Monday, October 16, 2006

На даче

Saturday was a gathering for missionary families in Ivanovo and Vladimir regions. We went to a dacha owned by missionaries in Ivanovo and had a wonderful day of fellowship. We rode with the Petrashes from Viazniki, so even the long trip there and back was great fun. It was cold, but the weather in Ivanovo was beautiful. There were clouds here and all around, and on the way there we did pass through one area where snow had just fallen, but there was clear blue sky and sunshine at the dacha.


With Marina
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Raia is a fussy mess because of some molars working their way through, but she enjoyed playing with her friends and eating berries. She had a terrible time with the garden there. They had raised beds, and she was convinced that they were sandboxes, just for her. She would gather up all her "tools," place them in the garden, then try to climb in. I kept trying to explain it to her, but she would just cry. When it was time to eat, we all went into the house, and Raia made rounds eating a bite from each person's plate as she went around the room.


Berries!
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



Jaan loved the grass. The lawn really was beautiful (and incredibly rare here). We had been hearing about the amazing yard for over a year now. ("They just planted grass, nothing else. Can you imagine?") Jaan showed his appreciation by rolling in it. Inside, the very first thing he noticed was the lawn mower. He dragged me straight over to it, babbling about "some kind of machine," and had to carefully inspect it, before we could do anything else. By the way, Jaan really must have played hard, because at lunch he ate more sausages than his Papa did!


"Как хорошо!"
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



On the way home our children each experienced something new:

Raia's first hair style
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

and



Jaan's first driving lesson
Originally uploaded by fylliska.



I'll close with a. . .

Scenic view
Originally uploaded by fylliska.

That grass really was worthy of an American golf course!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How thankful we are that you could enjoy the beauty of fellowship coupled with the beauty of nature! Thank you for the photos. Much love....

Anonymous said...

I was thinking how interesting it is that Jaan has never seen a lawn mower before. Most Americans would find that hard to believe. =-)You should tell him his buddy Caleb has one of those machines at his house. And driving with Ivan-how fun!

Anonymous said...

All Americans are gasping at the pic of Jaan in the driver seat! *lol* My Jared talks non stop about being in Ukraine and not having to be in a carseat etc. Although, he didn't like one time when Max, our driver, slammed on the breaks and he went head first into the seat. I have to agree with Jared though that I really do enjoy the more simple life of the Russian and Ukrainian culture! =)

Raia's first hair style is exactly how they would do one of my twins in the orphanage. The other twin would get two pony tails sticking up on top of her head. Guess they thought I needed to know a reminder of who was who? We continued it when we got home just because it was just a little part of Ukraine that we could keep in memory for all of us. =)