Birthday Bash

Today was my 23 birthday! School time was a little bit rough at times and I made Abbie sit in timeout for the first time, but things smoothed out when Sophie joined us. That night I was invited to the Kellys for dinner and desert. Yummy mexican food, laughter, and a little performance from Abbie and Sophie definitely made the night. Jenny asked me what my favorite birthday was and I instantly stated my 18th but honestly I've had some really good ones..
 5th or 6th(?)-- Pocahontas birthday themed was my first sleepover birthday which became a tradition after that. We made our own dresses like the one she wore in the disney movie!
8th-- wore awesome dress up dresses and modeled them the rest of the night
11th-- had a pool party and then slept in the club house on the property! We did cheerleader stunts, played truth or dare for the first time, and watched A Walk To Remember for the first time.
15th-- We actually had a volleyball tournament so everyone came early, ate breakfast and cake together. I mostly remember how excited to get my first cell phone (big step even if I couldn't text lol)!!!
16th-- Lunch with mom&dad and got my driver's license
17th-- Played games inside Hillcrest with all of my friends and then went rolling (with toilet paper borrowed from the chruch....). I remember we played sardines after dark with all the lights off. Talk about wild, heart racing times!
18th-- I had a broken right arm that was taking it's sweet time to heal and I was becoming more depressed every day. I was dreading my birthday to say the least and it seemed like everyone forgot about my birthday anyway (including my family). That day one of my best friends asked if I wanted to go to the mall. So we walked around and decided I needed to cut my hair since I could not fix it with a broken arm (middle of back length hair chopped off to jaw short!). Around this time I decided that I wanted to celebrate my birthday after all and tried to convince my mom to throw a party together. Little did I know that my mom had all of my friends gathered at Hillcrest waiting to surprise me. It was my first surprise birthday party and I loved every minute of it.

Birthdays in college were fun and filled with lots of laughter. They were more spur of the moment but still I was surrounded by love from friends and family, even in Uruguay for my 20th!!!

Sorry for the long post but it is fun to remember good moments, such as wonderful birthdays. Out of all the birthday memorys, one thing I remember the most is that my mom made me invite every girl in my class to every birthday. I remember not being invited to some of their birthday parties, hurting from their exclusiveness (especially in middle school), and not understanding why I had to invite them. She taught me to always be inclusive; the more, the merrier. Looking back, I am so thankful for my mom's wisdom.

Hurricane of Energy

Y'all, these past couple of days have been crazy! Here is a quick update of the people that have come and gone:
1) Some sweet ladies from Texas came to do a quick seminar with the women in Ivankiv. They came here to empower women of the faith and to learn the needs of the surrounding communities.
2) Richard and Vicki Nelson (old missionary friends of the Kellys that have moved back to the states) came to visit for a few days and help with the dental clinic. This couple have hearts of gold and I hope to see them again! They have such a cool story
3) Stephen came to town for two days. I should just leave it at that, but I am going to brag about my new friend. This man organizes a ministry (Mercy Trucks) that now has at least 100 Ukrainian dentists volunteering in different communities all over Ukraine each year. Stephen sets the area up the day/night before the event, helps run and organize the event all day (sometimes the event can last up to 1 week), and then cleans everything up. Some people call him an energizer bunny but I like to think of him as a hurricane of energy.
4) The dental clinic this round had 4 dentists and one hygienist set up (one dentist working in the mobil clinic and the others working in the lodge). They started seeing people at 9:00 am and finished up around 4:30-5:00; these volunteers cleaned and fixed teeth for 33 patients.

I wasn't able to attend the the seminars but I did help out with setting up and taking down the dental clinic. I did school with the girls (like we do every day) and then asked Stephen how I could help. Iwas paired with this young dentist named Angelique. I was in charge of the spit/blood sucker as she worked on people. Lets just say it was more pleasent experience than when I "helped" a dentist in Honduras....

This is Angelique (she was such a blessing to work with!!!!)

I also grabbed a pic with Vicki as she was heading out the door

 

Choot-choot

This weekend was amazing and hectic!! I babysat the kiddos so Jenny could pick up Andrew (he's finally back from his 2 week trip!!!!!!) and 5 other ladies that will be staying in the lodge. Then I helped Zander pick up some boys for a weekend retreat. 

I cooked three meals for them and was able to hang out with Anya and Slava more this weekend than I ever have before :) This weekend happened to be a holliday in Ivonkiv (sp?) so Zander and I got to herd four middle schoolers and one 5 yr old around town for a couple of hrs. It was interesting to say the least. I also learned another word that's sounds like a train but means a little bit. Now I sound like a bird and a train every day (Ha ha) 

These boys have been coming to camp for many years. We picked up Sasha first (the boy they named the Sasha project after) and Andrei and Denis were waiting at his house. Andrei was the boy I sponsored for 2 years and it was so fun to see him again. All three boys went to the camp over a year ago that Hillcrest did for the first time. I love being able to see them again and getting to know them better.

 Sasha has a servant's heart. He was always looking for ways to help people and will do anything you ask him to. Andrei is a natural leader and people naturally gather around him. He has the best humor and is always cracking jokes to make everyone laugh. Denis tends to be quieter/moodier out of all of them. I think he is still trying to figure himself out and God out. Sadly, he has the most cards stacked against him compared to the others. Andrei's mom rarely drinks now and his house is more stable from what I gather and Sasha's dad does not beat him or his siblings (praise the Lord) but Denis has nothing to come home too. His mom was completely drunk we we took him home. So far that was the hardest thing I've had to do here. Drive away leaving Denis with a drunken mom who doesn't care about him. 

I'm learning that prayer is a powerful thing. If you can stop and take a moment to pray for Denis and other children in his situation that would be wonderful. 

Quick update: Tanya's parents are threatening and causing a stir but Social Services are going to keep their decision an will not let her parents take her home!!! (Praise The Lord)

Run Sasha Run

Never have I ever driven outside of the states.... Until today. I went on my first Sasha project run as the driver. It was fun to see Zander talk with the families and hug kids that had been to camp this summer. It was also comical to meet families who didn't know who Zander was, but once we said we were friends of Jenny they would smile and open up.

Quick explanation: Sasha Project is one of Jenny's ministries. Generally speaking, she would go once a week on one route. This is a way to follow up on the kids in tough situations that had attended camp. Each family gets a bag of goodies (that usually includes rice, pasta, oats, vegetable oil, cartons of juice and some candies for the kids) while Jenny would talk to the mom and kids building up relationships with the families throughout the year. Each year more kids are invited to camp, some the same an some different. During camp, Jenny and Andrew will listen to the kids and add them to the Sasha project list if needed.  There are now four routes with an average of 9 families that are visited in each route. This ministry has grown now to where Jenny cant do it by herself. She has been in the process of teaching Zander (an Ukrainian they have just hired) the ropes and this was the first time to go on a run without Jenny.

Zander visiting on a Sasha run with one of his favorite kids from camp this summer

Oh Metro

I was introduced to the most wonderful store in Kiev. Let me try to describe this experience for you.

Imagine a store bigger than the biggest Sam's club you have ever been too. It has clothes, books, sports equipment in one corner and then the rest of the store is food. There were so many choices that it made my head spin. The Ukrainian labels and different currency didn't help the matter. In the end, I had a cart full of goodies that hopefully will last 3ish weeks. 

1st day of school!!!!

These are the two cuties I am blessed to teach. World, meet Abbie and Sophie. Be prepared cuz they are filled with energy, attitude and huge amounts of fun. They will steal your hearts and rock your world.