Furrrrry
Can you guess what this is?
How about now?
These are my horse hair fur boots.
These babies are necessary for staying warm in the very cold weather outside.
The beading is very traditional for this area of Russia.
Besides horse hair, the most popular boots here are made of reindeer and they are very, very expensive. These were quite a bit cheaper and they still keep me warm even with one regular pair of socks on. I was starting to feel the cold slightly when I had to stand at the bus stop one day, but that was it.
This guy is selling fish and a few other items.
This is how most women are dressed; fur hat, fur coat, fur boots.
The children here are also dressed in fur.
There are a few stray dogs that run around the city, not as many as there were in Moscow. They definitely build up their up coat of fur, being outside all the time.
5 years old
Our oldest baby girl, Violet, turned 5 years old on the 23rd of January. She has grown so much in just one short year. She is a good helper, and will usually do it without complaining. She loves her brother and sister, and often pretends to be their mommy. She loves watching princess movies like Rapunzel, Snow White and the The Little Mermaid. Her she is during more of the tense moments during The Little Mermaid.
I should have gotten a picture at the end of the movie, she was very happy they were able to get married and live happily ever after. She is also getting a good imagination, it’s funny to hear the things she comes up with sometimes. She likes making up names for herself and she will pretend to be that person and come and visit me in my house.
We just had a small get together in the evening of her birthday, but she always has lots of fun whenever we have anyone over.
Keith is ready to party!
With our little princess
Her buddy Jasmine
I saw a party popper at the store when I was getting supplies, and it was a good purchase. They definitely make it feel like party! There was so much confetti that flew out of that thing!
Yay!!
Violet requested chocolate cake with chocolate icing. The girl has good taste.
Would you like to bake this cake too? Head over to Katrina’s Kitchen to find the recipe.
Christmas Service
Before I get too behind on events that have occurred, I wanted to share with you a little bit from the Christmas service that we went to with fellow believers. A couple different people participated including Micah and the girls. One lady shared the story of Joseph and Mary, another lady asked questions about the birth of Jesus and gave out candy for correct answers, and part of our family sang the song Away in a Manger (the girls favorite song, still even now, especially Keira, and you need to sing all three verses). They sang it in English, which may not have been understood by many, but the people still clapped and appreciated it.
Singing some songs
They gave out huge bags of candy to all the kids and even gave the two smallest kids a little toy!
Six Sandowiches 