busy.

Busy. That sums up my life for the last three weeks! I realized the other day that I haven't taken time to sit down for a moment and post anything for a very long time! So, here's a recap of our last few weeks.

School. Classes ended the 23rd and we took some wonderful time to enjoy Christmas here in Krasnodar. It was definitely the best Christmas to date, undoubtedly because we had Gavin to share it with. We spent Christmas morning with just the three of us (and Elbrus, of course), unwrapping gifts and enjoying breakfast. Gavin was more fascinated with the wrapping paper, than the gifts- he'll learn- for sure! It was great to be out of school for a little while. Mostly, because I was able to spend uninterrupted time with Gavin. It makes me sad to know that I've never really been able to just "be home" with him. We've been going, going, going since the week he was born....Moved out of our home when he was just weeks old and then the traveling started to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Virginia, all over Ohio, then ultimately to our new home here in Russia when he was just 12 weeks old! Then, a week after he arrived we started school, and Gavin enjoyed half his days with Inna, our nanny. I am so very thankful for her- I don't feel I could leave Gavin, confidently, with anyone else. What a blessing from God, to have her, but it still doesn't make it easy to get up and leave him every morning. So...To sum it all up- it was such a blessing for me to be home with him for almost 3 whole weeks. I've enjoyed it, and needed it, so very much. Unfortunately, it will be even more difficult to start back to classes tomorrow morning.

New Years. New Years is, by far, the biggest holiday in the country. If you owned stock in Fireworks here, you might just become rich...I have never seen so many fireworks in my whole entire life. It was amazing...At midnight the sky filled with colorful fireworks- all over the city. It seemed like everyone was outside in the streets setting them off! What an experience!

Moscow and Helsinki. We left for Moscow on our 4 year anniversary- January 5th. We stayed with friends- Crick and Steve Volstad, and their 3 children. We visited Red Square and made our trips to the Doctors. I wish I could say Gavin was healthy, but I knew he hadn't been feeling well, and sure enough he had a double ear infection on top of his coughing and congestion. He's still above the 97th percentile (height/weight) for boys his age- definitely takes after his father! We left Moscow on Orthodox Christmas (January 7th), to fly to Helsinki. We had a wonderful time exploring with our friend Diane. She also had to renew her visa, so we met up in Moscow and spent the week together in Finland- what a blessing! We enjoyed walking around a city that was clean and well kept...People were so polite and friendly...And best of all- they had tons of after-Christmas sales! We did lots of window shopping b/c even with the sales, the Euro makes everything very expensive, but I did manage to find Dr Pepper, Cheerios, Rice Crispies, and Baking Powder to bring home! Being out of the country managed to bring to light all the things I've been 'tucking under the rug'...It really made me deal with the aspects of this culture that are very difficult for me. This week has really been the first time that I've faced 'culture shock' in the face, and has been very difficult for me, but I'm happy to say that God is triumphant and has brought us here for His purpose, not that our will would be done, but rather His! Days like today make me very glad I serve a very BIG God, because I surely couldn't do this without HIM!

I found this article that made me smile, so I thought I would share it with you- enjoy! It's entitled "The Cross-cultural Proverbs 31 Women."