HEALTH FAIR AT THE DONETSK PUBLIC LIBRARY

This week we did the Health Fair again at the Public Library
Olga offered to stand in for Elder Kerr who was in Bulgaria getting his Visa renewed

HEALTH FAIR AT THE MAIN LIBRARY IN DONETSK

This week we did the Health Fair at the Public Library I wanted to share a few of the pictures of the building

STREETS OF DONETSK

LAST WEEK I CAME HOME FROM KHARKIV WITH A BAD COLD

I WAS IN BED FOR ALMOST 3 DAYS. I STARTED FEELING BETTER BY TUESDAY

AND TODAY I WOKE UP FEELING PRETTY GOOD SO I TOOK A WALK TO THE HAIRDRESSER. ON THE WAY HOME I DECIDED TO SHARE SOME OF THE INTERESTING SIGHTS I WAS SEEING WITH YOU SO......

I TOOK SOME PICTURES. IT WAS REALLY FUN

BUT BY THE TIME I GOT HOME I HAD TO TAKE A NAP

I WAS COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED.

I FEEL MUCH BETTER AGAIN!!!!

Another week has flown by. Monday we had a Health Fair Practice with Olga because Elder Kerr had to go to Bulgaria to get his visa renewed and she offered to stand in for him as a Puppeteer. On Tuesday we went to the Public Library to do the Health Fair and then we had District Meeting.My sweet friend Annya turned 16 this week so I went to her home to wish her a Happy Birthday. We also did apartment inspections this week. We joke that the highlight of our week was going shopping with the other couples at Metro.

Sometimes I get comments from readers who say that they enjoy the pictures of everyday things that I post about Ukraine. Last week when we were on our way to Kharkiv I decided to take some pictures of some the things we saw along the way.

HOPE YOU ENJOY!!

People waiting for MarshrukasSmall villages with little homes like these

TRIP TO KHARKIV

we stopped along the road to look at these beautiful scrulptures

that were carved out of the stone

THE SACRAMENTO TEMPLE

TEMPLE MARRIAGE

"Marriage partners who come to the house of the Lord and partake of its blessings are joined not only for the period of their mortal lives but for all eternity. They are bound together under authority not only of the law of the land that joins them until death but also through the eternal priesthood of God, which binds in heaven that which is bound on earth. The couple so married has the assurance of divine revelation that their relationship and that of their children will not end with death but will continue in eternity, provided they live worthy of that blessing."
President Gordon B. Hinckley

This summer my son-in-law's brother, Glen was sealed in the Sacramento Temple. Glen married a beautiful young woman from our home ward, Kelsey Strazzo.

I just wanted to share a few of these special pictures from that day. You can tell by the children's faces that they adore Glen and Kelsey. The children could hardly wait for them to exit the building. Kelsey said she was surrounded by little people all day. Brad has 3 brothers and one sister. So Wyatt, Monroe, Maverick, and Cash have lots of cousins who all live in the Sacramento area. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful extended family.

WAITING FOR UNCLE GLEN AND AUNT KELSEY TO EXIT THE SACRAMENTO TEMPLE

Monroe

Wyatt and London

London, Wyatt, and Monroe

Wyatt, Lakai, and London

Monroe and London

COUSINS

MONROE LONDON AND WYATT

Uncle Glen and Aunt Kelsey with Maverick, Monroe, Wyatt and London

Monroe and London

Uncle Glen with Maverick and Monroe

Monroe and Aunt Kelsey

Monroe and Uncle Glen

I'M SICK

When I was a little girl I loved to play doctor. I loved to pretend that my little teddy bears and stuffed doggies were sick and that I could make them better. I would wrap them in blankets, tuck them into their little beds and sing them to sleep. When I got a little older I had a little sister that I "nursed" back to health when she was sick. Holding her hand when she couldn't sleep, and gently stroking her head until at last her little eyes would close and sleep would come.

And then.........

I became a mommy and I had "real" babies to nurse back to health. I stayed up late at night pacing the floors, rocking them, singing to them, and praying for the pain to go away and sleep to bring them relief from the discomfort. I sat in steam filled bathrooms with my "croupy" little boy, I drove my sweet little baby girl to the hospital in the middle of the night with yet another Chronic Ear Infection. It is no wonder that I became a nurse. I love being able to offer solace. I love bringing some badly needed relief from pain and discomfort.

Today I need that

I need some relief from pain and discomfort. I have a terrible cold.

My head feels like it is going to explode, I can't stop coughing, my glands are swollen and my neck hurts,

My chest feels like someone is sitting on it. I am hot one minute and cold the next. I just keep thinking how much we need each other. How good it feels to be taken care of.

I want my mom

I want to be taken care of in a way only a mother can.

I want a warm blanket, hot soup, a cold cloth for my head, and someone to sing to me. My moms not here. So I will have to adjust. I make my own chicken soup. Bruce brings me warm cups of fruit tea, and I count my blessings.

For at least I know that this is a virus and it will run it's course and soon I will be perfectly fine. In a few days I will be able to go for a walk in the snow. I will be able to continue this wonderful work that we have come here to do. This little virus has reminded me to be so grateful for a strong healthy body. And to be grateful that soon I will go home to a mother who loves me and brings me cold compresses and warm blankets when I am sick.

2 CONTAINERS FROM AMERICA ARRIVED

During the open house we met with Lubov and Kate from the International Relief Development and they invited us to a container delivery. We partner with them in bringing our containers into the Country. We provide the items in the Containers and they pay for the shipping and clear the delivery with customs.

It is always fun to see the containers unloaded so of course we agreed. They hadn't found anyone to do the unloading yet so .................

I volunteered the missionaries

So today we took, Elders Ekersley, Taylor, Beus, Norman, Southerland, Johnson, Gwyn, Hunt, and Hewlett to do a little service.

We had no idea until we arrived..................

that they would be unloading two very large trucks.

It was a lot of work but they made us proud. We brought Sister Fry and the President's driver Vladimir and even Vladimir helped unload. We were beginning to worry that we may not get it done before the sun set but they just picked up the pace a bit and we got out of there before dark. It even started snowing while we were there. The Elders said they really enjoyed it and that it felt good to do some manual labor. They said it was one of the best service projects they have done. (I'm not sure about that, I think they were just trying to make me feel better when I apologized to them for having them work so hard.) Anyway, it was a great day and I know they made a great impression on a lot of people today. There was also a television camera crew there when we first started and they took video of the Elders working. So it was another great day in Ukraine.

OUR FAMILY

One of our friends recently mentioned she hasn't seen pictures of our latest grandson Cash and asked if he is alright. So I thought I better give you an update on the Bailey family. Cash is doing great. He is absolutely adorable. Karrissa says he is such a mellow baby. She says he is a lot like Wyatt was. Maverick is a busy little guy. I have heard he gives lots of loves. Monroe and Wyatt both started preschool this year and love it. Karrissa and Brad say it has taken some time to adjust to having four children under 4 but they do manage to take some fun trips with the family. They have good friends from Reno who have children and they have done several day trips with them. Monroe says when I get home from my mission I am going to say, "Monroe how did you get so big?" We are looking forward to our annual trip to Santa Cruz with the Bailey's and our son Nathan the end of May. We will be joining many of our old friends at New Brighten Beach for a week long vacation in the sun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WYATT JAMES

Wyatt is 5 years old now!!!!!

Happy Birthday big guy Nana and Papa love you!!!

VALENTINE'S DAY

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL OUR DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. WE ARE SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED TO BE SHOWERED WITH SO MUCH LOVE BOTH HERE IN UKRAINE AND HOME IN AMERICA.WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND WISH YOU A WONDERFUL DAY SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO LOVE YOU. GIVE SOMEONE A HUG FOR US.

THE NEW OFFICE COUPLE HAS ARRIVED

OUR NEW OFFICE COUPLE, THE SOLAMANSONS ARRIVED TODAY DURING THE OPEN HOUSE. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO BE WELCOMED TO UKRAINE. TO SHOW UP AT THE BRANCH BUILDING AND MEET ALL THESE WONDERFUL MEMBERS AND GUEST.

(That is them in the back of the room) more pictures later

Just a few of the Happy Faces we saw at the Open House today.

This is a group of guest watching the Puppet Show

Elder Fedotov (our Puppeteer) and some of his fans
You could tell these little guys adore Elder Fedotov

Elders Beus, Dorman and Gwynn

The missionaries made this box and some cards for people to fill out if they would like to learn more about the church. They also had a sheet for people to sign if they would like a free DVD that the missionaries would bring to their home.

These two displays were in the Young Women Room which is where the Young Women ages 12-18 meet for Sunday lessons.

This display was in the Young Men's Room which is where the Young Men Meet for their Sunday lesson

I think this was in the Primary Room

This was the display in the Priesthood room where the Men meet for Sunday lessons

This was the display that was in the Relief Society Room where the Women meet for Sunday lessons (The women from many of the Branch's brought handmade items to display on this table and there was another table of photo albums that were from several years ago)

Lilia and Deema

(They attended our Strengthening Marriage Class, aren't they cute!!) Tanya, Nastia, and Olga

Tatiana, Laressa, and Natalia

Ludmilla and Annya in the Primary Room where the Children have Sunday lessons

Deema and Sister Cechov

Today was a huge success. They estimated about 200 people toured the building. The members of the Branch really did such a wonderful job. When people arrived they were escorted to the area where we had a Humanitarian Display and the Puppet Show. We welcomed them and then gave a brief summary of the Humanitarian Program. Then they watched a short Puppet Show and then went on with the tour of the building. They had members of the church assigned to be tour guides and the people left our area as a group and stayed in the group as they toured each classroom. The last room they toured was the room with the Baptismal Font. This is the room where the missionaries had their display.They had some Church literature and DVD's. They had a two beautiful posters with pictures of recent baptisms. When they finished the tour they went to a room where we served some excellent food and then were entertained in the Chapel with some live violin music and piano music by members of the Church.There were two missionaries in each room along with a member who told the groups about their organizations. The missionaries, tour guides and guides in the classrooms said that they had so many people ask some wonderful questions about the church. It was a fantastic day and we were so happy to have seen the building full throughout the day. It was a successful day because so many of the members worked very hard before and after the event. We had a wonderful group of ladies who worked in the kitchen all day keeping the food on the tables and cleaning up the refreshment room. The Missionaries came over a day or two before the event to clean the building and the grounds. What a great experience for all of us to work hard to put this event together and then see it be such a success.