Whither Thou Goest

A Second Christmas

2012-01-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

One thing that I am pretty sure is universal about missionaries is that all of us LOVE to receive packages from home! Our family is definitely no exception. We are so grateful for a wonderful friend of ours at our home church in Tacoma, WA whom we can always count on to receive and send us any mail or school curriculum we have sent to her home address. When it is time to send out a box, she offers to send any goodies or necessary items she can fit in as well. We always look forward to any extras she has tucked into the packages and she has been such a blessing to help us in this area.

Several months ago a friend from college wrote me through Facebook and shared with me that she had been thinking of our family lately and felt the Lord wanted her to send us a Christmas package. She asked me to send her a list of ideas around a certain amount for each child. My friend also asked for my hubby and I to think of something we would like. Hmm, I began to think. So, what would a missionary Momma like to receive in a package? There are a few things that we missionaries (wives) dream about when the holidays come around. Sometimes I have a few things on my "wish list" of things that IF I could send over I would. This year I was thinking about a new dress for our daughter, Rebekah to wear to the Christmas services which would match the new shirts and ties I had ordered for our boys. We also needed a used winter coat for our oldest son to use as a play/work coat for here in the village. With us living out in the village the kids begin to look a little "back woods" if we go to town in their play/work coats that they get dirty and smelly from playing with the dog or feeding the animals. I also so enjoy buying stocking "stuffers" for the kids when we are in the States which are much less expensive than here so I was thinking she could send a few things for each of them to be put in their stockings. I gave her a list of things that our boys are interested in and a list of what Beka enjoys. She told me how she would love to shop for them all and if they needed anything to let her know. Wow, I was so excited! Beka has so desperately needed longer shirts and skirts and I shared that we would be grateful for anything she could find in second hand stores or anywhere for that matter! She insisted that I tell her something that was really for myself to add to the list so I asked for a new blouse to wear for Christmas, smell good candles and lotions. David had been searching for a battery tester for years here so I asked for that for him.

So, list made! I felt a little awkward to be honest! I don't like asking for things or telling people what I would like to receive - it's hard for me! All through the process she reported back to me about how much fun she, her sister, and her mother were now having shopping to make our Christmas extra special. How humbling! I was so taken back by what had become a whole project by a dear friend and her family that I didn't know what to say. God is so good! If there is one thing I can say still amazes me every time it happens, it is when my Heavenly Father gives me what I need or want at times when I have quietly uttered it only to Him. It is such a reminder that He is there for me, loves me and watches over me as only He can!

Once the packages were carefully packed and ready to ship, my friend sent them out with what usually would have been sufficient time for them to get here just before Christmas. Unfortunately, the packages didn't arrive as planned but did make it to us by Russian Christmas (January 7th). The funny thing was that the ladies at our local post office knew I was anxiously awaiting a package "from Santa" (as they put it). However, through the holidays and even the first two weeks of the new year, businesses here are rarely open and close early on days they are open. This includes post offices and banks. One day (January 4th), as I was walking through the house and happened to glance out the window to see why our dog was barking. the postmaster was standing in front of our gate. I ran out to see her and she said, "You have two packages at the post office. If your husband is not home with the car get the sled and come on over. We close in one hour." That cracked me up that she walked all the way over to my house to tell me my awaited packages had arrived! So, David was in town with the boys which meant that Beka and I took off pulling our sled behind us to go pick up our Christmas packages! I had kept the whole thing a secret until that moment when I had to explain to Beka why we were rushing off to the post office in such a hurry AND taking the sled with nothing on it! I didn't give her much information but enough so she didn't think her mother had lost her mind. On the way home David called us and asked where we were in the village so he could drive to us to pick us up and drive us home.

David and I took the packages into our room and looked over all the goodies. I knew more of what my friend was sending but I didn't tell David about all of it. He was in shock when he opened the boxes! He couldn't believe she had sent all these wonderful gifts to our family. One other thing I had shared with her that I was checking in to buying for David was a pair of boots for David as well. I just asked her to look around there in her area since she lives in "cowboy country" to see if she could find a going price for the boots. She sent David the exact boots he has been wanting to get a new pair of for years! We were so touched by this family's generosity. So, we wrapped up all the presents and had a WONDERFUL second Christmas! Here is a look at what we received:

Stockings full of goodies!

Beka happy to receive some lotion.

Christmas pencils!

Cars that go on metal!

Daddy thinks they are cool too!

Large Transformers for the boys!

COOL!

Family games!

The boys received Legos and Hero Factory toys which all have lots of little parts. So before David and I wrapped them we purchased a few small containers to put them in to help the boys keep track of their pieces.

Legos for the boys

A new Easter dress for Beka!

I love the expressions on the kid's faces when they opened a "Bop-It"! They had never seen one before that any of them remembered and they had no idea what it was!

Daddy demonstrating how to play.

Okay, this is FUN!

Hero Factory for the boys. Artsy stuff for Beka.

More clothes!

And even more clothes!

A Lego bumblebee for Timothy!

A surprise wool sweater for me! So warm!

Not pictured was a surprise Columbia jacket for me as well, along with the play jacket for the boys.

And here are the matching Christmas clothes just as I had pictured them. David isn't wearing a new shirt or tie but he does have on his new boots with brand new warm socks to break them in!

Last November I read a post from a missionary wife home on furlough about receiving packages from home. She held a giveaway on her blog for missionary wives and whoever won would receive a package of goodies from her, a furloughing missionary. You should read it and see how many ladies posted a comment on her blog in order to enter the giveaway. Read what they asked for - simple things.

During our next furlough, I plan to take some time to contact a missionary on the field and ask what they would like to receive in a package from home. I want to be a blessing to a missionary wife who maybe has prayed and asked the Lord to provide something special for her family, like those of you who have sent packages to our family have been to this missionary wife. God bless you my dear friends!

New Series of Blog Posts to Come

2012-01-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

Several months ago I was thinking of a fun series of posts I could write for my blog to describe what it is really like to live in Siberia. I know that for me, and maybe many of my friends who are also missionaries would agree, the unusual ways of life in a foreign country often become "normal" to us as we go about our daily living. What once seemed totally strange to us soon becomes "all in a day's work" and we forget how different of a world we live in compared to our family and friends back home. Sometimes it is not until we furlough and begin to share these stories with others that we realize how unusual, dangerous, interesting, and even humorous (after the fact!) they really were.

For us here in Siberia as in most foreign fields, life is challenging at all times. By far, the most challenging part of life for us is living through the long winters. During the winter months, every day events become even more challenging and definitely funny! That being said, I would like to introduce a new series of posts on my blog called: Frozen Tales. In this series I will share stories of life during the winter in the middle of Siberia and the moments that make it so memorable. Hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned!

I already created a button with the above image which you can grab at the bottom right side of the Home blog page.

Christmas At Our House - Traditions (Part 3)

2012-01-12T01:04:00.000-08:00

I pray you all enjoyed a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year's celebration with family and friends. First of all I would like to ask your forgiveness for taking so long to post on here! My reasons are legitimate since we spent the entire two weeks before Christmas working long days in order to move our family into our new home before the very cold weather arrived. I have much more to say about all that so stay tuned!

On to another family tradition we have started here on the mission field - preparing goodies to give out to our neighbors and church families. Every year during the Christmas/New Year holiday time we have baked cookies for our neighbors, post office workers, pharmacist, and families of Sunday school children.

Beka shelling nuts to use in baking. (2006)

Ryan helping roll the cookies in powdered sugar. (2006)

We have also enjoyed preparing family baskets with tea, candy, cookies, fruit, and surprises for the children.

Me preparing baskets (2007). Please forgive the head cut off by my very young photographer.

Most of this year's cookie plates.

This year I thoroughly enjoyed baking in my new house with much more kitchen space!

We really enjoy delivering these goodies to everyone. It is very rare that we can get away from the door without a gift as most Russians believe they must give something in return. We do our best to get in and out without anything extra! We've come home with everything from eggs to frozen fish as New Year's presents! They are all so surprised to hear that we just want to be nice and hospitable, not expecting anything in return. Sometimes we are invited in for tea and a chat which provides a nice opportunity for us to share Christ with them and for them to ask questions. During a stop on this year's cookie delivery, I visited one of my neighbors who had been diagnosed with lung cancer this past summer. She began to share her heart with me about how she doesn't go out anymore or invite anyone into her home so that they do not see her in the condition she is in now that she has gone through five rounds of chemotherapy. She invited me to come back to talk with her. Now that opportunity is worth way more than a plate of cookies!

Christmas At Home 2011

2011-12-28T04:15:00.000-08:00

This year definitely gets the vote for "most unusual" Christmas in our family! For one, we did not want to put up all of the Christmas decorations including the tree in the small house. We had to move furniture out of the that house in order to put up the tree and we all agreed there was no point in doing all that just before moving. The last few weeks before Christmas we had been working diligently on the new house so we could move in before the 25th. Well, we made it, barely! At approximately 2 am on the 25th I was decorating the tree in the NEW HOUSE! After that, I was up another hour wrapping all the presents!

Even though we got to bed late...well, early Christmas morning, we wouldn't have slept well anyway since we were in the new house for the first night. It felt so strange to be in a new place that we didn't sleep much!

So, while we slept in a bit the kids got up around 8 am to see the tree decorated with presents underneath. They also opened their stockings.

Christmas 2011

Below is an overview of the gift opening! Sorry that some of the photos are blurry. I didn't post several of them because of this. My camera doesn't do well if it is shaken or if there is movement and with all the excitement of Christmas morning it was difficult to catch the kids sitting still!

The kids got me a statue to hang necklaces on.

Rebekah received a movie from her brothers.

Headphones for Ryan's Didj from his sister.

A movie for Timothy from his sister.

Ninjago sets from Grandma and Grandpa.

3D picture and puzzle from Great Grandma.

A Nerf sword and shield to match with his brother.

Beads and more beads to make jewelry!

Transformers!

Rebekah and her new bath robe.

We didn't do a huge Christmas this year for a special reason which I will explain in the next post.

It's a surprise!

2011 Missionary Christmas Party

2011-12-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

We sure do a lot of celebrating in December with our family's birthdays and Christmas. One of our traditions is the missionary Christmas party. We celebrated a bit earlier than usual this year.

This year we had several families less since one family is on furlough, one family is back in the US awaiting the birth of their second child, one family in the US for other reasons, and one single lady was also home on furlough. We are only all together with these families at Thanksgiving and Christmas parties, otherwise most everyone is involved in separate ministries. Still, with several families missing we had seven adults and sixteen children.

We planned the menu to be easy and simple with sub sandwiches, chips, a veggie tray, and desserts.

Refreshment table.

Food table (with our daughter caught eating again!)

Dessert table.

As always these missionary parties are a chance to relax and enjoy Christian fellowship.

While the children were busy watching Christmas videos and cartoons,

the adults enjoyed a game of Headbanz. My kids received this game from a friend of mine who sends us packages after I recently asked her to send us a new game for them to play at home. The kids love it and it was a big hit at our Christmas party.

James and Cassie Dean

Bonnie Hearron

As a last event for the day, the children and adults enjoyed opening gifts. We exchange names each year. For the last several years we have exchanged family names for the children. This means we give a board game as a gift to all of the children in the family whose name we drew instead of individual gifts for each child. They seem to enjoy this and it saves the parents a bit of money since there are lots of children around here!

Monopoly!

A Russian dictionary game!

A Hello Kitty game!

Our kids received Twister!

New gloves!

My hubby received a new heater (we use these everywhere!)

New bowls!

I received a flour sifter and glass tea cups!

Everyone enjoyed the day!

Our children were excited to be able to take their Twister game home and soon play it in the new house!

12/25/11

Celebrating Rebekah's 14th Birthday

2011-12-15T06:15:00.000-08:00

Our celebrations continued in December with the 14th birthday of our daughter, Rebekah. It is so hard for us to believe that our little girl is already fourteen!

Rebekah - at our apartment in Krasnoyarsk, 2002

We are so thankful for Rebekah and her sweet spirit. She is such a blessing to our family and has such a great testimony with the Russian people. Everyone loves our Beka. We are so proud of how she reaches out to help others and is so burdened for more Russians to be saved!

For her birthday meal, Beka chose hamburgers! She LOVES meat!

Hamburgers with onion ring chips.

Now, I have to appreciate Beka's cake choice this year. She loves anything with caramel and chocolate. (My kind of girl!) Beka began talking about a caramel cheesecake. I found this recipe online and it had a graham cracker crust (which she also wanted) with caramel. We were excited because we recently found toffee candies similar to Skor candy bars which we could use as a topping.

Our caramel cheesecake.

Okay ladies, I am not bragging on my baking but I have to say, this was YUMMY! I know that combining cream cheese, caramel, graham crackers, and chocolate covered toffee can't really be "yucky" but this recipe is definitely worth trying! It is a bit time consuming because everything is weighed to the gram. However, it does not require a spring form pan which was another bonus for me since I don't own one!

She was ready to try it and not pose for more pictures!

Gift opening time was fun as Beka received two things she really wanted.

One gift was a new purse from her brothers (who were excited to give her a gift which they purchased with their own money).

Her second gift was a hair dryer/curling brush from David and me .

She was very happy about her gifts and really enjoyed her special day!!!

Celebrating Ryan's 10th Birthday

2011-12-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

December is a busy month for our family and the excitement begins with our oldest son, Ryan's, birthday on the 6th. This year he turned 10 years old and was happy to hit the double digits! Any of you who know Ryan can attest that his energy levels are a bit above normal on an average day! Add to that the excitement of his birthday and he could hardly fall asleep in anticipation!

This year, Ryan chose Chicken and Spinach Alfredo pizza for his birthday meal since as he put it, "it tasted so good when we had it for Timothy's birthday." So, we all enjoyed the pizza and they almost devoured it before I even took the picture!

Yum!

The cake!

I had these hockey player figures from a missionary friend which I used on the cake. They were actually field hockey players but once you stuck them in icing it wasn't that noticeable.

Crazy faces from Ryan!

He thought it was great and as you can see from his face, he was totally impressed!

Blowing out the candles.

One of the many things I love about our daughter, Rebekah, is the time and thought she puts in to making birthday cards for others. She takes the time to find out what they love and then creates a special card just for them. This year she made Ryan a sword card and it turned out very nice!

Ryan reading his birthday message from Beka.

Now for presents!

This year Ryan received some Spy Gear binoculars from his brother and sister.

Timothy explaining how they work.

He received a battery operated driver set from Mom and Dad.

He had been wanting one of his own and this inexpensive set was small enough for his hands and came with lots of bits! He was a happy boy!

We love our Ryan and thank God for the ten years of life He has given us with him. He adds so much life, love, and laughs to our family. It's no wonder to me as his Momma why he was so difficult to bring into this world - too much personality in one small package! We are confident the Lord has a special plan for this guy!

Daddy and Ryan messing around at home.

We love you, Ryan!

Christmas At Our House - Traditions (Part 2)

2011-12-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

A favorite tradition that our children ask about as soon as Thanksgiving is over is our Christmas Nativity Calendar.

I have to say that this is one of the best items I ever brought over to Russia from the States. I purchased it years ago at a Bible Book Store. I had always wanted to find one of these that specifically included the Christmas story from the Bible.

Our children can't wait until December 1st, when it is time to pull the calendar out of the box and begin the countdown to Christmas. They all love taking turns to hang up the figures every night before bed.

Each figure pertains to the Christmas manger scene with baby Jesus being the last piece to put on for Christmas Day. There are sheep, angels, a star, wise men, the innkeeper, Mary, and Joseph, as well.

Timothy holding the paper that you read from.

The calendar came with a numbered list showing each piece and corresponding sections to read as they are hung on the board. It is even more enjoyable for the children now that they are older and can handle it by themselves. Mommy and Daddy just sit back and listen!

Christmas At Our House - Traditions (Part 1)

2011-12-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

When my husband and I were married we both looked forward to creating special holiday traditions with our own family. When most of us think of family traditions, we think of Christmas. Christmas is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. I love the decorations, lights, falling snow, carols, and fun times together with the family. One of our favorite traditions we began with our children in order to help keep the focus of Christmas on Jesus' birth, was taught to me by a dear friend of mine. Mrs. Janice Hickman is a beautiful Christian woman who has been like an adopted Mom to me ever since I was in Bible college. As my husband and I were about to be married, we spent much time with the Hickmans learning all we could about marriage and family.

Mrs. Hickman and I during a visit on our last furlough (2-15-09).

The tradition Mrs. Hickman taught me was regarding the reading of the Christmas story which families often read on Christmas morning. In the Hickman family, often on Christmas Eve, the children all dress up as Mary, Joseph, an angel, shepherds, and the wise men. As they stand together with baby Jesus in Mary's arms, Mrs. Hickman reads the Christmas story. Mr. Hickman records the yearly tradition with the video camera. Now, this all sounds serious and formal but it is the funniest thing to watch the children either try to hold still and be serious, or the opposite while Mrs. Hickman sweetly reads the Christmas story! In the end, you have a precious memory recorded for the family to watch as the children grow.

Here are a few photos of our children from years past, as we have kept this family tradition.

Christmas 2002 (blurry due to being a photo from a video camera)

In 2003, we didn't need a doll to use as a baby Jesus, we had a baby Timothy to lay in the manger!

Christmas 2003

Christmas 2004

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2007

On Christmas Day, usually in the evening after the presents have been unwrapped and sometimes just before the children go to bed for the night, the kids dress up with whatever material, towels, or t-shirt of Daddy's they find and come into the living room by the tree for pictures. After the photos are taken, we all sit down and watch the kids as they portray Mary, Joseph, and either an angel or a shepherd while Daddy reads the Christmas story.

It is a wonderful note to end our Christmas celebration, remembering that Jesus was born in a manger to die for our sins.

May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas as you celebrate His birth.

I am linking this post up to the Baptist Missionary Women blog for their Christmas Blog Hop. Check it out!

Thanksgiving Missionary Dinner 2011

2011-12-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

Our missionary Thanksgiving celebration began with everyone gathering at the Krasnoyarsk Baptist Church at around 12:30 pm. My morning started a "wee" bit earlier than that with our family arriving at another missionary's apartment around 10 am in order for me to bake the rolls so that they were fresh for the feast! It is always comical to see us driving in from the village with all of our "stuff" crammed in our car along with all of our family for different parties and activities . This time we carried in the deviled eggs (not completely put together to make it easier to transport them), mashed potatoes, container of cracker candy ( a yummy dessert that we love to make), an apple pie and the fixings for homemade rolls (yeast, milk, margarine, and salt). At least it was a bit less difficult than when we drove in for the Harvest party and every family member except my hubby, who was driving, had to hold a tray of caramel apples! Not to mention the bags and bags of other items squeezed in by our feet.

So, like I said, we all gathered together with eleven adults and seventeen children total for the day. I promised all of you that I would post photos but I was very negligent in taking any! Thankfully, one of the missionary wives took a few but when it came down to the food table we were all so busy enjoying the goodies that we sort of forgot the pictures and thought more about our appetites.

Here we are all working on the last minute preparations to get the food on the tables.

Then it's time for prayer and food for the little ones is served first.

Little ones happily eating means its time for the adults to step up to the table. Yum!

Most of the adults enjoying the meal.

In my opinion, this was one of the best Thanksgiving meals we have ever put together. The food was delicious! By the way, the duck that we prepared was a big hit! Our daughter, Rebekah, was the happiest to find out that our duck meat was good to eat. With all that time she spends caring for them, at least they taste good on the dinner table!

We pray you and your family had a very blessed Thanksgiving! We are grateful for the Lord's blessings on our family and ministry and for those of you back home who support us faithfully through your prayers and financial support. May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly!

Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving?

2011-11-20T06:05:00.000-08:00

This week, on our side of the globe, all of the missionary families from in and around the city of Krasnoyarsk will gather at the Krasnoyarsk Baptist Church in order to enjoy a day of great food that we dream about all year and fellowship that we crave, or is it the other way around? Anyway you say it, we are all looking forward to celebrating the all-American traditional holiday of THANKSGIVING! (Even if there is snow on the ground and the temps are a bit "chilly".)
So, what is on the menu? I am glad you asked. Here is the list...

Thanksgiving Menu 2011

Turkey

Pork Roast

Duck

(Remember those pretty little ducks I talked about in a previous post about our family pets?) We are bringing some for the Americans to try! I'll let you know how that goes!

Duckies - Before

Three Duckies - After (ready for the freezer).

Don't worry, we kept some of them (out of the freezer)! That's a whole other post to come!

Stuffing (Stove Top that someone has sent from the States just because we love the taste!)

Mashed potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Green Bean Casserole

Veggies

Pickled beets

Deviled eggs

Cranberry sauce (from the States)

Desserts:

Jello Salad

Brownies

Apple Pie

Pumpkin cheesecake

So, any of you want to join us? We definitely go all out to make those favorite comfort foods we miss from home. One of the biggest blessings of the day for all of us, being able to relax with other families and enjoy the day while speaking in our native language! Might sound pretty profound, but it is a real thing to be thankful for when celebrating Thanksgiving in the middle of Siberia. I promise to post pictures of our celebration!

Harvest Party Costumes

2011-10-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

The kids and I took our time planning their costumes and sewing the parts to complete their looks for the Harvest Party. I did my best to keep them focused on costumes that were within normal limits for me to make! One beautiful, but crisp evening after the party, I took our kids down to our corn field to take some pictures of our own. We had lots of fun and took lots of pictures as you can see!

Our daughter - A Fairy

She looks a bit stiff because she was freezing!

Her dress was completely made by hand with her choice of colors.

Our oldest son - Zorro

Pants were his; cape, mask, and bandana made my Mom. Shirt (bought at a second hand store for one dollar) re-sized and redesigned by Mom.

Our youngest son - A pirate

Pants were his; shirt, scarf, belt, and vest bought at a second hand store.

So glad these costumes are done and all the kids were satisfied with how they turned out. So, if you have great costumes, you have to take a few fun "action" shots!

We are already looking forward and planning next year's costume! Hope I get started a bit earlier on the sewing!

LOVE our kids!

2011 Missionary Harvest Party

2011-10-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

This past summer as my missionary friend, Katie, and I were talking about harvest time while working in the garden together, I thought I would share an idea I had for a missionary family harvest party. We had never held such an event before and I thought it would be lots of fun for the children to have their own gathering to look forward to.

Katie was so excited about the idea that she was all ready to do whatever necessary to make it all happen. The planning had begun! First, we had to decide on a location which did not work out as we had planned. We really wanted to hold the party at our house, but we were not able to finish a room (in the new house) in time nor free up our current house in order to hold it there. As a result, we delayed the party as long as we could and went with plan "B" which was to hold the party in the newly remodeled basement of the Krasnoyarsk Baptist Church. The weather changed the week of the party and we even had snow fall!

Katie Northcutt, my friend and fellow party planner.

DECORATIONS

We both had many ideas about how we wanted to decorate and once we began looking for ideas on the internet, we found many more ideas and settled on a few that were our favorites.

"Pumpkin" snack containers made out of painted plastic flower pots.

Scarecrows made out of peanut butter jars
and paper bag pumpkins decorated the kids' tables.

Paper bag leaf vases decorated the window sills.

The adults' table decor.

We planned for the children to be able to dress up and hold a costume contest for best costume in several categories. Katie and I worked to plan our children's costumes hoping that everyone would come to the party dressed up and ready for a fun afternoon. We were so happy to see almost every child in their costumes! We both agreed that we needed to put together a fall background in order to take individual photos of each child dressed in his/her costume. We were able to use some of the corn stalks from our garden, a few pumpkins and squash alongside a scarecrow for our photo session. Below are a few of the photos taken by Katie. (You can see photos of our children in their costumes in the next post.)

Robin Hood

Bob the Builder ( Katie's son)

A bride

Rapunzel

A scarecrow

We even had Goldilocks and the FOUR bears. (one family)

After the parents voted, we gave out awards for the best costumes in four different categories. Here are the photos of the winners in their categories.

An alligator. (Funnest Costume)

A bee ( Cutest)

A seamstress (Most Creative)

A present (Most Festive)

If you are noticing the resemblance, the bee and the alligator are sisters and the seamstress and the present are sisters!

Once the photos were taken we had the children change out of their costumes so they could go outside (in the cold) and freeze enjoy some fun and active games. You have to run some of that energy out when you have twenty four children all together for a party!

Sack races

Pass the orange

Tug-of-war was a big hit! Guess which side won?

Wheelbarrow races!

We also enjoyed guessing games of "how much candy is in the jar" which Katie made to look like jack-o-lanterns. There was a jar for the children to guess as well as one for the adults to guess. Both even had mini Twix and Hershey's chocolate candy bars from the States in them so the winners were very happy with their prizes!

The kids writing down their guesses.

The adults awaiting the announcement of who won the candy jar!

Then it was time for FOOD. The menu for the kids was hot dogs on the grill (by my hubby) with baked beans and chips. The adults enjoyed various hot soups in homemade bread bowls! Katie did a great job baking the bread bowls. The ladies all signed up to bring five different soups including: borscht, potato, chicken vegetable, white chili, and vegetable beef. The soups were perfect for such a chilly and windy day.

We also planned for plenty of tea and coffee with snacks of nuts, trail mixes, raisins and chips. I was really glad we decided on those cute little pumpkin snack flower pots as the snacks were a favorite while everyone waited for the meal!

Tea and coffee table.

After the food was done the children were all asking about when they could have one of those caramel apples sitting on the dessert table. Since we were ready for the children to be a bit more quiet we thought the time had come to feed them more sugar!

Mini pumpkin pies and caramel apples for dessert!

They did get a bit more quiet as they struggled to chew their caramel apples. For some this was their first caramel apple ever!

While the adults continued to enjoy the fellowship as well as any bites they could sneak of their children's caramel apples mini pumpkin pies for their dessert, we had one more activity planned for the day. We blew up a balloon for every child and put a number inside of each one. The children had to go outside and pop their balloon to retrieve the number and then bring it back inside.

Once all the balloons were popped, we called them by number to come forward and pick a prize from a prize box. Now, if I had more time I would have made this box look like a treasure chest or something more exciting however,...it was only a box. We'll save that for next year!

Looking through the treasure box.

With prizes in hand and caramel all over their faces, the party was over. Everyone was so grateful for all the time and effort put into the event. It really was a blessing to Katie and I to hear how much fun everyone had.

Many of us were worn out after such a big day!

We were ready for it to all be done and everything to be all packed up, but we definitely look forward to next year's Harvest Party...at MY house! So, what creative ideas for a Harvest Party do you have?

Potato Soup Recipe

2011-10-12T05:35:00.000-07:00

As I promised, here is a good potato soup recipe which will put lots of those fresh potatoes to use after the harvest. Living in Siberia, I often make this on cold days to warm us all up real good on the inside!

HOMEMADE POTATO SOUP

4 cups peeled, cubed potatoes

1 cup (3/4 inch slices) celery ( I used approx.1 tsp. of dried celery flakes)

1 cup coarsely chopped onion

2 cups water

2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1 cup whipping cream

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine potatoes, onion, celery, water, and salt in large Dutch oven. Simmer covered, about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat. Mash mixture with a potato masher, leaving some vegetable pieces whole. Stir in remaining ingredients; return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until soup is thoroughly heated. Serves 6.

Enjoy!

Card Shower for a Dear Friend

2011-10-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share something special that I would like to ask you to do for a dear friend named, Sheila Campbell. Sheila has been a missionary alongside her hubby, Steve, in the Philippines since February 2000. They have three children. They returned to the States to check into some health problems Sheila had been experiencing. They soon found out that Sheila had Stage 4 Lymphoma. Most recently, Sheila has been told that she will need to have a bone marrow transplant.
Her friends have sent messages on Facebook to begin a card shower for Sheila as a surprise. She really needs our encouragement right now. Even if you don't know Sheila personally, you can still understand the encouragement cards or notes would be from people all around the world letting you know that they are praying for YOU in a time of need. Please share this with your churches, youth groups, ladies' groups, or Sunday school classes so that they too can participate as mentioned below.

Sheila with her husband, Steve, and their three boys - Zachary, Timmy, and Wesley.

Following is the note from the friend who started this card shower.

With the bone marrow transplant that she's going to need (which is 60 days straight, including holidays and weekends), she will have lots of expenses such as gas, food, room and board, extra medical bills, etc. We are encouraging people to send a card and include a gas card, gift card, or check if possible. If not, at least a card of encouragement.

Her address:

Sheila Campbell

c/o Baptist International Missions, Inc.
P.O. Box 9215
Chattanooga, TN 37412

Please also help me spread this news to other churches or friends that you know would participate.
For your convenience, I've made a flyer that is hosted privately online and can be printed out here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9500526/Church/card-shower.pdf

_______________________________________________________________

You can print this flyer and use it to show to people at your church.

Please take a little time to do this yourself and even share with someone. Sheila and Steve both are special friends to my husband and I and we want to be an encouragement to them in any way we can right now.

Fall = Harvest

2011-09-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Fall has come to us here in Siberia. Actually, it is almost over...but I am still going to tell you about it. So, since I have a garden, Fall means HARVEST TIME! Yes, a.k.a. a whole lot of work! Seeing as Fall around here doesn't last very long, there is a lot to get done in a short period of time. The past two years, including this one, we have actually had just the right temperatures for the leaves to have time to change before they fall to the ground and the snow begins to blow. I love Autumn and have really enjoyed the beautifully colored landscapes. So much that I wanted to share them with you, before we get back to the work of bringing in the harvest. Enjoy the view!

Those white things to the left are potato bags left over from the day's work of harvesting.

Okay, so now that we have enjoyed the weather a bit on our walk through the village, let's get back to the subject at hand- harvest! It goes something like this...

First we get my husband to dig up all the potatoes, sorting them as we go between seed and larger potatoes to eat as we need them. We also pile up all the plants to burn later.

Ryan helping to pile up the old plants.

Then we take all the potatoes up to our house to dry out a bit before bagging them and storing for the winter.

Beka sorting the potatoes further after they have had a few days to dry.

Bags of potatoes ready for storage.

Inside most Russian homes there are sometimes several "podvalls" or underground storage areas in which people keep their potatoes and other vegetables for winter storage. Our house has two of these. This one pictured below is in a smaller room attached to our house; the other one is in our living room floor. So, before we put our potatoes down in this storage area, we must be sure it is clean, dry, and ready for this year's crop of potatoes.

Rebekah and Ryan down inside the "podvall".

We also bring up our other vegetables before the first freeze of the year.

Having a little fun while gathering corn.

A beautiful harvest of sweet corn - even in Siberia!

Someone once said,"Plant zucchini only if you have lots of friends."

I agree! This is not even close to half of this year's squash and zucchini crop.

Whew! We are glad to have this year's gardening season over and the fruits of our labor stored away for the winter. It always feels like such an accomplishment when the last bag of potatoes are safe and sound in the "podvall". Next post I promise to give you a great recipe that we enjoy, using our fresh supply of potatoes.

Timothy Mark Sterling - 8 years old

2011-09-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

On September 25, 2011, we celebrated our youngest son's 8th birthday. This year his special day fell on a Sunday so it was quite a busy day with Sunday services in the morning, but we managed to fit in a proper celebration with just our family.

One of our birthday traditions is allowing the birthday boy/girl to choose the dinner meal and Timothy chose Chicken and Spinach Alfredo pizza this year.

Everyone was sure pleased with his choice!

Timothy's cake request was a race track in the shape of an 8 with Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars.

He was very happy with how it turned out!

I always enjoy taking the other kids out to the nearby stores in the village to purchase a special gift for their sibling's birthday. It is sweet to see how they want to buy just the right gift and get almost as excited themselves to give the gift as the recipient is to receive it!

Timothy reading his card from Rebekah.

Rebekah always spends much time making personal cards to give to her brothers on their birthdays.

Ryan presenting the presents he purchased for Timothy with his own money.

This year we were grateful for James and Amber Pranger, who came to Krasnoyarsk on a survey trip, bringing a special gift for Timothy (and Ryan too but he has to wait until his birthday to receive his gift) all the way from America.

Timothy received a Nerf sword and shield set which made his day, as you can see!

Ready for battle!

God bless you Timothy. We are so excited to watch you grow and see how the Lord will use you in the future. We thank the Lord for you and the gift you are to our family.

Our Family Pets

2011-09-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

I thought some of you might be interested in seeing what kind of pets we have here in Russia. When our family moved to a house in the village our kids immediately became excited about having pets of their very own to take care of. Each day as part of their chores, they do just that even in the winter months. We have had everything from chickens and turkeys to turtles as pets but currently we have it narrowed down to the basics.

First of all, meet Roxy, our best security system ever! She is a Caucasian Shepherd. You can read more about her breed here.

Roxy - this Summer.

The kids were so excited to find out that a friend of ours' dog had puppies not too long after we moved out to the village. When they were old enough, David took Ryan to choose a puppy for our family.

The kids with Roxy the first day we brought her home, 7-17-06.

Another pic of Roxy the day we brought her home.

Roxy is a great guard dog and pretty much everyone who "meets" her is afraid of her, which is a plus for a dog who is to protect your family and guard the house and property. She really is great with our kids and loves to get attention from all of us. We just love her! She can handle the cold winters we have and stays outside year round (can you just see me keeping this big dog in my house!?) She also eats snow for hydration so we don't have to give her water in the winter.

Several years ago my husband brought home a small kitten for our daughter, Rebekah. It was to be her Christmas present; her first kitten. She was very sweet and Rebekah was so happy and surprised since she knew her daddy's ~~hate~~ strong dislike for cats. However, the next door neighbor's dog also strongly disliked cats and she felt the need to do her part to help control the cat population. Our poor cat, Tinkerbell, happened to be the next victim on her list. Since "Tink" had recently had a litter of kittens, we kept one of the girls to "carry on the name" as my daughter said. So, a few years later, 2nd Tink had a son who is also named "Tommy" after his uncle Tommy (another one of the 1st Tink's kittens). Are you getting all this?

2nd Tink and her son, Tommy

Most recently we have added these fluffy little guys to our family. They are called Muscovy ducks. Alexander, one of the men who attends our services, has several different types of birds, including Muscovy ducks, on his property. David began reading more about these ducks and soon realized that they were the ideal solution to several needs we have with our land. They are great eaters and will devour any flying/moving critter i.e., mosquitoes, flies, spiders. This is a blessing for me since those that we will keep for breeding will live at the bottom of our property thus, greatly decreasing the amount of bugs that hinder me when I am working in the garden. Also, they love grass, weeds, etc. So, instant bug zappers and weed eaters! Sounds good to me! Those who we will not keep will be eaten for dinner. That's right! They have some good meat on their bones so we will be eating a few. Alexander tells us that their eggs are also delicious. Many good points about these pets - who will not all remain pets.

The ducks when we first bought them. They are much larger now.

Shh! That is why we didn't name them all! If you name them, you'll want to keep them!

Summer = Gardening

2011-08-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

You don't have to live in Russia for very long before you realize that gardening here is more than just a chance to dig in some dirt and watch something grow from a seed. It is a way of life. For those who live in a village, gardening is a necessity. It provides not only food for the family through the winter months, but some extra income when the fruits and vegetables are in season and they can be sold on the street corners or outdoor bazaars.

Most of you already know that my hubby and I live in one such village where gardening is so vital. But, there is also another aspect of gardening in Russia. IF you don't do it, you are considered lazy! That is about the easiest way to say it! You see, Russians are very resourceful and use whatever they have to do whatever job they need to get done. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it can be a bad thing. I am simply amazed at the creativity we see in our neighbors who have so little but make the best use of what they do have! That philosophy, along with living on a piece of land to use in whatever way you want or need, explains the reason why everyone has a garden. What is a better use for land than growing vegetables on it, right? For us Americans we can think of a lot of things! However, we live in a Russian village among people who labor in their gardens to make the best use of what they have. So, I am a gardener too! Not too great of one mind you, but I am learning. We have had a garden as long as we have lived here in the village which means for almost six years. We literally have the largest property on our street! We have planted the whole garden with potatoes and a few other combinations through the years which has provided our family as well as many others with fresh vegetables. Thankfully, several years ago, my hubby bought some grass seed to help "shrink" my garden. We didn't need to plant THAT many potatoes every year. We also wanted to make a good size yard for the kids to play in.

Now, we maintain the bottom of our land for planting corn and potatoes.

But, we still have a great yard for the kids to play in - with NO weeds! (Well, nothing that a lawn mower can't keep down.)

This year, at the top of our garden my wonderful hubby built me some boxes for separate planting of all of the other vegetables we grow in smaller amounts. This is a very popular way to garden here.

In these boxes we planted beets, carrots, white and green onions, green beans, strawberries, lettuce, cauliflower, peas, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Strawberries

To the side of the upper garden area we left some land free for larger vegetable plants such as squash, zucchini, and pumpkins.

Zucchini and squash plants.

Although I really can't say I "enjoy" gardening all that much, and it takes up way too much of my Summer; I am glad to be able to learn new things and have more in common with the people we are trying to reach for Christ!

Summer Camp 2011

2011-08-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Every year during the second week of July the Krasnoyarsk Baptist Church holds a Summer Camp. So far in our family, this has been an event that only our daughter, Rebekah, has attended since she is the oldest. This year, all three of our children were able to attend. For their Nurse Momma, this was quite a test of my faith! I have always been "concerned" about Rebekah when she would attend camp if my husband, David, was not going along to teach and preach during the week.

Yes, they climb this every year!

Although the scenery is beautiful out at the camp, the bugs bite you the minute you step out of the vehicle. Horse flies are the worst, then there are the mosquitoes and other small flies that are also in abundance. This year, the road out to camp had so many ruts due to heavy rain the week before that all the campers had to walk in and carry their own bags. As a missionary wife there are many things that we women are concerned with. As a missionary wife and a nurse, I am probably more apt to think of what "might" happen and thus my prayer life is greatly strengthened during camp week! The first time I drove out to camp with my husband last year to see how Rebekah was doing I kept thinking, " There is no way you could get an ambulance through this road!" :) I am right. There is no way. It would be easier to carry someone out to the nearest village than try to get to them by vehicle. But, praise the Lord for safety each year with no major issues that require an ambulance! Besides, with me as a camper's Mom I make sure Rebekah has quite the first aid kit that she must carry along! It really is so good for the kids to be able to spend some time away from home and do things without Momma by their side. I must admit, our small little cottage we live in was actually cozy with only David and I living in it for a week!

The view from the mountain of the camp site.

David and I had told our kids that if they wanted to come home on Wednesday when some of the missionaries were planning on making a trip out for a visit that they could. However, they had to make the decision by Tuesday evening so that my husband could plan on going out to pick them up.

On Tuesday we received a call from one of the missionaries working at the camp that all three of our kids wanted to stay the entire week! We were surprised, but so glad that they were enjoying themselves. Here are some photos from their week.

Hard to believe this is Siberia, right?

Ground view of camp site and main tent for meals.

Teamwork!

Song Time

Craft Time.

Time for Bible Lessons and missionary stories.

Time to climb trees and figure out how to get down!

Fun times wading and rafting.

Games.

Rebekah

Ryan

Timothy

Friday evening there is an "auction" of prizes to spend the points earned throughout the week.

On Saturday when David drove out to pick up our kids they were very excited to see him and know that they were on their way HOME!

Just walking through the gate and glad to be home!

With the loads of more than dirty laundry unloaded, a home cooked meal in their tummies, and a clean bed, they drifted off to sleep in minutes. Just to let you know, I slept well too, knowing they were safe and sound in their places! Thank you Lord for another safe week at camp!

Downtown Sightseeing

2011-07-18T06:40:00.001-07:00

It is an unusual thing for our family to be able to take some time to just walk around downtown in the city of Krasnoyarsk. When we lived closer to the city, I would often enjoy a trip downtown to the different stores and cafes with friends. Now there are many more shopping centers located in other areas which include the stores you can find in the "center" so I tend to stay away from the downtown area. We are usually only passing through making one or two stops only if we have to since the amount of traffic and lack of parking makes a trip through the city very difficult.
One day in June Rebekah and I had planned a "girl's day out" outing for the two of us. The day ended up coinciding with David needing to teach an English lesson in the city. He had already agreed to take us into town in our car to help us not have to make the two hour bus trip. So, in order for Beka and myself to get to the hair salon on time, the kids and I decided we would just walk around while David was in class. David's English lesson was held right across the street from the Opera and Ballet Theater. The city of Krasnoyarsk has numerous fountains all around the downtown area. The Opera and Ballet Theater also has a large park in front of it with many fountains. They recently rebuilt some of them making them able to shoot water from one pool to the next along with fountains that "dance" and light up while choreographed to music. In the evening there is supposed to be a laser/video show as well. Since you are probably wondering how all these fountains work with our cold temperatures, I will tell you that they don't! They have crews who come out and remove all the pumps and special equipment so they are not damaged by the cold. In the winter these fountains have lights in them which makes them so pretty at night! (Maybe I will post some pictures of that in another post!)
Below are more of our photos from our walk in the park. And don't worry, even though we took the time to chase pigeons and sit by the fountains in the morning, Rebekah and I enjoyed a nice time at the hair salon, lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, and a little shopping!

The middle fountain.

This is one of the side fountains that can shoot water towards the middle fountain.

Rebekah

The boys loved this lion statue!

Timothy

Ryan and Timothy hugging the lion.

The boys at the top of a separate fountain to the side of the theater.

The kids at the bottom of the fountain.

Timothy asked me to take a picture of his "favorite pigeon".

Timothy - happy face. Ryan - sad face.

Ryan - happy face. Timothy - sad face.

Silly boys!

Sweet Things My Kids Do

2011-07-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

One day while David had taken Ryan on a trip to the city, Rebekah and Timothy came up with this creative way to show me their love.

If you ask me that is the best use I've seen yet for dandelions!

Celebrating Timothy's Spiritual Birthday

2011-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

While our internet was down we have celebrated some family holidays which we wanted to share with you. One of these fun days was celebrating our youngest son, Timothy's, spiritual birthday. On May 3rd, 2010, Timothy prayed at our home and asked Jesus to come into his heart. Our little Timothy is the logical, level-headed one who is hardly ever moved to tears. Since he had been asking questions about salvation and about how exactly to pray for several weeks, as our other children did before they accepted Christ, we spent time with him confirming he understood completely. Timothy, without any hesitation, kept repeating he was ready and just needed to pray! We were a little taken back by his "matter of fact" manner but as we had already seen that is just how Timothy is. He was very excited to tell his brother and sister about his praying and accepting Christ. We rejoiced that now all of our children were saved! Timothy still talks about when he was saved and uses that event as a way to remember other events. For example saying, "I remember that before I got saved, we went to the zoo." We are so thankful for our children and the precious memories made with each of them as they tenderly accepted Christ as their Savior.

Here are a few photos of the celebration dinner and dessert!

Hot dogs on the grill was Timothy's dinner choice.

This small little chocolate cake sure meant a lot to him!

Posing with two people who prayed diligently for him to be saved!

Burnt Flowers

2011-07-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Alright ladies, remember the burnt flowers that another missionary wife and I did here for the 8th of March (Women's Day) tea party? I know it has been a while but since we lost our internet connection I had been unable to post this until now. (By the way, have I mentioned how happy I am that we are back online again?) As I promised here are a few pictures of our process and here is the link to blog on which I found them. Thank you ladies at Achieving Proverbs 31 for giving us this great idea!

This was our finished product displayed in the shape of an "8" for the Women's Day holiday

Now, I know this is quite a humorous photo of Katie and I making these flowers. We were in the new house because the smell given off from burning the edges of certain colors of the fabric we found would not have been too pleasant in our little house.

So thankful for Katie's helpful hands to get all of the flowers done!

If you have any questions for me after reading the link I posted which gives the directions for making the flowers please feel free to ask! Have fun trying them at home (with proper ventilation of course!)

Our Easter Family Celebration

2011-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

This year for Easter I was really looking forward to having a nice family celebration. I am forever forgetting to ask our family friend who sends us packages to send some of those plastic eggs to use in an Easter egg hunt. But this year, I remembered! I also asked for some small toys like jacks, yo-yos, bouncy balls, etc., to put in the kids baskets and in some of the eggs. Well, as usual my friend didn't let me down and she sent a generous amount of goodies, including Reese's peanut butter eggs for me! This gets her major brownie points since they are my favorite candy! (I did share them with my hubby by the way.)

Add the goodies my friend sent to the goodies David and I were able to find here in Russia and the kids had some pretty good looking Easter baskets! I was so excited to find the cute metal basket on the right of the picture below for Rebekah here. It has a pretty picture of a cottage, flowers, and white bunnies all around it. You see, here in Russia you usually have to look for baskets because Easter baskets are not a part of the Russian Easter traditions. This explains why Ryan and Timothy received smaller baskets since we only found the ones with handles later and they were really expensive!

Ryan's, Timothy's, and Rebekah's Easter baskets

The kids were so excited to see what we had been hiding from them that they could hardly sleep the night before Easter! It had been a while since they had received an Easter basket for Easter and they were so thrilled with their gifts and candy. If there is one thing I love about my children it is their thankful hearts for everything we give them. We can buy them new socks and they thank us for days! It is so sweet.

The kids discovering their treasures.

Ryan's reaction for the camera when he saw that he received a blow gun and darts.

Another deisre of mine was to be able to buy three pairs of much needed dress shoes for the kids to be able to wear on Easter Sunday. We found out from another missionary family that one of the children's stores here was having a sale on shoes. A few weeks later, we were able to go and see what kind of selection they had and we purchased three pairs of dress shoes for the usual price of ONE pair! Hallelujah! I was so excited. It doesn't take much for me to be thankful most times either. I love it when God blesses us and provides even in the little things!

New shoes even though they already look a bit dusty. :)

After we returned home from the Easter services at Krasnoyarsk Baptist Church, which you can read about on our ministry blog, David and I hid the eggs for the great egg hunt on our property. Unfortunately the temperatures which had been in the low +30's Celsius the day before, had dropped to +12 Celsius on Easter Sunday so we had to dress a bit warmer for the hunt.

Yes, there is a postal box from the States hanging on our future fence posts. David hung it there.

And they're off!

Don't you just love Ryan's outfit?

Beka finding her pink and purple eggs.

Timothy showing off his eggs.

Once the eggs were all found, they all ran inside to find out what other surprises awaited them.

Timothy opening each egg.

Ryan was excited to find a parachute guy inside one of his eggs.

Rebekah found lots of candy.

Another fun thing we were able to do for Easter thanks to my faithful friend back in the States was to make Jello jigglers! She sent us some blue raspberry Jello and we had the Spring Jello molds which I purchased the last time we were on furlough.

Timothy and Rebekah enjoying their jigglers.

To top off our day we colored eggs. This year we chose the marble coloring kit. Coloring eggs is done here at Easter time and often you will be given a colored egg as a gift from someone. There are even more coloring kits here to choose from now and we enjoy trying new ones each year.

Timothy rolling an egg in his hands to color it.

Ryan taking his turn at coloring.

The boys had so much fun they even broke out into a silly song while coloring their eggs.

This was their big finish!

Easter eggs colored!

Whew! I truly believe we packed all the fun we could into this Easter Sunday! We all enjoyed ourselves and were so thankful we have a reason to celebrate.

Christ is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!

We pray you and your family had a blessed Easter!

Closing note: The next morning I found Timothy in Rebekah's room in this position after he had dressed for school. He was squatting on top of the toy box. By the way, he sits like this often when he is working a puzzle for example. When I asked what he was doing he replied, "I am matching my candies with the same color of eggs." He was color coordinating the color of his candy with the proper color of the plastic eggs. Is he my child or what?

Needle in a Snow Drift

2011-04-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

This story actually took place back in January of this year. However, it is one of several "inspirations" for me starting this blog. I think it is such a great story that I had to share with with you even if it may be "old news".

Back in January (as I already mentioned), the family all prepared for a trip to the city to purchase much needed warm weather clothes for our growing children. We had quite a list of necessary items to find and that meant we had quite a few stops on our itinerary for the day. Now, driving in Russia is never boring and even at times can be exhausting as you are constantly looking out for the other person. Add strong winds, blowing snow, high humidity, black ice, and well below freezing temperatures to these already tense conditions and driving here becomes quite an adventure. A good example of the road conditions is pictured below. This is the first main highway as you are driving out of our village in Elita.

On this particular day of our planned shopping trip as we reached the halfway point to the city, we had a vehicle behind us that just wasn't patient enough to wait for us to pass a slow-moving truck. As we tried to get out of the way of the hurried driver and then back into the passing lane we hit some ice and took a little slide right into a snowbank. We immediately thanked the Lord for His protection as our truck could have easily kept sliding into oncoming traffic. Instead we did a "nice" smooth spin and hit the snowbank on our side of the road facing the opposite direction. Our truck suffered no damage at all. After trying to a bit to get us out of the pit we were stuck in from the snow plows throwing a thick layer of snow along the edges of the road, a nice man stopped to help us. He pulled us out using our tow rope and we were back on the road to continue our drive to the city. Although our nerves were a bit rattled, we had a great day checking off items on our list and rejoicing in the fact that we made it home safe and sound.

The next day, David headed out to buy coal to heat our house. Along the way, an officer stopped him and asked him where the front license plate for our car was. To David's surprise, it was missing! He immediately called me and told me of how the officer let him know that we were missing the front tags on our car and we both thought...we were all over the place yesterday! Where could we have lost it? We had no idea when we lost it but we both were wondering if our little incident could have knocked it loose. Later that day, David and I went to a grocery store not too far from the spot where we went off the road earlier. We brought along a snow shovel hoping that we might be able to find our lost treasure. In Russia it is a very long process to get new tags in the first place or replace them if you lose them. No one wants to have to go through the process unless they absolutely have to! Therefore it is not an unusual thing to see lost tags on display in gas station windows or even men using sticks or their bare hands to "fish" through flooded streets where they just lost their license plates.

As we tried to guess at the exact place where we went off the road, we quickly realized how many other people had the same experience. There were at least five or six areas similar to ours. Then I remembered that near our car, as we just turned our car around, I had seen a plastic bottle lying in the snow. The night of our incident the winds had been very strong and we feared that the snow drifts would have covered the bottle and our tracks making it almost impossible to find a lost, white license plate. Finally, after checking several spots along the road, we found our plastic bottle and recognized our tracks! As I sat in the truck praying, David began digging in a few spots also praying that we would find our tags. As he was almost ready to give up and figured we had lost it further down the road, he hit something metal with the shovel. It was our license plate! We couldn't believe we had actually been able to find it in such deep snow and were so excited about this answer to prayer!