Summer Vacation Part 2

We went whale watching and

moose hunting in Maine. Guess which one we saw?

We have returned to Ukraine which means our vacation is officially over. We returned on August 10 after one of the most uneventful flights ever! We got on the plane, we got off, we hung around Munich for 5 hours, we got on another plane, we got off, we got our luggage, and we were driven home! WOW! What are the chances of that happening?

Before we returned home, we drove from mom's house in Maine back to Virginia. When we left Mom's the plan was to drive to Portsmouth, NH and spend a couple of days. We were going to go to Kennebunkport and gawk at the Bush's compound, but after a long day of driving, we decided to do something fun instead! We did! As we were driving into Portsmouth, we got a little lost. We ended up on coast near the Atlantic Ocean. There was a public beach that looked very inviting. The next day instead of gawking, we went to the beach and the kids swam in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! Laura and I spend several hours in the water-diving into and riding waves. Landon and Ben preferred to stay on the beach and play in the sand. After returning to the hotel, we met a friend of ours from Kiev for dinner. Katja was in Portsmouth helping out the Passport center. She had been there for nearly four weeks and needed to see a familiar face.

Where is Ben?


Birds on a rock

After a relaxing day at the beach, we got back in the car and started on the long drive from Portsmouth to Brandywine, Pennsylvania. It was a long and fairly quiet ride. We hit traffic near some of the big cities. When we arrived in Brandywine all we wanted to do was eat dinner and get to bed! On Saturday morning we had breakfast and headed for Longwood Gardens. As a child, I went to Longwood Gardens on school field trips and never enjoyed or appreciated the beauty of it. Today, as an adult I feel differently! What we saw was so beautiful. Here are a couple of pictures of the gardens.

There are many more pictures of the flowers and trees, but I don't want to overwhelm you!

We spent Sunday at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Landon has been teaching the kids American history and we seized every opportunity we could to visit historic sites. Valley Forge was nice, but it sure was hot! Here are a couple pictures.

Washington's Headquarters

Monument to those who were at Valley Forge

The return to Virginia was welcome. We had spent nearly a month on the road traveling and visiting. We were all tired, but no one was quite ready to return to Ukraine. Being in the states and visiting places, meeting people, and being with family and friends is awesome. We are only able to do it once a year and even then, our time is rushed!

School begins August 27. Laura will be in grade 5 and Ben in grade 4. I am amazed at how grown up the kids are! Sometimes I miss their toddler years!

Summer Vacation--Part 1

We are nearly half way through our vacation and man, are we having a good time! My mom flew in the day after we did and drove up to Maine with us. My brother and his family came to DC our first weekend in the US so my mom could have all of her grandchildren together. She has seen them separately, but wanted her to have a chance to love on them all at the same time. It was a great time. Laura loved being a big sister to Erik's little boys.

We drove from DC through Gettysburg up into New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. We then drove across the state of Maine to Calais. The drive was so beautiful. There are some charming towns in the northeast. We have over 1000 pictures and I can't share them all, so I have chosen a few. I will post more later.

Ben, Laura and me in front of the Native American museum in Washington, DC

Nana and her brood!

A canon in Gettysburg

The beautiful blueberry fields of Maine

The Green Mountains in Vermont

Lake George, New York (This view is from Ft. Ticonderoga)

School's Out For Summer!

YIPEE!!! We are free for the summer! It was a long and interesting year, but it is now history! Laura and Ben survived the year and are much better students! Both kids made tremendous improvements in their academics. We are proud of both of them. Laura will be in grade 5 next year and Ben will be in grade 4.

I will still be Special Needs Coordinator and on top of that Primary Years (PYP) Coordinator! I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to be PYP Coordinator! I have two great examples to follow. Stan, the coordinator from my previous school, ISL and Tasha, the outgoing coordinator from my current school! I leave Saturday for Bucharest, Romania. There I will sit in a sweltering school and learn how to be a good coordinator!

Three days after I return from that trip, we will head to the US for a month! We have decided to drive to Maine so we can explore more of the land we love. We will go to Gettysburg, NY (Albany), and through Vermont and New Hampshire before driving across the state of Maine. We will return to Virginia, our starting point, via I-95 making stops in Chadds Ford, PA and Annapolis! I will try to keep you posted as we travel!

I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing summer. Stay cool and drink lots of water!

Until later,

Christina

More Spring pictures!

Ben saw the ants!

I don't know what they are, but they sure are pretty!

Aahh!

This is one of two churches on the Botanical garden grounds.

A view of the left bank from the lilac grove! Is there such a thing as a lilac grove? Perhaps it should be called lilac heaven!

There were a couple of trees that had lilac blooms. We sniffed all of them!

The "Iron Lady," or Mother as she is known locally, is the fourth largest statue in the world.
A wonderful shot of a magnolia bloom. Many of them were gone and those that were left were not in the greatest condition. However, Landon did a great job on this picture!

Three quarters of a family photo!

We all took time to stop and smell the lilacs!

Bee-u-ti-ful Spring Day!

Laura and Ben on a bench! You don't see Ben trying to pinch Laura's leg! True brother and sister!


Yesterday we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went to the big botanical garden. When we were in Kyiv before we spent a lot of time at the garden walking anonymously among the trees. Some things have changed for the better and some things will never change. We were there with at least a quarter of the Ukrainian population (or so it seemed)! Our main goal was to see the lilacs, but they were not in full bloom yet. Next weekend we will go back for Mother's Day and hopefully all the lilac trees will be in bloom! Here are a couple of pictures. I will post more later.

This is the entrance view.

The Botanical Garden has some forest land too.

I was trying to hide in the lilacs!

This is my favorite view of Kyiv. There is a monastery in the background.

Happy Birthday, Laura Rose

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAURA ROSE!

March 23, 2007

It is hard to believe our little girl is already 10 years old! She is such a big and lovely girl. She is smart and beautiful! Laura invited six of her closest friends to a birthday luncheon at our favorite Chinese restaurant. All the girls we well behaved and so polite. Here are a few pictures.

Natalya, Courtney, Trishi, Kata and Gabi joined Laura for her birthday luncheon.

I told the ladies we were taking a "serious" photo and this is what I got!

One girl gave Laura a whole tub of lollipops! What was she thinking???

International Women's Day

March 8th was International Women's Day. Traditionally men, and women, give women flowers, candy, and (in my case) champagne. My boss, John, gave each woman on staff a beautiful pink rose. In years past, bosses have given out carnations and chocolates. I have one Ukrainian male colleague whom I really like. He presented me with a bottle of tasty champagne. His words of advice were to not drink it at school!

Landon, on the other hand, does not believe in celebrating communist holidays! He was pressured into sending me virtual flowers, virtual chocolates and a e-card! Nothing says, Happy International Women's Day like virtual goodies. I have enjoyed giving him a hard time about his lack of celebratory spirit. To be fair to him he did buy me a plane ticket to Bucharest the day before the holiday. In his mind, that counts!

Because the holiday fell on a Thursday, the Ukrainian government gave employers the opportunity to work last Saturday instead of today (Friday) so they could make a nice four day weekend. I was able to drive to school this morning in record time. Traffic was so light I HAD to run a red light! There was no on coming traffic, so it was a safe running! I felt so naughty!

Spring is trying to spring in Kyiv. The weather has been very mild. We are to the point of wearing short sleeves and a lighter coat. Laura wants to shed the coat all together, but I have cautioned her against that. It can still be kind of chilly! When the sun shines and the skies are blue, life is good! I can deal with just about anything when the sun shines and there are blue skies.

That is all for now. It is time to watch American Idol! It is so great having Armed Forces Network (AFN). We get many of our favorite shows with in days of their airing in the US. I don't know how we survived our first 10 years in the service without AFN!

We are off to Prague, Czech Republic next week. I am presenting a workshop at a teacher's conference. I love opportunities to teach others what I have learned!

Keep in touch!

Love from Kyiv, Christina

Happy New Year from Kyiv, Ukraine

Over the weekend the Ukrainians celebrated Old New Year. This is the date when Ukrainians used to celebrate new year. Peter I wanted Ukraine (Russian Empire) to be more like the rest of the world, so he changed the date to January 1. Ukrainians never pass up an opportunity to have a party. So, I have yet another chance to say Happy New Year to you all!

Returning to Kyiv (official spelling) after being away for six years has been interesting. There are many changes to the city--some good and some not so good. In all fairness though, the majority of them are positive.

I would have to say that the one obvious negative change is traffic. I have never seen traffic and as many crazy drivers like I have seen here. People will block intersections in order to prevent someone else from getting ahead of them. They drive on the wrong side of the road and on the sidewalk if there is a traffic jam. Landon and I sat one evening (while waiting for the hostess of a dinner we had been invited to arrive) and watched a crossroads jam up all because one car had to go down a one way street. That one car blocked four lanes of traffic and thought nothing of it. Eventually he got tired of waiting for the traffic to clear and parked the car on the side of the road (in the intersection) and walked to his destination. We were gobsmacked at the pure selfishness of the drivers. Ukrainians are typically very patient people. When they get behind the wheel of a car, they lose patience and had to be at their destination last week sometime.

It takes me about seven minutes to get to school in the morning. I don't have to share the road with many and those who are on the road are still half asleep--or worse. In the afternoon it takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get home. I get not quite 100 miles on a tank of gas! On a positive note, I have learned a lot of new hand signals and words in Russian!

If I had to choose one positive change I see it would probably be the availability of western goods. We used to go to at least three small dark stores to get our groceries, plus the outdoor market. Now there are western style grocery stores with 20 check out lanes! Many of their products are from Western Europe or Scandinavia. Customer Service is still poor, but I am hopeful that it will improve too. Many stores/shops in the city cater to the new rich people. The old shopping centers, Ukrainia and Tsum are still here, but a little more upscale. There are many boutiques and shoe stores around. The Ukrainian ladies like their nice clothes and shoes.

Maine woods

We spent Christmas in Maine with my mom and brother. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. There was no snow and the kids (and I) were disappointed. Maine is such a beautiful state. Snow would have made it a winter wonderland! Many of you know my dad died on September 16, 2006. He had lung cancer. It was exactly 10 months from the day he was diagnosed. Cancer is a viscous disease. No one deserves to have this horrible disease.

I will close for now. We wish you the best of 2007! Keep in touch!

Christina

Benjamin's surgery-Update

Benjamin's surgery was a great success. He is out of the hospital and feeling well. He has some pain in his hip, but that seems to be lessening. He does not like the sight of blood, so he is bothered by the blood in his mouth and nose. He is taking it in stride. We are so proud of him.

Here he is as he was being discharged from the hospital.


We would like to thank all of you for your prayers for Ben. We appreciate your support.

Check out his CarePage from the hospital. http://www.cnmc.org/dcchildrens/forparents/carepages.aspx (BenjaminPTaylor)

Keep praying for dad. His cancer has returned--to his brain.

Keep serving.

Love, Christina

Benjamin's surgery

Please pray for Ben! June 30th he will have surgery at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC to repair his palate. He was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip. He has had two operations already--when he was a baby. He will have a his upper jaw repaired and this includes a bone graft. That is what he is most worried about. Ben is afraid he won't be able to play afterwards! He is a brave boy and I know he will come through the surgery without any problems.

I will let you all know how the surgery goes!

Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. Your prayers healed my father! We are all so grateful!

Keep serving!

Christina

May Day

May has arrived and so have the warmer temperatures. Change has come quickly here in Latvia. One week we had snow showers and the next it was short sleeve weather. The past weeks have been sunny and warm (by Latvian standards). It is amazing how good it feels to be able to go out without a coat, hat and mittens! It is such a free feeling. And the sunshine! Wow! Does it ever feel good on my face!

In April we went to Berlin for Landon's 40th birthday. We went to a Berlin Thunder game! It was lots of fun. We wanted the kids to get the experience of watching an American football game. Ben's first, and most memorable, comment was, "I can't wait to see the cheerleaders' pom poms!" He saw them and I believe enjoyed the game as well. Laura was a fan of the dancers and took to dancing in her seat! The Berlin fans are the loudest fans I have ever experienced. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

Landon and the kids at the Berlin Zoo. The Berlin Zoo is one of the best zoos in the world. We were amazed at so many things! It is like a park in the middle of the city! Oh! Wait a minute! It is a park in the middle of the city!

Ma and Pa Taylor

On May 4th we went to a rocky beach near the Estonian border to look for rocks with holes in them. I know this sounds strange, but it was really a fun experience. Latvian tradition says the first rock you find with a hole in it is your lucky charm. I found one very quickly. Later I found prettier ones, but held on to the not so pretty one since it was lucky!

Ben does the same thing every time we take him to a beach--he digs down into the sand looking for water. He did this when he was four years old at a beach here in Latvia and he was so fascinated with what he found, he does it every time!

Laura is usually busy transporting water from the sea to the sand. She can do this over and over without getting bored! She too loves the sea.

May 5th began the World Hockey Championships here in Riga! It is an exciting time to be here. There are many tourists in town and everyone is talking about hockey! The Latvian hockey fans are some of the most faithful fans in the world. Recently Latvia played Canada and were being squished! The Latvian were as loud as ever in the arena, but the noise was not enough. They began throwing coins and trash onto the ice. At the end of the game, many threw their shoes onto the ice to express their displeasure! Many Latvians were spotted walking home with only one shoe on!

On Mother's Day we will have the chance to meet the USA Hockey team. The kids are very excited about that. Laura stated. "I have never met a real hockey player before!" Ben just thinks the idea is "Awesome!"

Our time in Latvia is nearly over. We have lots of feelings about leaving and I will share them with you in another blog. We are looking forward to our time in Ukraine and all the challenges we will face. The kids are excited about going back to Ukraine and getting reacquainted with it.

Have a blessed day! Keep in touch!

Happy New Year

In some world cultures, you say Happy New Year to anyone you haven't seen yet that year--no matter when you meet them! So I say to you, Happy New Year.

It has been a hectic, busy, and exciting time in Riga lately. Too much happening to tell now. I will ask that you pray for me as I am heading to London for a job interview. I hope to teach in Kiev.

Let me also update you on my dad. He has finished his radiation treatments and has one more round of chemo next week. Some time after that, they will do a CAT scan and determine if the treatments worked. It has been very difficult for both of my parents and I am grateful that it is nearly over. I don't know what will happen if the treatments were unsuccessful, but I know we will manage to get throught it! Please keep your prayers coming for them.

I will make an effort to update more regularly!

Keep smiling and praying!

Keep Praying!

Dear Friends:

Keep praying! Dad is feeling well and knows about and appreciates all your prayers. Thank you! I was home with mom and dad last week. We had a wonderful time laughing and taking care of business. Some of the business was pleasant and other was not--either way I enjoyed being with mom and dad.

This past week dad began his second round of chemo and he began radiation. He has completed his first week of radiation and has five more to go. Mom and dad will travel to Bangor each Sunday and return to Calais on Friday--weather permitting. It is a long drive and I know as time goes on it will get longer.

Karl, my older brother, will visit mom and dad for Christmas. Pray for his safe travels.

As we approach the birthday of Jesus, think about all the gifts you have already received. I have been blessed with the gift of eternal life, a wonderful family, health, employment and hope. Whatever your gifts are--appreciate them.

Have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and may your new year bring lots of adventure and joy!

Christina

God is good!

Yes, He is! Dad does indeed have cancer, but it was caught early. It is in one place in his lungs and the doctors are confident that they will get it take care of with chemo and radiation. In my dad's case, pneumonia has saved his life! Had he not gone to the hospital because of his painful pneumonia, he would not have been diagnosed with cancer. I am pained when I think of what would have happened had it not been caught!

The plan is for dad to do chemo and then radiation. They can't do radiation in Calais, where they live, so they will have to go two and a half hours to Bangor. When they begin radiation, they will be in Bangor for a week at a time. This will be hard on my parents, but I am confident that God will be with them.

Thank you to all of you who prayed for dad and mom. We were all scared there for a while and are so much more aware of the fragility of life. I will keep you posted on dad's condition. In the meantime--keep praying!

Update

Last night at 10:30 p.m. the phone rang. I knew it could not be good news. It was not. My dad had a CAT scan and they found a 2" tumor in his bronchial tree. He is being transferred to a larger hospital today. On Monday he will have a biopsy to determine what kind of tumor it is.

Please pray for him; for my mom and for the doctors who are treating him.

Thank you!

Prayer for Dad

Hello all. Thank you for checking in with the Taylor family. I have a favor to ask of you. Please pray for my dad. He was admitted to the hospital today, November 17, with pneumonia. He is feeling very poorly and in a lot of pain. Please pray for mom too as she is alone in the house in the woods!

I will keep you posted on his progress.

Thank you!

Oh dear!

Yes, report cards and parent teacher conferences are over. That paper is written (I got a perfect score). I have a lot of excusesfor not updating sooner--none that you want to hear though. I have been very busy lately with my class and school. I have been spending much of my free time researching special education things so I can help my colleagues. I believe I have found my calling!

Please pray for me as I have applied for a Special Education job in Kiev. How God works! I want a Special Ed position and there is one! Hmmm...He is awesome!

Ben's birthday is Tuesday. He will be 8! Hard to believe. Laura is nearly nine and she thinks she is nearly 21! Oh the discussions we have had lately. Who knew children would be so trying? Where is the user manual? Did I lose mine? I am always second guessing what we are doing with the kids. I want my children to be happy, open minded, respectful, well traveled, in love with learning and so much more. The want Game Boys, candy and to watch inappropriate things on tv because their friends do! If only I could keep them in a bubble and protect them from all the negativity in the world....

Have a great week. I promise I will update this more often!

Update Coming!

Glendalough--St Kevin's Church

Hello! I know many of you are waiting for an update on our trip to Dublin. It is coming! I have to complete report cards and write a paper for my class. Once those two tasks are completed I will work on an update! Here are a couple of pictures to whet your appetite!

Irish sheep!

Thank you for your patience!

Fall Break

Fall Break has arrived! We are off to Dublin, Ireland on Monday! I will fill you in on all the wonderful sites and sounds of Ireland when we return!

We have been in Latvia for three years now. This, our fourth and final has been a year of firsts. We experienced the low of life attending the funeral of a colleague’s daughter and boyfriend. It was a beautiful event, but so very sad. These kids were in their early 20's and had so much to live for. The funeral was held at a chapel in the woods near our school. Back among the pine, oak and birch trees is a beautifully laid out cemetery. The chapel is wooden and very small. There were no pews--only benches on the side. The wooden caskets were open and both families stood at children's heads and greeted family and friends. What a moving and emotionally overwhelming event. Every guest brought flowers. The smell of flowers was too much at times. We, the entire staff of the school as well as hundreds of friends and relatives, stood at the entrance of the chapel. People waited in line, so for as long as an hour and a half, to file into the chapel to pay their final respects.

The Catholic priests led the family and pallbearers to the burial site. It was deep in the woods. Walking there was so peaceful. The sky was blue and you could hear birds singing in the treetops. We all gathered around for the graveside service. The priests read some passages from the Bible and sang some songs. Then the caskets were lowered into their graves. Two men who were employed by the cemetery did this. When they were finished, the families and friends took a handful of dirt and threw it into the grave. Symbolic. The workers then handed shovels to some of the men in attendance and the 8-10 men began shoveling the dirt into the graves-- all while we stood and watched.

Once the graves were filled the workers returned and built up the tops of the graves with dirt. They then made hills of dirt into casket like shapes. Using their shovels they made crosses on them. Pine branches were used to cover the entire thing. The men then cleared the shovels away and the service went on. Lovingly each family member placed their flowers on top and began filing away. In Latvia, flowers are a very important part of life. When you are giving flowers to someone for their birthday, you must give an odd number of flowers. For funerals, you take an even number.

There was a gathering at the family’s house afterwards, but the staff did not feel it was appropriate we attend. There were a couple of representatives from our school who stayed until late in the evening. Word has it some of the guest were still there at 4:00 the following morning.

Later that same week, we attended the wedding of our first nanny, Kristine. She was marrying a young man who was a security guard at the British Embassy. Their wedding was at the oldest church in Latvia. It was a perfect fall day for a wedding. We had not eaten lunch—thinking we would eat at the reception. The wedding began at 1:45 (the bride was late). We arrived at 12:45. We left at 4:30 and the couple still had not made it to the banquet hall. Latvia has many traditions associated with weddings. One is crossing bridges. The couple has to cross seven bridges before going to the reception hall. When we left Kristine and Endijs (pronounced Andy) were crossing their second.

There was one tradition we enjoyed. Before crossing the first bridge, Kristine and Endijs has to toast one another in the middle of a bridge. They gave a short speech and kissed! We, the guests, could not cross until we were called. Each guest was called and introduced. The bride and groom had to tell why the invited the guests. It was all done in Latvian, but seeing the joy on Kristine’s face as she introduced us, was translation enough.

The happy couple--Kristine and Endijs! (Notice Laura in the backgound)

This is Krimulda--the oldest church in Latvia. It was built in 1205.

The kids and me!

This is where we left the newlyweds. They were heading down the hill to their second bridge and we headed to dinner!

Sadness

Today is Monday and it is a very sad day. Upon arriving at work, I learned that a co-workers daughter and her boyfriend were killed on Saturday night in a motorcycle accident. Apparently, a car made an illegal turn and they were caught in the path. In spite of their helmets, they died. They were in their early 20's and had their whole lives ahead of them.

And if that was not sad enough, BJ died this morning. He fought hard, but in the end the Lord's will was done. If you think of it, visit the site and read all about this incredible young man.

I would appreciate your prayers for my co worker and for her family as well as BJ's family.

Thank you!

Mezrozes

I should have included this in the posting below, but thought of it later. This is the guest house, Mezrozes, we will be visiting next weekend. It is so quiet and secluded. There is a barbeque pit on the side that we will use. This trip is an end of the summer celebration visit. The sun is setting earlier and earlier and rising later and later. Soon, it will be dark most of the day!

Phew! What a week!

The third week of school is finished and what a week it was! Somehow life seems to get busier and busier. The kids are in after school activities and that keeps us all at school until 4:30. We are home by 5:15 or so, and everyone is exhausted. My classes at Grand Canyon University started last week and while this is an introductory class, it is a lot of writing. I am hoping to be a certified Special Education teacher by 2007. Once in Kiev, I hope to do my student teaching.

We are going away next weekend. We found this guest house near Sigulda (north or Riga) that has a little pond and plenty of space for the kids to run. While we love Riga very very much, living in an apartment is difficult when you have two active children. Someday we will have a house with a yard--for our grandchildren! Anyway, this house is so beautiful. It is a new wooden house with stairs (for Laura). It has a kitchen so we can cook our own meals. Most guest houses in Latvia have primitive kitchen facilities.

I did a first in my classroom today! I have been teaching 10 years and have never cooked with my students. Today was the first time! We made pizzas. Each child made their own. It was so neat. They did a great job making their pizzas and cleaning up the kitchen. I guess we will do it again--but next time I need to make a pizza for all my colleagues as they were quite envious of our delicious smelling pizzas!

Sunday

I just go off the phone with my mother and she filled me in on some of the news we missed about the New Orleans situation. How horrible. She said there were people who were holed up in their attics and didn't want to leave because everything they have is right there in that house. How horrible to be so dependent on material things and not see that God is sending you a rescue boat. Things are just that--things. Life is so much more than things.

I have been reading a blog for a young man in Indianapolis named BJ. Bart from MercyMe sent an e mail a couple of weeks ago and asked that we pray for BJ. I feel as if I know BJ and his family. I don't know them, but do know that BJ needs prayer! Please pray for him. He is a godly young man and he has taught me so much--without even knowing who I am.

http://prayforbj.blogspot.com/

We just returned from the Marine House. We went to a pig roast. It was not the prettiest thing I ever saw, but it sure was tasty. After three years here, I am feeling comfortable with the people who serve here with us. I think maybe the school thing is over and everyone is comfortable with the fact that I teach at "the other school." Just a feeling.

Life is good. Fall is coming--it is cooler and the sun is setting earlier.