Valley of Geysers

Landslide damages famed valley in Russia

By MANSUR MIROVALEV,

Associated Press Writer

Tue Jun 5, 1:27 AM ET

A severe landslide has nearly obliterated one of Russia's most noted natural wonders, the Valley of Geysers, officials and environmental activists said Monday.

The valley in the Kronotsky national reserve on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula contained about 90 geysers, as well as an array of thermal pools, and is the region's most popular tourist attraction.

A snow-covered mound collapsed Sunday "within seconds" and caused a massive landslide, about a mile long and 600 feet wide, burying two-thirds of the valley, park ranger Valery Tsypkov said in televised remarks.

The landslide dumped millions of cubic yards of mud and stones and destroyed most of the valley's geysers and dozens of thermal springs, stopping yards away from the valley's only hotel, he said.

Tourists and park personnel had to be evacuated, but no injuries were reported.
"The splendor of the valley has changed beyond recognition," Kronotsky national reserve director Natalya Radugova said in televised remarks.

Some officials were more hopeful about the valley's future.

The natural dam created by the landslide will turn the valley — which was discovered only in 1941 — into a thermal lake that could become a new "tourist jewel of Russia," tourism official Denis Lazarev said, according to Russian news agencies.

Experts feared many of the valley's geysers were obliterated.

"We witnessed a unique natural event," said Oleg Mitvol, the deputy head of Russia's environmental watchdog agency Rosprirodnadzor. "But the consequences of such a natural catastrophe are irreversible."

A sparsely populated peninsula, Kamchatka is located some 4,200 miles from Moscow. It was completely closed to foreigners until 1990 and now attracts thousands of tourists annually with its volcanos, geysers and national parks.

"This is tragic for humankind, in that we have lost one of the great natural wonders of the world," Laura Williams of the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement posted on the group's Web site. "But for nature, this is only a blip in the history of the planet's evolution."

Letters of Invitation

We received an email from Tania the director of the Language School that we attend in Krasnodar... she says that our "letters of invitation", which are needed to get a Russian visa could be ready in 2-3 weeks.

We asked her for new invitations so that we could renew our visas early. Our current visas are up in September. If we waited until September to renew the visas, then that would mean another trip out of Russia to get everything processed. By renewing them early we will be able to stay in school, save the cost of another trip out of the country and we would not have to leave again until January.

We speak to one another in Russian, we listen to tapes, we still text message and email in Russian but, there is nothing better than being immersed in the language as we are when we are in Russia. We are so eager to get back to school, back to work and back among our Russian friends!

Rock of Love

Looking at the mountains beneath us as we rode the tram down from Sandia Peak the other day, I saw this heart-shaped rock and quickly snapped a picture.

Each time I look at it, I am reminded of how God's unfailing love has been the rock we have leaned on over the years. His love has helped us to survive life in a foreign country. His love has helped us endure the pain of our first two children being stillborn. His love has been the foundation that our marriage and family have rested on for 25 years.

May God's love be the solid rock in your life, today and everyday!

stop and smell the roses

Time goes by so much faster than I ever realised possible. It seems as if it was just yesterday I was driving to Seal Beach to get out of the Pasadena smog for play time so the guys would take a better afternoon nap.

Nathan is leaving early Sunday morning to fly to Pittsburgh to visit friends. Spencer leaves the next weekend for camp in Colorado. Neither one of them needs me to pack their bags and decide what they will wear or to plan out their itinerary. In all of our years as a family this is a first for Tom and I.

Last year we left Nathan and Spencer home alone, Tom was here in America and I was in Rome, Italy. They spent their time playing video games and eating whatever they wanted for ten days. We were connected through text messaging and email.

This year both of them are happily leaving us behind.

I, being a mother, have mixed emotions.

I want them to grow, mature and experience life. But, I want to make sure they don't get hurt. And yet I remember when they were little "falling down and getting back up" was part of the process of development each one had to experience. It is the "falling down and getting back up" that leads to growth and maturity.

My heartfelt prayer is that they will both (like Christ) grow " in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Luke 2:52

Sandia Peak

Here are a few of the photos I took today!

the coloring you see on the photo is Tom's Hawaiian print shirt!

a tram going up and we were going down.

On Thursday Tom, Dad, Spencer and I went up to Sandia Peak. I am glad that I let the guys talk me into going. The ride was not the scary event that I was bracing myself for. Instead it was exciting. At the top you are treated to view that spans an 11,000 square mile radius.

The last time we went to see a world record holding tourist site there was a tornado a few hours after we had been there. See this post to read about The world's largest hand dug well in Greensburg, Ks.

The tram going up to Sandia Peak is the World's Longest Aerial Tramway. The ride is 15 minutes long and you will have much to see along the way and once you get to the top.

Once at the top it was over 20 degrees cooler up there and Spencer and I were glad that we took our jackets. Dad and Tom toughed it out!

Young Life Camp

Spencer is scheduled to go to a Young Life Camp in June. I think he is counting down the days until he is away from Tom and I.

He really has had such a great attitude as he has traveled the country with us. I know when I was 17 I would not have wanted to spend my summer on a road trip with my parents!

Spencer will be going to Frontier Ranch in Buena Vista, Colorado. If you check out the website you can watch a video to see some of the activities he will be involved in.

Spencer is able to attend the camp thanks to the Outward Focus team at Hope Community in Andover, Kansas.

We are so grateful that they thought of this detail ... giving him a chance to have a real vacation before we return to Russia in July!

Reality TV

Are you watching the new reality tv shows?

One of the things we miss when we are in Russia is American TV. Since our arrival in the states on February 22nd, we have been able to see, American Idol, America's Next Top Model, The Bachelor, Dancing With The Stars and Survivor.

Now that those shows are over a whole new crop of shows are sprouting up. I enjoy watching the The Lot, which is going to award a million dollar contract to an aspiring film maker. I know there are some others like America's Got Talent and The Next Big Thing but I have not seen either one of those... the show that cracked us up last week was "So You Think You Can Dance".

Tonight's episode should be good... they will be showing auditions from LA and Chicago, I know there will be some great dancers but I am sure there will be some colorful characters just as there were with the New York auditions last week!

Another reason to drink?

Temperature guide: 33 degrees celsius= 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit

Tuesday, May 29, 2007.
Issue 3666.
Page 3.
Blackout Fears Amid a Record Heat Wave
The Moscow Times

As the temperature hit a record high Monday, Moscow's electricity provider scrambled to prevent a blackout due to a surge in the use of air conditioners.

The temperature hit 33.2 degrees Celsius in Moscow on Monday, surpassing a record of 32.2 degrees set for the day in 1995, Interfax reported, citing the Moscow area weather bureau.
Electricity use jumped 8 percent, forcing Unified Energy Systems to impose limits on corporate consumers, company spokeswoman Margarita Nagoga said, Interfax reported. The situation was exasperated by the closure of the city's Matveyevskaya transmission substation for repairs, she said.

The limits are to be lifted Tuesday. Two years ago, a surge in demand caused by a heat wave led to a power outage that began in Moscow and spread to the Moscow, Tula, Kaluga and Ryazan regions, leaving 1.5 million to 2 million people without electricity.

Monday's heat sparked small fires at several electricity substations around Moscow, Interfax said.

A poll of Moscow kiosk vendors, meanwhile, found that the sale of beverages shot up by 80 percent on Monday.

Beer sales alone were up 90 percent, according to the Interfax poll.

Moscow temperatures are expected to hover around 30 degrees for the rest of the week.

welcome!

Our friends in Andover had been on a cruise before we visited them. They said that everyday there would be a new towel animal on their bed.

This is what we found waiting to welcome us to their home. It was such a treat! We are grateful for the hospitality that we have been shown in so many unique ways since we have been here in the states.

Thanks Cathy and Paul!

have a safe weekend!

Paris Hilton

She is always in the news... we have all seen her pose for the cameras. And yet how many of us take the time to pray for her and consider her spiritual condition.

I found an article here: http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272613596.shtml

The story about Paris begins like this----> "Paris Hilton has turned to Buddhism in her ongoing campaign to avoid jail. And if that doesn't work she has a Christian Bible as well."

Just do a quick search on Google.com of Paris Hilton Bible and you will find a number of stories making fun of her desperate attempt to find some peace spiritually.

I don't know whether Ms. Hilton is a Christian, a Buddhist or what. I do know that she needs some guidance from a power greater than herself. My prayer for her and for all young people who are facing jail time or currently serving time in prison, is that God reveals Himself in an unmistakable way.

Captain Jack is Back!

Are you going to see Captain Jack? We are! We used Fandango.com to purchase our tickets early. We didn't want to take a chance on the movie being sold out! So if you are wondering about us at 11:35 am on Friday... just know that we will be sitting in a movie theatre waiting to get through all the previews to see Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End!

Walking

Tom and I have been walking the past couple of nights. I found that on the first night our walk was about 4 hours before bed and we both slept better.

An article on the AARP website has this to say:
"Walking has a long-term impact on your sleep as well as giving short-term relief. On restless nights, instead of turning on the TV, get up and pace around the house. Take in deep breaths as you move. Shake out your arms and legs. Stretch out your neck. When you climb back into bed, you'll feel more prepared for a healthy trip into dreamland. " you can read the full article about how walking affects sleep here:

http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/walking/a2004-06-04-walking-sheep.html

You can find a fairly detailed list of benefits to walking by clicking here I found them on the AARP website as well.

Walking is a simple exercise that we should be able to do no matter if we are in Russia or here in the states! We both have good walking shoes so all we need is a path to walk on.

Celebrate Spencer Day

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY, Spencer!

The Name Game

On Sunday we were at church and they were having a ceremony to honor all the children who were taking a step from one level in their education to the next.

As the names were called in the earlier grades we heard a name that sounded very familiar. I believe that she was going from kindergarten to first grade. I didn't want to to talk during the service so I asked Tom about her name when we got home.

We both heard the same thing. This girls name was... Beyonce'. Yep, just like the singer.

blog your blessing Sunday

Picture of a gallbladder

Our blessing this week comes in form of Tom feeling much better. "Thank you" to all who have prayed for him.

He still has not had surgery to remove the gallbladder... because we are waiting for insurance to kick in. The insurance policy we had before only covered us in Russia.

We are blessed that he is able to follow a low fat diet and keep his gallbladder from getting angry with him!

On Russian time!

I sent a text message to Lena asking her and Alexei to pray for Tom.

I got an answer back at 3:30 in the morning.

What a wake up call! Perhaps I need to start turning the ringer off on my phone when I go to bed.

To check the current time in Krasnodar click here now to check the time in Albuquerque click here ! You can find the home page of the world clock here!

50th Anniversary

One of the blessings of being in the states is being able to participate in family events! My parents, John and Kathryn, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on the 12th of May. This is a photo of Spencer and I with my parents at Brunch on Mother's day, the 13th.

Thank you Angie, for the photo!

Spider Man 3

Nathan, Spencer and I went to see this yesterday and we enjoyed it a great deal. However, our trip out of the parking garage was not so enjoyable.

We had to take the stairs since the elevator was out of order. We came down behind a group of teens smoking marijuana. I hate that smell! I said this aloud so they would hear. The guy whose turn it was with the joint stepped out of the way so we could pass the group by. I guess I should be grateful for his manners?! It is amazing what some people will do in public.

Gallbladder attacks

Thanks to everyone who was praying for Tom after this recent gallbladder attack. We now believe that this is what sent him to the emergency room last year in Russia. We just found out that we will not have insurance with East-West until late June. So we are looking at other options to cover the cost of surgery.

Tom is doing much better. He does not at this time have any gallstones. He was diagnosed with gallbladder disease. He has been faithfully following a low fat diet that was recommended for him. He also needs to stay away from acidic foods. He is not having fun with this new diet but he is being a trooper!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I was tagged by Crickl and by Young Pastor's Wife to do a meme of 7 random things about me. Since it is my birthday today I will give it a try!

1) I was born in Chiseldon, England on an Air Force base. My mother was 7 months pregnant when she flew across the pond with my two older brothers in tow!


2) As a child the name Alida was different and rarely pronounced correctly, in Russia I have been told that my name is Russian and easy to remember!


3) My husband Tom and I, my brothers John and Kevin and their wives Karen and Shari have all been married 25 years!


4) On my mother's side of the family I have 7 cousins and only 1 female cousin, Hilary, and we are 14 years apart in age. On my father's side of the family I am one of 50 first cousins!


5) Not knowing that I would ever go to Russia one day it just so happens that I actually learned some Russian in 4th grade at Isely Elementary School in Wichita, Ks.


6) I love to knit and crochet... that is not news to anyone who knows me. However, I am left handed and I was taught by my mother's cousin Sharon, who is also left handed!


7) My favorite dessert is Key Lime pie and my gracious mother-in-law is making me one today for my birthday!

***If you are a blogger and would like to do a 7 things meme then jump right in!

Back in New Mexico

Since I did most of the driving I am pretty wiped out! I will be sure to do a better update tomorrow after I get some rest. We need to get Tom in to see a doctor as soon as possible. He is feeling better but we don't want him to have another gallbladder attack. They are extremely painful and no fun at all!

Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms out there... may your day be blessed!

Tribute to GreatMom

I will miss Velda. She was very kind and gracious to me. I am just the wife of one of her grandsons... and yet she took the time to write, send me a birthday card and a gift every year since I married Tom 25 years ago. Tom and I are grateful that our sons ages 19 and 16 have many wonderful memories of their GreatMom! We will especially remember her at Christmas time. Her Christmas cookies were always fought over when the package arrived from Newton to our home in California.

May she always be remembered for her devotion to her family.

NEWTON
Velda Sharp, 93, died May 6, 2007, at Newton Medical Center, Newton.

She was born Oct. 13, 1913, in Castleton, the daughter of John and MaryAnn Hyson DeNoon.

A resident of Newton, she was a homemaker. She was a Auxiliary member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars and she attended a neighborhood Bible study.

On Oct. 3, 1931, she married Charles Sharp in Hutchinson. He preceded her in death.

Survivors include: a son, Norman, Albuquerque, N.M.; two daughters, Charlotte Sharp Stephens, Newton, and Shirlee Larson, Blue Springs, Mo.; 8 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by a brother, six sisters and a grandson.

Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Funeral Home Chapel, Newton, with Chaplain Bill Regier presiding. Visitation will be from 1 to 9 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Memorials may be sent to the American Heart Association, in care of the funeral home, 215 North Main, Newton, KS 67114.

meetings, meetings!

Yesterday we drove down to Edmond, Oklahoma to meet with a missions pastor. We braved all the rain we had to drive through and it was well worth it!

We got a chance to meet with a man who is doing Recovery Ministry there and were able to sit and plan for a short term mission trip by some members of the Recovery Ministry. Thanks Pastor Mike for asking us to come to Edmond!

We will be going back to Edmund on Sunday. We'll have dinner with a group from the church and then we will be sharing our testimonies at the Celebrate Recovery Service on Monday night!

Victory

May 9th is Victory Day in Russia. You can click here to learn about the song "Den Pobedy". Spencer had to remind me this morning what the date was. I think he just wanted to get out of school. It is great to go to school in Russia there are lots of holidays!

** a side note for those who may not know: if there are highlighted words within the text of my blog you can click on them and it will take you to a website that is connected to the topic that I am writing about.

New to us!

On Sunday after one of the services at Hope, Tom was speaking with Mel who was asking if we had gotten a laptop yet. Tom was telling Mel that we had not gotten the funds yet. Jeff overheard and stepped up to say that he had a laptop that was not being used and that if we could use it he would clean his information off of it and bring it over.

True to his word, on Monday night Jeff brought over a Hewlett Packard laptop and we are so excited. This donation provides us with a computer that we can travel with. Tom often uses power point when he speaks. As I type this, using Paul and Cathy's PC, Tom is sitting with our new laptop typing up a summary of book he read.

What a blessing... the kindness of people within the body of believers never ceases to amaze me!

what can I say?

Tom's grandmother passed away last night. It looks as if the funeral will be on Saturday.

We are in mourning over the loss of the this kind and gentle woman. And we are grateful that we are here in the states and can actually participate in the funeral.

Please pray for the entire Sharp family during this time of loss.

out of the mouths of babes!

Tom spoke at the service last night and again this morning. The third service got cancelled due to the weather.

Spencer and I worked with the younger kids. He had the 1st and 2nd graders and I had the 3rd-5th graders. It was a blast to see their reactions to to our talks.

One little girl asked me if there was any food in Russia that I did not like. I told her that was a good question. Then I asked the kids if they liked jello. Every hand in the room went up. I told them to imagine that their jello had chicken or roast beef in it. There was a collective "EWWW!" that rose up in the room. I explained that meat jello is called "holidelnik" and so far it is the only dish that I didn't really like!

Marilyn M. was leading the class and she explained to the kids that 75% of Russians are alcoholic. Since we had 25 kids in the room she asked 5 kids to stand up... then she told the kids that the 5 people standing were the only ones in the room who were not alcoholic. One little girl put her hands on the sides of her face and said:

"But, I don't wanna be an alcoholic!"

Spencer asked his group if they had any questions and one little girl raised her hand and said:

"I like to eat the white part out of the Oreos"!

We truly enjoyed spending time speaking with the kids. We showed off Spencer's Marvel Comic Books that are in Russian. And we shared with them about living in a different country. We shared what our frustrations are and what our successes are. We talked little bit about the economy and compared Krasnodar to Andover.

Spencer and I were both disappointed that the last service was cancelled. He was asked to speak to the kindergarten as well as the 1st and 2nd grades. We were each looking forward to what the next classes would have to say!

tornado damage

Street sign pointing toward the World's Largest Hand Dug Well

looking down into the well

Spencer standing in front of the gift shop and museum

As we traveled from Dalhart, Texas to Andover, Kansas we took the 54 highway. Greensburg is the site of the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well and since we had to drive through Greensburg I decided we should stop and go see it.

I had chatted with the woman working in the gift shop about the weather. She was concerned about getting some bad weather later that day. She was right. Greensburg was devastated by a tornado.

Many of the buildings along the highway 54 were destroyed. According to the weather channel the path of the tornado was a mile wide. The building that Spencer is standing in front of in the photograph above no longer exists.

As we drove through Greensburg we talked about what a quaint little city it is. And how peaceful and beautiful it is. Now it is a disaster area and martial law has been declared in the city. You can read about it here: http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=nation_world&id=5276741

Our hearts and our prayers go out to the people in the city and in Kiowa county.

Tom and one of our faithful supporters!

Before we left two years ago we made everyone we visited watch Napoleon Dynamite. We didn't get to watch it with Ed and Noel but they love Napoleon as much as we do!

Vote for Pedro!

one wrong letter

I sent an email in Russian to my friend Olya to tell her that I found a book by a Russian author. I tried to type "he wrote The Turkish Gambit" but, what I typed was "he urinated The Turkish Gambit".... typing one wrong letter can make or break you. Hopefully, she will get a good laugh and understand what I was trying to say!

getting ready

Spencer and I shopped for yarn for an afghan for him. It was a job that I could not be trusted to do alone... he does not want me to choose any color that might be remotely girlie! He chose 3 shades of burgundy with black for an accent. I started it tonight and will work on it as we travel. I finished one for Nathan on our last road trip.

Tom tried to get pictures of his jewelry taken today and for some reason my camera didn't cooperate for him. We need to find a camera shop and see what the problem is. Tom pointed out to me that my camera has literally taken thousands of pictures since we purchased it two years ago!

Right now I am putting all the photos that have already been taken on Photobucket. Maybe if I can get the memory card cleaned it will function better!

the week in review

Tom's parents are back with us... they traveled last week and left us alone in the house. Fortunately, we were all good and nothing got broken while they were away.

We did have an issue trying to make microwave popcorn. I teased Tom for burning a bag and then I did the same thing. At least the burned popcorn smell was gone before they got back home!

We had a quiet week. Most of the time we were not even in the same room with one another. Tom watched Basketball in one room, Spencer was on the computer, I watched TV in another room and Nathan was either at work or in his room on the computer.

Yesterday, we went to New Beginnings Church of God as a family. Nathan didn't have to go to work until 3:30 so we were able to enjoy the service and then lunch afterward. Spencer and I had gone the week before and I had dropped one of our prayer cards in the offering plate and asked them to pray for us. This week when we greeted the pastor after the service he recognised us and said that he had been praying for us!

After lunch we came back to the house and Tom's folks were here. They had just gotten off the road. Tom watched a basketball game and then took a nap. Nathan had to go to work and Spencer and I took off to check out a new Borders.

As Spencer was buying a Russian history book the cashier, Esther, told him about an author who is very popular in Russia right now. Boris Akunin is a mystery writer. She didn't know if it had been translated into English or not. She had read the book in German. After chatting with her a bit we thanked her, left Border's and went over to Barnes and Noble and found several books by Akunin. We came home with only two. The Turkish Gambit and Sister Pelagia & the White Bulldog.

As Spencer and I talked about The Turkish Gambit we realised that we have already seen the movie. We have also seen another movie based on a novel of his called The State Councilor. Both of these movies broke box office records in Russia.

Sudoku

Have you heard about this game?

Do you play it?

Tom got hooked on Sudoku and he kept trying to explain it to me but I was not getting it. Then two nights ago he tried again...I finally got it! I did so many out of his book that he had to go out and buy me one of my own.

I prefer using a printed copy than playing online. You can even find good explanations online if you don't have Tom around to explain it for you!

Give it a try... if I can do it anyone can!

a few days off

I apologize for not doing daily updates!

As we traveled the Southwest we were in places where I did not have internet access. And this week we are trying to get some much needed rest. We will be back on the road in May.

Nathan has a few days off and we are spending sometime with him. He and Tom enjoyed watching Borat together last night and today Nathan and I watched the Lemony Snicket movie A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Thanks for understanding the need for some down time. If anything exciting happens I will sit down and blog about it!

glamorous life

While we were in Redding this is where we stayed. Spencer and I joked about our glamorous life of traveling!

Thank goodness the motel was clean and quiet. We even felt safe enough to walk around in the area.

off roading

We are back in New Mexico.

We are tired.

My arms are sore from driving during the heavy winds yesterday.

Spencer is tired, he didn't sleep well last night.

Tom is still having back pain.

We are evaluating how much more traveling we can do. The price of gas is high and we want to be good stewards of our energy and our resources.

We know that we need to go to Dallas again and we need to be in Kansas in May. At least we get a short break until then!

traveling with a trailer

We will pull out of California today pulling a trailer. I am not sure how I feel about this. At least I won't have to drive it on the kind of mountains that we drove on the way to Oregon.

We have about twenty boxes... the last of our belongings that connected us to California. It feels like we are officially leaving our home state of 17 years. Tom, Spencer and I are all looking forward to getting back to Albuquerque. Being there means not being off the highway for a bit and getting some rest!

road weary

Tom, Spencer and I are all feeling wiped out. We are tired of being in the car. We want our own beds and our own pillows...How is that for whining!


We had a great time meeting the people at the church in Eugene. We enjoyed lunch in Brownsville with Randy and Roger. We laughed our heads off with Ashley, Nicole, Diane and Ivey in Modesto. We were excited to have dinner in Castaic with Joann and her kids.

Each time we meet with someone new the experience is priceless. The cost of all this is mostly physical. Tom is having a lot of back pain. And my muscles are feeling tight and achy. Last night Tom was in so much pain he wanted me to take him to the doctor. I had taken two Tylenol PM's and was not fit to drive so he had to ask the couple we are staying with to take him. He got a shot and some pain meds. We will start trading off more frequently when we leave for New Mexico on Tuesday.

Please pray for our health and our travel. Pray that we raise the funds needed to make the transition to career. We are grateful that God called us to work in Russia and we are eager to get back to work on language, relationships with Russian nationals and service in the community.

Beautiful place for back spasms!!

We are currently in beautiful Oregon! None of us have ever been here before & we are blown away by God's majestic beauty. Tuesday we had a meeting with the Missions Board from a local church. Some of the Board members had been to Krasnodar last year to do some building at the BLTC & Axtirka Rehab Center, so it was very good to see familiar faces again.
We have been in 5 States in 6 weeks and are very tired! Tom has been having back spasms due to so much driving, etc. He was down Saturday night & Sunday. (Please pray for his healing.) Alida & Spencer were mobile on Easter Sunday & attended their first Easter Service IN ENGLISH! in two years. We were in Redding, CA at the time.
We have another meeting tomorrow & then will be headed back to California. Friday we will see friends in Modesto. Saturday we will drive to Orange County. Sunday we will be back at our home church in Capo Beach & are excited about seeing so many friends & supporters!
Talk to you soon!

Oregon!

We left our friends up near Yosemite on Saturday and drove to Redding. Today is Monday and we just got into Eugene, Oregon. It is lush and green here. We don't have much time here in the internet cafe... we arrived too close to closing time!

We spent Easter in Redding, California. We attended Redding Christian Fellowship. After the service we let the pastor there know how much we enjoyed the message and how blessed we were. Spencer and I enjoyed it a lot. Tom was back at the hotel. His back has been hurting and he had not gotten much sleep the night before so I did not want to wake him up.

We have meetings here in Eugene and in a few surrounding cities and then we head back to California on Friday.

We are staying in a very comfortable and lovely looking cottage. We have enough room for each one of the three of us to have a separate place to retreat to for some alone time. We have had a lot of family togetherness over the past 6 weeks!

driving!

We left Orange County and are in the mountains now!

We are in the Sierra Forest and the drive up here was gorgeous. We are enjoying the time here with Bill and Judy. Judy and Tom worked together with Overcomers Outreach. Judy and Bill moved up here about five years ago.

As we were driving up here Tom was remarking on how he could live here in the area. It is a peaceful.

We have no idea where God will lead us when our time working in Russia is finished!

today's update

It is time to pack up the suitcases and head out. We go to San Clemente today and will be there until Friday.

We have dinners and lunches scheduled with various people until we leave for Oregon on Friday.

Thursday we have doctor appointments scheduled. We have not seen our family doctor since our move to Russia two years ago. Tom, Spencer and I are all looking forward to seeing her again. No one is having any major problems it is just time for a check up.

How often do you hear about people looking forward to sitting in a doctor's waiting room? I guess we are still adjusting to being here in America!

still kickin it in Cali

We are still here in California for a little while longer. We have to go to another city to have internet access as the home we are staying in does not have internet. That feels weird but it is nice to take an online break.

Right now we are in a cafe down in Costa Mesa. Each country we have have visited has had some type of internet cafe where you can play online computer games or use the internet. Along with that come the highschool or college age crowd that swears. It is interesting to be in Russia or Ukraine and still hear the "F" word in English. Here in Costa Mesa is no different. It seems to be so ingrained in the speech of these young people they cannot seem to put together a sentence without saying it.

We plan to be down in the San Clemente area next week and after that we will head for Oregon. Right now we are not sure where we will be for Easter Sunday. This will be our first Easter in America in two years. I for one am looking forward to it!

the last of the boxes

Spencer, Tom and I went down to Aliso Viejo to get the last of our belongings out of storage. We will be taking them back with us after we leave Oregon and go back to New Mexico. It was a little sad to move the boxes... part of us was still connected here through our things.

We had lunch with Mark. He had just returned from a short term missions trip in Uganda. It was fascinating to hear his tales. He is interested in coming to see us in Russia. We are looking forward to that!

Last night we went down to Capo Beach to The Bridge. It was the perfect night to attend. They celebrated sobriety birthdays and also did communion. One of the men there has 21 years of sobriety. He is now 77 years old. His testimony was amazing. There were over a 100 people there and we were so glad to be a part of such a special night!

check this out!

I took Spencer over to visit his friend Kaz in our old neighborhood. While he was at Kaz's house I checked out the Family Christian Bookstore in the area. When another woman behind the counter heard me tell the girl who was waiting on me that I didn't want to fill out a club card application "because I live in Russia", it led to her asking me questions in Russian. I got to practice there in the store! She has been to Moscow for short term trips. She took one of our prayer cards and then prayed with me right there in the store. That is the first time that has ever happened. Usually people will say that they are going to pray for you and then you smile and leave. She grabbed my hand and said "let's pray right now!" Thanks so much Jodi for encouraging my soul today!


We found an internet cafe not far from where we used to live. I saw a comment from Michelle on on my blog and decided to check out a post she wrote in honor of Spencer: click here She has listed ways to know if you are a missionary kid. The list is priceless. I love the one about spelling... Spencer spells better in Russian than he does in English!

Celebrity sightings and an update

When Tom was in California last he saw the guy who plays Hurley on Lost... yesterday I was at church in LA and I saw Loretta Devine. I love her work and it was exciting to see her! Since it was church I didn't take my camera... and I don't think it would have been right to bother her when she is trying to connect with God!

I am visiting with Erin today and she let me get online... I am sure she could see that I was going through withdrawal! I don't know how often I will be able to check in since we don't always know whether the people we stay with will have internet access.

I talked with Nathan the other day and he has started his new job. We are so proud and excited for him.

Spencer is wishing that we would be in one spot long enough for him to learn how to drive. But, we have a lot of ground to cover before we go back to Russia.

Tom is going to see about getting our things out of storage and we need to get in to our family doctor for check ups while we are here in California.

The drive from New Mexico to Arizona was beautiful. Our next road trip will take us from California to Oregon. Hopefully, we will get a vacation in among all the work we are doing!

Tom, Alida, and Spencer are on a mini-vacation in California, and enlisted Nathan to post this blog entry for them. The house they are staying at doesn't have a computer, so it will most likely be several days before Alida can post to her blog again.

Arizona

I just got back from a meeting with an on line friend. This was the first time I have met someone from a message board. We went to Starbucks and chatted for over an hour!

The drive here from Albuquerque was wonderful. It was so beautiful to see the terrain along the way. We leave for California in the morning. And I can hardly wait!

new stuff

don't take a family picture with the sun beating down on your faces!















Move to the backyard where the shade is!








This is the photo that will grace our new prayer cards. No, it is not centered and that is on purpose... now there is room for text. Tom is working on the prayer cards and we will give those out during our travels!

Our current prayer concerns:
raising support to career level to provide for long term needs
not to lose any of our language skills while in the States
safety as we travel

If you would like a copy of our newsletter please email us at: Sharps4RussianRecovery@juno.com


Please click here for the new information on where to send gifts and monthly support.

what do you do?

I finally got a chance to put my pictures on photobucket.com so I could post some photos from the road trip we just finished.

This is a photo of the first thing Spencer did after getting to the hotel in Amarillo a few days ago. The car was unloaded and he decided to relax. I like taking a photo in the room or of the front of the hotel to remember where we stayed.

What do you do after getting into your hotel room?

Sleep Issues!

Fibromyalgia is something that I struggle with on a daily basis. Sleep is an issue for me so when I got this newsletter today I decided to share this article!










Vol. 7, No. 3

Get a Better Night’s Sleep

We all know that sleeping troubles go hand-in-hand with fibromyalgia. But did you know there are some simple ways you can help yourself ease those troubles? Try these tips, straight from the FM patients who have benefited from following them.

Check your sleeping surface. At a friend’s suggestion, Susan Kuske of Eagan, Minn., replaced her 20-year-old mattress with a new one that had extra padding. It has “helped significantly for morning stiffness.” Mattress pads have proven helpful for some patients, too. Heated pads are also available.

Consider a sleep study. Maybe your difficulty sleeping is simply part of your FM symptoms—but maybe the trouble stems from a different disorder altogether, like sleep apnea. Pinpointing the exact cause of your sleep troubles, and the ways they manifest themselves, will make it easier for you to manage them.

Talk with your doctor about medications that may help—and try doing some homework beforehand. For instance, Paula Reid takes melatonin, a naturally-occurring hormone that regulates the wake-sleep cycle. “I do not only take the melatonin during the evening for retiring, but also during the daytime,” she says, “and find that it is helpful to some extent with the pain.”

Set up the bedroom for sleep success. Make sure to eliminate sources of light—not just lamps, but also television screens—that may be cuing your brain to stay awake. Try an eye-mask, earplugs, or a sound machine that plays ocean waves or birdsong for extra assistance in blocking out disturbances. Lila Peck sprays her bedding with a linen spray she makes herself, scenting the sheets with lavender and sandalwood to help her fall asleep.

Pay attention to what you’re paying attention to! Does the nightly news make you feel anxious or sad? Consider getting your news from a different source earlier in the day. Do crime dramas tense you up? Try eliminating them for a while.

Exercise. FM patients are used to hearing about the benefits of exercise—but you may not realize it can also help your sleeping patterns. Studies indicate that moderate exercise helps improve quality of sleep. “I walk at least 30 minutes a day and feel that it is an important factor overall, but also for sleep,” says Kuske. “I often use my break at work to walk. Clears my head and helps my body!”

Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Try to go to sleep at the same time every night, and to wake up at the same time every morning (even on weekends!). This will get your body into the habit of resting during those same hours each day.

Eliminate caffeine, alcohol, and other stimulants including tobacco.

Develop a bedtime routine. Kuske likes to read the Bible or another book with a positive message before she goes to sleep. Other patients may play relaxing music or make lists of things they are grateful for. Using a self-massage machine, or getting a massage from a loved one, can also make it easier to relax and fall asleep.

Margaret McGing recommends keeping a “sleep journal.” “Include the times you go to sleep, wake up, what you ate/drank that day, when you ate/drank, when/what forms of exercise [you did], and record how often and what times you might wake up during the night,” she suggests. Yes, it’s tedious—“but very helpful to a neurologist if one should continue to have problems and seek help,” she says.

Restrict your daytime napping. Even if you feel tired, try to nap for only 20 minutes or so—otherwise when it’s time to hit the hay that night, you may have trouble falling asleep.

*************

My husband does not seem to have a problem with the last item... he rarely misses his daily nap and can still go right to sleep at night. Tom reminded me the other night about a time when Spencer was little and he announced to his Dad how easy it is to get to sleep.

Spencer's wisdom... lay down, close your eyes and wait!

New Mexico

It is Sunday afternoon and we are back in New Mexico. Tom drove yesterday and part of today. I drove the last 2 1/2 hours into Albuquerque. It is so good to be off the road! I can write more tomorrow after I have had some rest.

How Russian Are you?

You are 100% Russian!

Great job!!!!! You did WONDERFULY!!!! Nice try!!! Were you born in Russia? How do you know so much about it??? Well, good job anyway!!!

How Russian are you?
Quizzes for MySpace

This is my test result and I am happy that after two years of living in Russia I was able to answer all the questions correctly! Spencer took it and he was 92 percent Russian... how Russian are you?

CookBook Search

I found this one in New Mexico
















and I found this one here in Texas at Sams for a great price!



















Before we left New Mexico I spent time with Mom looking through her cookbooks and the Betty Crocker one looked very good to me so when I came upon it at Sams I decided to go for it!

The More-With-Less Cookbook was recommended by Debbie P. in Russia. I don't think I need to look for anymore cookbooks. Especially since there are other things on the list of "things to buy in America" and Tom says that most of our purchases will need to be mailed home so our suitcases are not overweight!

pursuing happyness

Ok, so I remember when a friend posted to her blog back in January using the title "The Pursuit of Happiness" it made me want to go see the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". At the time we were still in Russia so I thought I would have to wait for the DVD.

I even sat through the Oscars with our family after we got back to the states and had those thoughts again after seeing Will Smith and his son Jaden. On Wednesday Spencer, Hailey, Tyler, Kim, Paul and I went out to actually see it! Tom stayed home to watch the basketball game on TV.

I enjoyed the movie... I teared up several times. It was inspiring to me that Rich Gardner was able to make his dreams a reality. I am a sucker for a rags to riches story!

Tomorrow is the big reward day in Dallas for the boys... they are going to a mall and to the movies. I am proud of Spencer for working so hard even though he didn't have too. He's on vacation!

I had a short chat with our oldest son Nathan tonight via email, he has actually done some driving and it went well. I am sure he will be happy for us to return the car so he can get in more driving time. We are heading back on Saturday. And of course I am proud of him too!

new walking shoes

Spencer and I purchased new walking shoes when we first arrived a few weeks ago... did I pack them to bring with me to Texas? No!

Spencer, Tyler and Luke are out doing community service for the city. Apparently, if you work two days doing city clean up you can win a trip to Dallas for a day of fun. Today is the second day for the guys to work... Dallas, get ready!

5minutesformom

the joy of email!

Tom calls this her Austin Powers look!











Yanna has the remote!












The top picture is Eera and the second is her little sister Yanna. I got this in an email from their mom, my friend Olya. I am sure they were taken with her husband Vova's cell phone. Isn't technology wonderful?! I cannot imagine how much Yanna will have grown by the time we get back home to Russia in June.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I got this idea from Laughing Through The Tears and decided I had to see what my visual DNA would look like. Enjoy!

Blini

Yesterday, Spencer and I made blini (Russian pancakes). He had looked up a recipe on the internet. He and Luke followed the recipe carefully, while Kim and I watched. But, the Russian friends we have don't actually use a recipe and I had my suspicions about how authentic the internet source was... the initial batter was too runny and the pancakes came out gummy. They should be more like a crepe. Spencer asked for help so I made a few adjustments. After adding more flour and some baking soda, baking powder, and more vegetable oil... we finally had a recipe that worked. I think Lena would have been proud!

Our modified recipe is this:
2 eggs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder into the bowl, and stir in along with the milk. Mix until smooth and well blended. The batter should be thinner than pancake batter but not runny like water.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium high heat. Lightly oil the pan. My friend Lena coats the pan with bacon fat and that gives it a unique flavor... but, vegetable oil works too! Pour about 2 tablespoons of the batter, or as much as desired, into the pan. Tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter out evenly and thinly. When bubbles appear, slide a spatula carefully under the blini. Flip, and cook for about 1 minute on the other side, or until lightly browned.

Remove blini to a plate. Put a little butter on top, and continue to stack the blini on top of each other. To serve, spread with desired filling, then fold in half, and in half again to form a triangle...or you can roll it up and enjoy.

how NOT to catch a plane

Russian Policeman Starts Bomb Hoax to Save Boss From Missing Plane
MosNews.com







A Russian policeman has been jailed for phoning an airport with a bomb warning to help acquaintances of his boss make their flight, the Reuters news agency reports quoting an article in the Friday issue of Russian daily Kommersant.

A senior police officer, who was seeing off two businessmen in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in February last year, told his subordinate to fix the problem when they failed to board the plane on time.

The assistant phoned the airport and said he had received a message about explosives and weapons on board the plane. The aircraft with 40 passengers on board turned around in mid-air to return to Yekaterinburg.

The police officer and his subordinate were sentenced to 21 months in prison each, the paper reported.Witnesses cited by Kommersant said the businessmen had been drinking in the airport.

at night at the movies

We took the kids to the movies last night and they all enjoyed seeing Night At the Museum. It was fun to hear them laugh. I am not a Ben Stiller fan so I didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else did. I did like Robin Williams... he is one of my favorites.

Spencer gave me not one but two e-cards for Women's Day so he scored major points!

The Ultimate Blog Party is winding down but I truly do appreciate everyone who was able to stop by. I noticed that there are over 900 blogs listed on the party site and I know I have not made it to most of them yet!

I am writing this early because we have a big day and night planned for tomorrow. Two of the kids are skipping school to spend the day with us and we have Celebrate Recovery to attend! <== Click on the highlighted words and go to the ministry link when you get there!

International Women's Day

I got an email from our friend Olya. It was great to hear from her and to feel connected to our Russian friends.

Today is International Women's Day and is a major holiday in Russia. It seems strange that people are not wishing me "Happy Women's Day". They don't celebrate Mother's Day there as we do in America. Women's Day celebrates all women... not just those who are mothers.

Flowers, candy and wishes of happiness, joy, peace and success are given to each female in your life!

all things Texas!

Spencer and I saw this in a Stuckey's on the way down here. We went back out to the car to get the camera. In Krasnodar we were treated by some friends to cornbread made in the shape of Texas so when we saw this it reminded us of Robert and Ann right away!

meetings, meetings

it feels like all we are doing is this!

We are back with our friends in Tom Bean. The drive into North Dallas for our meetings was not bad... going there it was less than an hour in the car. We watched Dreamgirls at the hotel last night and that was a real treat! We also were taken to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I had not eaten there in at least three years. We had lunch at a little Italian place and I had an Italian sausage Caesar salad and Tom had a crab cake salad... very tasty! We enjoyed going out to eat with Louie he has great taste in restaurants!

if it's Monday

We must be in Dallas! Don't know if we will see much of the city. We have meetings to attend all afternoon and evening. And tomorrow will be the same.

If we get a chance we may go to a movie... we have not been to a theatre to see a movie in English for 2 years! We saw things like Madagascar, The Island, and Chronicles of Narnia in Russian. So to watch in English will be a major treat!

Tom Bean

Wow! It has been great to see our friends again.

They have another dog. Last time we were here they had Skip and Angel. Now they have added Sparky... he was homeless and they took him in. Tom, Paul, Hailey and I were hanging out in the family room watching the Food Network after church and we had all the dogs at our feet or angling for a seat on the couch!

The service today was great. It was overwhelming to sing worship songs in English. I think I cried more than I sang! We are still having difficulty making decisions in stores. We went with Paul after church to pick up some food for lunch... just deciding on side dishes for the fried chicken was draining.

We are going back to church for a prayer meeting. Kim, a nurse, has to work this week so we only saw her at church this morning for a short while. Tyler and Spencer went to the youth meeting after the first service while Luke and Hailey attended the second service while we shopped for lunch.

We met with most of the elders at church this morning and got the chance to speak with a couple who adopted two boys from Russia. They are now a family of seven!

We are driving into Dallas for some meetings tomorrow and Spencer is planning to hang out here in Tom Bean while we are gone.

Amarillo News

We spent the night in Amarillo and now we are on the way to Tom Bean. It was a quick drive here to Texas and we are so excited about seeing our friends!

The drive was mostly uneventful... Spencer and I took a few pictures. When we got to the Texas border it looked like a storm was coming through. The winds were very high and we had thoughts that a tornado may have been nearby.

Ultimate Blog Party

How could I forget the big party???


I am setting a place at the table just for you... so don't be late!















Have questions like "why Russia?" ask away! I blog about our daily life in Russia, our trials with learning this language, and the work we do here. I write for our family, friends and supporters. I am glad that you have chosen to stop by. Please take your shoes off and enjoy some Russian hospitality... each time we have been to a Russian home for a visit out comes the photo album.

Our two years in Russia have taught us the importance of gift giving... if you are going to a Russian home for dinner the most popular gifts are flowers and candy! Make sure you take an odd number of flowers... even numbers are for funerals.

Take care and come again!

Alida

on the road again!

We are leaving for Dallas this morning. This will be our first trip without Nathan. It seems strange to leave him behind.

Stops in Texas include Tom Bean, Sherman and Dallas. It will be great to see old friends and meet new ones. I remember seeing an old ad about getting to Tucumcari by nightfall. I asked Tom if we would make it that far. He says that since it is only a few hours away it won't be a problem. Actually, I think the goal is Amarillo so that we make it to Tom Bean the next day!


I hope that we find internet access along the way... if not, Spencer and I will start going through withdrawal.

Enjoying the view

Spencer and I have been enjoying the walking path not far from where we are staying. It is very peaceful. Yesterday, we walked during our errands but didn't take an "official" walk and I realized this morning how much I missed it.

We started walking 5 times a week before we left Russia. It is helping me to feel better which is a good thing. Spencer is a great cheerleader. He is very encouraging and keeps me from quitting or giving up too soon!

We plan to keep up our walks all throughout our time here in the states... so if you want to join us just let me know. We would love to see your favorite walking trail!