We have been having terrible problems with our water. One day it will be shut off for the whole day and then the next day we will have no hot water. But the latest, is that all we have is hot scalding water. And of course you cannot run hot water through the filter system.

We have hot toilet water which is very nice because when you sit on it it is all comfy and warm. But Dad keeps telling me we are going to break the toilet because the water is so hot. So we run the faucet until the water is a little cooler before flushing the toilet. We called our landlady and told her we were really worried about breaking the toilet and she said...not to worry!

So, this morning, I looked out the kitchen window and saw steam coming out of 3 manholes in the street right in front of our apartment.
This man in the gray jacket is being sent down into the manhole. That is all he wore. And no safety rope! But he did come out again.

Then they pumped steaming water out of the holes into the street.



This is the work crew. The man without the shirt is the one who went into the hole.

There was a little hot water down there because they pumped for 2 hours. And then!!!!! We had cold water! For 20 minutes. We thought our water problem was solved.

They had welding equipment down in the holes to fix the leak.

More adventures in Novosibirsk!

More pictures of the lake and trees at our picnic

President Softchuk and Dad taking down the tent that they had left the night before to hold the spot.

Oh, by the way, the two bottles you see on the ground are Kavac.

The clouds were wonderful looking and by the time we got home, we had a thunder and lightening storm.

More beach pictures.

This is the birch forest that surrounds the Ob Lake. It is man made for water storage. We went there for our branch picnic

Some of the young adults who are doing all the Youth Conference planning. Dasha on the left, Galya in gray are the Softchuk girls. We are going to bring this family back to the states with us. In the back ground is Sergei on the left who is the Young Adult counsel President and Zhenya on the right. He is leaving for a mission right after youth conference. Olga in white is a wonderful help, and she is always happy!

This is the picnic lunch on a piece of plastic on the ground. The main course was cucumber, parsley, potatoes, and onions chopped and then with Kavac (a bread drink that is the staple of Russia) poured into it to make a soup. Then we had something like a small hamburger (a bun with some questionable meat on it) cold. There was also sliced cucumber, tomatoes, bananas and apples. And for dessert.........Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies (2 batches of them!

A couple of the little ones playing in the water

Preparing the food.

Our bus ride out to the lake which is about an hour away. They hired the public bus, so it was nice with just us one it.

The ballet and opera house in Novosibirsk. It is just a very plain building after the one in Odessa, Ukraine.

We went to Swan Lake with all the Novosibirsk District for a culture night. The couple on the right are the Simmons, the office couple and the couple in the middle are non-member friends that came to visit for a week.

This is Dasha Softchuk who is 17 and in our branch. The girls are dancing at the dance we had after 2 days of counselor training for Youth Conference. We brought the Young Adults who are to be counselors for 2 days of training. Some of them traveled for 40 hours on the train

Here they are trying out one of the games that are going to be played. Inna (the second from the left) is a returned missionary, speaks fluent English and has been so much help with the conference

This is some counselors and some of our Young Adults. These people are incredible!

Here is early morning training in our apartment.

This is part of the park we walk through to get to church. You can see the poof (white) from the birch trees along the edge of the walk.

This is Sister Gorlava and Sister Tumochko after they had passed us on the way to church. They walk much faster than we can. Sister Tumochko is Ukrainian and went to the Youth Conference we had when we were in Ukraine. Sister Gorlava is Russian. The building on the R. is just another apartment complex with its little park in the center on the way to church.

This is more of our big park on the way to church. They just planted the birch trees.

This is our living room with a sofa in it now. Before we just had two chairs and the sofa was in the "library". But we don't have enough seating for the firesides, so I made Robert move the sofa. We also bought 20 folding chairs from Ikea and have 6 kitchen chairs, so we can squeeze in now.

This is piles of poof ourside our door to our apartment building.

This is poof in the park behind us. It looks like it has been snowing because it is about 3 inches deep. And when you look out there is snow flakes flying all over, and blue skies overhead. It is great!

This is the bullet train we took to Segovia when we were in Spain for our visa renewal. Ever three months, we have to make the trip somewhere. They go to Poland, Latvia, Mongolia, Kazikstan and Spain right now.

This is the Savchuuck family. Victor in front is the 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency. Nina is the mom, Dasha is 17 and in front, the blond is Galya and she is 20. They are a wonderful family. The Elders are Jensen, Swensen, Mayorov (russian) and Larson (from the left). They are great Elders

This family is going to drive to the Helsinki Temple this summer. They will take 6 weeks to get there and back, driving all the way. Galya just got her drivers lic. so will help with the driving.

This is our entry way with our new shoe rack from Ikea (everyone takes their shoes off when you go inside) and our area rug from Home Depot (sort of).

This is our electrical box. How do you like the two circuits wired together. and not even with electrical tape.

This is the 4 inch door. And you can see the locks. It has a steel core.