Day 16 - Merry Christmas Eve!

We began our day with a visit to Shawna and Lindsay today since it's Christmas Eve. It was cold outside and we spent the last portion of our visit in the entry area with the Italian family that is here, too. We had a fun time ending our visit singing Christmas carols in English and Italian! Lindsay sure loves it when Lee sings to her. She would get close and watch his face and listen as he sang.

We were also able to interest Lindsay in the doodle board for a little bit.

We'll be spending Christmas Day with some new friends here in the city. They are having a Christmas Service with a potluck lunch to follow. I'm planning to make deviled eggs to take for that. With a little help, I managed to find a good mayonnaise and mustard at the small grocery store around the corner.

We went this afternoon to a Christmas Eve service with Brenda and Willard and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The music was amazing and the message was timely. The music was in Russian and English selections, and even one song in French. The message was preached in English and translated into Russian. Pastor's message was on God's blessings and he used the text in 1 Chr 4:9-10 about Jabez. He spoke about living a life that sets the foundation for God's blessings.

We sure miss our kids back home, but we know that they are well cared for and that they are having a good time.  I would say that the hardest part of our trip is being away from from our other kids. We've lived internationally before, so we're not having much trouble with culture shock or adjusting to the different ways that things are done around here. Each of us are is trying to learn a new word or two each day.

I hope that we can catch up with all the kids tomorrow and Skype with them for a little while.

May everyone have a blessed Christmas this year!

Paka!
Carrie