OK, I promise not to post pictures of Valerie every day, but folks have asked to see some more.
I’ll send out a more complete update hopefully in the next few days.
We didn’t take too many pictures today. We start with a short video from breakfast:
Category: Family
Posts regarding our family
Valerie is home!
Some of you may not know, but Olga and I have been pursuing guardianship of a little girl named Valerie.
Valerie is the 3 year old daughter of Oksana, the orphan who lived with us a few years ago. Oksana is now in prison, and her daughter was placed in an orphanage earlier this year.
Today we finished the process of becoming guardians. We picked her up a few hours ago. I took the picture above of Olga and Valerie walking down the sidewalk to our flat in St. Pete.
I can promise that you’re going to see a lot of pictures of Valerie in the future! I’ll try to post more tomorrow.
Right now she is sleeping soundly in her new bed. It’s great to have her home.
Orest Maximilianovich Groten — 92 years old
Olga’s grandfather, Orest Groten, celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday. We had a great visit. Here Orest opens his gift of gloves and a scarf. This video will give you a taste of what it’s like in a simple Russian flat. You’ll see Olga’s grandmother Ludmilla Groten, Tamara Senkina a family friend since 1957, and Olga’s mother Tanya.
Tallinn
Earlier this month Olga and I went to Estonia. Our good friend Anya Kazak went with us. Anya has never been out of Russia, so this was a thrilling event for her. She loves medieval history and Tallinn was a joy. It’s a very well-preserved medieval town. We really like it there.
Olga and Anya walked the city while I did some work back at the flat.
Here are a few pictures from their stroll around the Old Town of Tallinn:
(click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized image)
A Grand Birthday
Yesterday was my 50th birthday. I give a big “Thank You!” to all who sent birthday greetings recently. I have been really touched by all the kind words.
Ten years ago, on my 40th, I was alone in a flat in St. Petersburg. I had moved to Russia a couple of weeks before and no one was there to celebrate with me.
I remember thinking that my 40th birthday should have been somehow more ‘eventful’, but looking back I see that it was an appropriate way to start my life in Russia — alone, with an unknown future ahead.
Ten years later, I celebrated my birthday surrounded by new family and friends in my new home. Several generations were in attendance, from Olga’s grandparents to the twin daughters of our good friends Sergei and Christina.
Olga cooked GREAT Mexican food (home-made tortillas, fajitas, refried beans, rice, guacamole), and Olga’s grand father played the piano; the very piano he started playing more than 80 years ago.
I am very thankful for this life. God is very good.
And I look forward to the next chapter —
click on thumbnails to see full-sized pictures
A Snapshot from Finland
I chopped some firewood today. It was good to be in the cold air doing some physical work.
I know of a small hunting cabin in the Adirondacks that has a sign over the fireplace: “He who cuts his own wood is twice warmed”. In Finnish it’s “Ken omat puunsa pilkkoo, sen tulee kahdesti lämmin”.
I experienced that truth today. I was warm chopping it and now I’m warm by the fire.
I know it’s a bad picture; sorry about that.
Snow At Koppero
This was the view outside this morning here in Finland — wet snow, but it didn’t stick.
Cantrell Pizza #1
For several years I’ve been wanting us to have a pizza night, like many people do. Needless to say it’s not much of a tradition here, but we need this tradition in Mother Russia!
Here are Natasha and Olga with Cantrell Pizza #1:
On my last visit to the States, I shared a pizza night with the Tomlins and the Coles in Athens, GA. That renewed my interest. A couple of days ago we decided to give it a shot.
We made our own pizza sauce, and we found a tasty recipe online. We used whole wheat flour (because that’s all we had on hand.) The dough was pretty good for our first attempt. It wasn’t a pretty pizza, but it tasted just fine. Over all, we’ve had a success.
Now we need to invite a lot of folks over for pizza night.
A Snapshot from Russia
I’ve just discovered some photo editing options in my software. So, I played with a picture I took earlier this year. Here is my lovely wife in the park across the street from our flat:
One Happy Russian
Olga (like most Russians) loves to hunt mushrooms. However, most Finns do not. So, while it can be hard to find mushrooms in Russia (since everyone is hunting mushrooms) there are a LOT of mushrooms in Finland.
We took the boat across the lake, and Olga hit the jackpot. Here is the evidence of her success (video and pictures):
Mike and Olga Cantrell 