Kayaking

One of the most fun parts of this summer was a three-day kayaking and camping trip that we went on with the older kids from our Sunday school. Our pastor's wife, who is also one of the Sunday school teachers, leads these kayaking trips for other people. Last year Bogdan and I went with her on one, and this year Asya went with a group of adults that she took just before this. But this trip she planned for our little group. She said that she took three Hunsuckers to captain the three boats other than hers. We had a total of four kayaks, twelve people: eight kids from the Sunday school, Asya, Vira, and I (three Sunday school teachers), and Tanya aunt/guardian for two of the kids and friend/leader for all of them.

I shared all of my photos here, and Tanya's photos of kids and nature are online, too. Enjoy!

Asya's adventures

Asya left today for six weeks in the USA. This will be her first time there without the rest of us, and it's been half her lifetime since the last time she went at all. She was 9 the last time we went. Now she's 18. 

Today she has an all-day bus into Poland. Tomorrow she flies to North Carolina. (Also her first time flying alone.) Her grandparents there have three full weeks of travel and visiting planned for her. Then she'll have three weeks in Florida with my parents.

We've also been working toward her moving to Kherson after she gets back from these travels. I wrote a little bit about that in this prayer letter of ours. In some ways plans are coming together well, and in other ways we acknowledge that we have to hold them with very open hands. Just in the past week Kherson government has been telling people to evacuate. Not everyone will leave, and there will still be needs that Asya can help with, no matter what, but we have seen things changing. It was obvious while we were there this summer, and the situation continues to develop. (Asya would have heat in our house, but we need to work on electricity options.) Anyway, we need lots of prayer in general, Asya needs prayer and to build a team of supporters, and Kherson needs prayer.

Also, I saw a post (below or here) a while ago as I was thinking about this visit for Asya. Some of you reading this will probably see her soon, and I would love to have you ask her about her upcoming plans, how you can get involved, and also maybe use some of the questions in this post. She might seem shy, but you don't have to be. Ask away!

(Another link to read about Kherson.)

Grandparent visit, part 3

The other big thing we did with my parents was a day trip to Yaremche up in the mountains. We had gone there with our Sunday school in early spring, and I definitely wanted to go back now. It was a wonderful and beautiful day.

Tired dog on the way back

That's pretty much all the photos I have from a very full and good visit. We're so glad they could come!

Grandparent visit, part 2

After the trip to Kherson, back in Ivano-Frankivsk we finally celebrated Will's birthday, a month late. We went to the Crimean Tatar restaurant, and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and good food. Apparently I didn't take a single photo, though, at least not until we got ice cream for dessert at a different place afterwards: 

One of our neighbors is a beekeeper. He had been waiting to meet my parents and show his amazing yard, so he and his wife sent over a huge bowl of various tomatoes and basil as an invitation to visit. Asya's friend Ira from Kherson/Kyiv was visiting, so the girls made pizza with very fresh ingredients that night. And we had a lovely visit with the neighbors, touring their yard, seeing the beehives, and then just sitting and talking for a good long time.

(Bogdan took this photo while lying in their hammock.)

We also had a cookout one night while Ira was here:

Sunday was special. The church here baptized two new members at the river before the morning service. (A random man walking by joined in our group photo?!)

Even though I didn't take many photos while Mom and Dad were here, I still have at least one more set to share.

Grandparent visit, part 1

My parents came to visit for two weeks, and we had a wonderful time with them. The first bit of the visit was a whirlwind. They arrived here on a Wednesday evening, after very long travels. Thursday morning Asya, Bogdan, Dad, and I left for Kherson where Raia's best friend was getting married. We travelled all day Thursday, then all night, and arrived in Kherson Friday morning. The wedding was Friday afternoon, so we jumped almost right into preparations. Then we celebrated together. It was so good to be there! (And so hard to have Raia in Alaska instead of with us!)

After the wedding we had a day to spend time at church and with friends. I can't share the photos from around there, but it was a good little visit. Good for Dad to see and hear and talk to people.

Jaan, Yana, Mom, and Will had quieter days in Ivano-Frankivsk and went out to dinner one evening.

Then we had a crazy trip back from Kherson. Getting tickets these days can be very difficult. There was one set Kherson-Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv-Dolinska, Dolinska-IF; I bought those for Asya. I loved this photo that she took while waiting in Dolinska:

These rest of us went to Kyiv and spent the night. Apparently everyone was very tired on the way there:

While there, Dad got to experience going down for shelter twice, but it was actually a quiet night. False alarms:

The next day I put Dad and Bogdan on a minibus, then waited around and got on a train myself. 

After that we were all back in Ivano-Frankivsk together, and that will be part 2....

Capernaum summer picnic

This was back in July, when Bogdan and I were in Kherson, but it took a while for photos to get to me. Will got to spend time with Ostap, as usual for club and camp time. Since Bogdan and I were away, Lyusya was with the boys I'm usually with, and Mark was with Bogdan's friend Serhiy.