the Life of Olena

Thank you for sharing Tonya. This was amazing, everyone should take a few minutes to watch it. What a talented and beautiful choir! Enjoy.

This is more for memory sake but I thought I would share one of the many crazy things that come out of my daughters mouth. Over the weekend she was pretending to get married. She put on her dress up clothes, and had Rickie sing "Here comes the bride" about 100 times. I asked her who she was marrying? and she so surely replied "MY SELP !" (myself) I explained to her that when she gets married she will need to marry a boy. A boy that she loves. She asks me if I am married? I said "Yes I am - I married your daddy" she got this completely puzzled look on her face, pointed her finger at her dad and blurted out... "WHO??? YOU MARRIED THIS GUY?" Rickie and I busted out laughing so hard, poor Jason just sat there with a complete look of shock. If I could have only had that one tape!!!

Finally, after 9 months of ballet class Olena preformed in her very first dance recital. We were very proud, and she proved to be the prefect ballerina! The song they danced to was Fly from the Tinkerbell movie, and all of the little fairies were absolutely adorable. Sorry but no pictures from the show, it is not permitted, but here are a few from my moms house right before. She had me in tears, she looked stunning and "wore" the ballerina look very well...very natural! practicing her pirouettes She is so over me taking pictures of her. It is a battle of the wills just to get her to look at my camera. I was very proud of this bun! The traditional ballerina hairstyle is parted on the left, all hair pulled back, and pinned up high on the head in a ballet bun (I called it a doughnut). oh and don't forget the whole bottle of hair spray that it takes to get it to stay that way!!

Welcome little Karys (sounds like Paris but with a K)!! btw Tonya...I did have to Goggle that! LOL ~ Tonya delivered the most precious baby girl last Friday. The 6 th amazing addition to their wonderful family. If you haven't already...go to my sidebar and check out their blog, she is stunning!!!! We send our loves, hugs, and good wishes to you all. We can't wait to meet her in the Fall.

Last night I had THE dream! Jason and I found out that I was pregnant. I guess we'll see what happens in the near future :)

I received this in my email today and thought it was worthy of sharing. Not sure how many of you are aware of how the orphanage system works over in Ukraine. Once the child is 15/16 years old they "age out". This means they are now "free" from the walls of the only place they know as home. They are released into the world on their own with nothing the clothing on their back. If they are lucky, they may be given a toothbrush on their way out the door. Too many of the girls get scoped up by men who traffic in human beings for sex. The boys can be used for forced labor. About 10% of them will commit suicide after leaving the orphanage before their 18 th birthday. 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution. Those who run prostitution rings target orphaned girls, who are especially vulnerable due to their lack of options and lack of people who care what happens to them. Though promised good jobs, they end up on the streets and brothels of cities across Europe. 70%...

I had a few inquires about where we stayed while in Niagara, and I thought I would make a post because we truly had a great experience. We stayed at a campground about 7 miles from the Niagara "parkway". It was called Niagara RV . I recommend them 100% PERFECT park. We stayed in a fully furnished 32ft RV camper. It had a built on deck, rocking chairs on the porch, and it was stocked with everything except food, toiletries and linens. Very clean! built in stereo system, A/C - the works! anyhow there are 2 campers, Rickie and Dan stayed in the other one. There's had 2 bedrooms, one with a queen bed and one with 2 sets of bunks. Ours had 1 bedroom with a queen bed and a pull out couch. Of course the tables turn into beds too. The 2 bedroom was a bit spacer in the "living area" but they were both fabulous. We stayed 3 nights for $200 CA. What a bargain. The camp ground was very clean, extremely friendly - lots of "permanent" campers there. It was family ow...

This is a view from the look out at the bottom west side of the Horseshoe Falls. You can see this from the Journey Under the Falls. This shows the erosion of the Falls since they have been formed. It has eroded back over 7 miles. View of the American Falls and the bridge between the two countries. Another amazing picture of the Horseshoe Falls. A view from the top. There is a story about an involuntary, but successful, trip over the falls by a seven year old boy in 1960. The boy and his 17 year old sister were out on the river with a neighbor in his boat. The outboard motor failed, the boat overturned and they were carried towards the falls. The boy and the man were swept over the falls but the girl managed to hang on to the boat and miraculously was grabbed at the very brink of the falls by two onlookers. The man joined the list of people for whom the the falls was the last trip of their life but the young boy survived, the only person ever to go over the falls without a barre...

This was every one's favorite. I personal don't think that anything else we did on this trip really gives you a true understanding of the power of these Falls like this boat trip did. You are so close and the sound is astounding. The rainbows were everywhere and they are so brilliant and right in front of your face. Almost surreal. Once you are emerged into the furthest part of the Horseshoe Falls all you can see is sky and water fall. It was amazing!! Less than 10% of the water flows over the American Falls, with the balance flowing over the Horseshoe Falls. It is the massive volume of water that flows over the Horseshoe Falls that gives it its green color This is the view of the Horseshoe Falls from the top. You can see a couple of the boats too.

These are pictures from the front of the American Falls. American Falls The average depth of the water below Niagara Falls is 170 feet (52 meters), which is as deep as the Niagara Gorge banks are high.The American Falls is 180 feet (55 meters) high. Its brink is 1,100 feet (330 meters) long. From the Falls, the water travels down the Niagara River to Lake Ontario, then to the St. Lawrence Seaway and finally to the Atlantic Ocean.The Canadian Horseshoe Falls is 170 feet (52 meters) high. Its brink measures 2,500 feet (750 meters). The water that flows over Niagara Falls comes from four of the five Great Lakes.Originally, 202,000 cubic feet per second (6060 cubic meters) or 5.5 billion gallons (2.09 trillion liters) per hour of water flowed over Niagara Falls; now, however, half of this water is diverted for power by the United States and Canada.Niagara Falls is the largest producer of electric power in the world.

These were taken at the whirpool while on the Spanish Aero Car (aka cable car!) The Aero car was designed by a Spanish engineer, Leonardo Torres Quevedo and has been in operation since 1916. The cable car is suspended from six sturdy cables and it is a wonderful view of the Niagara Whirlpool which is formed at the end of the rapids where the gorge turns abruptly counterclockwise and the river escapes through the narrowest channel in the gorge. Because of the winds and the time of day, unfortunatley we didn't get to view the usually whirpool action, instead there were several small ones going in various directions. The view was still amazing. Olena and I loved it, Jason on the other hand...well he is afraid of heights so this wasn't one of his favorite events :)

We have returned tonight from 4 days in Niagara Falls, Canada! I am dead tired and promise to post some amazing pictures later this week and tell you all about it. We had a fabulous time and were in complete awe of the magnificence of the Falls. Can't wait to share :) Cavern in the Journey Under the Falls. We are behind the Horseshoe Falls. Ready with her Poncho...which seemed to be a necessity in every thing you do around there!! Showing me her HAPPY face! We were on the Spanish Aero Car (a cable car) above the whirpool, she told me she was "so happy to be flying in a helicopter and loved flying in the sky...see how I'm happy?!"

She looked so simple and sweet I couldn't help but to start going camera crazy. She was sitting in the warm sun that was streaming through the front door and playing with her new spin tops.

Though a day late... HAPPY 1st ANNIVERSARY to our good friends Ben and Adriana. We love you both!!