Easter

Easter morning... and as Garry was making his morning pot of coffee a neighbor knocked on the door- two of the heifers had escaped the barnyard and the yard and were trmping through the neighborhood gardens (all freshly-planted this week.)Good fences make good neighbors- unfotunately the heifer have figured out how to get over the tall fence! They have been locked inside the barn until those electric fence post get here.

People are going by dressed up to take the bus with their Easter baskets to the village with an Orthodox church between here and Zaporosia. The baskets have bread, eggs and sometimes wine or vodka to be blessed by the priest for Easter dinner. The boys are helping Garry feed the cows since he had to chase down heifers this morning. Then we are heading to church with 100 liters of milk for Morningstar, Victor's church will have no milk sales today since it's Easter. They called from the church in Zaporosia last night, since Max did not arrive with milk (Garry was too busy chasing heifers yesterday to bring some) so they told everyone the cows were off work for Easter and there would be more milk next week.













Jonah stayed home sick but Seth came to church with us. The auditorium was decorated for Easter as you can see. Victor G was leading the service today and was wearing a traditional Ukrainian-style shirt for the occasion. Pastor Andrei spoke on Thomas after the resurrection. The church was very full today, and the Sunday school did a little skit about the three trees (one becomes the manger, one the boat when Jesus calms the storm and the third the cross.) There was also a baby dedication today, so by the time the milk jugs were empty after church we drove through Mc Donalds and headed home (the cows needed feeding again.)







Garry even planted his first row of sweet corn in the garden when he (and the boys) finished feeding the cows.



Here are some other images of Easter-

It is the biggest holiday of the year for Ukrainians, according to Victor Dantsev. These youths were going by with their six-pack (yes those are 2 liters of beer) when we left for church this morning- they were passing by our gate as Garry went to open it and called out the Easter greeting of Christo vas Chris! to him.

There were a number of people picnicing this afternoon in the trees in front of the apartments as you leave Dnepropetroesk.





You can see the willows are turning green, and the forsythia was blooming in front of Mc Donalds.



Here is Andrei the neighbor boy with his little brother riding on the front of his remodeled bike. He rides it all over the street and tends to be on two wheels as he turns corners fast- usually without his brother on the front then!