To Izhevsk

Beth and I were able to take a trip last week to Izhevsk to visit friends.  As I've posted before, Izhevsk is about a 16 hour train ride east of Moscow-- but a one and a half hour flight.  We felt that it would be a good idea also to try out flying with Liam when the flight time was pretty minimal, and he did very well.  We found cheap one-way tickets and flew to a city about 3 hours away from Izhevsk, where our friends the Friersons and Wilhelms graciously met us.

Liam is so excited to see his Aunt D!

I couldn't pick a favorite, honestly.

Little pepper jack o'lanterns for our Halloween party.

Visiting Izhevsk gave us a glimpse of life in Russia that is not very noticeable or even apparent at times in Moscow.  It also gave us such an appreciation for our friends who live there.  While we were on cloud nine the entire time we visited, Izhevsk is probably like any other city in the sense that if you're not there long enough you don't notice the blemishes.  We were there a week, so every experience was something new and exciting.  I'm sure our friends love the city-- but we did not experience any of the difficulties that come with living in a secluded and limited city that they probably see often.  We are so thankful for our friends.  They've endured hardships I'll never even think about.  It gives me perspective when I get stressed over situations here in Moscow.

One of the most insane mullets I've ever witnessed.

Our boy band album cover.

On Friday, we traveled outside of Izhevsk to a village where we met with several friends and shared a meal and devotional together.  Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

On our return home, we took the train with Ross and Ricky.  Unfortunately we had waited to long to purchase a platskart ticket with them, so we were in kupe with Andre (middle-aged large man) and Olya (older but incredibly kind woman).  The train is always exciting and fun to take, but I am absolutely certain I can say that only because we don't use it often.  Things are definitely a little more nerve-wracking with Liam.  Most of our evening and night was spent walking him up and down the hallway of our wagon.  Olya really took to Liam, and talked to him nearly the entire time she was awake.  Right when she first walked into our room and waved goodbye to her friends out the window, she told us, "Give him to me," and proceeded to wave Liam in front of the window to her friends. 

Without a doubt, from the beginning to the very end this trip was quite an adventure.  Beth and I are more than grateful that we were able to spend a week with some very special people.