A Wonderful Year

Well, it's been over two months since I've updated...how time flies. As you can tell, working full time has slowed me down a bit on this end of things.

Looking back over this year and celebrating our first Christmas as a married couple causes us to rejoice and give thanks! It was just last Christmas vacation that I made my way up to Alaska to meet Russ, and since then, we've both seen so many changes... marriage, moving, a wonderful cross-country trip from MO to AK, both of us teaching in Glennallen, and now expecting our first child! I am currently about 14 weeks and am feeling much, much better with energy returning daily. We hope to discover "boy" or "girl" sometime next month.

Among other great news is that I am now an aunt for the second time! My brother and sister in law, living in Auckland, New Zealand delivered their little boy, Thomas Isaiah on December 21st. He was born quite early at 33 weeks, but is doing very well and hopefully will get to come home soon.

A cow moose and her calf walked through our backyard this morning looking for something to nibble on as they passed. I had looked forward to seeing wildlife once I moved here and this was the first time I have seen a moose somewhere besides a roadside or hanging on a friend's wall.

Yes, it's cold here. Right now it has plummeted to 30 below! Overall, I hear this is a rather mild winter compared to past winters. For that, I am grateful. I find outdoor walks quite invigorating though, when temps rise to at least 5 below. Russ took this picture of me enjoying the deep snow. I couldn't resist!

I hope and pray that all of you are well and that your had a great Christmas and a great New Year!

Various happenings...

Here we are in the middle of September in front of the beautiful fall leaves. (All the leaves are gone now.) Our first big snow from a couple of weeks ago has has already melted off...but I'm sure there's more to come soon!

Latest news for us is that tomorrow I will begin teaching kindergarten full time at the Glennallen Elementary school! I am filling a position that came open recently. Most of you know that I've been a kindergarten teacher before (5 years) and that I love the little guys and gals. I am looking forward to spending this school year with these 15 children, and already feel a warmth and love for them after spending a few days with them as a substitute. Above is a picture of Glennallen Elementary, built new just last year. My room is the "dream" room I always wanted as a teacher, with a bathroom inside the classroom, a small kitchen, sand and water table, lots of great "kid" furniture, and a Promethian board, which is like a SMART board or other brands of interactive computer projector screens. The room is already set up and routines are in place, so the transition should be fairly smooth. Plus, there's this really nice 4th grade teacher upstairs and down the hall... :)

Here's a picture of Russ with his moose, which has a "forked" set of antlers. After freezing most of the meat, I had my first canning experience with corned moose, which is just like corned beef, but with moose meat instead. I won't say it was successful as we ended up with only two properly sealed quarts of meat. I am determined to try again someday, but doubtfully very soon.

We went to "town" again recently to do another shopping trip, but didn't go as far as Anchorage this time. You may have heard of a little town called Wasilla, which is on the way, about an hour's drive from Anchorage. The picture of the mountains shows Matanuska Glacier in the foreground. The cool dog we saw in the parking lot while we were filling up on very expensive gas.

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.

Moose Hunting and Back to School

We opted for a moose hunt rather than a sheep hunt in the mountains this year because of unusually cold weather this summer. We are more than happy at our decision to change plans; although we didn't bring home a moose either. We saw several cows and one small bull on the way home that ran quickly into the woods as it began to pour rain. Bummer! Camping out was fun and we had some great camp food, including blueberry pancakes. We picked the blueberries while scouting for moose one morning.

School is back in session here and Russ has 12 adorable fourth graders in his class. I have been at the school nearly every day helping out. It's great to be in his room, as it has helped wean me off being in my own classroom. I am amazed at how similar Glennallen schools remind me of dear Fair Play, where I taught for 8 years. Same school colors of black and gold, so when I walk the halls it all seems so familiar. And the people... I thought when I left Fair Play I would never again find the kinship and fellowship I had been blessed with there. Somehow the teachers, staff and children at Glennallen seem so familiar. They have more than welcomed me into their community. What a blessing!

We were blessed with some salmon recently! We got a call to help with a fish wheel, which is placed along the river's edge and gently scoops up any salmon passing by. (Much better than having to catch each fish with a rod one at a time!) We packaged the beautiful red filets and froze them for future use. I never thought I'd say salmon was beautiful, but it's such fun to live off what God has created to be used as good food.

Photos include me setting up camp during our moose hunt; (Yes, don't I look fashionable in camo?) Larry Scribner (my father in law) ready to scout for moose; the salmon wheel; and Russ preparing the salmon filets.

Home at last!

We arrived at our home in Glennallen on July 10th, after 6040 miles on the road. We saw my crate had safely arrived with all my belongings from Missouri. Our first days were spent organizing and preparing to move my things from the crate to the house. We took out time to enjoy being judges at a small community dog show. What made us qualify to be judges? We figured it was because we were one of the few in our neighborhood without a dog. (By the way, my dog Koko is doing wonderfully in MO with my aunt.)

July 25th our church hosted a wonderful wedding reception for us. I got to wear my dress again and use some of the decorations from the wedding in MO. We were humbled by how many dear friends and family came and showed their support and love for us. We received this special daffodil quilt, handmade by Mary Hernandez, who is a precious woman of God. She designed and made this quilt on her own!

It is wonderful to be home and I thank God for this community in Glennallen. We have had a wonderful summer and are now gearing up for Russ' school year.

Hoonah, Alaska

We spent our 4th of July holiday in Hoonah, visiting with Teresa and Shawn, Russ' sister and brother in law. We also were able to visit many friends who knew Russ when he was a teacher there several years ago.

While in Hoonah, we went halibut fishing and I caught my first big fish. It was still too small too keep, but you can say I was "hooked" anyway. We also saw some whales during our visit. Several came very close to the boat. Good whale photos are difficult to capture, taking diligent watchfulness as well as quick timing when they surface. We also went kayaking one day when it wasn't raining. One photo is of the cabin near Teresa and Shawn's home, where we stayed during our visit. Friends Eric, Alice and their three children are captured here in a photo as well. The picnic was taken at Fresh Water Bay, about an hour's drive down a dirt road from Hoonah. The people in Hoonah were wonderful and friendly and we found our stay there very relaxing before our final leg home.