This Week...

On Saturday we hosted another afternoon of sports at the Menyezh Sports Complex. We had about 25 youth and leaders (not including our family) come out and it was a great time. We booked from 3-5 p.m. and that was plenty of time to play volleyball, soccer and basketball.  

 In between games or for people who didn't want to play there were card games. 

 We're booked again this Saturday for the same time so we're hoping for the same turn-out! 

We have been attending the Baptist Revival church for their evening service at 5 p.m. some Sundays and the other Sundays we go to New Hope Church. New Hope has recently relocated to a much larger facility (just for their Church services, New Hope Center is still in the original building) to accommodate the growing amount of people who attend services. They were doing two services at New Hope Center but with this larger facility they now do one service, Sunday morning at 11 a.m. 

 August in one of the two Sunday School rooms at New Hope Church.

We have been back to School 25! We were there last Friday and were invited to a different class this past Monday because there is no school this Friday (tomorrow) because of Women's Day. We spoke to a group of about 26 students on Monday and we really have a great time talking with them. Most of the time we just answer questions that they ask us but when there are breaks in conversation we come up with random topics and questions for them.

Typical Ukrainian school hallway

 Waiting for class to start - with the bust of a famous poet...can't remember who!

We really like going to the school, I especially because they are happy to have the kids so I can be directly involved there. Usually a teacher has wandered off with August and they always have candy and treats for Dez!

This afternoon was beautiful! +12 degrees and SUNNY!! Tulips are peeking out of the ground and the trees have buds - spring is just around the corner! We made the most of the afternoon sunshine and headed out for a walk to a park near our apartment. 

It is called Metalurgov Park - Metalurgov is the street we live on (well, at the corner of) and apparently this whole area is the Metalurgov area. This park was beautiful! They had a whole bunch of great statues for kids (and limber Moms): 

This one was a little creepy - Snow White's head was quite disproportionate to her body size and it was yellow...

 There was a small stone maze, a fenced-in soccer field, basketball hoops and paths that wound all around the park, which is right along the Dnieper River. There were also a whole bunch of new trees planted, indicating that someone cares about the park and there was an impressive lack of garbage. We decided that we're definitely watching the weather and heading back there for a shashleek (barbecue) on the next warm day! 

Quirk of the Day:

I laugh every time I walk past this coffee shop because it's apparent that someone with a loose grasp on English made up that sign. Aren't Factory Emotions a bad thing? Like...brain-washing? I just love it.