Saturday...Diversion

Happy birthday Sondra! Hope you have a special day!
Today was a bit of a slow day. The whole town was celebrating their 62 year of independence from the occupation of the region and their 226th birthday. The streets were closed off and so we were not able to see the kids. Everyone was too excited to celebrate in Ukraine – we did not have the heart to push the issue : ). We did get to meet a lot of the neighborhood kids today. Dima is our tour guide of sorts (he is the landlady’s son and a really sweet kid). He teaches Jeff the Russian words for games the kids are playing and ice cream and all sorts of important info we need here in the “hood”! His big sister Leana came over today while I was running. I was very home sick today. Not hearing English and just being a foreigner can have it’s down points. I was thinking while I ran that I sure would like to have some sort of American something….. Well guess what? She brought a basket of fresh baked banana muffins (just like mom used to bake) with real American margarine. I was so excited! And so very thankful. I think I was still drooling when I told her so later. There is a playground right in front of our apartment and it is so nice to hear the kids playing and having a good time. Today Dima brought his buddies Daniel and Leana (not his sister). They were jumping around and having a good time. Came in for a moment to watch Spiderman with Nikita and Kostya. They like to block the door so we can’t leave (they like to get Jeff to throw them around and jump on his back). We gave them all 2 gryvna’s so they could go get some ice cream. They were gone like a shot. Sure made us sad – we wished we were giving Justin and Jacob some too.

Jeff and I walked around the city a bit and picked up some food – no, still don’t get the abacus thing – but the lady knows us now and is very helpful! They had some beautiful chalk drawings on the pavement of pictures describing their celebration. We’ll download pics tomorrow. Then we came back and watched The Incredibles – yes, we are reaching here – but the other stuff we had wasn’t quite as cute.

Kostya and Olga then took us downtown to the celebration. Wow – it was huge – like 10 Mullet Festivals combined. But the venders sold the same thing – just balloons and super expensive kid attracting stuff. The high light of the night was their fire works. I have seen lots of fire works – and some of the best were because of Jeff, his brother Jason and my brother Rob’s expertise in such things – and I can’t leave out my boys – but the show here was absolutely incredible. We were literally so close that we stood under them. Olga and Ira and I were laughing because it felt like a ride at Six Flags or something. We’ll also put some pics up tomorrow.

Another interesting fact about Ukraine is that they have not been trained in the art of putting on a “Hoedown” a “Shindig” or a “Hootenanny”. Kostya was very intrigued about the difference between the three and asked us to explain until he fully felt the essence of each occasion. So tonight, because there was awesome food we told him it began as a shindig, then we moved into the hoedown phase because dancing and singing began on stage. Then after the fireworks show and many people who had partied all day (and became a little roudy as a result) enjoyed themselves – well, we had a full fledged Ukrainian Hootenanny on our hands. Great visual for our student.

And now we are sitting here wondering how the heck our kids did at their games – please someone – we’re dying ova’ here! Let us here from you! Boys – I hope you had an awesome game and that you can imagine your dad biting his finger nails all day because he was so bummed he couldn’t be there! I pray you both know we have thought and prayed for you all day. We love and miss you! We have something special for you though that I think you’ll like. Kisses and hugs to our two awesome sons!

Sally, thank Marie for that direct line – today was a bit tough but it was sure comforting to know that everyone is still holding us up! Rob, it was good to hear from you! We got what you requested but now we have to go and buy more : )! Did you ever find Jacob’s shoe? Ruby, I sure do miss our morning runs. When I went yesterday and today I was so happy. Judy, thank you for having our sweeties! You are the best! Mom and Dad, I miss my mommy and Daddy! Can’t wait to see you guys and Sondra and John. This has brought back flashbacks when you guys went to Germany. Mary and Char, words can never describe our gratitude for what you are doing with our precious treasures. It is beyond words – we love you guys so much. And Cathy, thank you for your precious thoughts. Say hi to Mr. Blue. Hi Pam and Paul and everyone else! Could someone pray for a TV to appear???!! Just kidding…. We love you all. Boy have we had time to really ponder and know just how very blessed we are. Good night my family and friends – Please give us the scoop on the boys!