Life is Good!!

Life is VERY good.

What a great life we have.  Being in the Temple with so many good people who are serving and dedicating their lives to doing good things for others.

When we do have some time not in the temple, we have many options of things to do.  We can stay at home and take care of "home" stuff, get office work done for temple, visit or play with other missionaries, go shopping, visit one of the great restaurants around here (from so many different countries and regions), or head into town for cultural things.  I am going to show you some of the things we have been able to do and see during the last couple of months since we have blogged.

In March we went with some friends and saw the National Ballet of Georgia....  It was a beautiful event with ladies looking like they were on skates their steps were so smooth, and men who were doing jumps and steps with not only their feet but with their knees as well...   I will include a link so you can see them.....  the ladies in white are so smooth and gentle  compared to the intense men.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQbi_0f3C1w

Then in May we got to go see the Virsky Ukrainian Dance Company which was a lot lest militaristic and very Folk Dance oriented.  There are so many videos on them but most of them are just one dance.  They were so varied and technically difficult, that I will give you a video that is  a general overview and then you can go to a variety of others (on the right of the YouTube page) if you are wanting more.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA17n3iHeOg&list=PLTV5D7_KGHTnwcmvOT8W0z6iLE3eJ7X0m&index=60


The colors and costumes were so beautiful, but the agility and skills of the men were breathtaking.  It  was extra fun to go to the concert because Jess and 2 of her girls had just arrived that day for a visit and they got to go with us,  At the end of the week, they said that the dancers were their favorite activity of the visit.  It was an amazing Performance.

Don't they look darling in their Ukrainian headbands!!

It was so fun to be in the audience as well, because so many of them were wearing their vyshy vankas (Ukrainian Clothing)  I tried to get some pics of the clothing of the audience, but they didn't turn so well, but here is one family.

The costumes of the performers were SO beautiful.  What a great culture.  I love them.

They even had young performers who were dressed as beautifully as the adult performers.

What a great experience.

 We have also visited

Mamayeva which is a Cossack village

 Pirogovo 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FOLK ARCHITECTURE AND LIFE OF UKRAINE

and

The Museum of Corruption

the 

Mexhgoirya Residence

The Cossack village 

was the smallest of the places we visited, but it was a great representation of what life was like during that time of settlement.

The girls visited it with us and their favorite experience was the singers, learning some of the games they played, the blacksmith, and of course the horses!!!

Pirogovo is huge!!

It contains several different sections in the park that represent different areas and time periods of Ukrainian history.  We went on a beautiful day and the weather was perfect as we were shown many different styles of homes, schools, and places of worship.

And Brent got to try one of their instruments!!

There are lots of windmills and the cool thing about the windmills is they are movable!!   They are huge, but are on round disks and have an attachment that allows them to be rotated depending on the direction of the wind.

this is just one section of the museum, so you can see how big it is.

We loved our walk and learning all about it.   I think we will return!

The Museum of Corruption

is the estate of Viktor Yanukovych and was created and lived in when he was Prime Minister and then President of Ukraine.  It is now a museum displaying Yanukovych's desire for opulence and my take away was "Me-Me-Me".  He wanted everything that anyone else had and the very most expensive form of it. (sounds like a 4 year old). 

He used a LOT of money to try and make himself happy.

This is the map of the estate.  The house that I posted above is number 16 in the center just above the word posted.  That gives you a feel for how big the estate is.

This is the gathering room.  Notice the piano in the bay window.  It puts the room in perspective.

The Spiral staircase in the entryway.

The view from the railing around the bar-b-que (below.)

Why have a grill when you can have A GRILL.  This was one of the outside bar-b-que grills.  There was also one in the dinning room in the middle of the table.  Why bother to go outside when you can grill right at the table.

The best part of this month was my going home for Dani's new baby and having Jess and her girls come here.

It was a great blessing to be able to go home and help the Owens family for a week and get to know little

Zander Bennet Owens

and spend a little time reconnecting with family.

Having Jess and the girls here was truly a sweet experience.  In addition to the activities mentioned above we also:

Learned to make Ukrainian Dolls with sweet Tatyana

Going to a puppet show

The puppet theater is huge...  and beautiful.  Like a princess's castle.

Eating Pizza at 4 different places

Experiencing THE LAST BARRICADE

Visiting many different Rynoks to get all the souvenirs they were looking for

Going to the temple

Putting puzzles together

playing Svintoos (swine) a Russian card game - It is kind of like Uno, exept you have pigs that tell you what action to take.

Singing with the missionaries

Maggie and Lucy sang a special number in Sacrament meeting

These are the new Ukrainian Dresses they wore when they sang

Playing Volleyball

And just spending a lot of time together, playing, hugging, and just being together.

Like I said,  LIFE IS GOOD!!!

We started this month on a sad note as we said goodbye to 2 wonderful couples who had finished their service as Kyiv Temple Missionaries.

Elizabeth and Dale Hoskisson lived right across the hall from us and are so talented, and so full of knowledge and fun.  We are glad they are going to be fairly close by when we get home.

The Hollingshead are one of those couples that just attract people to them.  They are always doing something for someone and I don't know how we are going to survive without her homemade chocolates that she shared with everyone.  I hope Nevada knows how lucky they are to have them.

We were invited to attend the reception of a couple that Brent had the privilege of performing the Sealing in the Temple.  We were excited to see what a "typical" Ukrainian reception looked like.

First of all it was held on the Monday- so 3 days after they were married.  It was held in their chapel and there were some things that were unique to Ukraine and some things they had adopted from US traditions.  It was small with maybe 30-40 people in attendance, and felt like a blend of a reception, a wedding breakfast, and a bridal shower.

They had a video presentation with snapshots of each of them growing from infancy to adulthood.
They greeted their guests in the foyer standing in front of the traditional wedding bread koroval.  In ancient times it was considered to be a protective amulet for newlyweds.

It was a beautiful piece of art.

 After they were through greeting their guests, and everyone was seated in the other room, the mother led the procession carrying the koroval with the special shawl into the chapel meeting area where the party was going to be held.. The chairs were arranged with an aisle down the center so the bride and groom could walk to the front of the room. When they all stopped in front  - the bride and groom each took a flower from the bread and fed it to the other.  Then the bread and cloth were set on a table on the side.

Now it started to feel  like a wedding breakfast. Words of gratitude and blessings about their union were given.  The groom's mother said s few remarks to the couple, and the Bishop gave some advice.

The bride's parents live in Eastern Ukraine and were not able to be present for the wedding or the party.

They had some special numbers: a vocal solo by our friend Alan Tomlinson and a couple of piano solos - one by the mother of the Groom.  More words of council were given and the program began to feel more like a wedding shower.  With games, music and dancing.

Some of the games were just for the couple.  For example, the couple were told to stand on opposite sides of the room and the MC asked them questions about their spouse.  If they got it right they would get to take a step forward.  The goal was to meet in the middle and have a kiss.  They got most of the questions right and the kiss was given.

Some of the games included the audience.  They had a dance with about 10 couples dancing - but one person was dancing with a broom.  Everyone would dance until someone stopped the music and  everyone would switch partners quickly hoping not to be stuck with the broom. (Kind of like musical chairs)

During the dance the bride was kidnapped and taken out of the room.  The groom now had to do tasks all by himself.  Like creating a home for his family out of Lego blocks, diapering a doll, and tying a knot in a dish towel and then having to untie it. (?)

They had a music game with a  magic hat that a young girl would  place on someones head and then music would start playing a song that represented that person.

The pantomime was pretty funny with its costumes and props. At the climax the groom had to rescue the bride from the dragon.

There was the usual "first dance", throwing of the bouquet, and cutting of the cake.  But they were a little different  and I think I liked their version better!!

The throwing of the bouquet had all the unmarried women (old and young) form a circle around the bride. They played a beautiful Ukrainian song and the circle of women danced around the bride, in traditional Ukrainian style.  She had her eyes closed and listened to the music and when she felt like it was the right time stepped forward and held out the bouquet to the lucky girl who happened to be in front of her.  The lady who was given it was a little older and she started to cry when it was handed to her.  It was very sweet.

The cake cutting I also thought was very sweet.  They had the cake brought into the middle of the room and everyone remained in their seats.  The bride and groom cut the cake and gave each other a small bite or two with a fork. Symbolizing service to each other.  They then continued to cut the cake and carried the pieces to their guests.  It was an act of service and thanks to all those who had come to support them.

Everyone was then invited to follow the bride and groom to the kitchen for refreshments,  Helping themselves to finger foods and more sweets.

You might also be interested to know that the wedding ring is worn on the 4th finger of the right hand  instead of the left as we are used to.


As in the States, every reception is different and represents the bride and groom.  But I thought this was a great introduction to some of the traditions of Ukrainian weddings.

We send you our love and warm wished for a beautiful Spring.

Brent and Jan