Our Miracle from God

We praise God for providing this house for us! It was a miracle the way everything worked out for us to get it! The best part about it is that it is PAID IN FULL!

The entire house inside and out is made of wood.

Above is the view as you come in the door.
To the right there is a big room we plan to make into a play room.
The living room was straight ahead.
Bathroom downstairs.
Kitchen. The wall to the left of the window now has a heater on it which will be used to heat the house and hot water. Radiators have also been added under the windows of each room since the pictures were taken. This is the veranda which is located on the back of the house off the kitchen.
Stairs to the second floor.
Small bathroom upstairs. This room has a slant on the ceiling on the far end near the pipes which you can't see because the picture was taken low.

One of the bedrooms upstairs. There is a slanted ceiling in each of the bedrooms, but the rooms are still big. Our idea for the wall with the slanted ceiling is to make built in closets as we have funds to do so.

There is a lot of work to do both inside and out! Zarina is standing in front of the weeds that surround the entire house. They are taller than she is!

We praise God for providing this house and for answering Zarina's prayers for her own room. God went above and beyond what we had ever hoped for! Thank you for helping us pray! God has given us a miracle!

Rain!

This year we have been blessed with a lot of rain! Below is a picture of flooding near our apartment building. The water was about a foot deep at places.

Last year we had a very hot summer with a lot of forrest fires. Below is a picture of some of the forests that were burned.
There are companies who have been working to clean up the wood and dead trees.

McDonald's Comes to Yoshkar-Ola

While we were in the U.S. they completed the McDonald's they had started here in Yoshkar-Ola. The sign on top of the building is advertising a chicken bacon sandwich. There is an old green Russian van next to the McDonald's.

This is the other side of the building which shows the drive through. We have never seen a drive through here in Russia anywhere and were surprised that they included one at McDonald's.
Alexander took his nap in the stroller as we were walking around the park.
The blossoms from this tree were falling off like snow.
The lilacs are also in bloom right now! They are so beautiful!
It's great to see signs of spring and be able to go without coats!

A Day in the Garden

We are so thankful to Valera's parents who provide us with many vegetables from their garden. We went with them on Monday to help them "plow" the garden in preparation for planting. Below are some pictures from our day of work.

Nicolas enjoyed swinging on the swing they have there.
Zarina and Alexander enjoyed helping to water the plants. Alexander especially enjoyed it and did quite a bit of watering.
Nicolas also wanted to help and found a little pan to use. By the time he walked to the plants, there wasn't much water left in his pot.
The way many people "plow" in Russia - with a shovel.
We cooked some hot dogs on a fire for the children to eat.
Enjoying their picnic lunch.
Olga, Valera's sister, did a lot of digging.
Valera's father worked hard too.
Time for shashlik and salad. Valera's father cooked the pork shish kabobs on a fire.
Alexander after a hard days' work in the garden.
Zarina enjoyed swinging. We hope to have potatoes, carrots, red beets, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, salad, and many other things fresh from the garden this summer and fall. There are even a few strawberries and raspberries. We are so thankful for all the fresh fruit and vegetables we are given by Valera's parents.