Breaking news:  Our visas arrived in the mail yesterday!  We are so thankful to have this little piece of paper in our passports.  It is the first step to being able to stay in Ukraine for a year.  Step #2 is registering with the local immigration office in L’viv, which must happen within 45 days of our arrival on June 5th.

Our new visas!

On a more sobering note, please click here and take a moment to read the latest development in the lives of the Steele Family, our partners in ministry. Just this morning they posted an update, which you can read here. Despite this sad turn of events, God’s grace is sustaining them and they seem to be doing better than we would have expected.

Well, I thought I had more to say, but I guess that’s it for now.  I’ll close by sharing this link to more family pictures.

Look who came waltzing through as I began to write this update, wearing a big girl's apron!

Based on the tracking number, our package should arrive at the consulate today. We would appreciate your prayers for a speedy approval of our request. While we don’t anticipate that we will be denied, a missionary family that we know was recently denied visas at the Ukrainian embassy in Krakow because their letter of invitation was worded incorrectly. They had to return to Ukraine to get the proper documents, and will have to make the expensive trip to Krakow again. If our visa request is denied, we will find ourselves in the same boat: making a trip to Krakow after we arrive in Ukraine on June 5th.

The Day aunts and uncles were trying to turn Melissa into a little swimmer. (We left Colorado for Houston on April 17th.)

And now for some news!

Weddings – We are excited to be in America for the weddings of our siblings.  On Friday, April 6th, Nathan’s brother, Joshua, married his best friend.  Several family members came to town for the big event and it was great to connect with them as well.  It was a beautiful celebration – sweet and simple – just like the couple.

The happy couple at the "rehearsal lunch"

All dressed up and ready for a wedding!

On April 17th, we will fly to Houston to participate in the wedding preparations for my sister, Katrina.  I’m sure it will be a fun and busy month leading up to her wedding.

Living so far away from family, it is never a guarantee that we will be able to return for our siblings’ weddings (as much as we will try!)  We feel very blessed that it worked out for us to be in the States for these two!

Return to Ukraine – After wedding festivities are over in Houston, we are planning to L’viv on June 4th.  It is with bittersweet sentiments that I will leave.  We’ve had a great time with family and friends, but I’m also ready to go back to my other home.

Rental House – After three offers on three different houses and three closed doors, we are returning to Ukraine unsuccessful in our rental house purchase.  While we don’t understand why a house didn’t work out, we are trusting God for His best, despite our disappointment.

Nathan – Nathan’s days are full with a variety of projects. Personal taxes, ETO taxes, year-end ETO financial report, translation of Lesson 18 into Ukrainian, and last, but not least the aforementioned search for a rent house. Lately, he’s been packing boxes of supplies/personal items to ship back to Ukraine, giving our current rent house a little TLC, and serving as a delegate to Colorado’s 5th Congressional and State conventions.

Katelin- My days are primarily full of one thing – Melissa!  She is a busy little person who requires quite a bit of energy to keep up with and to train consistently.  During her structured play times and nap times, I am able to fulfill some personal projects- studying Ukrainian, e-mail communication/blog post writing, personal research, etc.  My pregnancy is going well.  I’m halfway there – 20 weeks.  Still feeling really well, just a little rounder now.  The baby moves around alot and I enjoy that reminder of the little life growing inside.  I had a midwife appointment while I was in TX the last trip and my tests results came back looking very healthy!  At this point, our plan is to continue prenatal care once we return to Ukraine as well as deliver there again.

20 weeks and counting!

Melissa - Melissa is growing up and changing every day.  She seems to be talking more and saying two syllable words instead of just one syllable words.  She also communicates by signing many words.  We are working on counting and she can count to 2 now!  Melissa would love it if she could spend all day outside as she loves to jump on the big trampoline, play with a bucket of water on the back patio, and visit the chicks.

Water Bug

Freshly hatched chicks!

Visas/Registration – As you may recall reading in our last newsletter, Ukraine’s immigration laws have changed once again.  In order for us to stay in the country for a year, we must obtain religious visas and then register with the local immigration office in our city.  While that may sound like a simple process, it is not.  Gratefully, our ministry partners have gone through the visa/registration process ahead of us and we are now following in their footsteps.  We are currently waiting on documents to be sent to us from Ukraine.  Then, we will apply for our visas by mail from the Ukrainian Consulate in San Francisco.  Upon our arrival in Ukraine, we have 45 days to get registered with the local immigration office.

Ministry – Our latest ministry project has been proofing some formatted, almost -ready-to-go-to-print Bible First lessons in English.  This project was put on hold for awhile as our team mates worked diligently to obtain their visas and pursue registration in order to stay in Ukraine.  Now, the ball is rolling again and we’re excited to see the first phase of preparations brought to completion!

Pictures – Lastly, for more family pictures, click here.

Uncle Joseph and Melissa

Vitamin D time with Nana!

Making sure Aunt Hannah gets her cardio workout for the day!

Random, non-sunshiney picture of my laundry helper - who likes riding in the basket most of all! :)

Josh and Hannah

Then, two days later, Katelin’s sister, Katrina, got engaged to Nathan Britton.

Nathan and Katrina

We are excited for our siblings, and we are also glad it worked out for us to be in America for both of the weddings! The big days are set for April 6th and May 19th, respectively.

As for us, we are planning to return to Ukraine in late May, after Nathan and Katrina’s wedding.

Also, a quick update on the rent house situation (the last update was in our latest newsletter). We are still waiting to hear from the bank on whether or not they will accept our offer. We would appreciate your prayers, as we only have two months before we have to be in Texas for a wedding!

Melissa is practicing for her new job as a big sister. Estimated first day of employment: August 27th.

Rental House Project

Nathan recently received the needed pre-approval letter for a loan and started house hunting.  I enjoyed going out with Nathan to look at several rental properties.  Because the Environmental Protection Agency has made some new laws regarding lead paint in rental houses and landlords’ responsibilities, finding the right house has been a challenge.  We are looking for the best combination of price, area of town,  size, rental price/return on investment, and the year the house was built.  At this point, we’ve decided to stop looking, as we have a trip to Texas planned for the month of January.  Even if we found the ideal house tomorrow and put an offer in on it, it would probably take about a month before we had the house in our possession and could start making the needed repairs.   To be continued…

Melissa’s Birthday

We celebrated Melissa’s 1st birthday with a simple party at home. She really liked her cupcake though, so we didn’t need anything too fancy!  Our baby girl took off and started walking right around her birthday. It’s been fun to watch her toddle!

Christmas

Christmas was celebrated here in Colorado with Nathan’s family.  It was a special holiday because all of the siblings were together.

Trip to Texas

As I said above, we have plans to travel to Texas on January 5th.  We are looking forward to time spent there with our family and friends!

Ministry Update

The ministry continues in Ukraine and we are thankful for our team members who keep things rolling while we are in the States. This past month,  nine new students have joined the Ukrainian Bible correspondence course.  Also, the English version of the course, Bible First, is progressing.  Here is a video that will update you on the latest happenings:

Pictures

And last but not least, click here to view pictures from our month.

We are so thankful for our little sunshine who brings joy to our days!

We love you, Melissa!