Merry Christmas!!!!

Getting ready for Christmas!

We decorated the tree today and then we decorated Abigail :).

Bah and Abigail

Abigail doesn't need mama and papa anymore, she has Bah! We here "Bah, Bah" about 1000 times a day. Skype really does work. Abigail saw and talked to her Bah everyday and knew her right off. They haven't skipped a beat since we got here, making corn bread, washing dishes and just being together. Grandaddy is now, Granda-da and is loving this rowdy little addition to his home while we are home on furlough.

Bawl and Upward!

Abigail goes with us to Upward Soccer every Saturday. She so loves that "bawl" (and all of her southern relatives just love that little southern drawl of hers), but most of all, she loves kicking it with her father!

Sick baby and Natata

This week has been a really hard one. Abigail has been sick and not sleeping well (thus mama hasn't been sleeping!). I am so thankful for Natata (our babysitter Natasha). Every morning before classes, Natasha stops by the check on Abigail. When the doorbell rings, Abigail flies to the door yelling, NATATA, NATATA. She plays with her for a few minutes and then has to go to class. For the rest of the day Abigail calls for Natata. They have a special little relationship and I love to watch them interact with one another.

Before the fall....

Abigail and I went over to play with Karina and Edwin today - they go to our church. We were happily playing on the swing when Abigail suddenly fell through the middle of the tire, landed on her little bottom and then wrenched back and hit her head on the ground - gashing a little hole in the back of that sweet head - and much to mama's demay, bled profusely. It was a traumatic day but PRAISE THE LORD it ended well, with no real damage to our Abigail! Thank you Lord!

High above Mukachevo

Soviet concrete apartment buildings are horribly cold in the winter and extremely muggy in the summer - no insulation. Oleg learned how to insulate them and has been able to teach other young Christians (Kolya, Oleg's co-worker)to do so as well.
Zakarpatya, the region of Ukraine where we live, is famous for it's hospitality and love of coffee. As you can see, Oleg loves his coffee and the people he is working for coldn't wait to serve it to him - hanging off the side of their 9th floor apartment :).

Mama's little helper

Abigail loves to do what mama does. She often goes over to the vaccuum and picks up the broom and "vroom vrooms" around the room. What a reminder to watch every idle word and action because we have a little observer who is taking everything in. Abigail even says "ouch" just like I do when something hurts. Ukrainians say "oie".

Sunday helpers

Managing to keep an 18 month old quiet for a 3 hour church service is a mammoth task! We praise the Lord for our young church friends who help us keep Abigail occupied. Lilya is Abigail's absolute favorite friend. When she sees her come in the building she waves and yells, Lilya. Vladik is another Abigail favorite. He has a little sister and knows how to keep little girls happy!

Ukrainian Thanksgiving - Zhatva 2008

Thanksgiving in Ukraine is a church holiday. Each church determines when they want to celebrate. It is a wonderful day of church family fellowship. After the church service, we had a meal together. Today Abigail had her first "golupsi" - a Ukrainian cabbage roll. She ate 5 of them - just one of the many Ukrainian sides of Abigail :).

BALL!

The other day while riding our tricycle there was no riding alone. She had to have both her balls and several toys stuffed here and there. If one of the balls slipped out, we heard about it until it was safely perched in her arms. Abigail has become quite vocal about what she wants and thankfully, we are getting beyond the caveman grunt. Her little vocabulary is expanding daily, both English and Ukrainian.

Blue eyes and shoes

Abigail's new passion is for mama and papa's shoes. Her favorites are sandals that you can put your toes through! I have to make sure our shoes are clean now so that she can stomp around the house in them (unlike America, where you never have to clean the bottom of your shoes - in Ukraine if you don't, your house will turn into a dust pit). I never thought that a simple pair of sandals would be a great babysitter :)!

Houston, we have a problem!

Yesterday morning, we closed the office door while doing our morning devotions so that Abigail wouldn't wonder in there. Well, when we went to open that wonderful door, it wouldn't! We had to take the glass out of it (praise the Lord it had a glass panel) to get in. We took the handle off to find no way to get to the lock mechanism w/o breaking the door. Wonderful! So, now we are climbing in and out of the hole in the door to get to the computer :)! Hopefully our locksmith friend will be able to work us in - in the near distant future!

Visiting with our friend Sasha

Growing up so fast

September 1st

September 1st is the traditional day for students to return to their studies in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Ukraine is no exception. All morning, students dressed up in their white tops and black pants/skirts have been scurrying to purchase bouquets of flowers for their teachers. Every school and university will have elaborate opening ceremonies and then the students will go to their homeroom classes for a short instruction time. Tomorrow lessons begin in earnest. Please pray for us as we start a soccer league and hand chime choir as follow-up to our summer camps. Our tentative start up date is September 15.

Church picnic fun!

Oleg organized the first ever Gogol Street Baptist Church picnic. We had so much fun! We had grilled chicken, played volleyball, fellowshipped and enjoyed the beauty of our Lord's creation. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Ukrainian Independence day and start a new church tradition!

2008 Enskyy family portrait

After about 50 shots, this is the only one that came out okay - it was the last one. I didn't realize how incredibly difficult it is to photograph a family with a small child so that everyone is looking at the camera with a normal expression. Praise the Lord one came out alright!

Insulating Oleg's mother's apartment

Oleg and I both are excited about how the Lord has blessed his side business - he insulates the outside of our 9 story concrete, Soviet apartment buildings. He started this business to help with ministerial set up costs and to help the men who help in our ministry support themselves.

This week, we have been insulating Oleg's mother's apartment. I have been helping Oleg and I must say, it is a lot of very hard work just handing him the insulation and keeping his mud tub full. I can't imagine how tired he gets out there hanging in the sun.

Oleg's mother, Valya, has been keeping Abigail for us. She is as exhausted as we are at the end of the day - Abigail keeps her hopping!

Abigail's morning habit

Each morning when Abigail gets up, she immediately hits the shoe box and rummages for a new pair to wear. She used to bring me 2 different shoes but now knows that shoes come in pairs. Her favorite orange jellies had to be hid as they rubbed blisters on those cute little feet - much to Abigail's dismay. She is still searching for them. This morning, she brought me a pair of slippers that Bah sent to her a long time ago - bunnies. Even though it is 100 degrees outside, we must wear the insulated bunny slippers! Every once in a while it is okay to wear winter slippers in the summertime :).

Precious baby

How we praise the Lord for this little girl!

Scuba papa, water baby and viligant mama!

We had so much fun at the lake yesterday! One of Oleg's lifetime dreams came true, he got to scuba dive. Oleg met a member of the Ukrainian FEMA rescue squad at our basketball camp. Sergei (resident scuba proff) was dropping his daughter off at camp and Oleg took the opportunity to talk to him, tell him who we were and why we were doing this camp. They hit it off and have been talking ever since. Yesterday, he taught Oleg how to dive. Oleg was on cloud 9 - complete with crawfish supper to complete his day (caught while diving). Please pray for Oleg's friendship with Sergei to be spiritually fruitful as Sergei is not a believer.

Abigail spent her time investigating stones in the shallow waters of the lake. Mama spent the day guarding her little explorer.

Everyone had a good time and is boasting a healthy summer glow.