Hugs and Kisses

Just spent last 1 1/2 hours watching Cars in Russian with English subtitles. I was snuggled up to 2 wonderful kids who have been kissing and hugging all night. What is the Visa commercial...PRICELESS!! Where was Dan? Oh, he was sleeping so that he can get up at 3 AM to watch the football game...ROLL TIDE!!

Here are some miscellaneous notes:

Vica is the wonderful lady in the apron. She is a sister in Christ who has been praying for us and our kids. She and her husband, Oleg, are members of the church here in Odessa. Vica has been our cook for one day a week. She shops and then cooks several meals and is a real blessing to me. She has shown Christina and Kolya great love and friendship and they look forward to seeing her here at our home and at the church.

When we asked the kids what their favorite food was, it came out...McDonalds!! We know never to say the "M" word unless we mean it. I had wanted to make the whole trip not ever stepping inside a McDonalds but now I cannot even count the number of times we have been to one. We all have our standard orders. The kids immediately inform the person behind the counter that we speak English which means we may be shuffled off to someone who can speak alittle English. I have now started ordering a 2 patty gyro type something! I like it, no cheese, no fries unless I cannot resist and then I steal Dan's! We have lots of toys from McDonalds, many duplicates, and balloons with the backward R, the heart and then McDonalds. I Love McDonalds!

The close up picture is of Sasha Taunton, pardon me, Alex Taunton. She is Christina and Kolya's friend in Alabama. We were talking with her via Skype and Christina took her picture, well, the picture of the computer with the image of Alex:) they had a good time talking, part Russian, part English and a lot of singing and laughing. We hope to do it again soon.

The middle picture is one that I thought I would never see. Christina with a doll. Dan was all excited about getting a doll for Christina for Christmas. Well, she never even took it out of the box. To spur her on to playing with the doll, Dan and Erin changed her clothes and played with her. Christina never took any interest at all. Last night as she wanted to hug on me while she went to sleep, in desperation I said she needed a baby doll. She looked at me and said "Yes". Not really thinking that she would want it, I thought she might not understand the words, "baby doll", I went and got Hannah. She took it and said that Hannah was sleepy. She took off her dress clothes and got Hannah ready for bed. I quickly got Dan out of bed to see this. He took Hannah and sang to her while Christina just laughed at her funny Papa. Then she went to sleep with Hannah tucked under her arm. This morning she dressed Hannah and tonight Hannah is in bed with her again. I showed her the above pictures and for some reason she loved that I had taken it of her. It shows the only quiet side that we know of Christina! :)

The last picture is what I look like each time I sit here at the black round table in the living room of our flat. It may be late at night like now or early in the morning or some rare times it may even be while the kids are up. I enjoy sharing our experiences with you all. Thanks for the many who have been praying for us. KEEP PRAYING!! Today we had several episodes with both kids but they were quickly worked through. I think they are seeing that we will not allow unkind words and actions and we will hold them to this. Please do not stop praying. I feel like the apostle Paul except he was usually saying that he was praying for so and so. We do pray for many of you as we hear the needs. Being a part of the body of Christ is a great privilege!

In Him Alone,

Leslie