Christmas 2009

We did celebrate it.

In Dillingham.

We had to really, tickets for us to fly to see our family would have cost $4182! Eek. Oh, and driving is just not an option, so stay we did.

Honestly, I didn't expect to do as well as I did. This was my our first Christmas not spent with family. But I did okay. Some days I cried, most I didn't.

Right around the time I started wondering what we were going to do for a Christmas tree, a gal that Dave works with offered to loan us an extra one that she had. Oh sure, we could have gone out and cut one down, but we really had no idea where to go. We had also heard that trees that are cut here don't last long because they die of shock when they are brought in to a warm house! We had no desire to see a tree "die of shock" right here in our living room, so the offer of an artificial pre-lit tree was truly a blessing.

The boys made their lists and they both requested new costumes. Cooper wanted a policeman costume and Ben wanted a "ranger's cloak". It just cracks me up that both of my boys LOVE to dressup. Remember last year's Christmas gifts? Believe it or not the ranger's cloak was easy, I just called Gramma! The policeman costume proved to be a little bit more difficult, but after much online searching I found one.

Ben in his rangers cloak with his new bow and arrow set.

Apparently I have not taken a picture of Cooper in his police costume yet, but here he is crashed out on Christmas night with the hat on!

Other gifts came by way of Santa Amazon and Vision Forum. It was truly the easiest Christmas shopping I've ever done and ALL of the gifts arrived in time for Christmas and most with free shipping!

When the shopping was done, I decided to start baking. I went in search of a good sugar cookie recipe and ran across Our Best Bites and fell in love!! I made these and this and this, all of which were very yummy and fun to give away. I really wanted to make these, but was not able to get the small jars at the store here. They are so cute though and I thought they would make fun teacher gifts.

Oh, and let us not forget the sugar cookie recipe. I had so much fun making these and this recipe is so easy and makes a really good cookie. I should know, I ate enough of them....

Christmas Eve brought a candlelight service at our church. It was very beautiful. Benjamin was asked to read part of the Christmas Story from Luke 2. He did such a great job! We were also able to hear Bible readings and Silent Night in the Yu'pik native language.

Christmas morning we slept in. Yes, I said, we slept in. Oddly enough our kids have NEVER woken up early on Christmas day. They're weird, but I'm not complaining. We got out of bed at 9:30 and I made the kids wait just a little bit longer while I got breakfast in the oven and then we set out to open gifts. The boys were very happy with their three gifts from mom and dad, their stockings filled by Santa, and their gifts from grandma and poppa.

After all the gifts were open we set to work at getting dinner ready. We had extended the invitation to other families, who have no family here, to come to dinner at our house. We ended up with about 20 people here for dinner and games that lasted late into the evening. It was so much fun!

Christmas 2009 will go down as one of our best Christmas' ever, if you ask me!

Nine months

Alot can happen in nine months.

A family can grow.

In numbers and strength.

It's been exactly nine months since we left behind our "old" life for our crazy Alaskan adventure and we have grown.

Not in numbers (I can't say that we ever will but I can't say that we never will either) but definitely in strength.

Awhile back my friend Nicci asked me to post what God has been teaching us since our move. She said "I know He has a reason for your Alaska life and I want to know how He has been moving."

Well, Nicci, here is how God is moving.

We are learning how to live and be together as a family, not that we didn't do that before, we just didn't do it well. It took the removal of all the distractions of suburban life to show us that we really weren't thriving, just surviving. We are discovering that we still have things to do, people to know and a few places to go, but we are also discovering that those things don't own us or define us.

Our boys still play sports; there has been softball and basketball so far, and ice hockey starts soon. There is no tryouts or practice or team parties or trophies or running from field to field. It's just sports, the way sports used to be. The boys are also learning how to be boys; to play in the woods, shoot a bow and arrow, build forts and ride on snowmachines. We no longer schedule their every waking minute with activities. Of course there is still school and we have been blessed with an awesome AWANA club here in Dillingham, but most days we come home, do homework and then they usually head out to play. We don't schedule playdates anymore. If they want to play with neighbor kids then they just go outside eventually other kids will show up. If no one shows up to play, well they still have each other and they are slowly learning to be each others best friend.

I can't speak for my husband as to what he is learning through this adventure, but the one thing that I see is that he has realized it's okay to take a risk, to step out into the unkown, to leap in faith. Because that is what he did for us. Moving our family away from Vancouver was a BIG step for Dave, but he did it in faith and I am certain that there is no regret on his part.

My growth has come in the form of learning to live in the moment, not worrying about what the future holds (but still having to remember that if I need something not available here, I must plan ahead because shipping things takes time!). Without a doubt, although sometimes I do, I know that we are exactly where God wants us to be. Even in Dillingham, a town that has been much harder for me to embrace than Kotzebue was. Most of the time I don't even question the reason why we are here. To me it is simple, and it is the same reason God places anyone anywhere. Our reason for being is to bring glory to God, to show others the love of Christ in a real and tangible way, and to love others the way that Jesus loved in order that they may come to know Him. That's it. It's simple. Yet, sometimes I forget. Sometimes I find myself wallowing in pity. Poor me, I live in the Alaskan bush, I don't have fast internet, or starbucks, or Target. Poor me, butI forget to look at what I do have; a husband who loves us enough to take a giant leap of faith, boys who are learning and experiencing more in their lifetime than most ever will, and a God who has given me more than I ever deserve and who has been everywhere he will ever take me.

I can't say that our life is perfect (just today I snarled at my husband as soon as he walked in the door) but I can say that it is perfect for us.

PS...2010 is our PFD qualifying year!!

Outside Recess

I've been doing alot of subbing at the elementary school and have spent quite a few days working as an aide in the kindergarten classes, and let me tell you that there is nothing quite as exhausting as helping eighteen 5 and 6 year old get ready to play outside for thirty minutes in freezing weather. Snow pants, boots, coats, hats, and mittens for everyone can take 10 mintues to get on. Because of this the kids only go out once a day. It truly takes such a long time to get dressed and undressed for recess that if they did it more than once a day there would be no time for learning.

Cooper LOVES outside recess. No matter the weather he still plays hard and knows not to stick his tongue out near metal! The play structures are fun to jump off of when the snow has piled up and the swings are looped over the top bar in order to make them higher off the snow. Like recess' in the lower 48, there is basketballs and footballs to play with, but our kids' playground toys also includes shovels to push the snow around when it's fresh.

But not today. There will likely not be outside recess today.

It's cold. -5 for a high, with a 'severe windchill warning' in effect until late morning. Predicted windchills of -30 to -40. By recess time at 11:00 it might warm up a little, but they keep the kids inside when it colder than -20 (that's negative folks!!).

Brrrrrr......

Mama wants

Just in case anyone out there wants to buy ME a present..........

1. A crockpot. Somewhere, somehow, in our move from Kotzebue to Dillingham, mine went missing. Imagine trying to live through a cold, harsh Alaskan winter without one. I need one. And I like this one:

2. Smartwool socks. I've heard they are the best, but goodness gracious if I can't bring myself to pay $15-25 for ONE pair of socks. But if you are so inclined, then feel free!

3. I-tunes gift card!! I need new music. Maybe some new showtunes so that my son will quit playing (and singing) this one over and over and over again.

4. Mama also needs a new scarf and I love this one:

So, if by chance you knit, and are wondering what to make me for Christmas, here ya go.

5. This book. (it's 'Fearless' by Max Lucado for all those who didn't click on the link!)

6. Snowshoes. For the whole family!

So, there you go, my Christmas list. There was a few other things on the list that I already know will be under the tree.

How about you? What are you hoping will be under the tree?

I Blinked

I'm not sure how it happened, but it did and I can hardly believe it.

I blinked,

and just like that,

my baby is 6.

Dear Sweet Cooper,

You are six!! Wow. What a year it has been. You have been such a trooper in our big moves. You have adapted so well to both of our new towns and I am really proud of you.

I love how you play hard and love deeply.

You are such a brave boy! You'll try anything. I still laugh about the time this year that you told me you wanted to be a "devil dare" when you grow up! But you are already a "devil dare" if you ask me.

You love to sit at your craft table and create, you love playing outside in the snow, and most of all you love to dress-up and pretend you are someone or something else; Indiana Jones, monkey boy, a super hero, and the latest is Nacho Libre, where you run around in just your red under wear and a cape!

This year you have discovered a great love for learning. You started kindergarten and you look forward to going so much that on Saturdays you often tell me you wish it was a school day.

Cooper, you have such a zest for life and while sometimes I wish I could stop you from growing up, I love watching you embrace all of life's adventures!

My prayer for you is that you will continue to love Jesus with all your heart and love other people more than yourself.

You are such a treasure and bring great joy to all of us. So Cooper, grow deep, grow strong, but please don't grow to fast.

I am so glad God made me your mommy!

Carnival: If you came to my house today

I'm joining in on a bloggy carnival that I found through my friend Meredith (one of my favorite bloggers that I hope to meet someday "in real life"!). If you care to join along just head over to La Vida Dolce to link up.

If you came to my house today you'd find us still in our pajamas and beds unmade. There is no school today so the boys and I are home. Actually, the boys aren't technically in their pajamas, they are incognito......long johns (white for Ben, black for Cooper), ski goggles and glove, with capes over their backs. They will likely spend the whole day pretending that they are superheros.

If you came to my house today you would find those superheros cleaning alongside their mom. They clean bathrooms very well, the biggest does the sinks, counters and mirror, the youngest scrubs the toilets. Cleaning bathrooms is a task I believe every boy should know how to do. Their wives will thank me some day.

If you came to my house today we would serve you Monkey Bread (we are going to use only one stick of butter, but I'm sure it will still be yummy ) and hot cocoa after you played outside in the fresh snow. Bring your coat, snowpants, hat, gloves and boots, because even though there isn't a cloud in the sky, it is only 14 degrees out. Brrr!

If you came to my house today you would need to bring your game face, because after all the cleaning and playing in the snow is done, there will be games. The favorite of the house lately is Yahtzee.

If you came to my house today you could help me decide what to make for potluck Bible Study tonight. I need to go to the grocery store, but really don't want to, so instead I'll be seeing what I can dig up in the pantry to make.

The superhero wearing black, with a pair of striped pajama pants tied around his neck as a cape, has selected the High School musical as our cleaning soundtrack. It's playing now, guess I better get started.

Thanks for coming by our house today!

This took forever to download, so you better leave a comment

This post had a different title originally, but I decided to change it. It was either that or quit blogging altogether. Our internet here is so slow and it is nearly impossible to get a connection between the hours of 5pm and 11pm, but, here you go, the post formerly known as :

Home

One of the benefits with the company that my husband works for is paid housing for managers. In Kotzebue, this translated into a three bedroom, one bath apartment, complete with sloping floor, stinky walls, and black mold growing in the bathroom. It was less than spectacular, but it kept us warm.

Our move to Dillingham brought a very nice surprise!
We have a house here:

And it's huge, but you would not know that from looking at the front!

It's actually the biggest house we have ever lived in.

We are guessing that it is about 2200 sq. ft.

It does have some quirky features,

like FIRE ENGINE RED counter tops:

Even though red is my favorite color, I am pretty sure that I would NOT pick it for my counter tops in my own house, but I can live with red because of all those cabinets. And that picture does not even show the other corner and the cabinets there. Oh and that island.....it's about 10 feet long.

I can also appreciate the red because the rest of the house is WHITE.

Not just white, but white on white. Like this handy wall of shelves:

And see those cabinets? They would be perfect for a television. If only someone would have thought of putting that electrical outlet down there on the inside of the cabinets and run the cable tv hookup into there instead of on the opposite wall.

Now we move into the entryway and it is rather large too, which is great because when come home and take off our coats, snow pants, boots, hats and gloves we end up with quite a pile. One genius thing about this area is that there are TWO baseboard heaters, making for a great glove drying area. That door to the left is a large coat closet. Straight ahead is the door to the heated garage and to the right (out of the picture) is the front door.

Oh, looky, more RED counter top. But once again, it's livable, because it is in my GINORMOUS laundry room. With more cabinets and what you can't see is that it goes around to the right with more storage. I've never had a laundry room, always laundry closets or hallways. I love having somewhere to fold the laundry and being able to shut the door if I want to ignore it all.

There is alot more to this house, like three very large bedrooms; one of which we are not using because the boys share a room, so if anyone wants to visit, we have space!

Here however, is the greatest thing about this house:

The WALL O' WINDOWS with vaulted ceilings.

The entire backside of the house is windows. The big WHITE dining room has huge, high windows. These are the living room windows and on a sunny afternoon the light just streams through, which will be a welcome sight during our long, cold winter!!

So, there you go. Our home in Dillingham.

and there likely will not be anymore pictures until one of ya'all can come up here and speed up my internet connection. I have a room for you!

Nurse Ratchet

I have sometimes thought about going back to school for a nursing degree and while it is a lovely thought, there are two fundamental problems with it:

First is that I don't do blood or body fluids.

It's true, I have been known to pass out at the site of blood; my own or others. And body fluids make me want to barf.

"But wait" you say. "You have children. Boys none the less."

Ah yes, but God has taken mercy on me. In my nearly ten years of motherhood, only ONCE has either of my two boys had an injury that bled more than a microscopic amount AND when that injury did happen there was a lot of people at my house and someone else dealt with it for me.

"But children barf" you quip.

Yes, this I know, and once again God has shown me favor by giving me a charming husband that has cleaned up nearly all of the vomit his children have produced. And once these children were old enough to understand the value of money, I began bribing them.

It goes something like this:

Young boy, "mommy, my tummy hurts"

Me, "well, please don't throw up and if you really need to, remember I pay $5 if you make it in the toilet"

Which brings me to the second fundamental problem; my bedside manner.

Or lack thereof.

It's true, I have no patience for the infirmed in my own home.

Outside of my house, it's a different story. If you are sick, or injured, or somehow otherwise incapacitated, you have all my sympathy, empathy and a home cooked meal delivered to your door.

But if you are living with me and are sick or injured you are just out of luck (unless of course you are five and get the swine flu and spend 6 days laying on top of our mom with 103 degree fever. In which case I shall gladly lay and nap with you and ignore all other responsibilities of life because one never knows when it will be the last time you snuggle with me).

Hypothetical case in point:
Let's say you are a 45 year old man and you go out on Monday night to play basketball with the younger set, and lets say that younger set is comprised of young men whose father you could be. And while playing basketball with these young men you injure your foot, but because of your advanced age you can't remember whether you came down on someone else's foot or just came down on your own foot wrong, either way it's a mute point because the next day you can barely walk. So you drive yourself to the medical center for an x-ray. The doctor says to you "you have fractured your foot in two places" and tells you to stay off of your foot for four days and then to return to the clinic for follow up on Friday.

Well, hypothetically speaking, if you came home and shared this information with me. I would be likely to not be very empathetic or sympathetic. I might even be a little mad at you for thinking that you could still play basketball with the twenty year old boys. And after your first day at home, staying "off of your foot" I might even ask what your plans were to return to work. And when you tell me of your doctor appointment scheduled for two days away I might even tell you to be sure to ask for a walking cast so that you can go to work after your appointment.

I'm just saying I should probably skip the nursing degree, ya think?

I promised to be a better blogger

But.................

I'm struggling right now.

I'm in a funk.

I'm not exactly sure why.

I do know this though: I left a piece of my heart in Kotzebue.

I miss it there.

Alot.

That in itself is just crazy.

Six months ago I could not imagine even living there, much less loving it there.

But it happened.

I fell in love.

So please, bear with me while I work my way out of this funk.

In the mean time, here's Cathy havin a little to much fun with her dead caribou:

I guess we could say that this guy left his heart in Kotzebue too!

A Goody Giveaway!!

My friend Michelle is hosting another one of her fabulous Goody Giveaways!

Aren't these little treasure boxes adorable?

While I'm busy relocating to a new corner of Alaska this weekend you could be over at Michelle's blog entering to win one of these little cuties.

Go check her out and tell her I sent ya!

P.S. I'm making a "new town resolution" to be a better blogger!!