Russians Visit!!

Back in January & February (when Misha and I were living at Bill & Lyuba's in Gainesville) we had some very special visitors. Vicktor & Galina (Ira's parents) from Ukraine and Nickolai & Vera from Sochi Russia came to the States for a visit. We were so blessed to have the time to spend with them. I had met all of them on my first trip to Ukraine, but this time it was different......since Misha and I had gotten married which meant that we were all family now!!!!! :-) We had such a great time with them and I really enjoyed the "family bonding time". Here are a few pictures of their visit that I am just now getting around to posting!

We got to take Vicktor and Nickolai to a Gator basketball game. It was a blast!!!!! It was a great game that came down to a 3-pointer winning the game for the Gators. GREAT FUN! From left to right: Vicktor, Eric (friend from Campus Church involved in Ukraine Mission), Nickolai, and Misha. You can really tell that Misha has some Gator spirit in this picture. LOL

Vicktor and Nickolai sporting some Gator wear.

Cute picture of me and Susie Q! The game was awesome and so was half-time and time-outs. Love the music playlist at the O'Connell Center.

This was one of our first visits to a church in Eustis, Florida. They support the Ukraine Mission and we participated in their Missions Fair on one of the Sundays. We then had a yummy lunch, went shopping at the flea market, and picked strawberries in Plant City!!

Picking strawberries (in our Sunday attire might I add). :-)

Look at all those strawberries!! Vera is holding the strawberries and Lyuba is beside her. Vicktor is also holding up some strawberries and I have no idea what Nickolai is doing!

That's one cute lady (Vera) and some yummy looking strawberries!

The Williams (Bill Willliams is Lyuba's boss) hosted dinner for us one night at their house.
Left to Right: Misha, Gala, Vicktor, Bill, Lyuba, Vera, Nickolai, and Brandy Williams.

Left to Right: Bill Williams, Vicktor, Ira, Brandy Williams, Gala, Vera, and Candy Williams.

Their trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to Valdosta, GA! Lyuba, Vera, Ira, and Gala are in the kitchen at our lake cabin making blini for the cookout we had.

This is blini. YUUUUM.

It was freezing over at the lake the day we had our cookout. Not as cold as it would be during a Ukrainian winter though....either way, Vicktor looks warm. Even though it was cold, the boys wanted to fish.

The girls are all bundled up, but having a great time!! Left to right: Gala, Ira, Me, Heather, Susan, Rachel, Nontalie, Karen, and Masha.

Two families from across the globe = one family now!! Left to right: Susan, Earl, Vicktor, Gala, Ira, Misha, Vera, Me, Papa (looking off somewhere!), Nanny, and Mama. Nickolai and Lyuba are squatting down.

Out for dinner at Napalotano's for Ira's Birthday Dinner. What fun!! Ira was so happy to have her parents there to help celebrate her birthday.

One more picture - Misha and Vicktor got to go deep sea fishing with Mr. Alred and Wendy Colson. What fun!!!!! Those boys had a blast. We must have eaten fish for a month.

All in all, we had a great visit and are looking forward to the next time we see them whether it be in Ukraine or the States!