Indiana/Florida trip, part 2

[Uploading all these photos is pretty interesting when our "internet thingie" wants to be kept in the freezer. We're trying to appease it with bowls of ice and the fan, but it's not convinced. It's not even hot here today.]

I don't have any photos from my travel time, because I checked the camera right through to Chicago in my suitcase. But I had a really nice, easy trip, and I did wish that I could have taken photos in Austria. I didn't go into the city of Vienna, since I was by myself, and we did that last time. Instead, I got a hotel room one stop further out on the train. It was actually pretty fun to figure that out by myself. First there was a train worker on the platform, who asked me, "Do you speak English or Deutsch?" and then proceeded to tell me in perfect English the exact opposite of what I needed. I followed his directions, but then saw my train back on the other platform where I had been standing and ran up, over, down to jump on it just in time. A nice Austrian babushka--the only person on the train!--helped me to figure out that I was in the right place, going the right direction. Then I had a nice walk to my hotel. Except that I almost melted; it was so hot that day! I wanted to take pictures of the perfectly clean, empty streets of that Austrian village, where butterfly bushes were growing higher than the houses.

I continued on to Chicago the next morning, marvelled at the automated customs and immigration machines (fingerprints and photos and all in one), finally connected with my friends and my ride, and made it to Indiana farm country, where we were met by...

A full, double rainbow...

A beautiful sunset...

A massive dog...

...and the most amazing hospitality. The family hosting was going through a medical crisis, but they met the first three of us, introduced us to their freezers (yes, multiple, and yes, named), showed us the beds and bedding, and let us get ready to meet the rest of the 15-ish guests who would be arriving, while they headed back to the hospital.

That dog again

The next day we worked on planning details and went for a walk to get sample bouquets of wildflowers.

Jeanne crossing the bridge

The creek

A first handful

A planning meeting, with The Dog taking part

The next day more people arrived, including these two little ones from Texas and Peru:

To be continued....

Indiana/Florida trip, part 1

As I'm going back over my wonderful trip in my mind, I think I'll start with a list of links to places where other people have posted photos and reviews of the retreat in Indiana for your viewing and reading pleasure:
Megan (and her pic of The Dog)
Jen
Melisa
Anne (click on "Older Post" from there and keep going through her series)
MacKenzie
Jeanne: more, decor, driving!
Diana: part 2
Lisa
Anna: another post
Karen Ann
"North Laurel"
I will add more here later, as I re-find the links, and if I see more.

AO Advisory and Auxiliary
(photo stolen from Kathy)

Oh, and you have to listen to this! Lynn is the one in the photo Amy is holding above. We missed her so much.

Home again, home again

That was a long trip! Adding an extra flight to the beginning really made it seem longer, but it was still quite easy, since I was by myself. I'm just exhausted now, after all of it. Of course, I have been greeted very enthusiastically here at home, and I'm loving being back with my family. Bogdan says that he missed me "this much" and holds up all ten fingers. That's about how I feel, too.

Here's a pretty photo that Mom took at the open house they had for me in Florida:

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

...but I do know when I'll be back again.

Tomorrow I'm heading out for the Ambleside Online "At Home" Retreat. I'm looking forward to time with friends that I very rarely get to see and meeting lots of new friends, too. Please pray for my travels and the whole retreat. It seems like over the past there have been quite a few bumps in the road to pulling it together, so we need those prayers.

And then I'll have a few days in Florida, too. I'd love to see those of you who are there!


(How can I leave these goofballs?

Happy birthday to Will, last week

They'll be in good hands, though.)

Camp photos

We've been slowly looking through the album of camp photos online. This one made us laugh out loud:

What on earth was she saying? Or doing? And then we saw. Yes, that's Jaan in the very edge of the foreground. Of course.

There's also a great series of Raia and "Bogdan's Anya" on the trampoline, starting here; click on them to move through them. (Anya teaches Bogdan's Sunday school class, and he adores her. Raia got to have Anya for her counselor this year. We all love Anya!)

There are plenty of other good photos in there, too. I'll try to pick out highlights to share here, if I have time. For now, just two more random shots that include Jaan and Asya:

Plus, here are links to the group photos and individual portraits.

Our kids had such a wonderful time at camp, and the camp photographer did a great job of capturing so much of the fun!

Our conference photos, part 3

More photos from in and near the beautiful camp:

A wonder: Raia asleep at nap time?!?!

Then we went into Rovno for dinner, a little bit of exploring, and our train back to Odessa.

The trip back turned out to be nightmarish, too, but we finally made it home, with lots of happy memories.

Jaan and Bella were happy to be together again.

I just realized that I didn't really say anything about the seminars and great teaching, or the rest of the conference. The first night was graduation. Then the next day was full of teaching on brain development and childhood trauma and attachment and more. That evening each region introduced themselves and told about what Agape is doing in their part of the country. There was more teaching the next day, too. It was all mixed in with worship and fellowship times. At one point, while meeting so many new people and getting to know everyone, I noticed that my mouth actually hurt from talking so much!

Our conference photos, part 2

More photos:

Jaan and Jan

Praise and worship that our children really loved

After the conference, we had another day before our train left. Jaan said that he wished the conference could have lasted a whole week. Asya woke up that morning and ran to see if there would be one more morning worship session... but everyone was gone. It was kind of strange at first; we had the whole empty dormitory and camp to ourselves. Our children were not happy that all their friends were gone! But some quiet family time and a walk through very green woods reset all of us.

There is still one more post of photos to come....

Our conference photos, part 1

I have had these uploaded for a while, but haven't gotten to sort through and caption them. Do you still want to hear about our trip to Rovno back there at the end of May?

I don't have any photos from the trip there. It was long and tiring. We had train tickets from Odessa to Rovno, but first we had to get to Odessa. We had planned on dinner at MacDonald's there, then a nice sleep on the train, and arriving in Rovno the next morning. Hah. Our bus broke down, and we didn't make it to the train on time. Rovno is kind of a dead spot on the train schedules, so we couldn't just get tickets on the next train; there wasn't one for a few days. And everything else that even went near there was full. Finally--to make a long story short--Will got us tickets for the next day on a train to Kyiv, and then we took a marshrutka from Kyiv to Rovno. So, instead of getting there well-rested on Thursday morning, for a nice relaxing day before the conference, we arrived that evening in time for a late dinner and collapsing into bed. So, not that bad after all, but we were well-baked and exhausted.

We woke up feeling much better the next morning, though. The Agape school students were already there, and other people were starting to arrive. The whole day was set up for free time and fun and fellowship. Our children pretty much stayed on the huge inflatable jump-thing all day long and made friends with everyone. We enjoyed the lovely setting and talking to tons of people, many of whom we hadn't seen for a year or hadn't met before.

That evening the festivities really got started with graduation for the Agape school.

Bogdan and his little friend Nastia
(Her parents run the Kramatorsk adaptation center.)

Jaan and his friend Miroslav, one of the graduates

The whole graduating class

Eating cake after graduation

Tattoos?

Accordion, guitar, and... water bottle!
(Until 1:00 am, right outside our room.)

Pretty!

The next morning, I think.

Last year Will really enjoyed Jan's teaching. Apparently, this is the man we named our son after, in advance.  I was really glad to get to hear him, too.

Jaan and Miroslav again

Very thankful for this!

One of the guys who lives at the Rovno adaption center (I think?) works at a coffee shop. He brought good coffee and machines and was very busy the whole time. We loved having that right outside our room, too!

More later....

Just chatting

Right now I have one four-year-old napping (ours), but I still have one chattering at me (neighbors'). She is very concerned that some day her Bobo is going to go away to that place where Jaan and Raia and Asya are, and she really, really, really loves Bobo, you know? And when will Bobo ever wake up? Very cute and sweet. Bogdan has been much happier today, with her around!

Yesterday he was happy, too, though. He went to work with Papa, he says. He worked and worked and worked at the office. (What is it with four-year-olds and repeating words three times over? And asking questions; why do they do that? Why? Why? Why? )

While Bogdan was working so hard yesterday, I got to travel with Alys and a team visiting her to go around to the institutions where boys who have aged out of "our" orphanage live now. I'll probably write more about that later.

Photo from the picnic, by David

Last night when we talked to Asya, I asked her if she wanted us to come bring her home, and she was horrified at the very thought. She has gotten over all her fears of sleeping out in a tent, without Mama.

First camp day

First thing this morning

Our neighbors finally came out of their Ramadan and rainy day hibernation, so some one else is listening to Bogdan for a little while. Hurrah! I had forgotten what having only one child is like. Also, I realized that I've never had just one at this stage. By the time Jaan was Bogdan's current age, we already had three children. Plus, Bogdan is used to having at least three playmates all the time, and he's wanting me to replace them. This could be a very long week. A fun week, though. He and I did have a great long walk together today. I'm loving hearing his opinion about everything, too, just his own thoughts without everyone else's thrown into the mix.

Late afternoon

Also, I just talked to Asya. They do an evening phone call time when we can call the counselors' phones and talk to our kids. Asya sounded great! It's cold and rainy-ish, but they're having fun. She was almost too busy to stop and talk to me. Nights were what she was most worried about, so that's still ahead, but so far she's fine.

Seven quick takes on Lera, picnic, camp, etc

Since Brandy lists what her takes are about in the title, I should do that, too. It's a good idea if I'm going to do this with any regularity.

:: 1 ::

Little Lera came through surgery well and is recovering. I still haven't heard if the surgery was successful in correcting what was wrong with her heart, but I'm loving the updates and photos of her looking so good already! This is the most recent update. (Although, I just checked the auto translate, and it says that she's "in the House." Not quite. It means that she's in a regular hospital room.)

:: 2 ::

The annual orphanage picnic was yesterday, and it was WONDERFUL! It was a very wet, rainy day, but we stayed under shelter, and the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. We did crafts, a Bible story, songs, games, food, and lots of playing together. Seventeen kids came: most of the ones I have regularly for Bible lessons, plus some from a group that gets out even less than "mine" do. Pray with us that none of them get sick now, after having been out all day in damp, cool weather.

:: 3 ::

Our older three children are going to camp tomorrow. Jaan and Raia went last year and loved it; they can't wait! Asya alternates between their same excitement and dread. She was really excited about it, so we signed her up, but then she decided that she just can't do it. So, we've come to the point where she'll go and try it out. If she can't handle it, we'll bring her home. I really think she'll love every minute of it, though. It's a small camp for kids from our church, so she knows everyone. They'll be sleeping in tents out on the property of the local Christian college, not far from us at all.

:: 4 ::

Electricity. It's really nice. There's a big construction project in our neighborhood that seems to go on and on. It's had our power off for the working hours of most days lately. At least we've (usually) had mornings and evenings to charge everything. But, I've probably been quieter online than usual, because of this.

:: 5 ::

On Monday we had a good trip out to Kakhovka to do paperwork for Oksana. I was really apprehensive about it, because last time was terrible. This time we dealt with the director of the institution, though, not the vice-director, and all went well. I had been praying that she would be there and that people would be nice, and God answered. On the way back I got to see a bird that I had just learned about at the museum, and it was way more beautiful in real life than stuffed in a glass case.

:: 6 ::

Museum... our family went to another great summer program on Friday. I assumed they would have a photographer there again, so I didn't take our camera. But there was no photographer. Boo. This would have been even more picturesque than before. The kids got a tour, focusing on the flora and fauna of Kherson region, had a little lesson in botanical and entomological drawing, and then they each got to choose a specimen to draw. Even Bogdan really got into the observing and drawing part.

:: 7 ::

Today we're on one down-day in the midst of a few very busy ones:
Friday--our last day of school, museum program, and Constitution Day celebration
Saturday--the picnic
Today--rest, pack
Monday--take everyone to camp
Tuesday--big trip to visit kids at post-Tsyurupinsk institutions
And then it's going to be very quiet around here. Bogdan thinks he will be bored. We'll see.

Little Lera

About this time two years ago, I got to travel to Donetsk region, to visit with a friend who was adopting. I fell in love with a sweet little girl in my friend's son's group while I was there. She was like a fragile little bird; she doesn't speak, but she made sweet little singing noises. Because of her serious heart condition, I thought that she really needed an American family. (She is available for adoption.) But no one has come for her yet.

2013

About this time one year ago, I sat in a hotel in Zakarpatia and cried as I read about soldiers in her orphanage. A little later, I saw her face again in video of the evacuation from there, and I rejoiced. I followed every bit of information I could get, and found out that she didn't stop at the Kharkov #1 orphanage, like "Little S." did. (I still see him quite often in their photos.) But I couldn't find where she had ended up.

2014

This year I finally thought to look her up on an adoption listing. I found her profile, so I was pretty sure that she was still alive, but that's all. I kept asking people to look for her. Then, a few days ago Life2Orphans posted about a little girl going to Kyiv for heart surgery. I thought it would be her, and they confirmed that right away. Then this morning I saw her face again! An organization that helps "my" orphanage (and Antoshka in Kramatorsk) was asking for help buying diapers for her in Kyiv.

Today

So, for now that's where she is, undergoing treatment and preparation for "a very serious operation" on her heart. I was thrilled to read that she has volunteers taking care of her and bringing in food and other supplies. Please pray with me for her health. Obviously, I'm not a professional, but she seemed very frail to me when I met her. I haven't talked to the doctors, and I don't even know exactly what procedures she is facing, but I am still very concerned about her, of course. She does look really good in today's pictures; she's grown and filled out a bit. I don't even know when the surgery will be, but we can already be praying that it will be successful.

7 quick takes

My friend Brandy does "7 quick takes" every week on her blog. Here are seven quick takes from me. (What are takes?)

:: 1 ::

The professional conference photos are already online! However, they're so big, that it's hard for us even to move through them. Also, one of the fun activities during free time was photo shoots with the photographers, so there are tons of individual portraits mixed in with the rest of the pictures. But, if you have some free time now, go ahead and take a look at the conference we enjoyed so much. I'm collecting photos from there to post here later on, too.

:: 2 ::

Saturday I had a great visit at the orphanage. My Bible lesson just went really smoothly, and the kids seemed interested and engaged. And then I got to spend bits of individual time with others afterward.

:: 3 ::

Saturday evening we had our first outdoor English-speaking fellowship of the year. We meet outside during the summer months, and it's so nice! (I love the indoor fellowships, too, of course.)

:: 4 ::

Sunday, after church was the girls' art school "Last Bell." It was really fun and exciting, and they both got awards. Raia won the older age division art contest from Family Day! (Remember her picture?) Asya was recognized for faithful attendance. We have loved this first year of art school and are already looking forward to next year. The director made a point of telling me that we should sign Bogdan up for their preschool classes, too, and we were already planning on that. He can't wait.

:: 5 ::

Sunday evening:

:: 6 ::

Monday was Children's Day. We attended a production put on by our church and Agape together. They bused in kids from the orphanages for a concert and elaborate theatrical and puppet show and more.

:: 7 ::

Today Will has been at all-day working meetings for Agape. I know he was giving a presentation at some point. We're doing school until the end of June, so we had a normal school morning, and then a Junior United Nations meeting afterwards. Not really. Just playing outside, but especially now, when our neighbors have friends with children visiting, that's what it seems like: five little Crimean Tatars, our four Americans, two Buryat neighbors, and the one lonely Ukrainian boy from across the street. At least everyone can speak Russian, so they communicate well. They all (usually) get along with each other beautifully. We were painting and playing board games, but now they've moved on to some kind of pretend play, so I'm taking a break.

Conference photos

They announced that the professional photographers' pictures from the conference will be available in three weeks. Our few photos might be online before then. The one above is my favorite.

Nice neighbors

We're back from a very wonderful conference and very difficult trip. Yesterday, just after we had arrived and while we were all lying around, trying to recover, Bogdan was outside running around. (He slept on the Odessa to Nikolaev leg of the trip.) He came in and told me, "Babushka Olga is here." I asked him if she was just there outside, or if she was actually asking for me. He insisted that she wanted to see me. So, I went out to talk to her. No, she hadn't called me, but she said that since I was out there, why not cut some peonies for me? And now those peonies are sitting by me here, where I can smell them as I write.