Catching up... June

At the beginning of June, Tristan was able to go down to Dallas to visit his brother, nephew and niece. He had a great time hanging out with Travis and playing with Noah and Chloe. They are such darling kiddos!

We've also been helping out Leslie's parents as they redo their kitchen and dining room. They have been needing an update for a very long time and we have been very happy to help out where we can.
Below is a picture of Tristan with Talon the Cat. Leslie parents have many cats but all of them are wild. So at the beginning of June, Leslie's sister Callie was able to catch three kittens. Sadly one of them died, but the other two are very friendly and going strong.

We were also able to attend the wedding of Blake and Rachel. It was a beautiful wedding and we were able to be together as a family again.

Sisters!
Derek, Megan, Leslie and Tristan
After the wedding we traveled to Muskogee, OK to visit with Leslie's family. We stayed with her grandparents and were able to visit with aunt, uncles and cousins as well.

We also experienced some crazy Kansas weather one evening. We went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant with Leslie's parents and sister when the tornado sirens went off. Everyone took shelter in the basement of the place until we were given the all clear.

We made another trip to Colorado and stayed for a week. We were able to spend time with Tristan's mom and dad and and enjoy the beautiful Rocky Mountains again.

After traveling to Colorado we made our way to Nebraska to visit Tristan's family there. We had a good time with more aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Pictured below are pics of us with Tristan's Grandma Pearl and Tristan's dad.

Catching up... May

The first weekend in May brought on Leslie's brother's wedding. Derek and Megan were married May 2, 2009 in Oklahoma City. It was a beautiful wedding and a lovely reception. It was wonderful time to spend with family.

We enjoyed a trip to Colorado to visit Tristan's Mom. It was great to be out there again. Tristan especially looks forward to seeing his beloved Rocky Mountains.

Mid May brought Leslie's sister Callie's graduation from High School. We were glad to be witnesses to that momentous occasion in her life. Congrats Callie!

May also brought a very sad and heartbreaking time for Leslie's family. Nick Prindle, Leslie's uncle passed away on May 22nd. We will never forget Nick and all of the joy he brought to our family. Please keep his family in your prayers.

We were also fortunate to attend Family Camp, a Northside Church of Christ tradition out at Rock Springs 4-H Camp near Junction City. It was an encouraging time of fellowship and great lessons. One of our favorite parts of family camp is the talent show. Tristan participated in the show by being a "contestant" on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" It was great!


Now here's the story of why we are still here in the States as of July 15th...
A week after we first got here in May we sent away for our new visas that we would need to continue working in the U.K. for the next year, since our original 2 year visa had expired. We applied for the visa that we thought we would need and really thought nothing more of it because we thought the process would be fairly easy and we would get our visas back plenty of time to get on the plane on May 27th. Well... we didn't get anything in the mail until after that date (which was okay, since we had already postponed our flight because of Leslie's uncle's funeral). When we did receive word in the mail, the word was DENIED. Our visas had been denied! We couldn't believe it! We were very upset and worried by this news. We would have to apply for a complete different type of visa.
At the beginning of this year, the UK government completely revamped their visa application process to include new rules and regulations regarding how people came into the country to live. In order to apply for our new visa, the church in Stirling has to go through a "sponsorship" process so that they can get clearance for us to come over. Once they all of the paperwork organized and turned in, the evaluation takes at least 4 weeks. We are now in week 4. So, beginning at the end of this week is when the church in Stirling should be hearing about their sponsorship. When they receive sponsorship, they will send us a number to put on our new application for the visa that we need. Our visa process should take 1-2 weeks, no more than 3.
So there you have it... the reason we are still on U.S. soil. This has been a difficult thing for us, but we know that through this whole process God has been with us. He's given us many opportunities to support others during this "waiting time". Although we are very very tired of living out of our suitcases, we are thankful for having this extra time with family and friends. If you are reading this and you have supported us in any way this summer (feeding us, housing us, encouraging us with a word or smile, entertaining us, or just plain loving us) we thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU! It's hard to say where we'd be with out you!

Catching up... April

Okay, it may seem a little pointless to go back this far, but I would like to give a run down of a few events to let whoever would like to know what we have been up to these past few months.

April...

At the beginning of April we went to a Young Adults Retreat in East Scotland. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know some people our age better.

We were blessed to be able to find a new place to live. We are excited about moving into this place as soon as we get back to Scotland (more about that in a later post). We'll be sure to post pics as soon as we get settled in.

We moved out of our Nailer Rd house after about almost a year. The reason we moved was because our landlady who lives in Australia is coming back by the end of this year and we wanted to live in a place for a year rather than staying in the Nailer Road place and then finding a place to live for our last 6 months in Scotland.

We were also blessed to attend the Kirkcaldy Social. It was wonderful to spend time with other people in congregations around Scotland that we had met previously and getting to know some new people.

We also left for the States on April 22nd. We were able to spend time with the Church in St. John Kansas who has decided to partner with us for our remaining year in Scotland. They are a lovely congregation and very supporting of various missions efforts around the world. We are very glad to know them!

More to come...May, June, and now July!