drummond dreams

Blessings

2010-09-18T06:51:00.001-07:00

Lena's cat, Romeo.
A friend gave me these plants. All that I used to have, froze last winter.

I've been looking, thinking about how to get more seating for our "play" room where we have things for the kids to do while they are here. When I saw a picture in the Do It Yourself Magazine and thought of the doors that had just been taken out, I had to try it.Here are some of the pieces of our front door.

Here is our bench. The only thing I bought for it was some foam for the cushion on top. It cost 5% of the cheapest couch or beanbag I could find.

A quiet walk to the river.

A grain elevator is being built right behind our house on the river. We hear lots of noise of pillars being driven into the ground everyday. but the elevator should provide more jobs and help the small city be more prosperous.

In and Around Nikolaev

2010-09-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Recently we took one weekend off and went to Nikolaev about 25 miles from us and got a room. Here are some of the things we saw in and around Nikolaev.
On the walking bridge.
A newly built orthodox church in the center of town.

At the zoo.These tigers are quarreling over my pop bottle that accidently dropped over the ledge while I was taking another picture.
Skunks --in a zoo??? They aren't so ordinary in this country.

Lena got a cute picture of a monkey.

These are black swans.
We have seen horses at a riding school in passing by. We took time to take our teenagers there. They each got a fifteen minute lesson on how to ride European-style.

Flowers in front of the train station(above)when we went to get a train ticket for a friend. Beauty in front of drab gray--to me, it's such a contrast.

Close-up, the ticket line was long!
A child thoroughly enjoying bungee jumping at the riverside park.
Too big for sister's touch.

An elderly cashier at a pay toilet chatting with a friend.

The little white spot on the sailboat is a bride going out for a very quick whirl on a sailboat after her wedding.
This is how Charity and Nathan's car was supposed to be decorated after their wedding. We got the ribbon from Ukraine but it didn't make it to the wedding.
Liked the pigeons that caught in this pic of the sailboats. Couldn't have gotten them if I had tried.

A girl skulling in the river.

An ornamental light that Lena got a good phot of.
A lock placed by a couple on the bridge for good luck and to hold their love together forever.

Nikolaev is known for its shipbuilding. Aircraft carriers were built here during the cold war. We went to the ship building musuem. This is one of the many, many ship models that we saw. This was from the time of the Greeks in this part of the world.

And skipping up to World War II a very sobering sign. It says the people on this list were shot for possessing weapons.

People, people

2010-08-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our friends. I'm putting people here that haven't been on other recent posts.
VenyaNatasha K.

Sergai and Kolya are regular attenders now.
I loved the affection in this picture of Ruslana and Viola, sisters.

Dima G consented to one picture for Katrina so that I would stop pestering him, otherwise.

Natasha

Nastya and her two little brothers that she watches so continuously.

Maria, Lena and Mila

Angelina, it was hard to get a picture of her because she was in constant motion!

this n that

2010-08-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Lena's friend, Mila, had a birthday this week.

These little birds live in a nest just above the outside light above our door. Lena and Kent said they were the "Heritage Trio" from Penn View.

We made homemade ice cream for youth night a week ago. Everyone said the weather was too cold to enjoy it. (It was in the 70's)

Haircut time. The girl is training to be a professional stylist and is a regular. He needed a haircut. Our kitchen was the place. She used her equipment.

In past blogs of special events we caught this little girl looking over the fence into our yard to see what was going on. Her parents have finally given her and her sister permission to be at kids' klub and our services.

Going to the dentist is a family experience

We've been unsuccessfully trying to train Kent's pup. One suggestion we found online was to "crate" the dog at night, so Kent built a crate.

In good family tradition (Dave's mom heavily used duct tape.) he found duct tape as one of the handiest building materials.

Catch Up

2010-08-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

This was part of an answer to prayer as I worked on a new theme for kids' klub. The theme is call unto me in the day of trouble and I will answer thee. I don't know if it's doing anyone else any good but it's helping me.

The verse is the border. Each cell phone lists a type of trouble and one of the Gideon-recommended passages of scripture for that trouble.

This one says "tempted? James 1:12-16."

Way back when!! Dave made a "mystery box" for quiet seat for VBS.

Crafts

2010-08-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Before VBS I felt completely uninspired, especially concerning crafts. We had decided that puzzle pieces fit with our mystery theme. But I wasn't totally sure what to do with them. And our highly imaginative co-worker, Katrina R, had had to go home. I requested prayer on Facebook and did my best.

The children seemed to enjoy some of them. Some of them were left behind when they left.

Now coming to the last and hardest group of children to work with, we needed more crafts and we needed more attention applied to the ones we had. So Lena and I have spent the day working and reworking our crafts with these results.

This is a re-worked refrigerator magnet.

This is a pen/pencil holder for on a desk.

These keychain baubles look cuter in real life than they do in this picture.

My goal was to make the frame look lively.

The doorstop was the biggest surpise. It is a juice box, filled with sand, covered with wall paper and border and decorated with puzzle pieces. The monogram is a Russian "D" for Drummond.

This bookmark is a bit of whimsy from the first time around. The spots between the puzzle pieces are actually glitter glue.

Ready or Not--Here We Come!

2010-08-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

We didn't really feel ready but knew we weren't going to fit everything into the rest of the summer if we didn't get going. We got enough done the Friday before time to start the next week, to decide to try to pass out announcements on Saturday. We went out to the village, visited the two small stores and some of the kids who had been coming to kids' klub to pass out invitations.

Monday we had errands in Kiev, 300 miles away. Tuesday we got back in home in time to work but were "traveled out." Wednesday found us getting up bright and early to finish getting ready. We hurried as much as we could. We were there about fifteen minutes ahead of time but by the time we were set up, we were a little late. No matter, the children were very anxiously and patiently waiting. These three girls were among those who greeted us when we drove up.

God did help. You can tell how intent the children are on the activity of the moment by the expression on their faces.

The crafts were simple. Here is one boy helping a little guy with his craft. This boy has impressed us repeatedly with his determination to have a good attitude and to do what is right, no matter what the crowd does. Pray for Dima D.

And here is the whole crew on the last day of VBS.

What our helpers enjoyed the most was the quick picnic on the way home. This has become a tradition when we had to travel an hour to hold VBS. The Sturtevants started it!

These two guys are our oldest helpers. Neither claims to be a Christian but both have a hunger for God. Please pray that this hunger will outgrow any other desires in Artyom's and Dima A's lives.

Thirty Years and Counting

2010-07-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

July 19th was Dave's and my 30th wedding anniversary. He brought me this beautiful bouquet. The four of us went out on a date. His allergies were bad enough that for the first time in his life, he's been getting a rash and feeling the effects in his throat as well as the usual general discomfort and runny nose. So my sweetheart took some benadryl; we got in the van and off we went. (Yes, I was watching carefully for any increased symptoms.)

We are very grateful for the years God has given us together.

Baba Dina

2010-07-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

Baba Dina (Grandma Dina; grandma is a title of respect)has been coming faithfully to services in Ulyanivka. She told us she has lived for God for years and wanted to be baptized. We went to her house to try to figure out what she did and didn't understand and if she truly understood what baptism meant.

We found her in a simple village home. Black white photos hanging of her and her husband in younger days.

She led us into the living room where we discussed the steps of salvation and what baptism meant. She assured us that she understood that living for God meant forsaking any sin.
We met her husband.We finally made arrangements for her baptism.It was a backwards day, getting off on time, but getting stuck on field roads with a tractor coming to pull us out, making everything a whole lot later. The "normal" spot was occupied by fishers and swimmers so we went to find a quieter place. We sang her favorite song, a sort of Bible ballad about the husbandman and the fig tree.
Then it was time. Her daughter, who has very little to do with religion to our knowledge accompanied her into the water to help make sure Baba Dina didn't fall.

She came up as excited and blessed as I've seen anyone here. She was baptized and felt like she had been completely obedient so was ready at any moment to go to heaven! We thank God for her.

Her Fifteenth Birthday

2010-07-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Our youngest daughter celebrated her fifteenth birthday three days after youth camp was over. Being a "people person" she very much wanted to have some friends over and a Ukrainian meal.

On the plate, clockwise from top are: fried chicken, the American exception and contribution, vinagrette, (a beet, potato and carrot salad), varenki (piroshki or pirogi) with mashed potatoes inside, green onion and egg salad, fried squash, and a bite of fish salad. Missing from the picture are the garlic rolls. She helped me a lot in the kitchen and by the time the first friends arrived we were halfway close to being ready.
The real challenge for me, was the dessert, a Ukrainian layered cake. This is a Napoleon cake and has 11 layers. It's my second try and turned out a lot better than the first when I got the directions completely in English!!

Part of most birthdays are flowers. This is one rose out of a group of three that Lena received. (An even number of flowers is allowed only for funerals.
Happy birthday again, Lena! We love you and are glad you're such a friendly part of our family!

Bits n Pieces

2010-07-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

A growing pup.

A swallows' nest above our outside light. We've had one baby swallow who could only flutter and two who could fly quite well in our house this last week.

A big cucumber.--We canned 50 liters of its smaller relatives after youth camp. We wanted to use the leftovers and gifts instead of waste them.

Youth Camp 2010

2010-07-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

Kent in the water

Youth camp was interesting from start to finish. We had decided it would be better for the camp to prepare ahead of time. SO instead of me having three services on Sunday and picking everyone up, my husband had two services, Katrina had the other service and Kent, Lena and I stayed at the youth camp site, rested on Sunday and tried to prepare for campers on Monday.

Sunflowers at the beach, a mark of Ukrainian culture.How did they get there? I haven't met a Ukrainian yet who doesn't like sunflower seeds. Here's how. Seeds are dropped and washed around by rain and water and end up in a line along the beach Shells are plentiful on Ukrainian beaches but not very big. The beach here was more cracked shells than sand.
We very much enjoyed seeing ships of all sorts headed out to the open sea. By Monday afternoon when the majority of the campers arrived, we had cleared out a weedy jungle and set up about 17 tents. This is what the girls' side looked like before campers arrived.
Another luxury was a "toilet tent" that we had found in Middleburg, PA. Katrina said it was like the Ritz Carlton.I liked the fluorescent zipper pull!
But we weren't there for just the scenery. We went to try to minister to youth for God. We were there for people like Vinya who put his heart and soul into camp, raised in a church family.
We were there for boys like Vanya, Ramon and Nadia's neighbor who hadn't away from home before, a fellow who was often by an adult's side with a different take on things.There were services.

The hills figured into one illustration very well. We were talking about walking on the edge between God and temptation or the world. It was a simple matter to walk on a bench down where we were. But putting a toddler on the bench on top of the hill was unthinkable. We as Christians are as small in the face of spiritual forces as the toddler and need to stay off the edge. Here two boys carry the bench up the hill.

There was rain. Shirt before the rain.

Shirt after the rain.

The rain closed our camp down.
One teenaged girl said youth camp made her think.

Another young man said that he wanted to bring his friends closer to God after youth camp.

Here are Anuta, Lena and Lyuba

Here's what Lena had to say:

Our youth camp this year the best youth camp I've ever been to. We played games, went swimming, climbed mountains, sang songs, acted, and spent time with our friends. One of the skits that meant the most to me, was the one where a girl and her boyfriend went separate ways. She went for drugs and alcohol, but he went for God. When Jesus came back they were separated. When she tried to be with him she couldn't because she chose the wrong way. It taught me that, we will suffer the consequences for doing the wrong thing. Pray that God will help me make the right decisions.

Yalta

2010-06-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

For the first time in fifteen years, we made it to Crimea a very well-known resort area in Ukraine. Russians regularly enter the country to vacation here. Some are building houses in Crimea. We weren't in prime tourist area but were close, so took advantage of the opportunity to go to Yalta
This is what you see as you ride along the highway, glimpses of ocean, villages nestled on the mountain side, vineyard after vineyard.
One of my favorite things, a lighthouse in the port. I'm guessing there should be a second one around because a village had the name of "Old Lighthouse."

A person doesn't know how familiar, familiar things are until he sees them in an unusual place. This is the only place we've seen parking meters in Ukraine.
This is what caught Kent's eye. There was also a major display of other hot street bikes with costumes for individuals to get pictures on them. A picture cost around $8. He got a keychain for a souvenir instead.
For the same price as the keychain was another place where Lena donned a costume and we took pictures on our camera. It was MUCH cheaper than the $8.

An interesting boat at anchor.

Politics . . . this is the reason we were more apprehensive when Russia invaded Georgia. Crimea is officially its own little nation within the nation of Ukraine. The only restriction is that its laws cannot contradict Ukraine's laws. There are stories of Crimeans being given Russian passports. Here's a political sign recommending Crimea's union with Russia.

My family teased me about taking pictures of signs in such a place. But they do somewhat reflect the attitude of the country. This one says "with belief in the future."

Hats off to . . .

2010-06-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

this lady and her parents. She's Ukrainian, attended a holiness church in Colorado, lived in the US for 12 years and then returned home to a house that drug addicts had used, all falling apart, and with no inside water. They hauled trash off the small property by truck. Today the house is more than halfway to being what a small house in America would be. They returned for the sake of showing God to their people. They told stories of being interrogated. They carefully watch every kopeck in order to fix their house up. Every inch of their yard that isn't needed otherwise is planted as a garden.

Picnic in the Village

2010-06-28T23:12:00.000-07:00

One place that was hard for Katrina to get to while we were gone was Mikhailivka, a village where we had children's services regularly. In order to re-group our group of children we had a combined picnic/service for the second meeting.Looking up at wildflowers. A child had just romped through them making a beautiful unique shot against the sky. But of course that romp lasted seconds and I'm not quick so I had to settle for just the flowers against the sky.
Relaxing on the grass.
What better thing is there to do at a picnic than play with a mobile phone?
Lena put the smiles on these cupcakes for me.
Cuddling

Charity and Nathan's Wedding

2010-06-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

Charity and Nathan Purdy got married on June 12th. Bethany has posted a lot of beautiful pictures on her blog. Here are a few wedding pics that Allona and I caught that I haven't seen elsewhere yet.
The Bride's Bible being used in a quiet time before the wedding.
Caught a not too wonderful self-portrait of mother and daughter on the wedding day.
Charity and Nathan could not live through the picture-taking without a few words with one another. Her phone battery had died but she used someone else's phone to chat with her sweetheart in the middle of everything.
Nathan's dad. Some others may have gotten this pose.
And last but not least . . . a tender, curious moment between the Bible bearer, Davey Drummond and flower girl, Natalie Seeley.

Grandkids

2010-06-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

We made another trip to the US for Charity's wedding. When we told her we were on our way, she said she was making a list of things for us to do. It was an extensive list, five pages long!!! But God helped us to get a lot done. Most of it was working and cleaning the trailer on the Penn View campus where they are living.

Everybody helped some. David Neil came over and washed a window I couldn't reach. Kirk came and worked on moving towel rods. Seth changed the front door handle. Kent washed some windows. Lena babysat Davey and Dandan.

She took them outside, played with them and stopped to snap some cute pics. Here they are.
Dandan

Davey
the pair

Girls' Day Out--in the Forest

2010-05-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

Dave and Kent went to Kyiv to attend the funeral of Ramon's sister. Lena and I did some school, some housework and then decided to have some mother/daughter time. We walked around a mile to get there, watching a school girl leave us in dust, as speed counts.
The forest here is normally planted, hence the straight rows and aisle-effect.

When we got there, we started a fire and had a very traditional Ukrainian picnic: Cucumbers, baked potatoes in the fire and shishkabobs.

A House Full

2010-05-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

After service, we let the youth spread out and enjoy activities with others. Sunday night we had a house full. Outside was a crew playing volleyball. A friend passing by on the street heard the sound and came in to join us.
In another room two little girls played with dolls. Yes, there were two; one's gone for the minute.
In another place several were playing wii.

And in the room where we hold services several played on the piano. Although we have one young man learning the songs by ear, this girl was just enjoying making noise and posing.

Altogether, it was a pretty active bunch for awhile. Dave took the older people on home.

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-05-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

Our little neighbor girl graduated from kindergarten this year. The day began when someone knocked at our gate and asked Allona to braid her hair in a crisscross fashion across the back of her head. It's nothing like an American kindergarten graduation as you can see. Here's our neighbor in the dress specially rented for the occasion.

The ceremony consisted of quite a few poems including one where three children told who they were going to be when they grew up. One was going to be a politician with political clout like there is in Washington, DC. There were many dances, a few songs and one game.
Here is the graduating class.

Step by Step

2010-05-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

They're not really big items but they make a big difference in how easy everyday life is. I'm so grateful to God and to my family for helping make these changes.

Out goes the air mattress that we slept on in Ukraine for the last several months. Now our bed is fixed up again. The water mattress had sprung a leak a few months before we went to the US, the last term.
Up goes the clothesline. The old one was fastened on one end to a dead tree. The tree finally fell down, again not too long before we left last time. Clotheslines hold more and the clothes dry a lot more quickly than inside drying racks. I'm so glad they're up.

Our living room furniture was moved from a spacious room to a cosy one.

The air hockey table and wii were put in the old spacious one. But the walls had nothing left after I took breakable stuff down. So Dave helped me make some new decorations. These round oriental-looking fans.

And this modern art, not totally my taste but I think it fits the room's purpose.

Bunch of Pictures

2010-05-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of days after Dave returned we went adventuring down Ukrainian roads to find the place where youth camp was held last year while we were gone. We wound around awhile so it took time to get there but we enjoyed the place when we arrived. Here are some pics taken at that spot.

I don't normally take black and white but these trees seemed ideal for it, so.

Here is Vova's new pup.

Allona did this and took a picture. It goes well with the next one.

Dave is squinting into the sun.

Some of the flowers remind me of the story of Heidi. Literally masses of wild field flowers in about foot high grass.

Impatience

2010-05-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

When the welders replaced and fixed old pipes, they knocked holes into our walls about anywhere the pipe went through. This was the biggest one. A whole brick plus some stones fit into it. Since I was impatient to have my house looking like a place to live again, I asked them how to mix cement and went to it. I should have started in less visible places and proceeded to more visible because by the time I finished I almost had the knack of how to patch the walls!!

Tea, Anyone

2010-05-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted to invite an acquaintance for tea in an effort to form a friendship. The lady operates in social/political realm with which I'm totally unfamiliar. But she had offered friendship earlier and I wanted to pursue the offer.

With the house all torn up with the stone falling out of the walls and dust from metal pipes being cut and more piles of clutter and dirt being made faster than I could clean it up, I hesitated to ask. But figured if I didn't invite right away, I'd put it off forever.

So after the welders left, we scurried to bring the kitchen to a semblance of order so that we could offer this "tea." I made cake and cookies, added some fruit to go along with them. Our guest brought more cookies and some sodas. This is what our table looked like after our guest and her granddaughter left.

Po-o-or Morris

2010-05-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Morris is Katrina's dog who has to be shut up when visitors are around. He gnawed his way through the garage door.

Signs of Spring

2010-05-06T13:45:00.001-07:00

I stuck these pretty flowers that grow in marshy places in the logs of the homemade pier, while I watched Vova fish.

This young man is my favorite fisherman nowadays.
Our onion sets, just before planting
The fruit trees bloom one after another. I love their beauty and the sound of the bees making a constant hum above the blossoms.

Mom

2010-05-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, I was expecting it--the news that my mother-in-law had passed away. But the day I received the news it was as if someone had knocked me down, knowing that the woman who had raised my husband to be the man that he is, was gone.
Mom had a way of looking at the best in almost any situation and of finding a way to get things done. I love the story Dave tells of him and his mom demolishing a wall, leaving only the electrical wires to meet his dad when his dad got home from work.
Mom had a way of smiling her way through happy and tough situations.
Mom was behind her children all the way. I'll miss her so very much. As she would say, "I have good memories."
And though we'd like to have been able to keep her selfishly near a bit longer, we recognize that there's a time to let go. So as Bethany put it so aptly in her tribute, we'll just keep her in our hearts forever.

Heat, Coming Right UP

2010-05-06T13:21:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday or so, we contacted some welders just around the corner, to see if they could come put our pipes in order and connect our new radiators to them so that we would have a heating system again. Sergai, Vova and Kolya came to help us out. On Friday they measured out what was needed.
Monday began the serious work of cutting out bad pipe and piecing the good that was left with new. . . with one major interruption, the man of the house who knows something about these things had to leave.
But the welders went to work with a will, anyway and moved quickly from morning to evening. A week later, Monday evening, the system was filled with water and checked. The fellows walked past every weld and every radiator looking for leaks. In two places radiator sections had to be tightened closer together.
Notice the hairy stuff? It's part of any plumbing over here. This is horse hair that's wound around the threads of each fitting. In the past, plumbers used paint on top of this hair. Nowadays the fellows use teflon tape on top of the hair to make sure that each fitting has a good seal.
And although it is now in the 60's inside (without heating) and out, we're very glad to have a heating system working again.

At the Bedside

2010-04-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

The phone rang in the middle of the night. I knew my mother had been admitted to the hospital in the US because she had simply refused to eat. She was frail before I came to Ukraine. What was this call?

"The doctors say that she has pneumonia."
"Then it's time for me to pack," I told Dave as we hung up. "With cancer and not eating, she won't make it past pneumonia."

So began the journey back to be at my mother's bedside. I was packed and flying (a special blessing to get a decent ticket so soon) within twelve hours. I had an overnight layover in Paris but I was too tired to be interested in the city, so stayed in the airport.

Flowers brought to Mother in the hospital.

I arrived in Bloomington at the hospital on Wednesday morning and was gone one night during the time of Mother's final hospitalization.

As a nurse, I tried to pitch in and help the nurses on the floor with their care of Mother. Most of the time she didn't seem aware that I was there. Other family members came in most days. Other visitors came. In the first days, she tried to chat to a couple.

Daddy and his sixth great-grandson Wyatt, whose smiles broke up the sadness. (Thanks Rachel and John for bringing him.)

I was excited to become friends with some of the nurses. I hoped and prayed that I would reflect Jesus.

Both my brothers decided to stay through the night on April 2nd. Since they were at the bedside, I had gone to lay down awhile when one of them came to call me. "Mother has stopped breathing."

The next few days were full of funeral and traveling arrangements. Each of us felt quite inadequate for the situation.

But I guess each of us did what we could for a dearly loved person. Daddy's hand holding Mother's in hospital.

Answers to Prayer

2010-03-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

This week has had several answers to prayer. . . and there are of course, several challenges left.

One answer to prayer: the mechanics found the problem with our van. Jason had narrowed the non-working part down to the injector pump. We thought it would have to be rebuilt or we would have to get a new one. Something was wrong with the wires going to the pump. Here's Allona washing it as part of our Sunday preparation.

Here's another: my husband is as well as can be expected starting into spring. He has severe allergies to pollen. That puts him bed normally once or twice a season.
He started cutting the pipes with a grinder. Dust and rust started flying. His eyes got red. He started sneezing and acting like he didn't feel good at all. I gave him some medicine . . . no quick improvement. I couldn't help with the work, but I could ask God to help my husband. Five minutes later I returned to check on him and the red eyes and sneezing were gone.

Radiators are sold in single rib-like sections here, each rib costing around $10. Downstairs almost every rib had frozen and burst. Upstairs maybe a third are affected so if we can take the bad ribs out and reconnect good ribs to each other, we might not have to replace all the upstairs radiators.

And the best for the last: Since my house is quite torn apart in spots, I haven't invited company in, especially one lady who has been on my mind a long time, a police inspector. She's not at the bottom in her job and I haven't been around her much but she wanted to be friends with me. Much to my surprise, I had a chance to talk to her today in the bazaar. She said she had called me on the last holiday and hadn't been able to reach me.

As for challenges? We discovered another leak in our water system outside today. Katrina's heating system still requires work in the offices and physically in her house. Ours still requires major work. All the radiators are off the walls. Trying lead God-annointed services is another. Building relationships and working with people is a third.

Water from the Faucet!!

2010-03-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

Monday, everything was completed and we once again had water from the faucet!!
No, it doesn't compare with the Living Water that springs from the rock that satisfies. But it is pretty nice!!!!

Picture perfect snow

2010-03-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the view from the window of our cozy living room: the shed, woodpile, back fence and the fruit and nut trees beyond, covered with fluffy snow.

Here's the rather disheartening view of our trench dug for water pipes all filled up with water because of a broken valve.

Blessing of Progress

2010-03-12T23:43:00.000-08:00

From all the walking in the cold, my husband has been dropping weight without trying! And he's not been feeling so well.

So it was a special blessing when Jason came down from Osikova in a running vehicle and with tools to make some progress. Here the broken radiators are starting to come down off the walls.

Kent is getting the fitting off the end of a pipe.

Normal and Abnormal

2010-03-12T23:39:00.000-08:00

Our belongings are in place as much as they are going to be for now, so we started school. It brings a little bit of normal to our not-so-normal lives. Can you find the things that are not so normal in these pictures??

Sunday Adventures!

2010-03-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

I got up in a bad mood this morning. I decided to praise God for all the things that were working instead of those that aren't. I was in the middle of my praises and my thoughts, hadn't gotten to these pictures yet, when the doorbell rang.

One thing I'm thankful for is whole milk that we get from a neighbor two doors down.
I'm thankful for the heaters that we do have. This is a makeshift propane heater that helps a lot in the kitchen.
I'm very thankful for water in the cistern that we can bring in, in buckets to use in our kitchen, and we have OPEN DRAINS so we don't have to carry it out again.
At the gate was a stranger who knew the language of churchgoers, here from Uzbekistan. He said that he needed help on a train ticket to Russia and wanted to get warmed up after spending the night in an appartment stairwell.

We gave him breakfast. He asked for a razor and wiped his clothes off so that they would look cleaner. After a lot of discussion, Dave went to take him 25 miles to Voznosensk to the train station. He said the trains left on uneven days. He said tomorrow was his birthday. When it came down to it, he had no passport so he couldn't go to Russia.

Dave left with him, planning to be back in time for Sunday lunch, the children's service and evening service.

No more than fifteen minutes after he left, the doorbell rang again. A gypsy lady was there asking for food, then particularly flour, gloves and old shoes. Allona gave her some stuff and ignored her further requests.

About noon, I was expecting to find Dave a few miles away on his way back. Instead I got a phone call that the van had broken down.

He found a mechanic that would look at it. He had to get a tow by standing by the highway with a cable. He spent all afternoon until the evening without finding out the problem with the van.

So we have one more thing that doesn't work!!

But I'm thankful anyhow that we're safe and warm. I'm thankful that we have good health. I'm thankful that God is on the throne and knows what He is doing!

Potholes

2010-03-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

This is the best picture I've gotten of the roads recently. They are on a main highway, the road to Nikolaev. Where's the road? ? ?

Moving Back into My Room

2010-03-03T02:38:00.000-08:00

This is what it looked like when I started cleaning it. This is what is looks like now. Notice any difference?
--Allona

Warming Up

2010-03-03T02:36:00.000-08:00

Katrina came to our house to help us clean. It was so cold we kept the fire going on our stove and turned our oven on. Katrina and I sat by the oven and talked. We got tired of sitting so we stood up. We thought we would be warmer if we hugged.--Allona

Yikes! It's a Rat!

2010-03-03T02:32:00.000-08:00

Soon after we got back, we started cleaning our house. I was in my room, cleaning it when Mom called me.
I went downstairs to see what she wanted. She asked me if I was brave enough to take a rat outside. At first I said no way. Then I thought if nobody took it out then it would stink up the house. So, I took two small plastic bags, one for my hand so I would have to tough with my bare hands and the other one to put the rat in it. When I started putting in the back it felt like I had ants crawling all over me. It was awful.
Then I tried to get Mom to take a picture of me holding. The thing was she was in the middle of making bread, so her hands were covered with doe. I tried to take it myself and this is what I got.

When I saw how big it was I desided to measure it. It was thirteen inches long. I think that is the longest rat I have ever seen. --Allona

Good Visit

2010-03-02T12:20:00.001-08:00

Once we had our own vehicle we stopped by Allona and Vova's birth mother's home for a visit on their return to Ukraine. We had a good visit. Here are the three siblings.

And keep checking our blog for Allona's rat story!!

End of Winter

2010-03-02T12:14:00.001-08:00

It appears that we've arrived in Ukraine just in time to catch the end of winter. It's a good sign that the cone-shaped piles of sand along hills on the highway used for the snow and stuck cars were being picked up in our region today. However, this is what it looked like when we came.

Cars sitting along the side with breakdowns were frequent as we travelled. We're so thankful that nothing gave out on our van when several parts on the front end were pretty bad.

Not So Hot

2010-03-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

We've sent out by an email about our heating system. Pictures don't capture the musty smell or the puddles of water.

Here are a couple of pictures.

The snow blew into our attic as well and did this damage to our ceiling.

The good news is that better radiators are on sale right now for a price less than replacing the old radiators. Another bit of good news is that none of the drains were frozen in our water system.

We are now living in our house with the temperature in the 50's in the rooms that we sleep in. We haven't done too much on our radiators because we've been trying to help Katrina with her heating system.

The bad news is that the natural gas was cut off from Katrina's house (about three days after we arrived in Nova Odessa) which takes away the main source of heat there. She is now surviving with two medium-sized electric heaters.

To get the gas heat turned back on, required the signatures and inspections of multiple government officials, as in a list of 20 documents and an inspection.
Dave has been going from office to office most days until he gets as far as he can in one day. The inspection turned up a list of minor and major home repairs that were needed. A gas meter inspection showed that the previous owners had tampered with the meter, so there will be fines to pay.

We're glad to be serving God whose ways are high above ours and who is everything good. We know He knows about each problem. We're waiting to see the good things that are going to happen.

All Grown Up

2010-03-01T06:31:00.000-08:00

Because ours was the only vehicle running out of the three, Sturtevants', Katrina's and ours, our VW has to be used to do the errands for the next day after we arrived in Ukraine.

They had youth night on Friday night and these children came in.

We prayed with the grandma of this girl because the girl's dad took drugs and the grandma greatly feared the results it would have on the child.

This boy sticking out his tongue, was premature a dangerous condition in Ukraine and spent around a month in the hospital before the prayers and worries were over and he could come home.

This little girl's dad committed suicide when she was less than six months old. We had a small part in his funeral and spent some time with her family.

Good-byes

2010-03-01T06:16:00.000-08:00

In Indiana, my mother likes to watch the squirrels on her back porch. Andy throws food out so that they will come up. Here, they're having a breakfast of dry cereal while Mother and I watch from the window, the last time before we headed to Ukraine.

In the Middle of Moving

2010-03-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Even in the middle of packing up our house in PA, my fellow didn't forget Valentine's Day. Roses and a good book to read. Who can beat it?

Old Faithful

2010-03-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

This van that we bought in Oregon has carried us miles and miles. It holds many memories starting with the first one where Sis Tilford led us to a friendly dealer who offered us something we could afford.

So when we drove it into the scrap metal place that other friends had recommended, it was with a touch of nostalgia. When the guys asked us why we were scrapping it instead of selling it, it felt like we were getting rid of a faithful pet!!

For Dave

2009-09-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

These pontoon planes were at the Willow plane dock across from the airport in Willow, Alaska. I actually saw one flying about an hour before this. There was a small business advertising excursions into remote parts of Alaska, hence the pontoon planes.

Alaska

2009-09-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

The name brings thoughts of snow and cold. Looking from the plane window, all I saw were mountains and more mountains, most of them covered with snow.

And (Andy) I saw a couple moose as we were landing, so maybe I won't have to stop on the road!!! I didn't get a picture, though, hm-m!

In spite of the snow-covered mountains, summer flowers were blooming outside the airport and it was forty-something degrees.

New Friends

2009-09-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Allona and Vova made some new friends in Franklin, PA on Sunday when we visited the Wesleyan Methodist church.

Grandchildren

2009-09-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a Kodak moment that our son caught of our two grandsons the other evening. I tried about six shots. They were moving in all of the ones where the lighting was better!!

Starbuck's Experience

2009-09-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

Among coffee-lovers, we hear over and over about Starbucks!! (Uh-huh, Katrina, your name is included here.) So we wanted our younger coffee-lovers to get a chance just once to see what it was like. Here they are.

Georgia

2009-09-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

Can't finish off my pictoral journal without pictures of our stop in Georgia, even though it's been most of a month ago. I've been wondering how much the flooding has affected the areas we were in.

Brother Dennis Hartman took us for miniature golf and then to the paddleboats. Allona and I stopped to enjoy the water lilies.

This train really attracted my attention because it reminded me of Independence, KS and then had a plate on it that looked like it had something to do with PA as well.

The children really enjoyed the sirens and lights of this fire truck. Thank you friends for showing us around.
Here's Dave and Brother Hartman shooting the breeze. (Another privilege of being home, men to chat to.)

We visited the Bible Methodist church and parsonage in Columbus. The Goings had a new pet.

And here are the rest of the Hartmans, Gail and Susannah.

Camping

2009-08-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

When given the choice our family chooses to camp most of the time. We prefer state parks where we have scenes like this. The raccoons especially liked the ice cream that spilled on the table and the ice cream carton that we were waiting to throw on the campfire.

This was Allona's alarm clock and Vova's congregation!! I don't think I got the whole group. This was in a private RV campground. Most of the time our pop-up looks pretty out of place in the middle of nice motorhomes.

Yellowstone

2009-08-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

When we looked at the map going from Mitchell, SD to Emmett, ID the route was over 200 miles shorter going through Yellowstone. We have never been there. So we chose the shorter route. : )

One of the first sights was this moose. This was as close as my family wanted me to get and the best my telephoto would work.

Another sight was Yellowstone lake. Here are our children goofing off in front of it and then a scenic shoreline view.

A pond of lilypads.

The Yellowstone tour bus.

Daisies at the roadside.
We went right by Old Faithful so we stopped.

Around the "mud pots" the mud has strange colors from the minerals in the water.

Another hot spring called blue star because of the colors in the water.
"Is Old Faithful ever going to blow?"

YES!!!

Deputation

2009-08-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Going from church to church and home to home and visiting with different people every week. Travelling miles and miles and miles and miles . . . It looks like an extended sightseeing tour by the looks of our blog. I've posted some of the sights on the blog but it's more.
It's trying to convey a "binocular" glimpse of Ukraine to people who have never been there. It's trying to convey a sense of the concern for people who need God and a bit of an idea of what missionaries do.
It's trying to say what God would direct us to say and to reflect on a weak, limited human level His glory.

Wall Drug

2009-08-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

We stretched our legs in Wall, South Dakota, stopping at Wall Drug.
This is what I liked best. An almost real-looking jackalope.

Ottawa

2009-08-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

A project that Dave helped on in Ottawa, Kansas was fixing up this church sign.

For Mom

2009-08-19T06:32:00.001-07:00

We didn't pick them but we thought of you when we saw them and got the picture for you.

Strange Buggy

2009-08-19T06:29:00.001-07:00

We saw this big grocery cart on a trailer in Iowa. It has a car-sized engine down below. The driver sits in the purse/child basket up high.

Travel Thanksgiving

2009-08-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

I would guess that we've hit the 20,000 mile point on deputation. To date, we've had no serious vehicle problems. Dave has done some general maintenance.
The only emergencies have been replacing tires.

Indiana

2009-08-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

In Indiana we went to Greenbriar Holiness Church where Vova was attracted by the pastor's cool motorcycle.

And to my parents where we celebrated Daddy's 82nd birthday.

We tried to help out a little around their place, too.

Beauty

2009-08-07T14:56:00.001-07:00

The elderly women in the conservative Ukrainian churches love to sing a song about Lake Genesaret and how it reflected Jesus' image. The song says I want to be like that lake on a clear day and clearly reflect Jesus. That's what I thought of when I saw this lake.
And here's another bit of natural beauty at the side.

Missouri

2009-08-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

We went to three churches in Missouri, this time through. Our children had time for learning activities . . .!

At Granby, Vova had a chance to try on a volunteer fireman's uniform.

Allona and Vova both enjoyed fishing in the privately stocked pond.

Even Dave took a short spin.

New Mexico

2009-08-07T14:31:00.001-07:00

From California we travelled to Torreon, New Mexico. These beautiful rocks were in the desert in that neck of the woods. It's Vova sitting on top.

I really like quirky, different things. So do most of my children. That's why when I saw someone putting on this pair of socks I couldn't resist the photo.

This slender fellow made my family jump. He was collected dead on the road especially for those who hadn't seen a rattlesnake.

We rested one afternoon.

Then we worked the next day getting ready for Keep Youth Camp. Allona and Vova emptied the shed, checking for traces of little squeaky rodents.
Vova helped Nathanael fix the fence and gather firewood and . . .

One of the youth activities is to see who can climb this mountain across the valley. We are looking at it from 7,100 feet or so. Darwin McCasland holds the record, making it in 15 minutes.

Down to Los Angelos

2009-07-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

I spent a good part of the day on the phone as we traveled to LA, confirming and scheduling services.

But when we got there, God blessed us with a good service in San Bernardino. It was a real encouragement to see a church that was closed a few years back up to an attendance of 43 with new converts.

The members were kind enough to feed us pizza after service and do a quick addition so that it was a birthday party for Allona. Her birthday was Sunday, July 12th. Here's the cake.

A couple of new little friends for Allona, this time
.

Maybe the highlight for Allona was pretending to drive Sonya's cool Mustang!

After this service we met Rita and Marta who had visited Katrina and us in Ukraine. They took us to an excellent restaurant where we ate all we could hold. Then we went to watch firemen fight a fire in Pomona. Two houses were a total loss and everything behind one house up to a stone wall. We watched around an 1 1/2 hrs because Vova was totally fascinated.

On Sunday, Rita and Marta went to the Church of God Holiness (that Katrina had introduced Rita to) with us. After that they took us for a picnic at the Pacific ocean in Santa Monica. Vova started to bury Rita in sand.

There was a peace demonstration on the beach.

The Santa Monica skyline.

Because we had many more miles to go to the next stop, Saturday we had filled our car with gas and lots of drinks in the cooler as we left Rita and Marta to head across the desert toward New Mexico. We stopped driving in Kingman, Arizona about 1:30 am.

Time with Cee

2009-07-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday was reserved for Cee, Dave's sister. She brought a healthy breakfast to our campsite and then we took off sightseeing. Cee in mining hard hat. We went into the Gold Bug Mine at Placerville,CA.

Allona is listening to the guide's explanation on this instrument.

Vova enjoyed the American River where James Marshall discovered the first gold in CA.

The day ended with a good time visiting Dave's niece and children in Davis. We loved it guys, thanks!

For Seth and all other VW fans.

2009-07-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

I looked twice when I heard the melody for the summer ice cream truck going down the street by Shevelenkos because this is what I saw. The policemen actually stopped him in the grocery store lot the next day and that is where we got this picture.

Shevelenkos in the USA

2009-07-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, they ARE here, even though Tanya still finds it hard to believe. They are taking English classes Monday through Friday. Their house is furnished with gifts from Ukrainian church people.

We came here close to Allona's birthday. She had a lot of fun with her friends--first was a water fight.

They went to service with us. We translated most of the service into Russian. We spent some time with the pastor after service. Alyosha especially seemed to enjoy himself..

Little Timothy enjoyed this car stroller. His dad was quick to shut the gas cap.

The Vortex

2009-07-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

At certain spots in the earth the magnetic lines cross creating a whirling vortex of magnetism. Our very good friends, Lee and Anna Tilford took us to see this spot. All kinds of strange things happen here. Water really does run uphill in this place.

Here's an example of people of different height standing on a level platform in two different orders. Only the vortex is making their heights look so different from one time to another.

Ashland Camp

2009-07-13T22:52:00.001-07:00

We arrived on the Fourth of July. I wanted Allona and Vova to see our country's fireworks. But once our pop-up was set up, I lay down and was dead to the world!

We saw old friends.

We met new friends.

We have fun friends. These sisters are doing the see no evil, say no evil, hear no evil.

We had a service. I felt like I was groping for words but I'm praying that God would use our weakness.

We had one little friend who didn't want to part from Vova until the very last minute. Here's Willie, still in his pajamas spending his last few minutes with Vova, even while the pop-up is being taken down.

Travelling

2009-07-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Safely back in the US. There were several tense minutes when the transatlantic flight was delayed for 2 hours and 20 minutes and my layover in New York was supposed to be for 1 hour 45 minutes. First blessing, the plane was only 1/2 hr late on arrival in New York. Second blessing, I went through passport control, had no baggage to claim, went through customs and booked it over to the domestic termnial, checking in immediately. When I arrived at the gate to my next flight, they were already boarding. I had 5 minutes left before I would have arrived too late to be safely accepted on the flight. Dave met me in Tulsa asking, "Why do you look so much more tired than the others getting off the domestic flight?" : - )

Then we began making all haste to cross the miles to Oregon. We were looking for a camping spot the first evening near Denver, CO when we saw .this beautiful sunset. It reminds me of the "path of the righteous shining brighter and brighter." . . . and the Shining Path/Shining Light Sunday School papers that Old Paths prints.
This is what you call being bored!!

Towering rocks . . . just a teensy, weensy crumb of God's majesty.

This isn't snow. It's salt on the desert outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Morton salt-processing plant wasn't too far away. Allona decided she didn't like salt any more after she saw this--for two days.

For the guys, there's a straight race track in the Salt Flats where cars race using jet engines and parachutes to brake. The top speed to date is 622.407 miles ber hour.

From Elko, Nevada we headed on. At Deniou Junction, OR (sp?) in the middle of 150 miles of desert we found this sign and this filling station. With the mention of Moscow we thought of Charity in Russia. Gas was $4.35 a gallon.

Desert flowers are an inspiration to me. They are so beautiful, especially in the middle of the hot sun and scrub weeds otherwise. They remind me of a Christian's beautiful life in the middle of a sinful, weary world.

2009-07-13T22:36:00.001-07:00

Back for the third summer, Faith is again an invaluable help in Ukraine.

Future MK's???

2009-07-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey listening to Dima's music

Emily

Gracie

These children are in Ukraine because their parents feel that God is calling them (the families) as missionaries. Sorry I didn't get pictures of Shelby and Seth. I was especially trying to get some of Jeffrey and Emily because their parents weren't near at the moment with a camera like the Applings.

Last day of first round of VBS

2009-06-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of the first round of VBS.

We were supposed to have an outdoors picnic. Because of the rain we had it inside. We were all pretty tired, most of us going home to take naps afterwards.

But the kids who got to break the Pinata had lots of fun.

These smaller tykes are peeling boiled potatoes for Russian potatoe salad which includes, carrots, potatoes, pickles, bologna, corn, onions and sometimes peas.

Back to Nova Odessa

2009-06-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

We thought about waiting for an air-conditioned bus in order to get away from the heat. But with all the nodding we were doing after about 24 hrs of travelling, I wasn't sure we could stay awake to get on another bus.

This picture shows what we all felt and what we all did most of the last eight hours riding a bus from Kyiv to Nova Odessa.

Faith is the one I caught with the camera.

Diane's Back

2009-06-27T14:25:00.001-07:00

She doesn't do herself justice and hates her picture. But I wanted you to know she is here and is busy!!

Here she is slicing bread.

Here she is enjoying a twosome back rub.

Here she is washing dishes, again! We by "special accident" got more than her back this time.

Here she is watching the children play during VBS in the rain.

mission accomplished

2009-06-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

After a lot of walking and riding various types of buses and scanning every sign on every bus that went by, and going into a couple of offices, it's in my hands.

God graciously allowed me to have a Ukrainian residency permit, which should take away the need for visas or registering every few months.

I thank Him

On the Road

2009-06-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

We've had services in Indiana, Missouri and Kansas so far. Here's our home away from home. We've enjoyed several different state parks between services.

We've made new friends. Here's Vova with Albert Randolph.

We've had to tell new friends good-bye.

We've had new experiences. Elden Hunter let Vova go for a run in his wheelchair, while he braced himself against the wall of the dumpster. Thank you, Elden!!

And here's another friend that we had to day good-bye to because we couldn't accommodate him in . . .

the middle of this!

End of School

2009-06-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

I won't try to catch you up on every detail. But the end of school time became pretty interesting for our family.

Dave flew to Ukraine.

Nathan Purdy's parents arrived from Ireland. One day they went on a picnic with the Gordons and me.

I picked Dave up in New York.

Then Vova graduated from sixth grade.

You can see how elated the students were to be done with these years!!

We had a graduation reception at our house for Seth, Vova and Nathan. Here are some of the guests that we caught with the camera.

Jack Waro from New Guinea.

Sarah and Natalie Seeley with Nathan S in the background.

Brother Barry Mander, Nathan Purdy's pastor from Ireland, with Charlie from New Guinea in the background.

Matt and Christina Maloyed, the youth pastors at Beavertown.

Others were around but we didn't get pictures of everyone!!

A Precious Couple

2009-04-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here are the folk I'm working with. A sweeter couple you'll hardly find. They are an attraction in any office we go into.

Few and Far Between

2009-04-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

My life has picked up in pace considerably in the last few weeks. I've started an online review program for re-taking nursing boards. So my posts have been few and far between.

All of a sudden it was time for missionary convention and we needed to have our display table ready. I can't remember everything . . . but here is the answer to prayer. Those of you who get our thank you letters will hear about this, too.

About half the rooms in our rented house are carpeted. When we took our stuff out of storage there was an old vacuum there that had been given me another time. Dave ordered bags for it. We had hardly put the new bag in, when it quit. The budget wasn't big enough for a new one.

God gave a sweeper the same brand and lightweight like the first, old one, and more cabinet space in the kitchen for less than half the price of a new sweeper.

It seems like we're in another "impossible" situation now. And more difficulties arrise almost daily but I'm telling God, that these difficulties are like the water on Elijah's sacrifice on Mt Carmel, another bucket to show how marvelous our God is.

Catch-up

2009-03-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've posted. But now our computer has been reformatted and even though we don't have hi-speed internet, I'll try to do some catch-up. There are several pictures, even though I haven't been taking as many because my camera became full with no good place to put the pictures!! and I wasn't blogging!!

This is the house God provided. It has 4 bedrooms upstairs, a huge living room and dining room that we are using to capacity.

The picture isn't really good but you can get an idea of how big the living room is from it. This is our family Christmas. Here's Davey, our oldest grandson.

And here's his little brother, Dandan
The Drummonds minus Jason, Bethany's husband, at the Drummond Christmas gathering in Delaware with Dave's mom.

For our main Christmas this year for ourselves, our children and our parents, we rented a couple cabins in Indiana so that everyone could visit my parents without making them work to put anyone up at their house. Here's Mother.
A picture of the loft in one of the cabins . . . Andy's reading.
Daddy
Charity got an Irish hoodie from Nathan for her birthday. Here's the "Nathan-glow."

A yearly project for Christian Ed majors at Penn View is to make a miniature classroom. This is Charity's--a reproduction of our Kid's Klub room in Ukraine. (Katrina, how does it look?)Notice the detail in the cabinets, prizes, songs, (including the butterfly)and pencils.

Allona and Vova have been inviting friends over each Friday night if they've shown good effort and attitude in school during the week.

Allona and Alana
Vova and Cody
Charity, Dave and Allona have all been sick, in that order and degree the last few days.
Here's Charity sending/receiving text messages from Nathan.

Today Kirk fixed a huge country breakfast for all the family and guests. And I'll write a separate post about an answer to prayer. That pretty much brings me up to date with some of the highlights.

Ebenezer

2008-12-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

That means "by God's help we've come this far." We are impatiently waiting for the perfect place to open up so that we can move and get on with Christmas and getting ready for second semester. We've followed several leads but nothing is in sight for the immediate future. The closest possibility seems to be the beginning of January when we need to have all the moving done and preparation for school made.

While we are wondering what's around this corner, we can't help but be reminded of God's faithfulness every time we go out the door and get into the classy van that God so graciously provided through our Alaskan friends. Thanks so much!!

Here is Dave thoroughly enjoying poring over the owner's manual . . . quite awhile before he got behind the wheel.

Family and fun

2008-12-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

Our first stop has been in central Pennsylvania, where most of our children live. It's been a special blessing to be able to spend time with each of them. Thank you Bethany and Jason for sharing your home with us.

Here's Seth and Davey.

Here's Daniel.

Then we headed on to Delaware, where Brenda, Dave's sister totally spoiled us and our children.

She took us to an intriguing little Mexican restaurant, where we stuffed ourselves.

Bill picked up a black Lab from the local pound. For Vova it was love at first sight.

And we all got tickled at Brenda's attention to Bill's holey sock. First she covered it with her coffee cup; then she tied the end in a knot so that it wouldn't cut into his toes!
We were there the day Mom Krolicki had a chemotherapy treatment. Allona and Vova got to ride Brenda's moped.

We were back to PA on Sunday. The kids in the Gospel Station at Beavertown had a short Christmas program. Here's a picture of Charity's "kids."

Home

2008-12-10T07:00:00.001-08:00

For the first time, we were sitting in a jet while its wings were de-iced. I tried to get a picture but it didn't turn out. Because of that we were a little late taking off but arrived in New York on time.

Kirk, Charity and Nathan were wondering if they were at the right terminal after waiting for two hours. But we came through the doors a little after 5 pm. Our luggage was long on coming through and the customs inspector did NOT let us bring in two cans of sweetened condensed milk from Ukraine.

We made it to Bethany's house, were there yesterday and plan to leave today for Delaware.

We investigated one possibility for a house to live in, and it fell through.

But God knows where we're at and what we need. I'm sure He will take care of us in His time and His way.

2008-11-29T05:39:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday morning I found out that the Sturtevant family was coming that night. Joanna was going to help my Mom fix the Thanksgiving meal. Josh and I had a lot of fun. We played outside and did everything!

After the Thanksgiving meal, all of us went to a waterfall.

OH, I forgot to tell you . . . that I drove the Mazda by myself

Vova

2008-11-29T05:17:00.000-08:00

We have to pack, probably do some more on school and shut our house down to leave it. It will still be open for visitors if someone comes to help Katrina and for services so that means we leave a lot of stuff out for our visitors' use.

Dave is replacing a window pane in the shed today. Hopefully we find a leak in the roof and seal it off. We're sorting clothes and I'm blogging because there may not be much more chance for awhile.

Here are some clothes, waiting for the packing process.

Birthday

2008-11-29T04:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who wrote and called on my birthday. Mother and Daddy stayed up until midnight to call me at 7 am in Ukraine. I picked up the phone the day before, saying an English hello because I expected to talk to Katrina and it was my brother, Tim, calling from New York! I got emails from a bunch of people that I don't hear from very often . . . guess I need to double the frequency of my birthdays!! Thank you!

Because of the time, there weren't a lot of pictures. Dave and Seth fixed a very special meal.

And I had some of my favorite treats, flowers and ice cream.

Then I began preparing for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T04:39:00.000-08:00

God, friends and family--- add that to good food and fellowship and you have the recipe for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We've been able to talk to most of our children who aren't on this side of the ocean about once a week with the miracle of Skype.

We had some of our children here, lots of food, and friends.

The rolls were among the biggest hit of the meal.

Friends.

After the meal and a phone call to the US, we took off to see a waterfall. It was pretty dark by the time we got there. But the hike down to it, because the roads were too muddy to pass was good exercise and we enjoyed it.

Then we came back home to play Guesstures. Jessica Sturtevant and Allona chose teams. We had fun

Two Vovas

2008-11-29T04:38:00.000-08:00

Little Vova, Yulia's little brother made it to children's service this Sunday.

Our Vova takes a special interest in him, helping him say his memory verses because they share the same name.

Playing Ping Pong in the Dark

2008-11-29T04:37:00.001-08:00

I tried but I couldn't do it, get a good picture of the action. The electricity went off at about 2:30 pm. Our children and our visitors got bored playing board games and finally decided to play ping pong. They had the light of a flashlight or two and one kerosene lamp.

These are the best ones I could get.

Miscellaneous/To Do List

2008-11-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

The water to cool the nuclear reactors at Yuzhnokranksk flows out into a lake. Because the water is warmer than the weather, there is always fog or a heavy frost around the lake in cooler weather.

Here's the fog.

Another item on our to do list before we come home, was to take Allona and Vova to see their birth mother. It was a relief that everything seemed to be going fairly well for them. Here's a picture of their mother with her children.

Fresh from California

2008-11-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

Katrina's friends got here safely from California, in spite of the fact that their airline was on strike.

Katrina and I went up to meet them and to show them around Kyiv. I did not expect the cold snap in the weather. They left 90 degrees Fahrenheit in California and arrived to 32 degrees here.

As a result, we got comment after comment about our "bare," cold legs, just because we wore regular shoes not boots. . . here's Katrina in her shoes.

International phone call

2008-11-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's sorta silly when we could have done a conference call, but interesting nonetheless.

We were talking on Skype through the computer when Charity called on the cell. We found that they could talk to each other when we held the phone and microphone close to the computer speakers.

So Charity, in Pennsylvania, was talking to Andy in Alaska, going through Ukraine.

Baby Vova

2008-11-21T22:29:00.001-08:00

Vova was playing around last Sunday evening about being a baby. He was offered a pacifier. Here are some of the goofy pics.

Keep Towing Me, Lord!

2008-11-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

Wednesday this past week, I was busy at school when I realized it was about time for Dave to be home from taking Katrina's car to the mechanics for a routine oil and filter change. When he didn't answer the phone, I guessed he would be talking somewhere. He was, but not about what I expected. The work had been done on Katrina's car. He had stopped on another errand and the car wouldn't start. He was asking Jason, the pro diesel mechanic, what to do.

I drove to meet him with our tools. He worked over an hour with no success. The next task was to tow the car through all the Nikolaev city traffic to the mechanics.

I don't like driving in Ukraine, period. I do drive in our small town and everywhere except Kyiv. I pray especially when I go into a "roundabout" where the traffic enters and exits continually onto a circle from four directions, normally. Then I thank God as I drive out, shaking nervously. So I had already thought about the problem of towing when Dave asked me if I would help or if we would call someone else. I decided I could put up with it IF I was driving the towed car.

We tried to start the vehicle otherwise, just running through the large parking lot. It didn't work.

We turned onto the road, full of traffic.

We travelled, stopped at lights, entered our first "roundabout." Then I realized I wasn't shaking or half as nervous as I would normally be. I had confidence in Dave sitting in the van ahead, watching the traffic, deciding when it was safe and time to go. All I had to do was make sure the tow rope didn't come loose and steer the car behind him. I couldn't see much besides the back of the Volkwagen ahead of me.

I couldn't help but think of all the uncertainty and decisions facing us as we return to the US without our own home to go to, etc. As we drove, my heart's whisper was, "tow me, Lord. I trust You to make all the decisions. Keep me focused on YOU going just ahead of me."

Then Wednesday evening we received some really devastating news. As I struggled to cope and to survive, I reminded God of the lesson He had given earlier in the day. "My tow rope hasn't come off; I'm still following. Keep pulling, Lord."

The initial shock of the news has worn off, but the long term issues and problems to resolve are here to face daily. My prayer is "Keep towing, Lord. You know best. Keep towing."

Baby Dedication

2008-11-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

Today, between my yawns, I listened and tried to support my husband as a baby dedication took place. I'm afraid I was more of a distraction than help but here are some pictures from the day.

We felt it was an honor that the parents asked Dave to "bless" their child.

This and that

2008-11-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Never thought that it would be me baking the "weekly bread!" I was impressed when Iona did that in Haiti years ago. However, everyone likes homemade bread better than what we can buy from the store and it stays fresh longer. So we throw less away. So I've been trying to bake bread and have been baking the majority of it for the last two or three weeks.

The pumpkin was the object lesson for Wednesday night. Katrina taught everyone that God could clean the slimey stuff out of the inside of us and put a smile on our face. The flowers were from Katrina to say thanks for the work at her house this week.

Baby Timothy is growing.

The Miracle of Skype

2008-11-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

This past week has been quite busy. Monday there were errands to do all day until everyone was tired and ready to go home. The rest of the week we've been having school in the morning and working at Katrina's in the afternoon. See her blog for some of the results.

However, in the matter of giving thanks . . . we now have high-speed internet and the ability to to talk to several of our children, free, over the computer and we can make calls to landline phones in the US for a fraction of what would be a normal cost.

We've talked to all our children in the past week, as well as our parents . . . thank God for the miracle of Skype.

Skype--because we tried another provider and it worked long enough for the test call and to take our money and hasn't worked since. Skype has worked very well.

Makin' Good Use

2008-10-31T07:07:00.001-07:00

Katrina picked up some tables from our house tonight. She brought along some helpers. This is what the back of her car looked like.