Yesterday morning my day was brighter when I checked facebook (which I check first and last everyday to see if any of the family has posted anything)and there were pictures from Matthew of my beautiful granddaughters- they are now the new background on this computer. Thanks to facebook, I know more about friends from school, cousins I haven't seen in years, and nieces and nephews than you can imagine- its great when you are far away from everyone.
One of the things I like least about being here in Ukraine is not being home, close to my big kids and grandkids. Even Garry, who is whole-heartedly invested in this project, is excited when one of the boys- usually Josh, phones with news about the farm in Manitoba, and the lastest on his girls basketball team. Josh who was an all-star on The Ste. Anne boys team that went undefeated and won the AA Championship in 2001, has been coaching there since he graduated, jv boys, jv girls, and even coached the varsity girls to their own championship a few years ago. Its a real commitment since the high school is about 75 km from our house (the boys rode the bus 2 hours each way- Josh burns alot of gas.) Since Garry coached the varsity girls for a number of years (he quit after they lost in the champoinship game the year before Josh took over and won) he loves to hear all the details of practices, victory and defeat (this year Josh had more defeats.)
One day last week Josh called and we both talked to him around one in the afternoon our time and then we were surprized by another phone call from Matthew and I got to talk to Xaris and Havilah. I asked if they had made any snowmen, and was told no, but as you can see they have this week. If we want to talk to the other boys at home we call them about one in the afternoon their time- they are usually in for lunch, and Luke goes out to milk the cows at 1:30.
Garry likes to check the internet in the morning- weather reports for Ukraine and Manitoba, e-mail, news headlines, and how much milk the farm shipped in Manitoba. Last week I noticed a headline about the high school basketball player that died in Michigan, and asked Garry if he knew where Fennville was, turns out his high school played against them, so Garry searched online for information about his school Hamilton High (he went there until his family moved after grade 11.) He enjoyed checking an arial photo showing how much it had grown in about 35 years.
There is the occasional letter (or package) delivered to our door from family, friends or prayer supporters we met before coming to Ukraine- highlights of any month. Jonah enjoying reading books sent by my sister last year (only one didn't make it to our door) this year he got an ereader for Christmas so he downloades instead. We found out how unreliable mail can be when many of the Christmas cards we sent family and friends did not make it to the US and Canada.
We also enjoy emails from people who read our blog, some of who we haven't met(yet.) Its always encouraging to hear from you (some of you have helpful suggestions for us), and just to know there is someone out there who cares.
No comments:
Post a Comment