Let the parties begin ! Here and There

It is turning out to be a hard , cold winter in Kyrgyzstan.  Many are starting to feel the effects , including many of our team that are  battling the flu.  Lynn and Ruby are having ups and downs , Sergey and Anya and there family are mostly downs right now.  With this in mind, we have decided to hold off a bit on some of the Christmas parties at the orphanages ,.. we do have a bit of grace as the Orthodox Christmas is not until later in January so we still have a little time .   

Today the focus was on many of the folks that Larisa works with .. The home for the disabled, the families at the dump and the little village that we brought water to, and have come to love dearly.  Jengish enlisted  some help from the city from a group of volunteers that came to help over the Christmas season... 

Emma and Tanya with the team(this is Larissa in the pink - I thought it was Tanya at first too - She is looking so young)  

So they were put to work ... pushing the bus in to the village 

Every one was excited to see them .. and happy to know that they were not forgotten 

Larisa had everything organized , as only Larissa can do 

even the kids at the dump got a visit and some special gifts 

They were happy to see Larissa and the team... I was happy to see the photos of them

Emma and Tanya prepare the drink table 

Some of the team entertain ... what's a party with out a fiddle 

a big smile  .. a big thank you 

another big smile at the dump 

a special song from our friend at the home 

hitching a ride through the snow 

this friend got home from helping for the day and wrote this as her FB status       "What a precious day, we had 3 Christmas do's, for orphans, dump workers and men's home. Best Christmas party I've ever been to. What a privilege to be here with them. Great day."   I know exactly how she feels ... a true blessing ... a spiritual act of worship 

then, just like that it was over and  it was time to go ....

stay tuned . lots more celebrations to come ... 

On the home front,... or at least the Canada home front, we had a good day as well.  We are not really set for Christmas here yet , though we do have the tree up now.

 We have Jonah with is this weekend. We started early this morning with a trip in to our town hall.  At Christmas , a couple friends join us in heading up a Christmas dinner for any one in the community that is alone . Today we met there to get the tables set and the room decorated. Every thing is all set up now so that we will not have so much to do Christmas morning .     Then we had our dump and dine date , then down to see Julies brother .    We were having a hard time figuring out what to get them for Christmas on a limited budget, but then decided that a practical gift like fire wood might be appreciated.. I know we have appreciated that in the past , so Jonah and I spent a little time this morning stacking wood .  

then it was out to play with the chickens 

and go with Uncle Dan to feed the horses 

Not so sure about this one 

But the tractor he was all over that 

Mean while Julie stayed in to look after the baby ...

Tonight we were part of a live nativity in the Journey to Bethlehem   What a great time... a little cold out , but with the costumes and the fire it was nice and warm .   The entire back field behind our church is set up with little stations and villages that a traveller might encounter on their Journey  ...   

The three wise men sure looked the part in their costumes from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan 

this is Jonah and I at our station.. I was the profit... We had our Samovar going, and Chicken roasting on a spit on the fire ... Jonah was gorging himself on the little roasted cocktail weaners 

Here is with the flash on so you can see us a little better 

it was a great day all round .