eat. breathe. walk. teach. sleep.

I haven't had any extra time to blog or respond to emails so far this week. One of our afternoon teachers got really sick and Kalley and I have been covering for the past two days. I love our school, but being confined in the classroom for 10 hours is a little too much! The kids were all adorable and really fun to teach, but my patience is slim to nothing right now. But thank goodness the girl is better and we are back to normal teaching hours! Last weekend we did a lot of exploring of the city and a lot of walking. Good thing my dad trained me young to walk fast at Disneyland. We saw some amazing things that are all really close to where we live! At the farmer's market we observed a man selling live fish! I caught a picture right as he was knocking one out with a wrench...sorry to the animal lovers.

The Gates of Kyiv! They used to have a wall around Kyiv and these gates were the only way to enter.

St. Sofia's cathedral. This is the one we can see from our balcony!

St. Michael's cathedral....at least I think that's its name. You are supposed to cover your head before entering holy places, hence the scarves. The faces are typical Ukrainian.

Church was wonderful once again. Due to the lack of people in our ward, I played piano in sacrament and primary. I was Primary pianist this summer and going from 30 kids to 4 kids was very different. But the best part is the spirit is the same. Laria and I were assigned to teach nursery, which ended up being just one little precious boy. We were reading him a scripture and he ran away to go to his bag. Next thing we know, he is walking over with his own set of scriptures! How tender is that? We had to take a picture to remember. The members here are remarkable. They are so dedicated and I love the feeling of family we all feel walking through the doors to the small chapel.

Here are some of the kids from the classes we substituted in! One day we made leis by cutting out flowers and straws on strings. The kids loved them!

Guermon. How beautiful is this boy? Look at those eyes! Ah, you know I have an obsession with eyelashes.

Misha

Olyessia

Really though, I can't get over this adorable little boy! Seriously.

And here is a little gem I found on my juice box last night. I didn't know hedgehogs would be such good mascots for fruit juice. Remember my old hedgehog Spike? It looks just like him!

Ukraine is tiring, but oh so good. How many years has it been since I've gone to bed at a decent time? I can't even remember. But here I go to bed and wake up early! (You don't even believe me right?) Let me tell you it makes a difference! Ukraine has already given me so many chances to set goals, follow through, and work hard on things I need to improve on. I'm learning a lot and enjoying all the big and small moments. It always feels good to know you are where you need to be. Ukraine, thanks for having me. I needed you.