Lesson Number 1

We had our first Russian lesson yesterday afternoon. I would say it went well. Thank you for praying for us as we were a little nervous. Our teacher speaks very little to NO English, so you are just trying to understand what she is telling you. I am soooo thankful for our time in South Carolina with RLM. I would have been 100% lost if we had not had that foundation learning. We will be meeting 2x a week for an hour each--Tuesday and Thursdays from 4-6 (I go and then Philip goes). Thanks again for your prayers!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

A COLD Walk Around the Block

Brrr!!!

This morning we decided to venture out and take a walk around where we live. It was quite cold out! It was sunny, which was nice, but it also meant it would be really cold. And it was. Adalynn enjoyed her sled and we enjoyed pushing her and not holding her!!

Adalynn and I ready for a walk

Lenin Square...no, not John Lennon...

Spar, where we buy some groceries...just a few minutes from our apartment

Going Home
(the sled handle moves so you can push it either way...it also has a string you can pull it if you want)

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

The Good Old Days

Well, I did our first load of laundry the other day. The washing machine is all in Russian, so Gelya (a team member) showed me how to use it. This machine reminds me of my parents' washing machine...the door locks and you can't put anything else in it once it is shut and started...learned that lesson yesterday. It is pretty simple to use. They use "conditioner", or we would say, fabric softener, because they don't have driers. They line dry everything here. It actually reminds me of my childhood because my mom used to (and still does) hang everything to dry. I was in heaven when I went to college and had my towels put in the drier. They were so soft! Well, back to the hard, scratchy air dried towels! Next time you take a shower and dry off on your soft towels remember us here with hard ones:)!

"Conditioner"

Our lovely towels and clothes hanging to dry

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

OK

We heard on the news tonight (well, our field directors informed us via the phone since we couldn't understand what they were saying on the news) about the airport bombing in Moscow this evening. This is the airport we flew into just a week ago yesterday. We are soooo thankful to the Lord that we arrived a week ago and not this week during this tragedy. The Lord's hand of protection is upon us. Thank you for your prayers. We are all fine here. Please be praying for those who are injured and for the mess that is going on with flights being canceled and all. For more news you can read about it at:

Russia Today

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

Interesting

Adalynn on her new little stool eating a Russian cookie

Adalynn is loving life right now. We enjoyed a church service this morning in the ministry center building, which meant we didn't have to bundle up to to anywhere besides across the hall! Thank you for praying for us this morning. We felt like it went well and we were able to meet a lot of really nice people from the church. We are planning on going to the young marrieds Bible Study on Wednesday night at one of our teammate's house.

Here are a few things we have found interesting:

*Russians wear their wedding rings on their right hand, not left...looks like I can shop for a new ring:) haha
*At the grocery store, you have to bring your own bag (reusable) or you can pay for a plastic bag. Man, where are all those reusable Kroger bags when you need them. Of course, you don't forget to bring them if you don't want to pay for them!
*You flush the toilet from the top (you pull up on a knob)
*You don't want to walk too close to the edge of a building because the ice that falls off is deadly...seriously
*Snow does not cause school delays or any delays.
*If there are a lot of kids sick, schools will close for a week

We appreciate your faithfulness to the Lord and to this ministry! Thanks for checking up on us!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby Gwen

Internet + Russia = Bliss

Adalynn at the airport in DC drinking a smoothie

(brr...it was cold)

Thank you for being patient with us as have waited a few days to get connected to the internet. I won't blame it on the fact that we have a MAC and not a PC...:) Haha! No, seriously though, we are so thankful to be connected with the internet and with YOU! We hope you enjoy the flow of pictures below that show snippets of our journey so far.
What have we been doing? Wow...there is a lot...all good though! We arrived about an hour late on Sunday morning (to us it was 3-4am) at 11am Russia time. All our bags arrived (Praise the Lord!). We had quite a time getting them on 2 carts plus Adalynn, but we managed. Just picture Philip trying to push to big carts with 3 bags on each plus carrying a backpack...me, pushing Adalynn in her stroller with a bag on the stroller, on my back, and pulling one. We made it through customs though! It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive back to Vladimir from the airport. We stopped at McDonalds (!) on the way. It was a LONG 3 1/2 hours. My legs were so antsy I could hardly stand it! Poor Adalynn threw up about 10 minutes into our drive...I think it was all the flying and food she had eaten. Poor thing. She ended up sleeping and doing GREAT for the rest of the trip.
Here are a few things we have been doing:

-orientation with our field directors each day for about 2 hours.
-trying to sleep off our jet lag---Praise the Lord, Adalynn slept through the night 2 nights in a row! Finally getting back to normal!
-went to the mall and bought Adalynn a sled, changing pad, and highchair!
-learned how to go grocery shopping
-had our first meeting with our TEAM! --they are a great team!
-made it on public transportation alone (Philip, Adalynn, and me)
-slipping on the ice/snow
-made dinner 2 times already!

Thanks for your prayers!
Blessings,

Philip, Kara, and Adalynn

Adalynn and her new sled

New highchair!

Adalynn's crib

kitchen

Bathroom

Living room

icicles!

The playground you can see from our kitchen window

New Home

(Our Kitchen)

We ARRIVED!!! The Lord has continually been answering prayers. Sorry this is quick, but we have not had our internet set up yet at home. We are in the city at a coffee shop to quickly check email and update our team! I will post more pictures and details of our trip later! Thank you for your prayers. We need them, so keep them coming! The Lord has been so gracious and loving toward us during this time of transition.

Specific prayers:
1. Help us with jet lag
2. Adalynn sleeping through the night
3. Life transitions

We love you!
Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and baby