A video about our family

Pierce Family Adoption Registry

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Weekend stuff

Yesterday Tyler went to help Elder Foutz help a young man work on his apartment. I cannot pronounce the young man's name, let alone spell it. His English is pretty good and he greatly enjoys speaking with native English speakers.

Tyler and I walked down to a nearby grocery store. It's not as big as the SPAR stores, but it was decent. I found some lemon pirouettes for Tyler - yum! On the walk back, it felt like my cheeks had frostbite! And when I got home, sure enough, my cheeks were chapped and red. I see many people outside who aren't wearing gloves. My hands are cold even when I have my gloves on. I've never been in a place this cold before in my life - and even though I am cold, I still find it fun. Tyler is freezing everywhere we go and does not find it fun. When we're inside the apartment building, but not inside our apartment yet, I can see my frozen breath. It's currently -8F outside.

Last night I made blini (Russian crepe pancake) with strawberry jam inside and Grandpa Bob's famous hash browns. Tyler & I watched the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie - we've been having a Pirates movie marathon. We really like the apartment here. The only downside is that some people smoke in the apartment across the hall and the smell is really strong in here. Oh, and we found a jar high up in the kitchen that was full of, well, intimacy-related items. Ahem.

Today is Fast Sunday, so Tyler and I fasted that our court date will go well and that the 30 days will be waived. Church was wonderful. Fadel and Ming were there and in the second hour Tyler was able to teach Ming more about the gospel of Jesus Christ in Mandarin Chinese. He taught her about who God is and how to pray. She comes from a non-religious background in China. We had a really good visit and Ming said that she understands more about the church now and wants to meet again this week. Who would have thought that my Mandarin Chinese speaking husband would be speaking Mandarin in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia? Well, God knew it and he allows us to use our skills to bless the lives of others.

Andre brought us home after church - he is so kind to drive us to and from places - and I made this recipe. I skyped with Anna for a little while. She is so cute. She informed me that Iryna swallowed a quarter and had to go to the ER. They x-rayed her and said it was in her stomach. Poor Iryna. I feel bad for Danielle - who is taking care of the kids - she's had some drama since we've been gone! Andre picked us up to go eat dinner with the Foutz's. They are so kind to have us over for dinner. It feels just like home for us - as they are about the age of our parents. We had salmon (well, Tyler had salmon and I had chicken), sliced potatoes, steamed vegetables, rolls, fruit salad, and the apple bread pudding with whipped cream that I brought. Then we sat around and talked. It's very relaxing and nice and the Foutz's say that they enjoy having company over, too. So it's a win-win situation for everyone.

Tomorrow we are hopefully going to visit Silas - if he isn't more sick than before - and we are having the young missionaries (elders and sisters) over for dinner. It should be a lot of fun. It's so nice to have things to do and people to be with here in Russia. We are so blessed. Thank you all for your prayers - I know that many of pray for us and our safety. We appreciate your love and support in our adoption.

The walking street (where the grocery store and souvenirs are sold) and two views of the street outside our apartment complex.

The top is a building near us and the bottom is our apartment building - ours is on the second floor to the left.

Lemon pirouettes and Grandpa Bob's hash browns with blini (Russian crepe) with strawberry jam in the middle. Yummy!

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