Moscow, Abby, Anna

Moscow: I really am posting wedding pictures. It's just that most of them are of our family and our trip to the wedding. Anna's photos are better and show much more of Nathan and Masha and the actual wedding. Maybe I'll be able to get some of hers later.


Resting in Moscow
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

We stayed in. . .
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

the cemetery gatehouse. The wedding was in a small Lutheran church in an old cemetery, and we stayed in the other building owned by the church. Here we were going in by the back door.

Raia's "crib"
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

I arranged an extra mattress and a chair between bunk beds to make a place for Raia to sleep. It worked really well; she only escaped once.

The fun/scary stairs
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

That is, they were fun for Jaan, scary for Mama to watch him on them. He didn't fall, though, even with running up and down them constantly. The other set of stairs in the church was even scarier. I just told him that he wasn't allowed on them at all. Then I turned around and Raia had climbed half way up them. Yikes!

Abby: Our first day with Abby here was just as fun as we had expected! It was mostly quiet and rest, but in the afternoon we went over to the Korneichuks for a picnic with a small group from church. Abby and Will had bought one of the rare bags of marshmallows here, so we introduced everyone to s'mores. They heartily approved. We ended up staying out late again, but oh, well! That's summer in Russia. When we finally got home, Aunt Abby read Jaan his Bible stories, both in English and Russian. And then he fell right into bed. Today Will is going to Vladimir to register Abby's visa, since we forgot to give it to Ivan. I think Abby's going along to keep him company.



Anna: I didn't ask Anna if I could do this, but I'm going to share her first two Russia updates. Hopefully, she won't mind. I know many of you are interested and praying for her. Here is what she wrote:
June 7
We had a very good flight and the time passed rather quickly. We're a tad sleepy right now, but are trying to stay up and acclimate our bodies to local time. Abby and I both talked to Will and Jaan(our 2 yr. old nephew) earlier and will be seeing them tomorrow evening for my birthday. We're currently in Moscow staying with friends. Will's best friend, Nathan, is getting married on Saturday and I'm playing the wedding. The next couple of days should be fun, visiting with friends, and joining in this celebration of our "adopted" brother! Anna

June 10
Today was very long, but very fun. This is the day that we celebrated Nathan and Masha's wedding. Nathan is my brother's best friend. They met eleven years ago in Moscow, when working with a mission organization.

Abby and I started out by successfully navigating the Moscow metro by ourselves(second day in a row). We then bought tickets(another first by ourselves) and took the tramvai(tram) to the church, where we met our brother. The wedding was in a very small Lutheran chapel in a very old cemetery. An interesting fact- there are many Germans buried there, so you see headstones with both Russian and German writing. You don't see many cemeteries of this age, because of all the bombing from the wars.

The wedding was mostly in the American style. I played the prelude, grooms procession and the recessional. My pianist was from the Moscow Conservatory and very strict. She really intimidated me in the rehearsal yesterday, but I charmed her with niceness. =-) Obviously, she doesn't get that much, because she kept looking shocked everytime I agreed to what she wanted to do.Today she actually complimented me. wow.

The wedding was beautiful- I think I took a million pictures. My brother was a groomsman and my nephew, Jaan, the ring bearer. We took a bus over to the dinner, on the other side of Moscow. All in all- from prelude to the end of the dancing, it took nine hours. We were told that was a VERY short Russian wedding- normally they last around 15 hours. I'm exhausted, so I don't think I could handle a real Russian wedding. We were also told that if there's not at least one good fight(due to everyone being drunk), it is not considered a good wedding. hmmm. I thought it was a very nice wedding, but there certainly wasn't any fighting. We were all getting along rather well. Perhaps, because we were sober?

Tomorrow we are repacking and heading out to the Vladimir region. I'm not really sure what the plans are. I think I'm going out to the first camp and Abby is going to Kovrov with Will & Phyllis. If you don't hear from me for a while, that's where I am! Anna

And the latest on Anna is that she was supposed to go to Yurovitz, but at the last minute plans changed. She stayed in Vladimir, where she and Elizabeth are counselors for a group of little girls in this week's camp. Please keep praying for her as she ministers to the children!