Back in Russia.... JULY 2011

We're finally in Russia!
(I, Laura, must confess that I wanted to use an old Beatles' song here...but decided to let it go :0 )
  We really can not believe this is July already!!!  The month of June came and went before we could catch our breath! As you can see, we arrived into Russia on the 2nd of June. (We had an extended stay in  Mongolia because we couldn't get tickets for the train back into Russia.) After a few days  of waiting, we took the train into Ulan Ude. We were greeted by our fellow worker and good friend Doug around 9am....made a lot of stops in the city, (we buy our groceries and bigger items there because the prices are better)....then off to the village we drove....arriving home around 11pm!
   We share a garden with the family that watches our fellowship building and were pleased to see that much of the garden had been planted. (It's usually done by the first week of June.) However, Kevin had wanted to plant more vegetables than potatoes this year so we set out for the garden and filled in all available space possible to plant corn, peas, three kinds of squash, green beans, carrots, tomato plants and sunflowers for the seeds. Hopefully we'll have good weather this year with some rain.
  Not to get too comfortable with summer life; we quickly realized we had less than one week to get ready for guests arriving from the States. They would be in Siberia on the 10th! (Remember, we've been back in Russia only a few days now...it's now around the 5th of June.) Our pastor from Sarasota and a dear friend of ours were coming to encourage and meet with leaders of the fellowships in the city and encourage the folks here in the village. After delays and a missed flight in Moscow, our guests arrived safely on the 11th....they were quickly fed and showered, then were off to speak at not one, but two different meetings and met with leaders afterwards! (All this after being up for about 48 hours!)

They were able to spend some quality time with many of the fellowship leaders in the city and the fellowship in our village.  It was an awesome time for ALL the folks here as well as a huge encouragement for our pastor and friend!

First stop in Ulan Ude......

Second stop in Ulan Ude....

Leader's meeting......end of day one!

Seminar held in Ulan Ude with many fellowships.

Seminar held in village

Day trip to Baikal to see the camp

Building a new 'mess hall' for the camps!

A new port being built on Baikal...if you look closely,
you'll see a great symbol on the fence........

Our guests left on the 21st of June and we began to settle back into life in the village. What does that look like? Meeting with folks to help settle differences correctly, discuss summer plans and projects, catching up on things that have happened the last six months, (drinking a lot of tea) helping a single mom with her two yr. old son....a drunk had grabbed him by the arms and shook him so hard it broke one arm....and so on. Our life here is never boring and through it all, we also learn so much from the Father and those around us!

On the 29th, we celebrated our 26th anniversary at home. We had hoped to have a vehicle by now, but that has become yet another story. Soooo...we bought the next best thing, especially for out here in the village...

Our transportation for now.....no gas required :)

We are thankful for:

• safe travel on the return to Russia
• a great time of encouragement through the seminars and meetings with our friends from the U.S.
• our home, neighbors and friends in the village
• ALL who so faithfully stand with us in the work here in Siberia

We ask that you remember these needs:

• a vehicle ( we came with what we felt was enough cash and find prices have risen!)
• wisdom as we make plans with the fellowship for growth
• to love those around us (even the drunks)

We are getting the food ready for our 4th of July party....we pray you all enjoy your holiday as well and please remember those who give so much so that we in America can remain so free!

Kevin wanted to add this quote......Be Blessed,

   Kevin & Laura

A quote we heard not long ago...wish we knew who said it...but it is worth thinking about...

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

Almost there!!!!

Greetings from Mongolia,
 home to Genghis Khan and lots of wind, sand and a very dry climate! This trip has been adventurous to say the least. It began with our flight from Tampa, FL to California....sounds easy, however, there were hailstorms in TX which damaged several planes, one of them was ours. Thus began the adventure....with much prayer and almost begging the person at the ticket counter; we were finally put on a flight through Cleveland to L.A. That wasn't so bad in the end as we were only two hours later than originally planned. (They had wanted to put us on a flight the following day.)
  We enjoyed our short time with Joshua and sadly said our goodbyes then set off for Beijing, China at 2AM. This part of the trip was uneventful and we both actually were able to sleep on the flight. This is where the real fun began :) Our layover in China was to be two or so hours then onto Mongolia. As we were making our way to the boarding area, we realized that our flight had been postponed....until 8pm that evening. The Beijing airport is enormous and beautiful, but 12 hours more didn't sound too thrilling to us! The reason for the delay was high winds in Mongolia...not unusual, so we were grateful for the delay. We'd like to give credit to Air China for then taking the folks from our flight over to a hotel for the day and feeding us lunch! (Not so sure that would happen in the US these days.) We were taken back to the airport that afternoon and loaded onto the plane on time...however, several passengers had some sort of visa and/or ticket problems so we sat on the tarmac for an hour while everything was sorted out. We did eventually arrive in Mongolia...only 15 hours later then planned :) WHEW....
 
We have train tickets for Russia and will travel on Thursday arriving in Russia Friday morning! After which we have a two hour car ride to our home in the village!!!  It's never boring when travelling half way around the world.

We can never say THANK YOU enough to ALL who made our time in the U.S. so amazing! To our family...WE LOVE YOU and miss you already....you are all so amazing also, sacrificing the most as we live and work so far away; THANK YOU!! We are humbled and honored to know that so many of you pray often for us and the folks we work with. We are truly blessed!!

An update on our sons: Joshua has found work and so will be staying in California - his new home. He's obviously excited to have found work and excited with another new stage in life.   Corey is not deploying...medical reasons kept him in the States for now so he'll remain at Ft. Carson. It's nothing serious so we're not certain if he'll deploy at a later date or not.

Saying goodbye to Corey as he heads back to Colorado.

Burgers on the grill in California with Joshua and family!

On the plane to Beijing!!!

Breakfast in the Beijing airport....

Kevin in Mongolia...finally! Gotta love the traffic here

Next update will be from Russia...Wanted to leave you all with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson....

"The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God before you"

May 2011

Hey Ya'll  (That is southern for Hi)

Wow it has been a while since our last posting...sorry for that but we know we have visited many of you.  Laura (our communication's director)  decided to take her summer break early :)
We looked at the last months and figured we've driven 13,000+ miles since Jan. 8th and driven to or through 16 or more states! WHEW.... We've spoken at so many fellowships, home groups and youth groups, we've lost count...we were in a different place every weekend from the middle of March to the first weekend in May!! HOWEVER, we have been soooo blessed! Visiting with old friends and meeting many new folks; hearing incredible stories of His grace, mercy and of healing. THANK YOU to all who shared their time and homes as we made our way across the country!
   We were able to get out of the snow in MO back in February...then it was off to FL for two weeks... then back on the road again for PA,MA, NC then back to FL.  Here are just a few pics along the way..........

                                                   Ahhhhh...Florida sunshine and beaches!      
                   

Kevin swimming in February...brrrrrrr

As you can see....my crazy husband wanted to be the first in the neighborhood to say he could get into the pool in February! He did remind me that is was still much warmer than when he swims in Lake Baikal. (The lake gets a warm :) 56 in summer)                                                
We wrote back in February about our time of training in MO...we drove back to FL for a speaking engagement/conference...then it was on the road again with Mass. as our destination. (Thankfully with time in PA to spend with Laura's family!)

                                                  Weekend conference in Florida.

On the road...rest stop in NC

Beautiful trees....signs of Spring!!!                                                                                                                                                        At least we thought it was Spring, until we reached PA and MA and saw, you guessed it...more snow and cold weather!   Guess folks didn't want us to miss out on that Siberian winter :) !!   We loved it!
The temperatures never dropped below 0 degrees!

                                                                      Finally in Mass.          

                                                               Fellowship in Mass.  
We were so blessed and encouraged as we were able to visit with friends and family and meet many new people. Love you guys!!!

                                     Kevin and our nephew on the battlefield in Gettysburg.

                                             Visit with Laura's folks in PA.....Yeah!!!
There is so much to share; this update could go on for days :) Just know that it was extremely busy but very fruitful. We were blessed beyond measure and hope that others received as much from us. We'll finish the journey next week....so please come back for a visit!
We are in the packing process and Laura is trying to stay out of  "panic mode." Thanks to all who have been so generous with their time, finances, places to rest our weary bones, great food, and wonderful fellowship!
We love you all and are honored to have been given this time in the U.S. We're here another week, so call or write....we may have a few minutes to see you!
     Love In Him,
   Kevin & Laura
       

                                             

Clear skies...for now

We promised more pictures .....hope you enjoy them! Today is the first day we've had sunshine since Tues. morning. Which means warmer temperatures...also means when the sun goes down, we'll have ice..yikes! Thankfully, we were able to get out of the area yesterday and take a two hour drive to find the FEDEX office that had a package we've been waiting for. Seems they didn't want to risk trying to get into where we're staying. [Quite hilly and the roads hadn't been cleared very well yet. Did we say we were in the middle of nowhere and took a right? :) ] In any case, we know many of you also experienced the megastorm and we pray all are safe and warm!

                                                             Monday's snow storm...
                                                

                                                              Tuesday's cleanup...

                                                          Not our car....we hope :)

        Our humble abode...cute little one bedroom apartment with a toilet, however, the shower is down the street a few hundred feet. It's kind of like camping...

                                                Lake view ....at least there was a lake on Mon.

                                        Training center facility...chapel and classes are held here.                                      

                                                           My handsome hubby.

        As you can see, we're surrounded by hills and trees....truly a beautiful place, even in two feet of snow. We will be leaving this coming week and heading back to Florida. Please keep us in your prayers and we travel and for the little time we have here. It has been a huge blessing, not only for us but for the work. We look forward to seeing more family soon and many friends in the coming months.
     Until They Know
      Kevin & Laura  

Finally an update...

Greetings from the snow of the Midwest.  At this moment the weather is calling for 12-15 inches today, sooooo we thought we would update the blog just in case we lose power today.

WOW what can we say we have had a busy month and a half since our arrival back in the states.  Starting with Joshua's graduation from BIOLA to where we are now getting further education before heading back overseas the end of May.

We had a great Christmas Holiday time with family in Florida, in fact Kevin's cousin and his family from California surprised us for the Holiday season....

Lots of family what a nice surprise 

Then we had a blast traveling around and seeing the Christmas lights, of course we traveled in STYLE.....

Our sister-in-law drives for a trolley company and treated the family to a cool ride around town!
Kevin's sister and her son were the next Christmas surprise...they were able to spend a few days with family in Florida and enjoying the sunshine!

Whew....THEN...we packed up the car to head out for some continuing education and training AND we thought...hey, we're only 12hrs from where Corey is stationed...let's drive to Colorado for a few days :)
We totally fell in love with CO and had a great visit with our son and some friends we hadn't seen in ages!

We traveled just ahead of the first bad snow in January and of course had to stop in Kevin's favorite place in Atlanta "THE VARSITY"  to grab a chili dog and the best onion rings on the planet....(you can tell Kevin typed this)

Then it was on to Nashville, we thought we were ahead of the storm......NOT!

This is Nashville...not normal weather

From there we traveled on to Colorado...a 3 day drive from Florida when you are fighting wintry weather.

We got to visit with Corey at Fort Carson and traveled up to Estes Park to see some Elk...what a nice state...

Yes this is a live Elk....we got close!

Corey and Mom...having a GREAT day!

Thank you all for your prayers for us; we have traveled many miles please continue to lift us up!  We are heading out now and will take some pics of the snow storm that hit this morning...if the electricity does not go out we will post more pictures today or tomorrow.

This last picture is what we looked out and saw this morning.....gotta love winter.....

Have a great day and check back a bit later for more pics......Kevin and Laura

Joshua's Graduation from Biola University

       Congratulations Joshua!!!!!

Proud Parents 

Family and Friends to share the moment!!

What a blessing to be able to share the evening with Joshua. We'll be heading to Florida on Tues. the 21st; Joshua and Corey will be with us over the holidays until the 3rd of Jan. Anyone that wishes to write Joshua a note of encouragement his address is 15270 Riviera Lane, La Mirada, CA  90638. We will post more when we're together. Thank you to all for your continued prayers as we travel this week. 


Merry Christmas
   Kevin, Laura, Joshua and Corey

Late post on Thanksgiving

Holiday Greetings!
We realized this year as we sat down to eat our thanksgiving dinner, this was the first year it has just been us (Kevin and Laura).  We discussed buying a locally raised turkey but decided against that for a couple of reasons: the first is that a locally raised turkey costs about $40.00 for a 8-10 LB bird...OUCH the second we would be in the states soon and could get a HUGE bird for about $10.00.  So we went out and got a "small" chicken at the store...(see pic)


Hey, I told you we bought a "small" bird...so  my hand is bigger but it was so tasty!!  Laura made some great cookies.  All in all we had a quite day.

Update on the barn
The barn has been completed and the cow and her calf will be brought in to the property in the next week or so.  There is room enough in the attic space to store hay out of the elements.

This should serve the needs of the fellowship for many years.

Wood Shed

We live in an area that has snow for 6+ months of the year, so this year we also added a woodshed to the property so we do not have to dig through the snow to get the firewood to heat the building.  

The woodshed is to the right of Laura.  It is really nice to have the wood stored out of the snow.  Hey it is not really that cold yet, we have only gotten down to -25 degrees.  The cold weather is coming. 

Keep coming back for regular updates!

Next update... project with School number 1 coming next week.....

Kevin and Laura