From Russia with Love!

Svetlana sent Ryan a package that also included some gifts for us. It's been fun for us to Skype with her a few times and get to know her as well. She speaks pretty good English which is getting better and she has a beautiful laugh. This morning, while we were skyping her, we opened the box with our gifts. She was so sweet to think of us and send things. It took about six weeks to arrive.

She got Ryan and Michael new ties! She's really good a picking them out. They are beautiful ties!

She sent us some coasters with cute pictures on them. Right now I put them on display on our bookcase!


The background for these pictures is a beautiful shawl made from goat hair. It's so soft. I'm amazed at it! She sent me this cute Matroyshka doll. . .

That had ten dolls inside, the littlest the size of a pea.

She lives in Vogagrad and sent some refrigerator magnets with some monuments from her City. These are some huge statues honoring the battles from World War II. One is 170 feet tall called the Motherland Calls. It has 200 steps honoring the 200 days of the Battle of Salingrad (which is what Volvagrad use to be named!