13.1

 This morning the gals and I ran the Fayetteville Half Marathon!  I NEVER thought I would run 13.1 miles, but I did it...and it was fun!  It definitely took it out of me, after a quick lunch with my Dad and Kay we ran by WalMart (mistake!) and then I have been laying around since.  

Julie, myself and Linda!

Linda, me, Julie and Kim!

Flowers from B!

I hope to have some more action pictures a friend took during the race!  Can't wait!

Thanksgiving

i was feeling very thankful at thanksgiving, and i still am.  thankful for so much.  having more than i need.  my family, friends, career, and especially my trip to ukraine.  i am so thankful and humbled God allowed me to serve and love his children across the world.  missing it daily, and praying my eyes are opened to the needs right in front of me here at home.  thank you God for all of my blessings!    

Food shot...my aunt's hot rolls...are. the. best. 

 some of the great-grandkids!

 some of the grandkids and great's....missing a few.

my cousin's wife and daughter...who knew he would have such a beautiful wife and daughter! :)

 Bryan and I!

 my ma!

 ma, lorie and i...

 playing in the yard after lunch!

Save the trees.

Winter is coming and my trees from the back porch will be wintering at Farmington High School.  They were suppose to survive down to 20 degrees, but after this past winter...we decided they needed a warmer place if they were going to make it to spring.  We also moved them on the windiest day of the year.  Good times.  

a beautiful weekend...in Ukraine!

friday afternoon of week one came around, and all the sudden my travel friends were leaving me!  i started feeling sad around lunch knowing that they were leaving, and the next thing I knew they were in a van, and i was standing beside the van on the side of the road in ukraine waving goodbye and crying.

i tried to make myself stop quickly because i didn't want my friends to think i wasn't excited to spend the weekend with them, because i was, but turning off the tears for me is sometimes difficult.  i was also just smidge nervous about being "alone" for the weekend.  even though i knew i was in great hands, i was sad to see my comfort zone drive away. :)  i was just really sad our first week was over, sad for matt and ginny to be leaving their sweet little girl, sad for abby to be leaving me.  hi, my name is amy and i'm an emotional wreck.

i spent the weekend with my friends olga and alex, and they were so kind to me and made me feel so at home in their apartment.  i am so grateful!  we enjoyed tea and snacks and sitting around their kitchen table talking and hanging out in our comfy clothes.  alex is also a really great cook, and he made lots of yummy meals all weekend.  we had lots of conversations about word pronunciations, culture, geography, food, travel and movies.  they also have the sweetest pup, rocky, and i enjoyed him so much!  i also had a chance to use their "washing machine of electric" and get all my clothes fresh and clean for round 2.  i love the way things translate some times.

my ukrainian friends alex and vova suggested that we visit a monastery about 50 kilometers away from kramatorsk.  they said it was beautiful and that people come from all over the country to see it.  i agreed and we headed out saturday morning around 10:00am.  it was a beautiful drive and i was so glad we went!  i got to see the country side, a national park, ukraine hay bales, and enjoy my friends company!

that was one big statue!

my sweet friend!

vova is on top of the world! :)

so am i! :)

paparazzi gets a taste of his own medicine! :)

pictures!

tour group.

women had to have their heads covered as well as a skirt to go into the monastery, like my gear?

i think he's telling me about the chickens, and i was telling him how i really don't like birds, of any kind! 

i kept telling them i felt like my grandma.  Babushka Amy and Babushka Alice.

sunday we got up and got ready to pick up the girls and mike from the airport.  We headed that way around 1:30PM and they arrived and got through customs around 5:00PM.  While waiting in the airport I got to people watch and drink a latte from a vending machine.  Fun stuff.

I really wish I had a picture of their faces as they came through customs one by one, after 26 hours of travel with tons of suitcases and equipment...their expressions were priceless.  Glad i have a mental picture. :)  i'm sure my face wasn't much better the week before but it was interesting being on the waiting end not the traveling end.  so fun! :)

that evening we went to the store and got to be the grocery store leader, and we bought more cheese, crackers, sausage, cokes, water, chocolate and cookies, and supplies for a new week.  i was so excited to see the gals and mike!  So thankful for all the safe travels and blessing our group received during our time in Ukraine.

ukraine: later part of week 1...

wednesday morning we arrived and went straight to group 4.  we got a chance to work with sweet lena, and we both really enjoyed our time with her. 

 we went back to the isolation area and slowly worked up to getting this sweet girl out of her bed and sitting.  she warmed up to us and we had such a special day with her.  we got lots of time to just hold and play with her during our day, and we both loved it.  

 just checking things out....

 aww, ok, i think i like these girls....

 we took her from her area to the gym and enjoyed getting to see her take in some new surroundings and enjoy music and snuggling with us! :)

 we brought a cake for lunch with the director, alex went shopping for it..and it was a winner!!  

 hot tea, cake and lots of yummy goodies for lunch time break.

 in the afternoon we got to see this little guy and abby did lots of education on motor development for the ladies in his room.  it went really well.  

 this cutie is in that same room....

 i loved getting her to smile...she was so cuddly.  

 ok, ok...we will do more work with her..not just hold her ;)

 that evening some friends invited us to dinner at their parents apartment.  his momma made us a traditional ukrainian meal of borsch and potato dumplings...and lots of yummy sides.  

a group picture from week one!

more of this sweet girl and her momma, beautiful stuff...

 we left this walker the year before, and he was barely able to take a step...he was doing so good in it and walking all around the room!

i just liked this picture with every one standing around, because it was common for this many people to be hanging out in a room...and little guy just holding his toy in the middle of the room :)

 getting our game plan together for this sweet little one...

ahh, out of that bed!

crinkly book toy

 ahhhhh.....sitting up!

 after lunch we went to a local parent run organization for children with special needs.  we spent the afternoon there and saw many of the children we saw last year!  i kept telling our translators "tell them I remember them from last year!"   

 waiting outside

 it was a group effort to get us ready....

paper-palooza

 our first sweet girl, she was so timid!  but decided she liked us! :)  we found that many of the children were very scared of us, afraid that what we would do would hurt. i think many of them have had painful experiences.  we did our best to let them know we would not hurt them and most of them warmed up to us quickly.  it wasn't always the case though, and sometimes...no matter what you do...kids just cry! 

 demonstration! :)

 we saw this girl last year as well, and could tell some major improvements in her behavior.  her mother asked lots of good questions and we got to do several examples of how we would do therapy here with her.  she is so cute, and moves a lot apparently, since most of the pictures i have of her, she is a blur...:)

i had to load this picture because, number 1, i have crazy eyes, number two "sah-ba-kah" meaning dog is probably on my top 5 list of most popular russian words of the two weeks...and i'm holding the sahbakah picture card! :)

 checking out those arms...

 ohhh sweet girl.  

 one of the little guys wasn't sure about us, so abby did his stretching demonstrations on me...and apparently i'm a little on the tight side as well.  

on another note a mom and her son came that we saw last year.  The mom had the little boy's feet stuffed in the same braces and shoes we had given him last year.  it was so heart breaking because she couldn't get any more, and knew she would have to wait until we came back.  those braces are vital to his walking.  i can't imagine wanting some thing so important for your child, and not having access to get it!  once again, what TEAMWorks is all about....

 oh, good stuff...

 familiar faces from our week, so nice to spend time and get to know these ladies.  

i truly feel like the effectiveness of TEAMWorks Ukraine rests on the growth of relationships with the people we work with there.  i feel like these relationships were definitely fostered during our time there and i look forward to watching them grow more in the future.  and every time i look back at these pictures my heart gets really full.