Merry Christmas...

From Our Home to Yours

What a time to celebrate the birth of our

Savior, Jesus Christ!

May you experience His great

love and peace throughout the coming year.

We love you and miss you,

Merril, Holly, Caleb, Laura Grace, Benjamin, and Isabel

Christmas Morning!

Benjamin sporting his new cap and enjoying his sucker

Caleb excited to find a new lego under the tree
Isabel and Laura Grace loving on their new baby dolls

Holiday Cheer Team

What a blessing it has been for these seven college students from Missouri to spend their Christmas with us! They have spent time spreading cheer to not only the University Students here but also to our family!

Christmas Party

Cookies and Stockings with Students

We have found the University Students to be alot of fun!

Laura Grace and I joined them at a team member's

home to decorate cookies and make handmade stockings.

A View of our Home from the Outside

Our apartment is the top yellow one

on the third floor.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We had such a special time buying a Christmas tree for our home. There are a few stores here that sell them before Christmas. Most people here buy their tree after Christmas for the New Year. The majority do not celebrate Christmas so we were thrilled to find one just after Thanksgiving, in keeping with our family tradition. We placed our nativity scene out, decorated the tree, listened to Christmas music and enjoyed a cup of cocoa! Please remember us during this Christmas season as well as our family in the States.

Bath Time

The children having fun in the "tub". We have had a problem with our water tank. This holds a supply of water for us to use during the day when the city water is turned off. City water is turned on in our apartment from 7-9 in the morning and 6-around 8 in the evenings. Our problem was with the tank not releasing the water. This problem went on for at least a month. Clothes began piling up, dishes had to be washed immediately, toilets couldn't be flushed during the day... anyway, to cut to the chase, we were all excited when we did get the problem fixed. Everyone in the tub! It is amazing how much you appreciate something when you experience not having it.

Our Apartment

A picture of our living room/office

Welcome to our Home

We are so blessed to be in our apartment! Most apartments here are usually fully furnished but this one was not. Meaning, within several days/weeks we needed to buy everything to make it a "home". Our teammates helped in so many ways to get furniture, appliances, etc.... This was a huge help due to the fact that we know zero language. Hopefully, once our crate arrives we will be able to make it even more "homey" with pictures, blankets, toys, kitchen stuff and books!

Hanging Clothes Out

We are so thankful for the apartment that we are staying in while we look for an apartment of our own. Holly and Isabel are hanging "blankie" out to dry.

Laura Grace wants to help too. She is such a big helper.

Many things take much longer here to do than in the States. For instance, most people do not own dryers so clothes are lined dry. The problem is when cool weather and rains set in, clothes are brought inside and take much longer to dry. Gas fireplaces, electric heaters and radiators speed the drying up.

We celebrated Benjamin's fourth birthday six days after arriving...guess where? How did you know? Our city has three McDonald's and another one on the way. Surprisingly, there are no other fast food Western restaurants in the city.

We Have Arrived!

What week it has been! After our 7 weeks in Virginia, we traveled back to see family and friends, packed up and flew out. We arrived after 22 hours of traveling with all 19 pieces of luggage, 4 carry-ons, and 1 double stroller! Our first night in the guest house was an experience with all the new sounds, smells, no running water, and mixed-up sleep schedules.

Our second night, the water was turned back on but the apartment plumbing was backing up. Water from the toilet, tub, and drain in the floor began backing up into our apartment. Needless to say, our friends packed us up again and moved us to a team member's apartment.

After several weeks, we are finally into sleeping through the night. We have enjoyed traveling around the new city, getting to know the metro system, meeting our teammates, and hunting for an apartment.

What's Penguin City?

What does Penguin city mean anyway? The name all began when Benjamin, our three year old heard we were moving to Asia. For some reason, he began calling our new home Penguin city. This went on for several months. We tried correcting him, but his mind was set that we were going to a place where there were penguins, twelve to be exact.

As the plane landed, and we announced that we were finally at our destination, to his dismay there were no penguins in sight. Hopefully, we will find some penguins at the city zoo. He now enjoys carrying around his tiny plastic penguins his aunt Kristy gave him before we left the States.

Our Time in Virginia

A few photos of us while in Virginia. We all enjoyed roasting marshmallows and eating smores. Our time here was so special.