End of the Season

Our runner, Cat, had her last meet of the year this past Sat. She has improved each week with only a couple set backs due to blisters. The school had a great send off for the team. They had the student body line the hall to the front of the school and as the band played the fight song the students clapped and cheered them on as they boarded the bus to go to the State Championship race.


As a team they placed 5th out of 18 and Cat came in 108 out of 191. These were the best runners in the state. Cat's time was 22:44. This was 11 seconds faster than her last best. She ran this same course about three weeks before and her time then was 23:30. She passed three girls at the finish in a strong showing. She had a good season and gained valuable knowledge about running and competing, something she had never done before. We are proud of her and what she has done, she has worked hard


GO CAT GO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

St. Nicholas Food Festival

We have a Russian Orthodox church in our area, the only one in Alabama, that has a food festival every year on the first full weekend of November. We have taken the girls there each year to enjoy the food and visit with the priest who is from Ukraine. The food is from recipes handed down from generation to generation and reminds the girls of Ukraine.

Our girls like to cook and bake and they will come home with at least one item that they will try to make. Two years ago it was Blini, a very flat pancake looking thing with a sweet center. It is very good though labor intensive.

They sell pastries and baked goods as well as a variety of meals. They also have a gift shop with items from Ukraine and Russia.

On one of the days they have a dance troop come in and perform Russian dances. The lady who heads it up is Natasha Russo who is from Russia. The name of the group is Natasha and the Russian Beauties. They dance in ethnic costumes that they have made themselves.

The church is located in Brookside Alabama and I recommend it to anyone who has adopted children from Ukraine or Russia. It is a small way to help them stay connected with there home country.

It is open Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm. The dancers will be there Saturday in the afternoon.