Happy New Year
These days are the days of Christmas for us. The holidays start just before January 1 and normally continue through until January 9 or 10… at least. The kids had a day off school for the 25th but we will celebrate the birth of our King on January 7 with the rest of Ukraine. Actually, we will celebrate it with the church on January 6th on what promises to be a beautiful evening.
Two nights ago, about 20 friends came over and rang in 2013. It was a nice low key affair. We didn’t get any fireworks this year and noted with interest that many people in Rzhyshchiv seemed to have had the same hesitation of forking out money on something that unnecessary. (People are tightening their belts in preparation for even harder times financially. There is a lot of talk around about higher gas prices, higher general costs of living… and job security has become very important.)
Martin And Alexandra live just up the road from us. They’re good friends and are part of our fellowship.
Tomorrow, we celebrate Elle’s 8th birthday. We are celebrating a couple of days early so as to put a bit more space between Christmas and her celebration. She is fine with that – two days early!
We went out for a sled on the road following the recent snow and got in the exercise for the week. The slope is a long and steep one and the only things to look out for are the cars coming down or the yellow snow on the sides of the track.
The ladies had an evening of coffee and deserts in our top room where several ladies from the church invited neighbours or relatives. It was spectacularly decorated with different decorations from different people in the church and was acclaimed a success. One of the ladies has kept coming to our Sunday services which has been encouraging.
This is me warming my frozen nose at the building site. When the temps reach –15 outside, I regularly return to the heater to unfreeze my hands and nose. :)
It’s cake-decorating time in the kitchen and I’m the designated cake-decorator for birthdays. Tonight, we have a lolly-tree in mind to make. Mmmm… should be sweet.