This has been a steady week of improvements.  The house is coming along nicely.  We've even been able to put up drapes, buy some plants, and decorate to make it feel inviting and warm to its guests.  And our children are thankful for the use of the new beds, warm new blankets and pillows.
           During this past week, there were two highlights and reminders of God's love for us (which we really needed).  First, an anonymous person placed a small pile of squash on our doorstep (butternut...just what we had been keeping our eyes open for).   It was such a nice gesture and came at the right time.  Second, on Tuesday we were at the Bazaar and, strangely enough, there was a good ol' horticulture fellow selling all of his most interesting trees and plants. This wasn't your ordinary run of the mill plant guy either.  He even had a lemon tree bearing fruit (about the same size as ours back home)...AND if anyone knows Mike, they know his love for odd fruit trees and exotic plants.  Of all places to run into a fellow hobbiest!!!!  The man also had a jujube plant that Mike's been looking for.  Needless to say, Mike was a happy fellow walking home from the Bazaar with a small fig to plant near the house AND more importantly, his new friends' website!

An Introduction, Shoes, and Ice-Cream (from Jen)

Meet Blue

I have an introduction to make! Everyone, I've posted a picture here, and I'd like you all to meet my little buddy. Her name is Blue. (Creative name, right? :)) She found me before we left the States and she decided to tag along for our trip to Ukraine. Anyway, I've posted some pictures of this adorable, blue friend of mine as she's been hanging around with us, and I hope to continue to do so throughout our stay in Ukraine. She'll hopefully give you a little peek into what we've been up to lately.

Prepared for Landing!

  We've been in Ukraine for nearly a month now and things are going pretty well. So far we've seen several of the kids from the orphanage here just from walking around town. Just the other day while we were waiting outside of a grocery store, we saw a boy we know from the orphanage! He and his friend came over and said hi. We were very excited to see him.  We've known him for a while now, and it was great that we got the chance to reconnect. It was something totally worked out by God.

A Very Old, Beautiful Cathedral in Kyiv

  A friend asked me what big cultural differences there are as far as Ukraine vs. America. One of the differences I've noticed is dress. Women like to dress up much more than they do in America. In Kyiv, very many of the women were wearing dresses or skirts. Dressing stylishly is what these women do well! I even found an ELLE magazine with another fashion magazine (I can't remember it's name) in the apartment we stayed in. And we can't forget shoes now, can we? Despite the fact that most Kyiv residents walk everywhere (including some steep hills!), most of the women were wearing heels- and the new, extremely high style nonetheless! But I did count a few handfuls of 'flats' and an occasional pair of sneakers. Here in the small town we are in now I've noticed that there have been what I would consider more sensible shoe choices: sneakers (Adidas, of course), sandals, 'flats', and heels (usually at more reasonable heights).

  I had plenty of time to observe all this one of our first mornings in Kyiv. Dad had plans to meet at 8am with our missionary friends  at the nearby McDonald's to talk things over. Even though I still felt like 8am was 1am, I decided to tag along. Besides noticing the shoe preferences of the Ukrainians walking by, I also saw people purchasing ice-cream at McDonald's! And it was just 10 in the morning! I must say, Ukrainians do like their ice-cream. And I can't look past the fact that our family is quite okay with that!

  

FROM MIKE....

Hello from cabbage central! 

       Yesterday day we added about 300 pounds of cabbage and near equal rations of onions, potatos and carrots to the winter stock pile which we will store under the "garage".  Apparently, all this stuff will be less available and more expensive come winter.  We see lots of people transporting their sacks of vegetables past the house.  It's funny to see old men with 2 huge sacks of potatos on their bikes riding past the house.  Obviously, we are loving all this!

Adjusting to life in Ukraine.

Finally a moment to sit and write!  This post may seem a little foggy.  ...still backed up on sleep. Okay, here goes!

Last week went fairly well. Better than the week before.  On Tuesday we woke early and set out to do some early shopping at the Bazaar to purchase as many tomatoes, eggplants, pickles, and any other summer produce we could find to do some canning for the winter.  That took about two hours.  Once all was purchased, we happened upon a taxi driver we knew from last summer. He even remembered Mike's name and was very glad to help.  So Mike loaded the taxi car with all that we purchased while the kids and I waited at the Bazaar for them to return.   Once we achieved that goal, we spent the rest of the day walking ALL over the town's shopping areas to familiarize ourselves with the stores and what they have to sell.   Amazingly, all ten of us were out from 8:30am until 4pm.  Yes, all on foot.  Isn't that funny?  We're always amazed at what can be accomplished in one day.   Mike bought the kids ice cream twice that day! haha!  It's a great motivator and energy booster!  We had lots of fun!

Then on Thursday, while some children finished up school, the rest of us worked together to prepare tomato sauce, salsa, and other things we want to have available for when, Lord willing, some of the children come to visit.   Eventually we all ended up in the kitchen cooking together.  That was a great day!  Hopefully, I can freeze some pizza dough this week or in weeks to come.  And also try to make homemade tortillas for them to experience.  

At this point we haven't had much interaction with the children but they are on our minds as we work to prepare for the winter.

On Saturday, a friend from last year stopped and visited.  It was good to see her.  She speaks English well enough to enjoy a visit.  She also brought her children so our yard had about 15 kids running around. (There is so much potential for this house.)  The children here love to play like children.  Climbing trees, throwing grass up in the air, playing hide and seek, sitting and being silly.  You'd think it was 1950something here in Ukraine.  Jennifer is even fully apart of all the fun.  God has blessed each child with someone their age to get to know!  He is a good and loving God!

Last note, Sunday was a blessing too.  A young couple came to visit us.  They are a kind couple who love the Lord, SO, we had a very good day of fellowship and talking about things of God.  (the husband speaks perfect English) That was the best thing that happened over the weekend.  

We like Ukraine and the people very much!