Fall pictures

We have a tradition every September to dress up and do a family picture and individual *school* pictures of the kids.. this year unfortunately my friend with the great camera was gone on vacation.. so no family pictures, but some sweet ones of the kids.

Our precious 8 year old Rachel
With her beloved cat Chocolate
A note of explanation as to why David looks like a Russian army conscript.. one day during school David was in the bathroom for quite a long time.. I finally went to knock on the door - David emerged with large chunks of his hair cut down to the scalp.. I asked him why he decided to cut his hair to which he confidently answered 'because it needed cut.' So we just buzzed him :) After a half dozen of David's famous frozen smile pictures I told him to 'just relax, act natural and don't actually smile' ........
AHHHHHH so much better!! Actually I love this picture because I imagine this is what a certain 6 year old James Dean looked like most of the time.

Battle-scarred Caleb

I so want to get a shirt for Caleb that says 'I was born tough'... seriously this kid is one of a kind - all he talks about is getting 'big muscles'. The other day we were out for a picnic and as a special treat I bought a chocolate bar to divide.. when I handed Caleb his little square he asked me if chocolate had sugar in it.. 'yes' .. then he asked does it have protein in it?? 'hmm not really' to which he declared he didn't want the chocolate because it wouldn't build *BIG muscles*. I think there's just a little tiny bit of his Uncle Matt in there somewhere...

I got Johanna all dressed up in white tights and shirt, beautiful bow in her hair and whilst distracted for 5 minutes turned around to find her happily filthly playing in the sandbox...

Who needs hair bows to look cute??!

catchin' up...

Sorry it's been forever.. here's some fast, rambling happenings of the last month:

*'Zhatva' - the big Russian harvest celebration was celebrated September 9th. One of my favorite holidays over here as it always coincides with the leaves being at their height and getting the last vegetables out of the garden. (I mean come on in November we're thinking about ice skating more than pumpkins :) We had a big feast after church and enjoyed the fellowship and gorgeous sunny fall day. We had two guests - one a man that just got out of prison and has been living in a tent in the woods. The other Colya a young man from Turkmenistan. Colya works at the local internet office and as our internet is forever not working he has been out to our house several times. Was great to see him finally come to church! Pray he continues.. he had so many questions about the Bible he has been reading.

*The start of school meant James could resume teaching a class at the orphanage. He was a little disappointed to discover they completely changed who lives at the orphanage; now instead of the older students he had worked with for the past two years he has a room full of younger children ages 9-10. Pray these classes continue to go well.

*Apples - my month in a word.. we have 7 apple trees that had the biggest harvest I have ever seen! We made apple butter, sauce, juice, cobblers, cut up apples to freeze and 12 liters of apple cider vinegar... actually I'm not sure what I made ask me in a couple of weeks - it's either vinegar or hard cider :) I told Rachel she could made a cobbler every day if she gathered the apples and did everything herself. On about the 5th straight dinner of enjoying cobbler and ice cream she let out a contented sigh 'this is the life!'... I have to agree, I LOVE the fall!

*School begins! - well actually we did little bits and pieces all summer.. I now have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and the most enthusiastic preschooler I've ever seen. We are still having trouble understanding Caleb's speech but he loves sitting at his desk cutting, counting, coloring and doing anything I call *school*.

*Bible Studies - Pray for James on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. Also our friend Lena began a Bible study at her apartment on Saturdays. On Friday nights they have a game night with a short Bible lesson especially for unbelievers.

*Snow - supposedly this weekend, the kids are wild with excitement. The morning after Johanna's birthday (which was Sunday, I'll post more later w/pictures) we heard the boys up at 5:00am running around upstairs. James went to investigate and found them at the window looking for snow. James told them there was no snow and get back in bed.. David replied 'but MOM SAID there would be snow after Johanna's birthday.' It is vital to remember that kids take everything you say literally. How did someone who hates to be cold give birth to polar bear children???!?

Thanks to all for your love and prayers. Hope you're enjoying a wondrous autumn and praising Him for the harvest!

The big 10!!

Ten years ago yesterday a younger James and a lighter Susan vowed before God and our families to love, cherish, honor and respect. We decided back then that since we didn't do a huge honeymoon that for our 10th we were going to go all out and celebrate in Rome.. somewhere along the line we even had a special savings account for our big trip on our 10th anniversary. Well the reality of life is that no amount of $$ could entice someone to babysit our kids for 4 days - haha :) so after much thought we decided to celebrate with a trip to <dramatic pause> the Moscow ZOO! We loaded up the kids and off we went. I'm sure touring the ancient ruins does not compare to the joy of sitting in rush hour Moscow traffic singing 'Polly-wolly dooddle all the day' at the top of your lungs with four happy children. (gotta love Burl Ives!) One block from the Zoo the transmission completely went out on our minivan - please note: we just had the tranmission rebuilt.. it took them 6 weeks and we had the van back exactly 8 days before this happened.. grrrrr. (thankfully it's under warranty!) So James dropped us off at the Zoo while he began a 6 hour adventure of driving the van to the repair shop in first gear. The kids had a fantastic time petting a zebra, holding a boa constrictor, watching a dolphin show and spending hours with their faces pressed up against plexiglass. James finally returned and we headed for the metro - this was to become an epic adventure. Traveling with four children and a huge stroller on the circle brown line at the height of rush hour traffic can not be explained in words.. 1.8 million people ride the metro every day.. *crowded* is an understatement. We survived and made it to the train station. We got on the train and found seats - James, Rachel, David & Caleb on one side of the isle; Johanna and I on the other side. I was sitting directly across from an elderly gentlemen with thick glasses. Here is our conversation:
-are all these childen yours???!
-'no we thought it would be fun to rent them for the day' (actually I just said this in my mind, I smiled and just said 'yes')
-you are the mother of all four children??
-'yes'
-is that the Father?? (pointing at James)
-'yes'
-you and that man have four children???
-'yes'
-HOW WONDERFUL!
-'yes we think it's pretty wonderful too'

I was sitting beside two other men who at this point leaned way over - both quite intoxicated - ARE THESE ALL YOUR CHILDEN???! Repeat of the above conversation. I do not consider four children a large family, but apparently in Russia we are right up there with the Duggers. Anyway, the elderly gentlemen was so sweet; he kept asking all sorts of questions and playing with Johanna who was in rare form - giving him sweet eyes, laughing, playing peek-a-boo, waving to him. He actually got out a piece of paper and pen and wrote me a letter (!!!) telling me how beautiful our children were and how wonderful it was to see a big family.. I was so touched. He finally got off waving to Johanna the entire time while she blew him kisses. Two ladies then sat down in his seat. By this time we had been on the train an hour and the natives were getting restless. David had his beloved pet rubber snake with him.. I looked over just in time to see him turned around in his seat engrossed in his make believe world... he had the snake about one inch away from the grandmother's neck behind him. Just then he lunged the snake forward scaring the poor lady half to death. (he didn't hit her at least!) She turned around to give him a half amused/half are you crazy look. I looked over at the two ladies across from me, they saw the whole thing and were laughing so hard one actually had tears running down her cheeks. In my distraction I then turned around to find Johanna razzing the Grandmother seated behind her and throwing grapes at the man two rows over - it was chaos. We finally made it home, threw the kids in the tub, fed them and got them to bed. I came downstairs to find James collapsed on the couch.. I collapsed on the other couch.
-Happy Anniversary Honey, I love you!
-Happy Anniversary, I love you too!
<loud snoring noise>
And that dear friends is how we celebrated our big 10th. As I lay in the quiet I thought back to my favorite part of our wedding; when we knelt and had our Fathers lay hands on and pray over us. I realized that everything they had asked for that day God in his faithfulness has answered. We have been blessed with children, spiritual children, financial provision, physical protection from accidents & injury. We have seen miracles and experienced God at work in our lives - we have seen him give peace, grace, mercy, wisdom and blessing. I write all this to say, Thank you God for 10 incredible years! I may not know what the future holds, but I do know that between James and four energetic children I will never be bored and quite often sleep deprived. And I know that our Faithful God will be with us for the next decade.. and 'til death us do part.'

HOORAY!

James' surgery went super! They were able to do the 'no cut' arthroscopic surgery (that's loosely translated... prolly better technical term?) anyway, the Dr. said everything looked great and James should be up and WALKING in 3-4 days. Amazing what moderm medicine can do as James hasn't been able to bear weight or even straighten his leg for almost 3 weeks! Thanks so much for your prayers. Hoorah it's over!

James Update

James went to see the surgeon yesterday and finally got some good news.. they were able to squeeze him in for surgery tomorrow morning!! Huge praise as the entire hospital is being shut down for renovations next week. Please pray for James as his surgery is at 8:00am Friday morning.. if anyone has insomnia tonight that's midnight EST - you can stay awake and pray! :) Thanks so much for your love and prayers!
Saturday we celebrated our big boy Caleb's 4th birthday! What a special celebration! Poor guy had all girls for the guest list, just like David. We had lots of fun playing water balloon games and the feed each other a banana blindfolded was a huge hit. I am so thankful God entrusted precious Caleb into our lives. I just know God has some very special plans for this little *fireball's* future.

Here's Johanna watching a game.. I was getting Johanna dressed for the party in her little pink & white sundress when Caleb walked in the bedroom... he let out a long 'ahhhhhhh' and then exclaimed 'Josie, you look sooooo boo-ti-FUL'. Made me happy that even though he's only 4 he recognizes true beauty! ;)

one more thing...

I meant to add to the post below... Lovely Laura has some great pictures and write-up on her blog - www.xanga.com/txlauralou

I enjoy her writings so much I keep wondering.. can you hire someone to write your own blog?? hmmmmm...

Please pray for our dear friend Lena. She's the very first person that got saved at camp four years ago and has been a real leader in the Bible studies. She had planned to help out with camp but then the beginning of July her Mom was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. She traveled with her Mom up north to a well know cancer center for some special treatments. Well early this morning James got a call from Lena at the airport... her Mother had passed away a few minutes after their plane landed. It was a huge shock as they did not think she was that weak. Please pray for Lena as this will be an extremely difficult time for her and her brother. Pray that we will know how to comfort and help out in whatever way we can.

Ohh and one more story whilst I'm typing.. After camp we had a huge *to do list* of things we had let slide while James was at camp; and then James hurt his knee so we slid further behind. Our sink needed fixed and James planned to do it himself but just couldn't with his knee.. he finally called a plumber who said he would send out his new assistant in the morning. The next morning 25 year old Colya arrived and started working on the sink. James sat on a chair nearby and started talking... before long Colya was telling how he grew up in an orphanage after his parents were killed in an accident when he was 5 year old. He suffered some terrible difficulties and was then sent to a military academy. He was selected to be in an elite sniper unit and sent off to Chechenya. As I sat listening to Colya & James talk for hours I suddenly realized that if James had not hurt his knee we would have never met up with Colya. Furthermore.. with all the many projects James had planned I seriously doubt he would have had an entire morning free to just sit on the deck and talk to this needy young man. What a great reminder it was for me to not let my endless projects and *to do* list get in the way of the one and most important thing.... people.

Pray for James

I really should have posted this last week.. but our internet server kept going down. Anyway, a week ago Sunday James was playing basketball and hurt his knee. It's been an interesting week as we've run around trying to find a MRI machine and a Doctor. Part of the culture here is the *August vacation*.. the first 3 weeks in August everything comes to a grinding halt - here in our city they completely shut down the vodka factory and the large machine shop and everyone takes their summer vacation at the same time. Well this week we found out that all the Doctors take their vacations now too! We called and made an appointment.. drove to the city (our city of Nara-Faminsk doesn't have a MRI) and were then informed that the Doctor was 'on holiday.' We finally were able to hunt down a working MRI machine but then the technician just gave us his opinion - there was no Doctor available to consult with afterwards. Hmmm for some reason walking down the halls of a deserted hospital with only cats roaming around struck me as quite fascinating... if all the Doctors go on holiday that means no one gets sick.. right??! Note to self: don't get sick in Russia the first of August. After a week of frustration we finally found a Doctor to look at the MRI and we were told James will need surgery - the sooner the better. One huge praise was that it wasn't the major ACL ligament that was torn.. it was a smaller one and also there is a bone chipped off from his knee cap that is floating around causing pain & inflammation. We did finally track down a highly recommended surgeon that is actually working.. James has an appointment next Wednesday and hopefully the following week will have the arthroscopic surgery.

Well before the stream roller came through to flatten our lives - hehe! we actually had the most amazing Sunday. A singing group of youth from Nemchinovka Church came out to sing and join our Bible study. It was so great to see these grown up young people that James had been the Youth Pastor of waaayyy back in '98-99. What joy to hear of the Bible studies they are leading, the Universities they have graduated from and the sphere of influence God has given them in the city of Moscow. It was fun to think back to when they would come to our apartment every week and pass baby Rachel around on their laps... this time they ooohed & ahhed over Johanna. We also met the most amazing man David from Cameroon (he works at the Cameroon Embassy). David gave his testimony and our youth really seemed to enjoy the songs, sharing, & fellowship. Our David was completely taken with the 'African David' as he told him a bunch of snake and jungle stories.. it was too cute to watch. The best part was that three girls from the English camp came for the first time!! We were thrilled to see that the friendships developed over the camp had made them interested in the Bible studies. Pray they will keep coming.

Our house seems very empty, quiet & lonely after the wonderful young people we had here helping with camps. I still can't get over what a huge blessing they were to our lives.. and lots of others. We sure hope they can come again next summer... our entire city miss ya'll!! (Micah & Megan - the fruit lady keeps asking about you! :)

Oh and if anyone is interested Micah made a video of the Nemchinovka Church singing... click this link to view it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MChodges26

I need to put more videos on the internet - gives you a little *window* into our world. Thanks to all for their prayers, love & concern.

Just had to include one more picture.. this young lady used to carry Rachel around at church when she was a baby. Also for anyone reading this that was at the MTC way back when.. to the left is Timothy Averken (Nicolai Epishin's nephew) and playing the guitar is Zhenya Popovich.

Pictures from English Camp

Great is thy Faithfulness! I keep singing this today.. God has answered so many prayers this past week. The English camp went very, very well! James was very excited because almost every single person at the camp was a completely new contact - they had never been to a Bible study or even met us before. The American group arrived back at our house late last night; ate.. slept.. and immediately left again this morning. I did manage to fanagle one person to download a few pictures (thank you Laura!). In a few days I will post more pictures and details. Thank you again for your prayers for the Camp.

James was so glad that two sets of parents came out to the camp. These parents spent the whole day and made a meal for the group. And the family lives just 10 minutes away from us!! We had never met before but they talked with James for a long time asking him questions about God.
Please note Mike's gourmet flipping technique.. he needs to be guest chef on the cooking channel.

above and below are pictures of looking up Bibles verses in an English/Russian Bible and making bracelets.

The Chess Tournament of the Century!!

Jamie is six months pregnant and received the Hero Award as all the Russians were amazed she went camping. I think Mary Kay should use this picture for a marketing campaign.. Wherever life takes you.. you can always find a Mary Kay Consultant! Seriously though, the youth loved getting manicures in the middle of the woods.

Volleyball and Capture the Flag were the camp favoritesThe knife throwing was also a big hit

Everyone loved the crafts!

Please pray for the English Camp

Late Wednesday night the Texans arrived in Nara-Faminsk. Our van is broken so we had a friend pick them up at the airport.. a friend that can't speak a work of English. They said the ride from the airport was quite amusing.. they got out their little Russian phrase book and started asking questions... they concluded from their *conversation* that the driver was 38 years old and had no children - now I was amused because he's actually in his late 50's and has a son. :) They left the next morning for camp - please pray for this team - Mike, Jamie, Laura, Jon, Marcus & Rebekah and the group from Florida - Micah, Megan, Rebecca & John Michael. I talked to James briefly and he reported that camp was going great. The weather is wonderful - huge praise! There are also more than the first camp - I'm guessing around 45 people? (haven't heard the exact count). Please pray for wisdom, protection and the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives.

It's been very special for me to have these fantastic young people in our home. (well for a few hours/meals anyway). What a living example and influence for our young children to see up close. One young man Marcus came through the door for breakfast, scooped up Caleb and began playing with him... Caleb now adores Marcus and has asked every day when is he coming back. After breakfast while I frantically ran around making copies and last minute details I looked outside and there was Marcus and the boys playing baseball - just had to get a picture.

The night before James was gone so John Michael filled in as the *tickle Monster*

And since there's a Nana out there that loves cats.. thought I'd include a picture of our kitty. We got her a few weeks ago and the kids named her Fluffy. Today Rachel informed me she was no longer Fluffy because she had to have a Russian name... so let me introduce you to the latest member of our family.. Irena the cat.

And keep us here on the *homefront* in your prayers. Yesterday evening we were playing with friends in front of the house; Caleb got *tagged* by an older girl and fell backwards hitting his head on a rock. There was quite a bit of blood so the other Mother started screaming at the top of her lungs and called the ambulance. (hmmm I now consider myself in comparison the very *calmest* of Mommys :) Caleb was fine and greatly enjoyed the ambulance Dr. cleaning him up and telling him how tough he was. If I remember correctly this is the 5th time we've called the ambulance.. four of the times were for Caleb. I guess there's one in every family. The ambulance visits usually cost $2.00, but yesterday the Dr. wouldn't even take any money... if we ever leave Russia I will greatly, greatly miss the ambulance service!!

Camp Pictures!

2007 will go down in history as the Camp of the Mud! I still haven't been able to sit down and talk with James for more than 10 minutes - he is busy running around trying to get our van running and things ready for the next English camp starting the 19th. He did however report that God did amazing things in people's lives. Five youth accepted Christ! The Bible studies went very well, and much truth from God's word was sown in these lives. God protected, gave grace, strength, wisdom and answered so many prayers! THANK YOU for praying!! Your love for these young people shown through your prayers, concern and giving is a huge blessing to us. I can't wait for one day in heaven to get to *introduce* you to some of these young people. 2 Thessalonians has been really special to me lately.. 'But the LORD is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the LORD concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Now may the LORD direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.' God has shown himself so very faithful in the midst of many uncontrollable circumstances.. thank you Heavenly Father!

Megan said after the mud battle they ran down the hill into the lake to wash off.. she said it was like a re-enactment of the swine racing over the hill.. heh!

Rebecca waving from the camp bus

This picture of John Michael cracked me up.. quite an ingenius set-up he devised to dry his clothes over the campfire!

They found a hedgehog, which soon became the camp Mascot

Darlene the strawberry marshmellows were such a hit! Thanks again - I love this picture of Megan.

Chef James making his famous spaghetti... I really think he should open an Italian Cafe some day when we retire.

I saw this picture of Micah and promptly put *vegetable peeler* on my shopping list.. for the next camp at least she'll have something less dangerous looking

The World Championship of arm wrestling.. the Russians won!! :) Umm McCloy's if you see this better practice up...

Thank you Father for the opportunity to invest in people's lives for eternity!

Camp Update

Praise the Lord for His grace & mercy! The first three days of camp were cold, rainy and overcast... really difficult to *get things going*. However the last three days have been just beautiful!! Hot, sunny and beautiful blue skies. The three American girls all deserve medals of bravery/endurance/courage for what they went through with all the rain and cold the first few days! James said he was disappointed at first that some of the youth decided not to go because of the bad weather.. but he said the camp was going great and they were enjoying really good Bible studies. He said it was almost easier with a smaller group to focus more on one-on-one time of talking with the different young people. Thank you so much for your prayers!!!! Please keep praying.. specifically that the great weather will continue, for kitchen help (the young man James was going to pay to run the kitchen never showed up), protection and most of all that God will work in people's lives.

Report from the home front: Last night was major *missing Daddy night*. The boys woke me up at 2:00am - Caleb informed me that Daddy needed to come home 'right now!!!' And David insisted that '10 days is just way too long a time..' So we all snuggled in bed and missed Daddy together :) And don't you know that was a realllll restful night in between Caleb sticking his feet under my chin and David breathing down my neck. Anyway, I decided this morning we needed a major diversion so I decided to take the kids swimming at a nearby lake. Sometimes I seriously think I need my head examined... our van only goes in first gear right now and keeping track of five kids in water isn't exactly restful (we've adopted Rachel's friend Olga for the summer); but we loaded up and puttered down the road at 11 mph to the lake. We had such a good time!! On the way home we even stopped at McDonald's for ice cream cones. I decided to let Johanna have a go at her first ice cream cone alone.. as we drove into the driveway I heard Rachel laughing, 'Look JoJo looks like a snowman' I turned around to this lovely sight... In closing all I have to say is.. TWO.MORE.DAYS!!! May they pass quickly.... :)

Please be praying!

A few weeks ago as we discussed getting ready for camp I told James 'every year the week before camp the van breaks down and the computer crashes' - this has happened every.year.for.the.past.three.years. So James took the minivan in, fixed a few little struts and made sure it was in tip-top shape. This weekend he went to Moscow to buy supplies and was driving back with a completely packed van... it died... he finally made it home hours later after driving home in first gear. Last week our computer crashed.. finally got it working again. It has not rained for 5 weeks.. today James went out to sent up the tables, tents and get organized at the campsite. We had a huge hailstorm, torrential rain and high winds. All this to say.. we really, really need your prayers for camp! Every year we feel this way - we plan and prepare and then realize Almighty God is the only one that can change people's hearts and lives. It is 'not by might, or power, but by MY SPIRIT' that anything of eternal value will happen at the camps. Please pray for these young people. I can't type this without crying.. yesterday as I was out walking with the kids I saw 16 year old Masha. Three years ago Masha went to camp; she came home and started reading her Bible and coming to the Bible studies. Her Mom (an alcoholic) refused to let her continue coming to the Bible studies and even physically punished her for reading her Bible. As we passed her on the road yesterday Masha now looks like she barely weighs 80 lbs., her eyes had huge black bags under them and you could see the needle marks in her thin arms.. she's become a heroin addict. The emptiness in her eyes as I said hello to her still haunts me even now. There are so many *Mashas* I pass by every day.. pray that God will give protection, wisdom, understanding, and most of all draw people to salvation. Camp will begin this Friday the 6th and run through the 15th. We'll have another English camp the 19th - 23rd. There are three young ladies flying in tomorrow from Florida - pray for Micah, Megan & Rebekah. 'Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.' 1 John 4:4

Summer Days

Sunday we celebrated 'Russia Day' (the Russian version of Independence Day) with a cookout after church. Everyone is getting excited about the upcoming camps in July. Please be praying that many lives will be changed. And for wisdom as we prepare.

Rachel recently started reading in Russian - hooray!

She in reading through her Russian Bible and is already through Genesis. The other day they were having a picnic with her two friends Svieta & Olga.. I looked out and Rachel had run to get her Bible and was reading it with Svieta. They read through the first few chapters of Genesis and Svieta & Olga both have been coming to church the past two Sundays. Rachel told me that Svieta didn't know what a Bible was before this, so the next day we went and bought a really nice Bible to give to her.. it's so neat to see how excited Rachel and David are about sharing with their friends. Please pray for all the children on our street that we come in contact with - they have so many needs.

The favorite thing this year has been picnics and building forts in the apple trees. Amazing how peanut butter and honey is elevated to gourmet when eaten outside in the sunshine!

SUMMER!

Can you say *HOT!* That is what everyone is talking about right now.. there was a chance today of it reaching a new record of the hottest recorded temperature ever in Moscow! We did manage to get the garden planted... and then the puppies promptly decided that was a great place to dig.. so now there are only 2 puppies left! (NO ONE touches Mamma's spinach!) Actually it is a completely pathetic garden compared to all my neighbors, but we had fun outside with the kids.

We are getting excited about the upcoming camps in July. This week James went to visit an English teacher to give her invitations to the English camp. He tried to time his visit between classes; but when he opened the door to her classroom she greeted him with 'why James, I was about to start a class on the Ten Commandments and how that helped shape the American justice system but since you're here why don't you teach the class?' Amazing huh! There were also several youth interested in the English camp. Please pray as we invite young people and are just out and about; James has had some great conversations this past week.



Please pray for this 11 year old boy Costya. Our friend Chris Brudi met him last Christmas while giving out presents to needy families. He is blind in one eye, but the problem could be fixed with a fairly simple operation. Chris found a sponsor for the operation and Costya will be having the operation tomorrow. He is such a sweet, precious boy, pray that he will re-gain his sight.

I am sure everyone is sick of puppy pictures :) But Johanna is just too hilarious with her white puppy "Bealitchka" - she dresses her up in doll clothes and pushes her around all day in her baby carriage. I really wish I had a picture of the day I took all 4 kids plus Rachel's friend Svieta for a walk with all 8 puppies... Rachel & David had puppies in their bike baskets, Johanna pushed hers in the stroller and Caleb dragged his in a car, and various other puppies were in the bottom of the large stroller.. and I wonder sometimes if the neighbors think we're a little odd??! Anyway, little boys and puppies are just toooo sweet together, so I'll just add one little picture....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

I can't believe our precious David turns 6 tomorrow! We had a big party last night and it was so much fun. I always get a little sad when we have birthdays... it's such a joy to watch your own parents enjoying your children so I can't help wishing that grandparents could be here. But then yesterday the verse from Mark kept going through my head ' I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time'... It is so true that we've been blessed with dear friends over here... when I asked David who he wanted to invite to his birthday party the second person he requested was 'Baba Luba' our special Grandmother friend in her 70's. So we enjoyed friends, Baba Luba, hot dogs, cake and the celebration of life and most of all the Giver of every good and perfect gift.






The kids had a blast making a six layer cake. When we were done David said he wanted to put a plastic soldier from his castle so it would be a 'soldier cake.' So a knight in armor holding a huge ax adorned the cake.. I kept thinking 'this would get the politically correct cake of the year award.'














We have a serious shortage of males in our neighborhood.. so we ended up with 8 female guests... for some reason this made me laugh! :)

Happy May Day!

Well it's snowed every day for the past three days (not enough to really stick though)... I am ready to build a bonfire and burn the snowsuits! :)

Yesterday to celebrate May 1st and the upcoming Victory Day on May 9th, James took a group of young people to Victory Park and visited the WWII museums. They had a really good trip, and Rachel especially loved getting out 'just her and Daddy'.

Just have to include one picture of our 8 puppies... that's right 8!! We thought there were only 6 but we didn't really look closely; so it was quite a suprise to return from Turkey to 8 energetic, eyes opened, adorable puppies. The kids have had so much fun with them... I almost feel sorry for the puppies.. you would too if you could watch how Johanna carries them around... (Rachel with her friend Ira)

Are you sure nobody out there wants one??! Their names are Nutmeg, Cookie (Pechenya), Pumba, Pearsik, Bealka (whitey), Star, Hail (don't ask about that one! :) and Leopard. How's that for creative...