Annya was born on November 16, 2007. She had to come into this world on her own terms, like a spitfire. She was determined to be here and was born before the doctor could make it into the delivery room. Since day one she was a girl that did things her way and no one could stop her! Annya was an athlete right from the beginning. At the age of 2, she started Ukrainian dancing classes. Over the years, she also did some jazz, hip hop, and ballet, but her overall favorite was Ukrainian. When she was about 4 or 5 years old, she started to play baseball. She was a competitive kid, and that was seen on the ball field. That competitiveness carried over into other sports. In grade 5, she began playing school sports. Cross country running, volleyball, basketball, badminton, and track and field were all things she was a part of. She was so excited to be able to play on the same team as her big sister! Her love for sports carried over into junior and senior high. She received the top athlete award 2 years in a row at Mundare school. She has many medals and awards from all the different teams she was a part of. As she got older, her love for dance grew bigger. She lit up the stage every time she stepped on it. She loved the band Millenia. Any time they were playing at an event, Annya wanted to be there. Pysanka festival and Razom were must attend events. Annya would spend the entire night on the dance floor. You could not keep her out of the kolomayka, and she would showcase her dancing talents throughout the night! Annya loved to paint. Her creativity shines through in so many of the projects she has done. She painted a big mural in our basement of her favorite Disney characters. She painted her bedroom when she was little, choosing her favorite color purple. As she got older, she repainted the walls of her room. The background of her memory card that you all received today is actually of her bedroom wall. If you had the chance to look at the table in the entrance you will have seen some of her other projects. She even painted the table. Her artistic abilities weren’t limited to just painting. She loved decorating pysanka eggs. She made eggs every Easter. Some of those are also on display in the front. Annya loved music of any kind. Her playlist includes a variety of genres of music. Anytime she got into a vehicle, she immediately set her phone to the audio so we all had to listen to her playlist. And if you were fortunate enough to ride with her, you got to hear her beautiful voice sing along to every song. Annya loved baking. She saved up her money and bought herself a Cuisinart mix master. She used it to make all types of desserts. Her peanut butter squares are popular and was something she would take to share at any event. She also made the best trifles, and that was something she would contribute to any get together. Brownies were another favorite. She also liked to make perogies and enjoyed making pies. Annya was involved in all kinds of community and school groups. She was part of the Vegreville Rotary Youth Interact Group since grade 9. She was fortunate to go to Belize twice with this club to build playgrounds for the schools there. She volunteered for multiple events through Rotary. She especially enjoyed visiting the seniors and playing bingo with them. She was part of cougar council at school and was heavily involved with coaching various sports teams. She loved teaching the younger grades skills and fundamentals of the game. In grade 10, Annya was asked to go on a school trip to Olds College for the Youth Agriculture Leadership Summit. In grade 12 she participated in a school trip to Bamfield to visit the Marine Sciences Centre. Annya loved spending time with family and friends. She could not be away from home for too long, because she would miss it too much. We had gone on a family trip to BC, and Annya wanted to come home because she was missing her Gido so much. She was always painting something for Baba and if we were at a Millenia event, Annya had to dance to the song Wagon Wheel with Baba. It was their song. Annya adored her little cousins, Maverick, Stanley and Victoria. She would paint with them and bake with them. She would style Victoria’s hair and paint her nails every time they were together. Annya’s best friend was her sister, Kalyna. She looked up to her and always wanted to be with her. When Kalyna went off to school, they talked all the time. When Annya got her driver’s license, she was always off to the city to see Kalyna. Annya was not fond of having to share Kalyna with her boyfriend, Owen. It took a while for Annya to warm up to Owen. But she knew that Kalyna was happy with him, and Annya grew to love him just as much as Kalyna does. Annya loved to pick on her brother’s. Annya and Owen were close in age, and Annya was close with a lot of Owen’s friends. She liked to see them in the hallways at school and liked to pester them any chance she could. Owen always called Annya his little sister, since she was younger than Kalyna. Annya was always quick to remind him that she was still older than him. Annya and Colin spent a lot of time together since she drove them to school most days. Annya was always trying to get out the door so they wouldn’t be late because Colin was always running behind. She always said that she was just going to leave without him, but she never did. Annya loved socializing and hanging out with her friends. Our house has hosted many nights where all the kids were here for a fire, for a New Year’s party, or just for a get together. She loved hanging out with the crew on her lunch breaks or hanging out with friends when they had spares at school. She especially enjoyed all the time her and her friends spent on the bus going to various sports games or in each others’ vehicles when they carpooled some where. Annya was a girl who set her mind on something and never backed down from a challenge. Somehow, she always seemed to get her way. When she loved, it was with her whole heart. She was so fortunate to have met her soulmate, Kaden, while attending high school. These 2 were an example of what love and happily ever after should look like. Annya graduated high school this past May. She worked as a lifeguard here in town. She had a summer job working for FCSS as a team leader for their summer camp programs. She was accepted into the Augustana campus in Camrose to begin her degree in education. She would have been an amazing teacher. She had big plans that included finishing university and starting a life with her true love. On Wednesday, July 23, God had other plans for Annya, and he chose this time to take her to be with him. She must have been needed for a greater cause. Annya, I hope that wherever you are, you are happy and living it up the way I know you would. I will miss you forever. I love you my sweet girl.