The big party - it was a hit!

Well, we pulled it off. The Jackson’s met me this afternoon to help me get the remaining things I needed for the party. THANK YOU TAMI AND STEVE! I could not have done it without you.

The children were so excited. The party started with a cookie on a stick (kind of looked like a popsicle, but it was a cookie dipped in icing) and a juice box. After the snack, we had an activity – we painted t-shirts. The caregivers were very confused about this paint and the tees. How did it work, can the paint be used for other things, how long does it take to dry, can it be washed. The kids had great fun. The painted everything from boats to houses to flowers and even a bunny.



Then Anya got to play Santa Clause…or Father Christmas. Each child got a coloring book, set of markers (crayons are not easily found in Irkutsk), a journal (they are all learning to write), a page of stickers and candy. The boys got a ball and a car (or a boat) that is like a llego thing, and the girls got Barbie dolls, and a little purse filled with hair bows. Anya then made a snap together rubber bracelet for each of the children. She chose a character (lion, tiger, monkey, butterfly) for each child to decorate the rubber bracelet.




The children all yelled “Spaseeba!” over and over again (that is Thank You).

Unfortunately, I was unable to get photos of all of the children at the party – something about taking pictures of other kids being illegal – so as to not upset Russian Law, the party photos are all of Anya.







Anya then presented each of the caregivers with a gift. They received a small perfume, cosmetic bag (small and large), and a shoe bag.

The head caregiver gave me a gift for the girls who sent the Barbie dolls (thanks Wegner girls). She is sending little Russian dolls and Russian candy.

She was very touched by this – and by the fact my friends and family would care for all of the children, and give them a party and gifts. She was visibly moved, and asked over and over again ‘who are these gifts from?’ and I would say “from my friends, their children and my family”.


I always gift gifts to the orphanage’s doctor, director and social worker. This time, I decided to also include the 2 security guards (kind of a last minute thing). I couldn’t find either one of them as I was leaving…but ran into my favorite security man on my way to the car. He reminds me of Nick Ambrose (probably why I like him so much). We told him there was a gift for him in the doctor’s office, and you should have seen the look on his face. He said “a gift for me? But why?” I said, “no reason, I just wanted to give you a gift”. He got tears in his eyes, grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek. So sweet!

I also got our driver a gift. Nice kid…23 years old! Very good driver. At the last minute, I decided to add a $20 to his gift. As I was getting out of the car tonight, I gave him the gift, and said “this is a thank you gift”, he said “oh, thank you so much, my baby will be born in 3 weeks – this is very nice, thank you”. Who knew?

Sometimes God moves you to do things, and you don’t know why. I have felt prompted several times on this trip to do something or give something that is outside of what I would normally do. It seems that God knows the whole picture and what that small token from me would mean to someone else.