Together Again at Last!!!

When Jon and I left for South Carolina to go to Russian Language School, we left the boys in Davenport with both of our parents for their own little vacation. The boys had a great time, going to the children's library, the zoo, and they even got to go to a party where they got to go swimming and watch the Blue Angels fly overhead. Jon and I had a good time too, and enjoyed some much needed time for just the two of us. But, I knew about 4 days in that I wished that I had not left the boys for 2 1/2 weeks. The boys flew for the first time on Wednesday, and Grandma said that they loved it!!! They were in complete awe, and were very well behaved. (Thank you for all of the prayers!) Our reunion on Wednesday night was just like I dreamed it would be. The boys saw us from the end of the corridor, and came tearing down the hall screaming, "MOMMY!!! DADDY!!!" We hugged, I cried, and we hugged some more. We went out for a wonderful seafood dinner at A.W. Shucks, and then made the trip back to Columbia. Grandma Barbie took them to the sprinkler pad at a local park yesterday, and they had a great time. Tomorrow, we are planning on taking them to the beach for the first time. They are really excited to build sand castles and collect sea shells. Today, we are just hanging out as a family, and enjoying the fact that we are all together again!

I wish Ukrainians spoke English and other adventures

Well we've made it. Amazing isn't? Jenny and I left DesMoines (from my niece's wedding, congratulations Rachel) at 5:00 pm on Sat. and started the road trip down to Columbia SC. As in any good Gainer story, our trip was safe, but not without classic Ganerville moments. At one point I (Jon) went to change lanes and almost had an accident because I didn't see a gray car in my blind spot. God was was watching out for us though, and after leaving a bit of rubber on the asphalt somewhere in KY I regained control of the vehicle,avoiding collision. Not to be out done by my reckless driving, Jenny managed to leave our cell phone in a Hardees in TN. The South hasn't seen anything like us! Luckily the manager of the Hardees was willing to take it and ship it to us. Thank you Hardees! We have several moments where we have felt terrified and wondering what we have gotten ourselves into when it comes to the language. Why didn't someone tell me Russian was hard!? At any rate we are enjoying class despite its difficulty and working thought it. We haven't had a lot of time to write the last couple weeks. But we will be emailing you all a newsletter soon.

In Christ,
Jon (my new name is Dimitri Johanviech Gainer and Jenny is Jyanna Davidavnya Gainer)