Copper River Valley Women's Retreat

As I write our first significant snow is falling quietly around our little house in Glennallen. If I didn't know better, I'd be getting out my Christmas tree and turning up the "Fa-la-la-la-la"! (Then again, I won't need to get out a tree this year, because we have oodles of them in our back yard.)

I don't have a picture of the snow yet, but the pictures here show some lovely women and dear friends that I am privileged to know here in the Copper River Valley. Each year, Glennallen Community Chapel, along with other churches in the area, hosts a fall women's retreat at Victory Bible Camp, which is towards Anchorage a bit over an hour's drive away.

Maybe 50 or so excited and vibrant women gathered together for a night and a day of spiritual refreshment and fun. The setting was breathtaking, as you can see from the photos taken by a dear friend and school co-worker, Mary Hernandez. (She's the lovely lady in the middle of the group shot, smiling from ear to ear.)

The camp reminded me of being at our women's retreat at Windermere with the Wellspring ladies from Missouri. How precious our Father is to create atmospheres that are familiar to us, even if we are so far away from what we remember to be "home." He has given me a beautiful home here, and great friends to boot! I'm looking forward to many more blessed times with these ladies and to the closer friendships that He has in store for me.

Russ and I are blessed with so much. Love, our Lord, friendship and fun! He returned from a successful moose hunt last week and now our freezer is full of moose, halibut and salmon. I continue to be pleasantly busy at the school as a substitute. It is wonderful slipping by Russ' room and peeking in on him, and I've caught him a time or two checking in on me. Again, the familiarity I feel at the school and the warmth of the staff has been such a blessing.

Cranberry picking

Russ and I spent our Labor Day near home, making the most of a sunny weekend. (Rare these summer Alaskan days.) I've been waiting anxiously for the cranberries near our home to ripen, so I can freeze and store for later this winter. At last, we found some patches that were ready. I've heard that they are even better after a frost. I'm learning to appreciate the beauty of the outdoors here. The moss, lichen and plant life on the floor of the woods is beautiful and spongy to walk on. Russ is spending more time cutting wood getting ready to heat for winter. I can't believe how much it's looking like Fall here already. The aspen and birch leaves have already turned yellow, a month or more ahead of what I'm used to from back home.