Canaan Writes His Name

Ok, I am hoping to catch up with lots of pictures soon, but until then, you can look at this. Isn't my boy just so smart?!

Canaan wrote his name all by himself without any direction. All we did was ask him what letter came next. You might think the paper is upside down in the picture. No, it is just how he wrote it. The second picture is the same page turned upside-down. I think he is either very confused or very talented. Not only can he write his name at such a young age (I think 2 years old- almost 3 is young!), but he can do it upside-down! :) Notice half of it is upside-down and half is right side up. He never turned the paper over.

One Year in Ukraine!

Happy Anniversary- to us and our supporters!!
Hooray! One year ago, we arrived in Ukraine! We arrived a day later than planned, because we had problems (which ended up being a BIG mess) getting our stuff from Russia into Ukraine. However, we arrived! My Dad, Kirt, had come to Russia to help us pack and move, since I was 5 1/2 months pregnant at the time. It was one year ago that we started our adventure in this new city and country, with the dream of spreading God's kingdom more in this part of the world. And, one year later, we are loving it here! We love our life and our work here!

The Turning Point
Over the next few weeks, our team will begin what we were sent here to do. After listening to much advice from former missionaries and after much prayer, our team decided to dedicate it's first year to learning the Russian language before we began our ministry. While learning the language, we have made many friends, learned much about the culture, and have tried to be light in all circumstances. Now, we are at the turning point. We will continue in our language and cultural studies, since the language is so challenging that it requires MUCH study! (Remember, Russian is the language of Heaven......because it takes FOREVER to learn!) However, we will begin focusing a large part of our time now on ministry.

The Future
We have committed to a total of 6 years in Ukraine, Lord willing. Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean we will be leaving Ukraine after that, but 6 years was our minimum committment. With one down, that leaves five more years. As a mom, I think of that in terms of how old my kiddos will be. In five years, Canaan will be about to turn 8 years old and Max will be 5 1/2! I can't even imagine. I hope that doesn't make you cry, Grandparents, but I hope it just inspires you to visit us more!!

I can't imagine what the Lord will have done in 5 years from now. We pray that He will have used us to advance His kingdom and help bring many more to a knowledge of Him, His love for them, and salvation through Jesus. We hope to be a part of a small, house church that meets in one part of the city here, with many others meeting around the city and around this region as well. We hope to be involved in many lives of Ukrainians, helping those we can, encouraging those we can, and always spreading the Good News with our every action and word.

Prayers
Please pray for us. We know we cannot be a part of this wonderful work without YOU! If it weren't for our team, those working with us here, as well as those who support us financially and emotionally from the States, we could not be here. Your support and prayers have got us this far. Thank you. We only ask for your continual prayers, since we know that the more we spread the news of God's love and salvation through Jesus, the more Satan will be displeased and try to oppose us. We only want to be more courageous and bold every day!

The Cutest Two

Ok, Dougle already put this on his blog, but I had to post it on mine too because it was just TOO CUTE! Do I have the cutest boys or what?
Sometimes Dougle and I wonder where Canaan came from! He is such the crack-up and ham that neither of us are! Now, the 100% Sweet One on the left, he is 100% Mommy! :) Daddy thinks different....!
Really, WE BOTH ADORE EACH OF OUR BOYS! They are so special! We thank God for them every night, in addition to praying for wisdom in how to raise them before Him. That is the most important thing!
And we enjoy showing them off to you all!!

Long Time, No Blog

Here are some pictures of my sweet boys. I can't get them in any order now, so you will have to just bear with the random-ness of them.
Canaan was able to play his first game of baseball. He wasn't as into it as Malachi, who is 14 months older, but he enjoyed swinging the bat around and running around to the different 'bases,' which were trees. It was so cute watching the little boys play. Rebecca Brinley brought a nerf bat and ball to play with the kids while they were here. (She and her husband Tim came to lead our team retreat; they were former missionaries to Russia and now live in Greece.) When Canaan got bored playing, he just went and climbed a nearby tree and watched the game! Anyway, she left the nerf set with us, which was super nice. Thank you, Rebecca!
Malachi, on the retreat, turned 4. We had a birthday party for him too. Some of the pictures are from that. He was very gracious, letting Canaan touch and play with his new toys from the start!
There are also a few pictures of when we were in Kiev, while visiting Dougle during his 3 week Russian classes there. Oh, and a few from Maya's birthday party.
Hope you enjoy! I'll try to do better, one of these days!

Party in the Park

Well, this is a short post! I am so behind. But, I've been taking notes of cute things Canaan says, and wanting to write about that and how much Max has grown recently. Unfortunately, I am really tired and need to go to bed. But, here is a picture. We went to a birthday party in the park for a friend of ours who turned two. It was a great day and we had lots of fun. Look how big Max is, sitting on his own now!

Hope you enjoy the snapshot!

Daddy Is Home

NOTE: Most of the pictures are from our train ride, since I always managed to forget the camera when we were out and about in Kiev. Two pictures are at the train station in Kiev; the rest are from on the train or views out the train window.

Daddy arrived home from Kiev last night on the express train. For those of you interested, there are two express trains a day that run between Kiev and Kharkov. One leaves around 6:30am and arrives 6 hours later; the other leaves around 5:30pm and arrives 6 hours later. The express train is nice because it only stops twice. Once in a small town by which I don't remember the name, and only for about 5 or 10 minutes. The other stop is two hours outside of Kharkov, at a town called Poltava. The trains stops for 20-25 minutes there, which is enough time to get off the train and walk around the platform if so desired. And, since I am on the topic of trains, several of the pictures are from on the train (I forgot to bring our camera when we had the opportunity to go sight seeing). Rob so graciously bought me the train tickets for the boys and I to visit Kiev. Unwittingly, he bought nicer tickets that we all imagined. We traveled first class, which meant we were in a little cabin area with just 3 seats, a fold out table in front of us, and a glass door that could be closed for extra privacy. This is different to the airplane like seating that is on normal second class trains. We really enjoyed it, and on the way home, we had the 3 seated cabin to ourselves, which was nice!

Anyway, back to my story, Daddy arrived home last night around 11:45pm. Yeah! When Canaan woke up this morning, he went into his bedroom and Canaan exclaimed, "You are home, Daddy!" (Master of the Obvious is sometimes what he call him!)

Daddy was gone for 11 days before we left to go see him. The boys and I took the morning express to Kiev on Thursday, arriving after his class that day. We then spent a long weekend with him (he still had class, and Daddy and Mommy did homework together when the boys slept), and we came home on the Tuesday morning express. It was wonderful getting to see Dougle during his 3 week course! The boys were sick and it was rainy most of the time, but we still had a great time being together as a family.

We were able to stay with Dougle where he was staying in the Obolong Church of Christ's apartment they have. We worshiped with this small congregation on Sunday morning. Monday after Dougle's class, we went to Mat Rodina. It is a huge statue (supposedly bigger than the Statue of Liberty). Around it are various sculptures and tributes to those who fought in WW2, as well as a small display of various war vehicles and machinery. It was very interesting to look at all that, and for about 60 cents we were able to go into an airplane they had and sit in the pilot's seats. Canaan and I did that, since Max was somehow too young to be able to go onto the plane. I have no idea why that is. There was even a MIG you could sit in, but we skipped that as well, since even Canaan was too young to sit in that seat. Again...??? But, overall we had a lovely time just walking around the area as a family.

We came home on Tuesday, and Dougle followed to arrive late Thursday night.

We are THANKFUL for Daddy being able to have the opportunity to do some hard core studying, as well as THANKFUL for the fact that he is back with us!

Vlada

Vlada is my neighbor I go walking with two or three times a week. Her little boy, Platon, is 3 months old. We walk to the park; Platon usually sleeps, Max watches everything, and Canaan plays a bit on the playground. Somedays Canaan walks and pushes his own stroller, other days he rides with Max.
We've struck up a good friendship. It is nice to have someone in the building I can trust like her. She speaks slowly and can re-say things if I don't at first understand. We have decided we need a a dictionary to take with us! So, not only is it a good time we have, but it is great Russian practice for me. Dougle has helped/or been helped by her husband, Misha, too. We hope to get to know this family better over time.