Rule # 1 Pile 6 people into a 5 passenger car.

Check.

Rule # 2 Shoot your son-in-law with an ice bazooka.

Check.

Rule # 3 Stab your brother-in-law with an ice dagger.

Check.

Yes there was a small ice weapon war that occurred about half way up FS 7012.

Rule # 4 Find a dense patch of trees and try to get lost in it.

We almost lost a few family members until my dad appeared on the road above us.

Rule # 5 Sing Christmas songs or just blast Christmas music from the car for all of creation to enjoy.

The birds would say check.

Rule # 6 Take pictures of the amazing Pacific Northwest.

Click.

Rule # 7 Climb a tree with the intent of cutting off the top to serve as your Christmas tree.

Rule # 8 Forget the chainsaw

Rule # 9 Break the bow saw but fix it with a bungee cord

Um, yep. We wanted the top of this tree, but the bow saw broke about 1/3 of the way through the trunk. We had to forgo our first choice and find a smaller tree. (Not sure what we were thinking…)

Rule # 10 If you miss taking a video of the tree coming down, just stand it back up and do a “redo”

Check.

Rule # 11 Kiss your sweaty sweetie while sitting on a snow-laden log.

Check and double and triple check, and…

Rule # 12 Don’t forget hot chocolate and Spritz cookies.

Yum!!

Rule #13 Take pictures with your sisters while miraculously wearing coordinating colors.

Check!

Rule # 14 Admire the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Can’t get enough.

Rule # 15 Get a family photo while out in the mountains.

 

It is hard not to hear news coming from the nation we are serving in these days.  Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been the rope in a tug-o-war between Western Europe and the Post Soviet power house, Russia.  It is a very strategic location economically and let’s not forget militarily. Ukraine is pretty much split in half in terms of loyalties (from my estimate).  Half would like to create strong ties with Russia and the other half I would consider anti-Russia. This second group is actually a couple groups in it’s own right. The EU lovers and the Ukrainian nationalists wanting to get away from Russia with the EU the most convenient route.

So when the president, who is seen as a puppet of Moscow by many, backed out of signing a highly anticipated agreement with the EU at the last minute, people got angry.  What started as a peaceful protest has now turned into a seemingly global move to oust the president…again. (Click HERE for more on the Orange Revolution) An interesting twist has been that a lot of pro-president regions have now had enough and have turned on the president as well.

There is no doubt that the Ukrainian government is receiving pressure from both east and west. Recent history shows us that Russia is not afraid of shutting off gas to Ukraine in these kinds of situation, resulting in people freezing to death, just to prove a point.  Recent history also shows us that Europe has no bite to it’s bark in dealing with issues in Ukraine.  Take for example the imprisonment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko due to selective justice… aka being the opposition leader that almost won. With all the threats and complaining, nothing has really changed in the former prime minister’s situation. So now it is left to the Ukrainian People.  The government and police force have stirred up the hornet’s nest.  All across the country people are peacefully protesting.  Of course, there are some that try to use force.  Many protests in recent years have ended with nothing accomplished, but this one has teeth.  It is a sign that the Ukrainian people are once again fed up with way the nation has been led. Please pray for the nation of Ukraine. It is in dire need of some godly people who will be counter cultural in the way they do politics.

 

Big thanks to Josh Walker for the photos.  He works with YWAM in Kyiv.

After missing the last three Thanksgivings, the last seven for Lance, we finally got to spend it in the States with family.

We spent Thanksgiving in Oregon with Lance’s family in Culver. It was wonderful weather and us girls went for a walk while the boys… well let me show you a picture of what they found.

Yep, the old Nintendo was located and removed from it’s hiding place. The brothers instantly jumped into a war of NBA Hangtime & NFL Blitz 2000 with a Mario Cart chaser. We lost all three of the guys for several hours.

Once we peeled their hands away from the controllers we managed to sit down to the long-awaited yummy Thanksgiving meal. We are all thankful for family and for a time to be together. Everyone was thankful for multiplication in family, I have gained a second set of parents, brothers, another sister, a nephew and a niece very soon!