Watching mass...

Hello family and friends,

Today was Russian Orthodox Easter and we were stuck in our hotel room!! The only way we knew it was Easter is that Russian TV televised an Easter mass where former President Putin and the new President ?? (can’t remember his name) were attending the service. They stood for the whole service! I would have passed out. It was really quite magical and theatrical and I loved the choir and music. It reminded me of St. Mary’s choir (go Sue and Becky!!!). It was cute because when the boys wake up, the first thing we do is turn the TV on and find a cartoon and watch it before breakfast. This morning I was flipping through the stations looking for a cartoon and stopped on the mass for a few seconds and thought to myself “I would love to watch this,” just as I thought it the boys yelled “pois c etta, dah, dah, pois c etta” which means “leave it here, yes, yes, leave it here.” So I was more than happy to leave it on and we all watched the mass together. They love the choir and the “costumes” and the magical looking church and icons – I think so anyway. Other than the mass on TV you couldn’t tell it was Easter in the hotel…no bunnies on the doors, or egg trees, or egg displays, egg hunts, etc. The restaurant seemed slightly more crowded today and so maybe people were going out to eat for Easter or it could just be that it was Sunday, not sure. We gave the boys, coloring books with paints, play doh and a rubber duckie with bubble bath. It rained all last night and for most of the day today. It really rained hard and it was cold too. A part of the roof gutter blew off yesterday and fell to the ground by our window. Rich said “did you see the funnel cloud?” and I said “yes, yes” and then I looked out the window and realized it was a part of the gutter and not a funnel cloud! Are there tornados in Russia?? Hahahaha I called the front desk to tell them and they seemed concerned and sent the maintenance man out to look but I guess it wasn’t that bad because the piece of gutter is still laying out there on the ground. Tomorrow we are going out – downtown Vlad- to go sightseeing and shopping, just to get out. We were supposed to go this weekend but the weather has been so bad we postponed it. Today seemed like the longest day ever. Rich and I thought that it felt like three consecutive days all in one. After dinner, I commented to Rich, “Gosh this day feels like it’s going on forever, it seems like we watched the mass so long ago,” and Rich said “what? It seems like you were just washing some A$$?” Oh, how we laughed!! I said, “yes, and that too!!!!” The boys love deviled eggs! Vlady loves mayonnaise so we figured that he would go wild for them, but Alexei we were unsure of as he’s not too keen for eggs but he loved them too. We had them with pasta. We got two jars of some really good spaghetti sauce at the grocery store a couple weeks ago. Sooo good. We used up the last jar tonight so we are out. Most of the families that came to adopt at the same time we did will be leaving this Wednesday. So it will be sad to see them go and their friendly faces. I’ll have to get their email addresses to keep up with them. Wednesday night we will be going out to eat at the restaurant. The week will most likely fly by. We need to take the video camera out on our next walk so that you can see what we saw every day. The squirrel/rabbits, birds, trees, bay, trains, houses, and the hotel. We danced with Ellen on the Ellen Show today. The DJ was spinning a Janet Jackson song and so I got up and starting dancing and then Rich. Alexei got up and danced for a bit and Vlady watched. It seems like Alexei likes to dance…as he starts to move to the music and run around. Vlady will do acrobatics to the music instead, somersaults, cartwheels, it’s funny! I have already asked Vlady if he will be the field goal kicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers and he said “dah” and then I asked Alexei if he would like to be quarterback and he said “dah” so Rich and I will be set with season tickets in the future- ! Just kidding – they can be whatever their dreams lead them too even NASCAR (oh please no) but yes even NASCAR. They love cars so much. Carol and Becky remember that rash we would get on our hands when we were younger, like in between the fingers? I have that rash again! I don’t know what it’s from and why after all these years it’s coming out while I’m here in Russia. Do either of you still get it? I have it on my big toe too. Pano and Sperry – loved your story! That’s so funny…I wish you guys could be here with us!!! My sister, Carol is right, it’s a blog within a blog. Other people enjoy reading your stories too!! Thanks for being so generous. We can’t wait to see you all too! Katy and Paul, it is great to hear from you too! We told Vladimir to say his full name today, and he did! Vladimir Paul Clodfelter. He says Paul really cute. I had to breakdown Clodfelter into syllables for him but he got it right. VPC and ACC (Alexei Charles). Katie and Sam good to hear from you. Yes, I guess we need to remember to soak this time in now that we have together. And like you we are really missing our dog right now so we are ready to walk through fire to get home…which being on a plane with a 3 and 5 yr. old for 13 hrs. it just might feel like that but we are hoping for the best. The plane ride home will be like the end of the first chapter…how will it unfold?? We wonder. Happy Birthday to Sue and Elish!! We are thinking about you and hope you have a great day!!! Carol, give Jots a big kiss and hug from us (and to yourself too)

Love you all so much,

Jayne, Rich, Vlady, Alexei, Jotsi