Holidays

We hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with your friends and family this week! Some people have asked if Valentine's Day is celebrated here in Russia. It is not a holiday, but it is recognized. People don't go all out like in the States, but Valentine's Day is becoming more recognized. I am sure the flower shops and candy stores like that people buy a little more come February 14th!

There is a national holiday next Thursday, February 23rd. This holiday is called Defender's Day or better known as Men's Day. This is a day set aside to honor the men who fought/fighting in the armed services. It has become more of a day to honor men in general.

Women's Day is on March 8th, which is of course one of the biggest celebrated holidays in Russia. Men's Day is basically the counterpart to Woman's Day.

We will probably not have Russian class next Thursday due to the holiday. I am not sure what we will do. We will find some way to celebrate the man in our lives---Philip! Maybe the girls and I will take him out to eat! If you want an excuse to celebrate next Thursday, just tell them it is Men's Day and that is all the excuse you will need!

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen

p.s. The weather is warming up! Today the high is 18 degrees or something "warm" like that. Earlier this week we were in the negatives for temperature highs!

p.p.s. Continue to pray for our residency to be accepted by the end of March. We are praying fervently for this request. We have not heard anything yet, but when we do, you will be the first to know!

These 3 Things

What do these three things have in common?

a window...

cotton balls...

...and a ladder?

Any guesses? Well, all these things are items used to seal our windows to stop the cold draft. We tried tape, but the walls and widow seals were so cold the tape came off. We tried plastic wrap, but the draft was blowing just hard enough through the windows that the plastic wrap kept coming off too! So, on to a Russian trick...cotton balls. Philip took an afternoon and stuck cotton balls in the gaps between the frames and the windows in our living room. (Gwen would play on the floor and when we would get her up, her little hands and face would be ice cubes!) It took awhile, but you know what, it did the trick! Philip said his fingers were a little raw from sticking the cotton balls in the little cracks. But it was worth it because now we are warmer whenever we are in the living room!
The temperatures are still cold, but after a few days in the negatives any single digit temperature feel warm! Everything is in Celsius here, so we are constantly trying to figure out the Fahrenheit equal! Talk about a trip back to 4th grade math!

What do you suppose these three "things" have in common?

a handsome, loving, helpful husband...

a cheerful, squirrely little 8 month old...

...and a sweet, loving 2 year old?

They are very special people to me! They are my support and loves of my lives!
(I actually just wanted to share the pictures with you!)

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen

Steve

We lost a dear friend this past weekend. Philip's good friend, Steve from Wesley Biblical Seminary. He too was a missionary serving in another country. Please be praying for Steve's family this week...please also think of us as we grieve the loss of a friend who was dear to our hearts.

For more about this please check our family blog here: Gormong Life

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen

Pictures

This afternoon it was sunny outside...and VERY cold. The previous days have been colder though. We are in the negatives. Yes, Fahrenheit negatives. You walk outside and instantly are rather cold. When the wind blows it is hard to breathe because it is so cold. I lost my gloves last January and never replaced them. All I have are my thin running gloves---yes, my hands froze and then went numb. I decided to just wear a pair of Philip's gloves for the time being. They are much warmer!

Since the sun was shining and I had a few errands to run, I decided to take the camera and take a few pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

See, people really do wear fur coats here!

Yet another child making his way across town on a sled! Man, sounds like the life doesn't it? I don't know why no one wants to push me around on a sled!

Golden Gate (this is a bus stop we frequently take back to our apartment)

We have snow. Lots of it.

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen

Chocolate...Good Chocolate

There is a chocolate here that is good for you...good for kids. Do you think chocolate can really be "good" for you? This chocolate is often bought for kids because it is made from whole milk. The brand is called Kinder. Our friend, Gelya, brought one of these eggs over for Adalynn when Adalynn was sick a few weeks ago. Adalynn LOVED it! This particular kind is in the shape of an egg...

Then you open it, and there are two halves...

One is a toy...

and the other half is chocolate...yummy, delicious chocolate! There are two little balls of milk chocolate in the middle with a flaky, crunchy outside. The two balls of chocolate are surrounded by white chocolate and milk chocolate.

Here is the toy that came with one of the eggs. It is a top!

If you look closely you can see Adalynn really enjoyed her Kinder Joy egg. Notice the chocolate smeared on her upper lip...(please excuse the flat hair, static is terrible here during the winter, so poor Adalynn walks around with a bad hair day most days!)

Philip is obviously enjoying the toy...

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen

Sunday School

On Sunday evening we had our large group gathering for Grace of Christ Church. We had a good turn out! We had over 25 people there including children. Philip led the Bible study portion and I taught the little people of the group!

In Sunday school, we had a new little girl who was 9. Her name was Susha. We enjoyed having another child attend! The kids learned about Jesus' miracle of the disciples catching all the fish after a night of no success! During the story, the kids got in "boat" (chairs all gathered together!) with fishing poles. Of course I know they used nets in the real story, but homemade fishing poles is what we ended up with! The kids had a blast! We did a craft, played a fishing game, had snack, and played a hide and seek fishing game. Tanya interpreted for me, but let me tell you, the flow of a story is sure different when you speak another language! I usually find that the flow of things isn't ideal, and I often leave wondering if I made the right points to the kids, if they heard the story, and what could I do different next time to make it better!

Our field director's daughter told her mom that night, "Mom, I really like when Kara tells me stories!" And then to her grandparents the next day, "We learned about fish and trash!" ---Well, I am not sure where the trash came from, but at least the 3 year old learned something! The hearts of little children are precious! I so enjoy being able to share with these kids (girls) all about Jesus!

Thanks for continuing to pray for this church! Please pray for our leadership team (9 of us) as we meet every other week as well. Pray for unity as a team as we meeting, pray, and discuss the growth of this new church!

Blessings,

Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen

Craft time!

"Gone Fishing!"

Brrrr!!!

It is 10 degrees F today. We woke up a bit chilly even though our heat is up to its highest and no wool blankets are covering the radiators! Our windows are old, so there is a pretty cold draft that you can feel. Philip tried taping them up before we left in November, but it isn't doing the trick. We'll survive. I am pretty sure my parents' house in Ohio is colder than our apartment...and it is not because they don't have heat!

The other day Adalynn and I went across the way and picked up some milk. We saw a cat sitting by the door. Of course Adalynn wanted to say hello. She just stood there and said hi, and immediately the cat came over and started rubbing her leg. She thought this was pretty funny! It was really windy that day. As you can see, Adalynn is shielding her face from the wind. She kept saying, "It's so windy!"

We have been super blessed by you as supporters! We have had many new faith promises made over the past year, as well as, most if not all, expired faith promises, get renewed! Thank you for your giving! If your faith promise is looking to expire in the next month please pray about continuing this partnership. We want you to continue to partner with us. Your investment in our lives is life changing. If you are wondering when your faith promise expires/ed please don't hesitate to drop us an email! pkgormong@gmail.com

Blessings,
Philip, Kara, Adalynn, and Gwen