "the word is masculine with a soft sign" and I was like "and that means what to me?"

Tom's comment on himself was "it was horrible!"

We both spent time working with Lena. She has not been here in about three weeks. She decided to give herself a vacation too. It helped to get back in the swing of things. We never stopped speaking Russian we just stopped the intense studying for a while.

Hopefully, Tom will have a better day in the morning. He and Spencer both have class. Spencer stayed home today with a sore throat. He is hoping to feel well enough for school. He hates to miss out!

*** special thanks to Erin and Hilary. We got your Chirstmas cards this week in the mail! Most likely they sat in the post office for a while during the governmental holidays for New Year's and Christmas. We still have one more holiday left to go... Old New Year!

on the horizon

We will be having house guests soon. MajLis called to ask if we can take in a couple who will be here for the upcoming session at the BLTC.

The BLTC's new building will be dedicated on Sunday... it truly is beautiful.

On Saturday KBC will be having a big "church family" party. When Vadim called he asked if our family could prepare something to share with everyone like a skit, song or a reading... we still have not decided what to do. I thought about singing but I am still not feeling well.

School starts at 9am for Tom and 1:30 in the afternoon for Spencer and me. Nathan is not going back. He already called to inform Jim and Tania. He is busy with packing and preparing for his return to the states for university.

Let There Be Heat!

Tom and I had a meeting at the BLTC today. When we left we heard our building manager yelling at someone who was underneath the building.

When we realised it was him we wondered if they were fixing the output to the radiators. And we were right!

When we got back home and felt our radiator it was finally hot to the touch and not just luke warm... Tom was talking about putting on shorts!

Frequently Avoided Questions

by Chuck Smith Jr and Matt Whitlock

I cannot believe that I was up early to go shopping and now up late to read one more chapter of Chuck Smith Jr's book. I hope that you check it out.

Tom recommended it to me a few months back... I just now picked it up and cannot put it down!

Metro run

Spencer and I got up early this morning to go to Metro with Bill S. at 7:30am.

http://www.metro-cc.ru/index.jsp after the page loads just click on English if you want the page translated.

I found some treats this morning; Sweet potatoes, marshmallows, peanut butter, bacon and so on. I was excited about the sweet potatoes... I had not seen them since this time last year. But, the biggest find of the day was envelopes. Usually the envelopes we can find are already pre-stamped from the post office. So, you have to pay for the envelope as well as the postage. I found plain white envelopes. I never thought I would get excited over something so ordinary.

presents

I bought a little backpack for Ira for her New Year's present. It is a stuffed toy poodle with a zippered pouch to store all of her things inside. Yesterday, Olya told Tom that Ira walks around telling everyone that "Aunt Alida and Uncle Tom" gave it to her. And she won't take it off... she even went to bed with it.

When they go out for walks they have seen other little girls with the same type of bag. Ira will get excited and say that she has one too! When I gave it to her it was filled with candy. I let her eat two pieces while we were watching her and Yanna on Friday. Then when her parents took her home they took all the candy out so she would not get sick trying to eat it all!

simple joys

Spencer and I went out today to pick up new internet cards and bus passes for the month. Our time went very smoothly. At the bus depot we were able to get off the bus, purchase the passes and get back on the same bus before it pulled off again.

We got off on Krasnaya and then walked down to the UTK building to buy the new internet cards. It was lightly misting out as we were walking. Once we picked up the internet cards we continued on down Krasnaya to a video store where we found two new movies. The Wild and X Men 3. The guys have been wanting to see X Men 3 for quite sometime so that was a major find.

Spencer and I walked about 8 blocks to the next bus stop and were a little frustrasted to have seen the bus we needed pass us on the way. The bus we ended up taking was only going as far as the depot so we had to change buses to get all the way home. The bus change was the highlight of Spencer's day. He has been saying for the last three months or so that he wanted to ride one of the new buses and today he got his wish. He sat down next to me with a great big smile. I had not seen him that excited for awhile. Simple joy....riding a new bus!

Christmas Party at the Orphanage

Oksana came over today and neither one of us was feeling very much like going today. But we bit the bullet and decided to pull it all together for the kids. We stuffed the gifts bags that I bought along with the notebooks and other goodies for the kids. The other goodies came from Reconciliation Church, they took an offering for the children and went out and purchased items. We also had three teacher gifts as well.

They each received a toothbrush, toothpaste, lots of candy, notebook (Batman for boys and Cinderella for the girls), markers, a pencil and stickers. The big hit of the night were the crowns that Judi H. had picked up for the girls... but, the boys liked them too. They decided that they were kings and queens!

We had a small group of 11 children that we gave gifts to in one building and then we were asked to come over to the other building that is like a hospital for the children when they first arrive. We gave out another 12 gifts over there. We danced and sang with the kids and were treated to a break dance competition. And if you want to know how to say Break dance in Russian... it is just the English words "Break dance"!

Oksana was able to tell the Christmas story to the kids and it was great to see that many of them already knew it!

24

Tom and I had a chance to spend some time with Tim and Joy today. Before we left their house Joy lent us the first season of 24.

It is so good to have something new to watch. We especially enjoy seeing a series. We were able to see the Amazing Race thanks to my friend Joan. And we have seen some CSI courtesy of Tom's folks. One of the things I miss the most is American TV. I could honestly count the television as a childhood friend.

Spencer and I went shopping today to buy goodies for the kids at the orphanage. We found Batman notebooks for the boys. And we found Cinderella notebooks for the girls. We purchased gift bags too. Oksana is bringing candy over tomorrow at 2 in the afternoon and we will fill the goodie bags before going over to visit the kids. They have had several groups give them candy and toys. Our focus will be to tell the Christmas story. It is so good to have Oksana with us on this project. Because as a Russian she can tell the kids the story in their own language without any grammar mistakes getting in the way!

and then there were two

There is officially a second AA meeting here in Krasnodar. It was Alexei's plan and design. He iniated the whole thing. Tonight was the second meeting and he did a really good job. Most of the people are from the Saturday night meeting but they were talking about how to advertise the meeting or get the word out. It is also exciting because it is at our church.

Tom says it is nice to have a meeting within walking distance and not have to take two or more buses to get there!

Samson

We spent the day in Axtirka. Sasha and his wife Tanya have a fitness center. They invited us to come work out and spend the day with them.

Tim, Joy, Hannah, TJ, Spencer, Tom and I drove out together to this small city of 40,000. It was a nice day today... not very cold. And no snow on the ground.

We ate dinner with the team from Axtirka, including Tom and Carol who came in from Krasnodar on the train. Sasha also invited Andrei and Valera. Andrei brought his wife and two daughters. We had duck and five different salads. Spencer said that "duck is something he never would have tried in the US".

At the fitness center, which is located right across from the only post office in town, Tom and Spencer got in a good work out. They tried all of the available equipment. There was a treadmill, weight bench, stationary bike and an elliptical trainer. I tried the stationary bike for a bit but quickly decided I had no desire to work up a sweat. I, along with Sveta and Alexei H. from the BLTC, who joined us at the fitness center, decided to go to the massage beds. It was NICE! The beds are heated and there is a device that goes from your head to below the buttocks giving you a spinal massage for 40 minutes. After that we had tea and dessert while watching nature videos.

Neither Spencer nor I took our cameras. We will just have to go again!