Picnic and Company

The few days following our return from the Black Sea were spent resting and catching up. Resting because Laurie and I came down with colds. I fared a little worse than Laurie. I had a sinus infection that carried into my right ear and now I'm in the tail end of it...I think...and hope. I haven't taken any antibiotics but have taken some natural extracts to strengthen my immune system. And with school starting up we have been catching up with the staff and students.

Last Sunday we had a Church picnic which resembles anything you would find in Canada with bbq's, games and good company. The only difference that I really noticed was the boys scavenging the park for fire wood (fuel for the bbq), grandma's off to the side singing hymns and an area marked off as a toilet with the use of blankets hanging off of trees. Laurie was extremely happy having the opportunity to hold and visit with a 10 month old baby. The walk to the park was fifteen minutes away from the church building through a rough path that was not stroller friendly so Laurie volunteered to carry the child while Bogdon carried the stroller. Here is a few pics of that event. Is it just me or is Laurie just radiating.







After the picnic I sent Laurie off to pick up her siblings at the airport. Right now we have the pleasure of entertaining them with some of Donetsk's attractions: a tour of UBI, the new soccer stadium and some of the nicer parks in town. We took them to the old park we found awhile ago. Here, Ethan is getting his picture taken with an old crocodile...I don't think he quite knows what to do with it.



With exploring, we happened to get a little lost and found ourselves being restricted by a huge concrete wall.



This wall is a mystery to me. Its in the middle of forest and makes me wonder why its there. It looks very old and neglected, it must have had served some purpose in the past.

Today, we planned to do a shashlik (bbq) and since many of our Ukrainian friends LOVE shashlik we had Bogdon, Sergei and a new friend Peter over for an early dinner. We were excited to learn over the meal that Peter has decided to get baptized this Sunday. Clava Bogu! (Praise God!) Afterwards we headed out to the church building for a seminar/Q&A with a guest American preacher who is here for a week teaching at UBI. I was excited to take them to the church building because it is outside of the city center, about a half hour tram ride. Greg found the movement a little disturbing and had a little motion sickness...ha, I guess the LRT is a little smoother of a ride.

Tomorrow, we are taking a trip to a TB hospital to give out some donations and visit with the children. This is the hospital where Vova and I moved the tonnes of sand and so I'm curious to see how it is doing now.