Russian Christmas!

Merry Christmas, russian style!! On January 7, 2008 we celebrated Christmas! And Santa actually made it all the way to Nizhnevartovsk! The kids were sooo excited :) We actually had to wake them up! Chris came over at 9:45am, and Lee and I were just getting dressed--yes, we are lazy! Then we woke the kids up, and told them that Santa had visited us. Emma took right to it, but Paul had to wake up a bit before he really enjoyed the presents. In fact, he kept asking Emma to help him unwrap his presents! I was surprised! Thank you all so much for the gifts you sent! A big thank you to Grammie, Nana and Grandaddy, Grandma Gigi and grandpa dave, Papa and Mimi, Avery, Grandma and Papa, Mr. Chris, and Nana and Grandpa Novosad-- the kids loved the presents!! After we opened the gifts we ate breakfast and the boys (meaning Lee and Chris) settled down to play wii, and the kids enjoyed their new toys.

During the day, the doorbell rang several times---we couldn't figure out who in the world was coming over---so when we opened the door, we were surprised to see groups of little kids there! They sang a little russian song, sprinkled stuff on the ground and then held out a bag for us to put candy in! Luckily, I remembered Inna telling me about this tradition, so Lee ran to the kitchen and found candy to give them. It was really cute! I couldn't help but think that they missed the occasion for candy gathering by a little over 2 months :) hee hee... Anyway! We had a super holiday, and were sad to see it end, but as they say, it was time to get back to reality.

Hope everyone is doing well! We miss and love you so much! love, juli