Josiah Wants Open Stomach Surgery

Josiah loves to play with his Legos Star Wars pieces!! He loves to put them in peculiar situations. Often times I hear Josiah screaming "MOM" and I come running into the room only to realize that his Storm Troopers are carrying on some sort of conversation with their mother. Often times the Storm Troopers take on Batman or the Transformers or any other toy Josiah can find. But, one of his favorite things to do is to take the Storm Troopers apart. Some parts of the Storm Troopers don't come off very easily so he often pulls them apart with his teeth.

Today we had a very tragic event take place in our home. As I was getting dinner ready I heard one of Josiah's infamous meltdowns. Now that he is older they don't happen as often but today was an exception. He was distraught and I could hear him coughing and crying and screaming about something. At first I thought that maybe Nathan did something to him but as I got to the room he was crouched over in utter despair. He kept mumbling something to me and I couldn't make it out. At first it sounded like he was saying "sharp". I got him to calm down enough to tell me what had happened and then he told me "I swallowed his arm..........bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". He was totally inconsolable. I was trying really hard not to laugh. He then went on to tell me that we had to go to California so that he could go to the hospital and have his stomach cut open so that Dr. Tamashiro (his pediatrician) could take the arm out. Eventually he did calm down and I used the opportunity to tell him the consequences of our sin. You see, often times - well more like a million times- I tell him that it is not a good idea to bite the pieces off his Storm Troopers. I tell him that the pieces can get ruined or that his teeth can crack. I never thought of him actually swallowing a piece!!! What happened this afternoon in a sense was a consequence of his disobedience.

Tonight before going to bed he asked me to hit his back hard so that he could throw up the arm. Then he asked me if I could cut his stomach open to take the piece out. There is one possible way we can get the arm back but I haven't mentioned it because I'm not quite sure if I want to go there.

Temporarily Closed

Due to the Swine Flu this blog will be temporarily closed. Seriously the schools here are closing down and the boy's Russian School's director called me last night to notify me that they have cancelled the next two sessions and possibly more. We haven't been doing much of anything. I'm waiting for the snow to fall to get some snow pix of the boys. I'm thinking since Christmas is right around the corner I could do some posts of Christmas past. Or maybe I could "really" blog and post some meaningful stuff on here. We'll see, I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Meanwhile, this is a picture of a pig at Underwood Farms. We took the boys and my niece Madison there this summer. Madison said she didn't want to get close to the pig because she didn't want to get the Swine Flu.

Night Time Routine

Every night before going to bed Jon reads Josiah a book. Then we all take turns praying before brushing teeth and then off to bed. But........Nathan seems to go wild during these times. I try my best to keep him out of the room so that Jon and Josiah can have special time together but he sometimes manages to break free.



He can be such a little MONKEY sometimes!!!!

Moscow

A couple of weeks ago, Jon had the opportunity to go to Moscow to a conference on John Calvin. The day he and the other men arrived they had an opportunity to visit some sights. Unfortunately they weren't able to get into Red Square because of a holiday..........it was "Unity Day" so it was all closed off. Jon actually lived in Moscow for 6 weeks during his college days and he said it all came back to him. Jon, Jojo, and I also visited Moscow en route to Novosibirsk in 2004 because of a delayed flight. We had enough time to take a trip to Red Square. It was an overwhelming feeling to stand in the middle of Red Square. I really never thought I would have that opportunity to be in Russia, let alone Red Square.


Coming up, up, up from the Metro. The Moscow Metro is the world's second busiest rapid transit system. It opened in 1935. Each station is really beautiful with special works of art. The floors are even all marble.


Jon and Jonathan along the Moscow River outside of Red Square.



The Zubarev Family. They recently moved to Moscow from Samara to help start a church plant.


Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Does every country have one?



This is where the conference was. It was hosted by Evangelical Press but Jonathan (who is being translated by Igor) is talking about our ministry here in Samara that trains pastors.

Another Silly Answer

The other day I asked Josiah from his Bible Q and A book:
"How did God create Eve?".


He answered:
"From Adam's robes"!

The Big Autumn Show

I posted before how we have Josiah and Nathan in a sort of Russian School through the central church here in Samara. On October 31 they had a big "prazdneek" or festival to celebrate Fall. The boys had to learn songs in Russian which Josiah only was able to learn the chorus of his song "dos vidanya osen" or good-bye Fall. The funny thing is that now whenever he says the formal good-bye to an adult he tells them "dos vidanya osen".........what a silly boy.

Here is Josiah performing his song. It cracks me up that every kid is doing a different motion. Above Josiah is Nahum, on the left is Isaac and on the right is Alisha (the children of the other missionary families we minister with).


I don't know this kid's name but I love his outfit....it's so retro!!!


The teachers put on a play. It was really cute even though I didn't totally understand it. I think the fruits needed water.......whatever, it was just comical to see them all dressed up and the kids loved it.


Here are my two cuties. Nathan was supposed to get on stage and "sing" his song but he was being super stubborn and chose to sit this one out. Oh well, maybe for the Christmas prazdneek he'll cooperate.

Borscht Soup

As a part of Jon's homework he was supposed to make Borscht soup. It really turned out to be my "homework". He did help me chop some veggies. He also translated the recipe the teacher gave him. It turned out pretty good. It reminded me of a stew...although I'm not sure if that is what it was supposed to be like. I'm not a big fan of Russian cuisine and this was my first attempt.

The Holy Spirit

Josiah is memorizing answers to Bible questions (sort of like a Catechism). As we were reviewing today I asked him "Who are the three persons in the One God?"
He answered: "The Father, the Son, and what's the name of that other guy?"

Halloween

No trick or treating in Russia! This was our second annual get together with the Moorheads on Halloween. It is just fun to have something for the kids to look forward to.

Josiah as Spiderman


Nathan as a lion.


Decorating pumpkins before daddy and Uncle Jonathan arrive with dinner.


Yummy, McDonalds!


Myriam enjoying some Halloween sugar cookies.


Jonas or Jesse enjoying a cookie........I never know who's who!


Just in case you're wondering.....it's a Clone Trooper!!

Roooooaaaarrrrr!

Halloween 2005
Josiah Age 2


Halloween 2009
Nathan Age 2

New Resting Spot

3 Year Residency Visa

Last year around this time we applied for a 3 year residency visa. This was the very first step. We applied 3 different times and after the third time were told we could proceed to the second step. We are now in that process. It is quite confusing and frustrating. It is real hard to get straight answers. We have an incredible amount of applications to fill out and thankfully our friend Christina is doing that on our part. She is also running around crazy getting documents translated and notarized. On top of that we also need to get an "apostille" for a couple of documents which has only complicated the matter. Do you know what an apostille is? We didn't know either. After much research we figured it out. Right now as I write this my dear friend Teri White is getting our apostille for our marriage certificate in Los Angeles. We may also need an apostille for my Argentine birth certificate which is a huge hassle. I write "may" because no one can give us a straight answer. Two weeks ago our friend Christina and Jon went to the migration office and spoke to the director. She gave some contradicting answers and we are still trying to figure out all the paper work.

Today we worked on getting some medical tests done. First the whole family got their AIDS test. When we first got there they said they needed copies of our migration card and translated passports. We were also with the Klassens (another missionary family doing the same thing) and so we took off to their place to get the copies. We then all returned and got our blood tests. Then it was off to get Josiah and Nathan a TB test on the other side of town. That was another process. Jon went in talked to a doctor, they did the TB test, then he had to go to a registration window where a lady filled out all our information by hand onto some other documents and then Jon had to go pay for the tests at a nearby bank. This Thursday I get to take the boys back to have their arms read. After that we took off to the Narcotic Clinic where Jon and I had our urine tested. We then return tomorrow for the results, from there we have to go to another building in another location for them to fill out formal documents! Stay tuned for the continued saga of our pursuit of a visa! Oh, I forgot to mention that it snowed today and the temps were below 32 (below freezing). It made for some real slick streets. Most people, including us, don't have their snow tires on yet. I stopped counting all the car accidents we saw because it was making me so nervous. Praising God tonight for keeping us safe on the road, for friendly workers at all the places we went to, and for our car! I can't imagine doing all of this in public transport!!!! Please pray for us as we pursue this visa. May God grant us favor in the eyes of the officials here in Samara.