Family Fun Day

On Sunday we told Andrey and Alona that we would love to do a family fun day.  After church we all went to Oskars and treated everyone to lunch.  It was interesting to see the things that each person ordered.  I realize now that all the boys really like mushrooms.  There are some things that are unrecognizable for Bill and me so we stay away from them.

After lunch we were planning on going bowling, but when we got there all the time slots were taken until 7:00p.m.  That was okay.  We all went home and most of the boys, including Bill, took naps.

We got to bowling and WOW!!! what an experience.  We had no idea that only three of the boys had done any bowling (one other time).  Even Andrey or Alona had never been bowling.  Can you imagine growing up and never bowling?  I remember on the cold days in Colorado, when the kids were small, taking them bowling because it was one thing we could all do.

We had two lanes, the boys on one and the parents on the other.  I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time.  All of them would go up to the line with their ball, bend over, swing their arm with the ball back and forth a few times, then send the ball rolling.  At the beginning most of the balls ended up in the gutter.  None of them knew that you take two rolls per turn and on the 10th frame we had to stand and watch each bowler in case they got a strike or spare and had to roll again.

We would cringe when they would send the ball rolling when there was a ball stuck in the gutter, or pins had accidentally fallen down.  When you sign up to bowl you pay per hour and when the hour is up everything just shuts down, even if you are in the middle of a game.

It was so great watching everyone laughing, especially house parent Andrey. He was like a little boy in the van afterward, giggling and talking with excitement.  I wished at that point that I really could understand the language.  We went home and it stayed a pleasant atmosphere and I think everyone slept well that night.

To Change Topics!!!

Before we left home, our small group - Terry & Linda Nichols, Bob & Judy Butcher, Dave & Susie Werber and Jerry and Linda Campbell - blessed us with money to use for the centers in whatever way we thought best.

When we were here in October Alex (Agape) told us that they needed pillows, sheets, blankets etc... Well, when we got here we learned that they had enough of these things.  I asked Alona what the centers needed; I chose her because she and Andrey were the house parents at Mel's house for two years before coming to Joshua house in August of 2011.  She thought about it for a couple of days and made a list.  We went shopping yesterday (Tuesday).  We were at a kitchen store for three hours picking out everything.  Pans, plates, cups, glasses, serving bowls, silverware, buckets, tea pots, sharp knives etc... you name it we bought it.  As we shopped the cashier kept a total going for us and occasionally Alona would ask her how much we had spent and when she heard the total she would get excited because she was able to get more.  This happened about 8 times.  I think we got everything on the list, plus.  Bill took a video of all the stuff while it was laid out on the table to be separated for the centers.

http://youtu.be/XFpdGqQTZx8

Small Group, we cannot express in this blog the joy and excitement that Alona showed, while shopping and afterward.  Alona and Andrey left this morning to make deliveries to a couple of the centers.  Alona told me the other centers are going to be very happy and surprised with all the things that you got for them.

Mel's house has 12 boys at the moment and they never had a pot big enough to make soup for all.  Well we got a huge pot.  It is bigger than a canning pot.  This is one of the items that she did not think she was going to be able to get, and when we were able to I thought she was going to jump up and down and squeal like a little girl.  It was so much fun to watch.


Another topic:

Nancy from Hearts for Orphans has been in Ukraine for a few days now visiting all the centers, and she will be in Kherson today.  We (the boys and us) will be making an American dinner to share with her.  The boys all talk very excitedly about Nancy, so it should be a great visit.  I will update you all tomorrow.  Until then, God Bless you all.

Karen