April 12th is Cosmonaut Day, its a rather obscure holiday that many people forget about.

This year, a friend of ours decided to celebrate her birthday on Cosmonaut Day. She told us to dress up. So we did.

Apparently no one else got the memo about dressing up. Needless to say, we were a hit at the party!

 

My birthday is shared with George Washington’s birthday, February 22nd. I always thought it was pretty cool, basically my birthday is marked on everyone’s calendar… via our first president.

This year though, my birthday was marked by something else, something exciting. No it was not just that I was turning 30 (that is pretty cool though!) It was a new day in Ukraine, a day without corrupt leaders. Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted and new leaders took control! It was a new independence day!

There has been so much happening in Ukraine politically. People became tired of the corrupt leaders and wanted an end to the lies. Now, former president Yanukovych, has fled leaving ruins. He stole millions from the country, he put his friends and family in power who followed his lead and also stole from the country.

Though February, 22 was a happy day in Ukraine, it was also a day to remember those who gave their lives to help rebuild a new Ukraine. It will be a long a bumpy road to rebuild a strong and thriving Ukraine, but the people are not afraid of hard work. Ukrainians are tough people and will not shy away from getting their hands dirty.

I’m so happy I got to celebrate my birthday with a whole country!

I know this is old, pictures to follow soon.

Lance and I (just) traveled 1,989 miles… in a car. Does anyone else want to vomit at that thought besides me? Ick! Way too much time spent in a car, but it is a love hate relationship. We love getting to where we want to be, just not the time it takes to get there.

This last road trip went from Auburn, WA to Culver, Or to Baker City, Or to Nampa, ID to Lakeside, MT to Yakima, WA and finally back to Auburn, WA.

Culver, OR

We had a late Christmas and New Year’s with Lance’s family. It was a great week of just spending time with family.

Baker City, OR

We got to spend some extended time with Lance’s relatives. We wanted to have more than a “hi” and “bye” like we did at the wedding.

Nampa, ID

Lance had some relatives that were not able to make it to our wedding so we wanted to be sure and find time to talk with them.

Lakeside, MT

We have close connections and friends with the YWAM base in Lakeside. Besides catching up with our friends there, we wanted to have some time to debrief and reflect. This was a great opportunity since we are lately married and coming into a new season of our lives.

Yakima, WA

My great aunt and uncle live in Yakima and since they just recently had to move into separate assisted living homes (due to physical reasons), we thought it was important that we make a stop to visit.

 

 

 

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.