Week 10

July 29, 2012

Hi Family,

How are you doing? Happy 24th of July - we certainly missed the pioneer spirit and feeling of celebration. We are well. The big news for last week is that Benj surprised me by planning a 48 hour date to Venice, Italy! It was incredible - the city, boats, canals, being together ... though I should note that it would have been great to be together in a tent, just to spend uninterrupted time. But, Benj took advantage of the 1.5 hour flight from Lviv to Venice - and we had a truly wonderful time. I posted a bunch of pictures on our blog. This was our first "more than one day away" from kids outing since Ella was born, and it was truly a memorable, exciting, and everything good time spent together.

While we were gone, the girls were well taken care of - Summer and Amira were here, of course, and Benj also had Amy Murphy (the Kiev RM who is now an exchange graduate student) stay at the apartment while we were gone. Timing worked out great - we left Tuesday evening after dinner (made it to our hotel a little before midnight) and the girls watched a movie and went to bed. Then Wednesday, the next day, any time the girls were sad or missed us, Amy, Summer and Amira were able to say, "your mom and dad will be home tomorrow," which I think made the separation more manageable (on both sides:)). We made it back Thursday evening, just after dinner, but in time to do gifts, treats, and our regular bed-time routine.

Mary missed us the most, we are told, but Ella and Anne took extra special care of her and reminded her near constantly how much she is loved, and that mommy and daddy would be back soon. In truth, it's extra special to see siblings care for, and reassure one another. I think Heavenly Father must feel great joy whenever he sees us reach out to, look out for, love and serve our brothers and sisters (fellow man) ... just like we felt extra 'pride' in knowing Ella and Anne were more kind and adoring with Mary when she needed the extra care and attention. 

Bubbles is bubbling - each week we add more clients, which is a good thing. Our iron has been going straight for 280+ hours ... and there doesn't seem to be a lull in sight - all good things, they just require time. Benj ordered a new iron in May, and it was supposed to be here the first week of June ... we even took over and remodeled an additional 1,000 sq/ft of space to accommodate the anticipated iron and orders. Well, it's almost August and the iron is still not here - thus is the joy (and headache) of doing business in Ukraine. We often have conversations questioning what it is we are supposed to be learning from these experiences of extreme frustration, and dishonesty ... most of them we chalk up to being character building (we hope in a positive way), though they come with a disproportionate number of grey-hairs, sleepless nights, and premature wrinkles.

We are 18 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and, if we can get an appointment, may find out gender - though our next "official" ultra-sound isn't scheduled until week 20. Other than that, nothing too exciting on tap for this week. Summer and Amira are going to attend the Young Single Adult conference in the Carpathians Thursday-Sunday with all the YSA from Ukraine and Russia - so that will be a neat experience for them, we hope. We love and miss you. Thank you for your prayers and concern on our behalf - you are certainly in our family's thoughts and prayers. 

Much Love,

Meagan+

Bell Tower and Doge Palace

Maybe the hit to the pocket book doesn't seem as harsh if you are coming from Western civilization ... but if you are used to paying fractions of a dollar (like we are) for museums and tourist attractions, Venice seems pretty pricey.

Basically what we would pay in Ukrainian Ghrivna currency is what we paid in Euros ... 8 Euros a pop to go up the Bell tower, 16 Euros a pop to see the Doge Palace (former political Venician Head of State, like a King, but elected for life), food, lodging, you get the picture ... and at the end of the day, there really isn't much to show for it except a full belly, pictures on a computer, and great memories (priceless:)).

San Marcos Square-

Doge Palace-

Unfortunately photos weren't allowed inside, and in truth, the Palace probably should have been better staged. Here are the couple pictures from the outer area where photos were okay.

Lunch on the Grand Canal-

 Truthful review of the food - Benj's lasagna taste much better than the stuff we ate in Venice, and my dad's seafood pasta is certainly superior to the dish I ate in Italy. But the setting is hard to duplicate.

Venice - First Morning

We learned quickly that morning time is the best time in Venice - no crowds, and not so hot.

So here are a few photos of our first morning... 

The Bridge of Sighs and Grand Canal-

 (I basically had to pull Benj away from watching the boats load and unload products).

A church by our hotel- 

De Rialto Square-

A couple favorite doors (love that handles are in the center)- 

Chiesa dei Gesuati-

Santa Maria Church- 

Canals and Boats-

This is one challenge with Venice - lots of bridges, steps, and no roads. Anything that needs to be taken in our out (from bottled water, to dry-wall, to garbage) has to be hauled in and out manually. Yes, I was very grateful we didn't have a stroller, or luggage (just one carry-on for the two of us!). 

The Ultimate Date

Whether for our 8 year anniversary, Baby-Moon, or just because, Benj whisked me away this week for a 48 hour date in Venice, Italy.

Sounds cool, right? It was amazing - we wandered the narrow streets and bridges with no destination, talked uninterrupted, ate at our leisure, shopped, did lots of sight-seeing, and just enjoyed being together. In truth, we could have been in a tent in a deserted dessert, and it would have been grand to just spend time together ... but I won't complain about a two day date on the Grand Canal.

We loved it. Venice gets mixed reviews - some say it's too dirty ... but they are probably coming from a more western location. If you live east of Italy, as we do at present, it's like a jump forward in time 30 years ... Loved the boats, bridges (definitely not stroller or wheel-chair accessible), no cars, art, glass, shopping, gelato ... everything.  We walked all four bridges (and then some), stayed at a great hotel right on a side canal between Saint Marco's Square and the Bridge of Sighs.

Since I averaged 7 pictures an hour over the 48 hour date (and I wasn't clicking away in my sleep), I'll post pictures of activities in separate posts. And yes, the kids were well taken care of, loved, and protected in our absence ... three adults to three children was the care-ratio (all native English speakers) - no wonder we don't do things like this more often!

Week 9

July 22, 2012

Hi Family,

We hope this update finds you happy and well. This week marked our 8th anniversary - Eight Is Great! We feel so blessed to have had so many adventures and growing opportunities over the last eight years - most significant, of course, our darling daughters. As Benj and I were on our anniversary date (a benefit of having built in babysitters, for sure!) we tried to project where the next eight years would take us ... but since we had no idea that all that did transpire over the last eight years would have ever occurred (weren't we supposed to be in SF for two years, then business school, then establishing ourselves in a home, job, and community?!?), we decided Ella's suggestion that we all live on Mars, but bring our own vegetables, is probably as good a guess as any. Thank you so much for your love, support, encouragement, and examples ... particularly in regards to child-rearing, over the years. We look forward to your continued involvement over the next eight years and beyond!

Other activities:

~Hiking up to the "High Castle" look out

~Parks

~Ballet

Ella, Anne and Mary were so darling at the ballet - all dressed alike. Several older Ukrainian ladies commented on the rarity of seeing three young girls so well behaved at the ballet (keep in mind most families have maybe one child here - negative population growth, like most of Europe) ... and when I said we had another on the way the Ukrainian ladies thought that was just about the neatest (and craziest) thing they'd heard. Then, for the first time, I sort of hoped our fourth child is a girl ... because that would be so darling to have four little girls dressed up with bows in their hair at the ballet - I hesitate to even write that, because regardless of gender we are thrilled for another addition, and I would feel terrible if our fourth child is a son and ever thought his parent(s) were wanting a girl ... but it was the first time I had the impression, or desire, for four little ladies in coordinating attire. With that said, we would be equally thrilled of having a little more testosterone in our abode ... and Benj could certainly use a camping partner - so, either way we really can't go wrong at this point. The only issue is that Ella is really hoping for a boy (she asked Santa for a brother last Christmas and thinks it's coming in time for this Christmas) and Anne really wants another girl ... needless to say in a couple of weeks (we are 17 weeks tomorrow) one of them will be thrilled and the other less so (though I can't help but think they want different genders just for the sake of wanting the opposite of one another).

A final note, today as we were getting ready for church Anne said that Jesus is her favorite Prophet because "He loves the good guys AND the bad guys" - translation: Anne has a propensity toward the wicked witch rather than the good fairy in most stories, and appreciates that Jesus loves the wicked witch. We're still not sure what the long-term meaning of this is ... but thought it worth passing along:) This from a 4 year old who sleeps with three stuffed sharks, a three-foot stuffed snake, and stuffed spider. Of course, Ella's PBK American girl type dolls are asleep on pillow beds next to her own bed (she lovingly changes their clothes and tucks them in) - two little girls who are so similar and yet so different. Mary, well she just fits in wherever needed ... playing dolls or sharks as the case may be - as long as she is in the middle of the action, she's happy.

We love and miss you. Hope all is well.

xoxo,

Meagan+

Center and the Ballet

We love the Lviv Opera House and ballet ... each August, however, the ballet takes off for their summer holiday, so Friday night was our last chance to see the dancers perform for a while. 

Even though this picture suggest otherwise, we really were all happy to be there, and Mary made it through the entire show (thank you 5 bottles!).

This performance was a three-act ballet; Swan Lake, Hamlet, and Mid-Summer Night's Dream.

Our friend Amy joined us in Center for a post-Euro Cup Adidas shopping trip, chocolate factory, and connected teeter-totter expedition.




Streetskee Park is one of my favorite places in Lviv ... more space to run and play, plus swans to watch and feed. If I were an artist, I would enjoy painting here too!