11.30.2007
11.29.2007
3rd Tooth!!!
Gideon’s third tooth fell out tonight! It was much less dramatic than the first, but still so exciting for him!!! He is growing so fast and is so fun to be with!!! I can not say that he loves preschool, but he is learning lots and making some friends. He loves the snow, sledding and playing with ME. Please pray for Gideon as he finishes his last year in preschool and begins the First Grade next year!!! Pray that he would be adequately prepared and would love school!!!
Notice the gap on the lower right side!!!
Princess or Bully?!?
ME's teacher informed me today that "ME acts like such a princess" (long pause)...I smile big, like a proud mother! The teacher continues, "She acts like such a princess right before and after jerking a toy from another child and then screams hysterically when the childs tries to take the toy back or hits her." My smile fades as I gather ME and her things and promise the teacher that we will discuss this terrible (and embarrassing behavior) with her at home. Pray that ME will be the absolutely adorable little girl that I know she can be and that she will learn to share and make friends at preschool!
11.27.2007
Special Prayer Request
After three days of struggling, crying and dealing with a very large amount of anger, I have come to the point where I must ask for your help and prayers. Upon returning from our totally fabulous Thanksgiving festivities, I called my dear Russian friend, L, to see how her weekend had been going. She was at the Emergency Room!!! Her husband had beaten her so badly, she had to leave her 2 year old daughter with a neighbor she barely knows to go to the ER. Her husband, V, has been beating her for years…and he does not drink alcohol and attends Church! She has no family in Russia, no money and feels like she has no options, but to endure his beatings. She has spent the past 3 days confined to her bed.
I am so upset and surprised. I asked the head of the local Church how we could help her (4 months ago, she was baptized and joined the Church) and he said that I need to “pray for her and support her…only God can change her situation.” I know prayer is of the up most importance and that God can change her situation, but should not the Church body intervene? Are we supposed to just sit by (of course while lifting her up in prayer) and do nothing?!? We have noticed before that the Russian church is quite passive about dealing with these kinds of things, mostly because the Russian authorities themselves don’t do much about domestic violence.
Please pray for L. Pray that God would protect her, comfort her, heal her wounds and give her wisdom to know how to handle this terrible, on going situation. Pray that V would repent and stop hitting his wife. Pray for their daughter, D, that she would be safe and not be afraid. And pray for me. Pray that I would not be angry. Pray that we would wisdom to help this family, especially L, and that we would see God mightily intervene and work in this situation.
11.26.2007
Happy Birthday Troy!!!
Happy Birthday Troy!!! I hope you had a great day and a wonderful Birthday!!! I love and miss you and hope to see you soon!!!
11.25.2007
Road Trip Entertainment
We were desperate for entertainment for the 1 1/2 trip home. In the past I have spent lots of time and even money creating road trip backpacks with toys, treats and surprises. Most of the time the toys end up on the floor, the kids still end up bickering and I never get to just relax and read. Grandma bought the kids a fabulous portable DVD that I had planned on watching a movie with the kids, but forgot the cord! So, somehow the kids entertained themselves for at least 30 minutes saying two words...DOG POOP!!! Gideon would say it and burst out laughing and then ME would of course copy him. I confess that I was also laughing!!! Keith eventually told them to stop saying poop, so Gideon would say "Dog..." and burst out laughing again. Life is never boring with the Sullivan Duo!!!
11.24.2007
11.23.2007
ME Update
ME is still sick. She threw-up 3 more times last night. This morning seems to be feeling better. We are pushing forward with our sledding adventures and hope she feels better!!!
11.22.2007
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
My day kicked off at 4:45AM with my 2 brined turkeys. I managed to cram them into our oven together, which saved me 3 extra hours of cooking time, gave me extra time to bake my totally gorgeous cinnamon rolls and get on the road 30 minutes early!!! We made it to Ivanovo without the angel biscuits, which were forgotten in our freezer, and the camera cord...I can't upload play by play photos!!!
We had a fabulous lunch~the highlights for me were tasting my turkeys, which I had been bonding with for days and contemplating and researching for what felt like forever how to brine (and why!) and roast them to have the most juicy breasts!!! I also loved the sweet potatoe casserole and pumpkin pie, which are rare and very special treats in Russia!!!
We have so many things to be thankful for!!! Yesterday and today, I have been particularly grateful for our dishwasher and Internet, which both made all the Thanksgiving preparations much easier! I am also thankful for the desire to live in Russia. We have lived in Russia for almost 6 years, but it was not until the recent visa developments that I have discovered that I actually want to live here! I am also very thankful for the quick, but quality time I was able to spend with my family. I was able to watch my dad's Physical Therapy session and witness the progress he is making!!! It was so fabulous to just chat over dinner (and the fact that it was usually Mexican food was an added bonus!!!) and be a part of their day to day lives...at least for 48 hours!!! I love and miss you guys!!!
I hope you have a wonderful day giving thanks!!!
PLEASE PRAY FOR ME~ME has had a stomach bug for the last 48 hours. She missed preschool on Wednesday and threw-up last night. She seems under the weather and very mellow, but is nonetheless, enjoying all of the attention and fun!!! Pray she will be back to her normal, crazy self soon!!!
We had a fabulous lunch~the highlights for me were tasting my turkeys, which I had been bonding with for days and contemplating and researching for what felt like forever how to brine (and why!) and roast them to have the most juicy breasts!!! I also loved the sweet potatoe casserole and pumpkin pie, which are rare and very special treats in Russia!!!
We have so many things to be thankful for!!! Yesterday and today, I have been particularly grateful for our dishwasher and Internet, which both made all the Thanksgiving preparations much easier! I am also thankful for the desire to live in Russia. We have lived in Russia for almost 6 years, but it was not until the recent visa developments that I have discovered that I actually want to live here! I am also very thankful for the quick, but quality time I was able to spend with my family. I was able to watch my dad's Physical Therapy session and witness the progress he is making!!! It was so fabulous to just chat over dinner (and the fact that it was usually Mexican food was an added bonus!!!) and be a part of their day to day lives...at least for 48 hours!!! I love and miss you guys!!!
I hope you have a wonderful day giving thanks!!!
PLEASE PRAY FOR ME~ME has had a stomach bug for the last 48 hours. She missed preschool on Wednesday and threw-up last night. She seems under the weather and very mellow, but is nonetheless, enjoying all of the attention and fun!!! Pray she will be back to her normal, crazy self soon!!!
11.21.2007
Thanksgiving Central...or Actually Satellite Center #3
Tomorrow, is the big day and the kick-off of our 3 day Thanksgiving Celebration. We will head to Ivanovo tomorrow with 2 fabulously roasted, extremely juicy turkeys...maybe we should just hope for not dried out or burnt...2 pies, cheesecake, chocolate cake, pineapple cake, lemon bars, rolls, 2 salads and cinammon rolls...we hope!!! I better start cooking or tomorrow we will be fasting!!!
UPDATE @ 10:45pm:
2 Pumpkin Pies-DONE
Cheesecake-DONE
Chocolate Cake-DONE
Pineapple Cake (Paula Deen's Recipe)-DONE
Lemon Bars (Martha Stewart's Recipe)-DONE
Rolls (Angel Biscuits)-DONE
2 Salads-DONE
Turkeys-BRINING
Cinnamon Rolls-RISING!
Kitchen-A HUGE MESS
Kids-ASLEEP
Keith-WATCHING AMAZING RACE
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
UPDATE @ 10:45pm:
2 Pumpkin Pies-DONE
Cheesecake-DONE
Chocolate Cake-DONE
Pineapple Cake (Paula Deen's Recipe)-DONE
Lemon Bars (Martha Stewart's Recipe)-DONE
Rolls (Angel Biscuits)-DONE
2 Salads-DONE
Turkeys-BRINING
Cinnamon Rolls-RISING!
Kitchen-A HUGE MESS
Kids-ASLEEP
Keith-WATCHING AMAZING RACE
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Thanksgiving 2006
Last year, we went to Moscow to celebrate Thanksgiving with some single colleagues who live in Moscow and American friends, who now live in Alaska. What fun Thanksgiving memories!!!
11.20.2007
FYI...
If you are able to watch more than 30 minutes of uninterrupted TV, it is best not to assume that the children are just playing quietly together...they are up to something! Gideon came running into the living room, bringing us from the Amazing Race to reality of real life, saying "Come and see what ME has done!" When you hear no crying, you know it probably does not involve blood or calling a doctor, but you brace your self, nonetheless, for something terrible! ME had dumped all of the books off of their book shelves into the floor! Why didn't Gid feel the need to come and tell us before she had reached the final books???
In the spirit of giving thanks...ME should be thankful I only spanked her twice; Gideon should be thankful he only got a lecture and not a spanking, since he "didn't do anything, just watched!"; I am thankful there was no blood or calling a Russian doctor and now the bookshelves are clean and organized; and Keith is thankful that we can now finish watching the Amazing Race!!!
In the spirit of giving thanks...ME should be thankful I only spanked her twice; Gideon should be thankful he only got a lecture and not a spanking, since he "didn't do anything, just watched!"; I am thankful there was no blood or calling a Russian doctor and now the bookshelves are clean and organized; and Keith is thankful that we can now finish watching the Amazing Race!!!
Thanksgiving 2002
This was our first Thanksgiving celebration in Russia!!! We celebrated with our team (our only teammates at the time and dear friends), the Skinners, and the Ammons, who joined us all the way from Moscow!!! What fun memories!!! One funny memory I have about this Thanksgiving was the week before telling Nancy, "Why would anyone make homemade bread, when they can buy it here for a few pennies!?!" That Thanksgiving, Nancy taught me why!!! She made the most fabulous dinner rolls!!! We miss you all and hope you have a great Thanksgiving!!!
11.19.2007
11.17.2007
Getting Ready...
We are practicing our smiles and poses for the 2007 Sullivan Family Christmas Picture!!! ME's smile looks great, but her hair will need a little work!!!
11.16.2007
It Is ALREADY Begining To Look Like Christmas!!!
The snow, my clean house (Thanks to Ludmilla, a lady from our Church, who needed temporary, flexible work and would never take money from us. We offered her a job cleaning, ironing and occasionally cooking!!! Life is good!!! The extra time I now have is suppose to be spent working with Gideon, but so far the majority of it has gone to surfing the Net for the vacation of a life time to Hawaii~scheduled for May 2008!!! Pray that I would find the perfect vacation, so I can spend this valuable time teaching Gideon his ABCs!!!) and the lack of sleep from staying up chatting with Jill last night, while we were in Ivanovo, have all lead to this...
Before
The Final Touches
Our Christmas Tree!!!
I love Christmas!!! Since we are not spending Christmas at home (We are going to Ivanovo for the Thanksgiving Celebration to beat all Thanksgivings~including 3 different turkey options, 2 varieties of stuffing-or dressing, a million sides, 3 different pumpkin desserts and best of all possibly 19 people to share this wonderful season of giving thanks!!!) and Russians, of course, do not celebrate Thanksgiving, we have officially kicked off the Christmas Festivities!!!
Before
The Final Touches
Our Christmas Tree!!!
I love Christmas!!! Since we are not spending Christmas at home (We are going to Ivanovo for the Thanksgiving Celebration to beat all Thanksgivings~including 3 different turkey options, 2 varieties of stuffing-or dressing, a million sides, 3 different pumpkin desserts and best of all possibly 19 people to share this wonderful season of giving thanks!!!) and Russians, of course, do not celebrate Thanksgiving, we have officially kicked off the Christmas Festivities!!!
11.15.2007
Good-Bye!
We had to say good-bye temporarily to Lesa.
No Good-Bye Party would be complete without food!!!
And these totally HUGE rolls!!! They were so big, they could have served as fabulous hot dog buns!!!
Good night and good-bye Aunt Lesa!!! We will see you soon!!!
No Good-Bye Party would be complete without food!!!
And these totally HUGE rolls!!! They were so big, they could have served as fabulous hot dog buns!!!
Good night and good-bye Aunt Lesa!!! We will see you soon!!!
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