Christmas Break

Like most Saturdays, the family watches a little basketball or football, Jason and Romay do their routine check of the traps, and Mom bakes something tasty, today it was a batch of Godiva chocolate chip cookies. We can hardly comprehend 2 weeks off of work. As a kid, Christmas season was filled with snow globes, rehearsing for Christmas plays, delivering presents, and the free time, clearly, had a different perspective. Now a teacher, remembering the good 'ol days, when my job was to achieve good grades; I almost feel as if I've come full circle. I watched my Middle School students, their enthusiasm for pulling sleds in the snow, their little crushes, movies late at night, and no school for what seems like an eternity, and remember having similar thoughts and activities to look forward to at that age. I have a sweet group of kids this year, not to mention how nice it is to work with students who can rise to academic challenges. Romay's class did a couple of lip synced songs for their Christmas Pageant, being the jock she is, she wasn't exactly in her element as they did Hula dancing to "Mele Kalikimaka." She was a good sport, smiled and I got the sense she was relieved when the song quit and the curtains closed. Merry Christmas. As wondeful as the giving of gifts are, we pray that God's gift through Christ's coming as a babe will be close in your hearts.

A Dry Spell

This blog isn't going to the grave, hopefully posting this will allow people to think about checking our blog, heck, I can even make it a goal to make 2 or 3 posts this month. Snow, snow, snow, our skiis will be making their way out of the shed soon. Jason and I did routine maintenance on our vehicles, theres a plenty to do with a Bronco II, 4-wheeler, snowmachine, go-kart and boat. The snowmachine got a dose of love, I changed the spark plugs, sure enough, the blackened tips gave themselves away as the sno-go was not running smoothly, but, that's changed. Roger and Carole's house is equipped with a nice wood boiler, except it was missing a part, an integral part of the iron beast. We replaced the baffle (thingy that is bolted to the back wall to keep the wood steadily burning in the box). Jason does the advanced jobs and well, I do the ones that require no or little skill. After teaching a full week, doing something progressive with your hands is a great reward. Speaking of school, life went from busy to busy as ever. I know why I did it, but I signed up as the boys assistant basketball coach, and so therefore the dynamics of the household have changed a little, now I pretty much use home as a sleeping place. I've been at school from 8 am to 7 pm this past week. There hasn't been questioning on my part as to why I'm doing this, maybe Jay will be questioning a little down this year's season. Other than that, we're still saving our dollars for the house plan. We feel much more confident about this house plan coming up, its worth the wait. We send our love to you out there, in Alaska or the 'lower 48!'

Gram Makes Another Visit

We try to keep Gram's visits a surprise anymore. Of course we keep it from Romay and mainly, its a huge test on Jay's and I's endurance to keep it hidden. BUT, we did it yet again! No spills on information on our part and the wait is worth it all, you know, the 10 seconds of surprise on the child's face. We're moved into our place on the Yukon River, the Huntington's have us spolied, huge windows that give us a priceless vista.

12th year

Romay woke up on a saturday morning to the usual morning greeters-Kemper, myself and Jay. Jay and I had been up for a couple of hours already. Saturday morning is golden, the usual morning routine of coffee, visiting, and warm slippers and without the 'rush' of being at work at 8 am. "Happy Birthday Romay!" (hugs and kisses). Romay usually snuggles up on the couch for a few minutes, deciding whether or not she really is awake. Jay and I looked at each other, knowing that we felt like little kids, except with the thought of joy in watching Romay opening presents. "Want to open presents, Romay?" Well, she was awake. Out to the garage she went and got a large box mailed from Michigan. It had been hiding in the garage for days, covered with a green sheet to keep curious eyes from peeking before the time was right. Romay had grown several inches since last spring and though the box would've been just inches below her height last March, her growth spurt had revealed that items such as this box were less cumbersome, especially in carrying it up the stairs. A few minutes later, we were all marveling at the youth bow grandma and grandpa Harris had picked out (A HUGE THANKS AGAIN!). Next, she opened a small box from Mom and Dad, a digital camera and one that wouldn't eat batteries in a couple of days. That afternoon, we could hear arrows hitting insulated sheets in the yard. We'd peek out and see a content 12 year old, shooting and fetching arrows. I'm not sure if the ptarmigan, grouse and rabbit know about the little archer in their back yard now.

Moose Season

September, a month which marks drops in temperature and shorter days. More accurately, moose season. A cooler sat ready, complete with butchering knives, game bags, and staples for 1 or 2 days of hunting. Another cooler, packed full of breakfast items and dinner for three, served also as a place to sit in our latest purchase, a 20 ft. Lund. We'd had experiences on rivers before, learning channels, where to rest out of the wind, little secrets that made pleasant trips out in the boat in Koyuk. But out on the mighty Yukon? A sure way to spoil your idea of what your idea of "must haves" for any boat is a depth finder. Sometimes we'd catch Jay staring at the illuminated red oval screen, "ahhhh, why don't you look at the river, Jay..." Inevitably, Romay and I would follow the same pattern, the need to see how deep the water was at a particular bend or stretch of river. It usually read 30 ft. on the channel. Jay and I had a process down by the time moose season was over. About wednesday night, we'd start scheming, along with another family about the particulars and well, usually reminiscing about the last trip. Funny thing is, half of the fun was talking about what kind of food we'd cook over the Coleman, or the camp fire. The Browns, a family of three, whom we happened to pair up with on our weekend excursions, were nicely outfitted, professionally outfitted. They, being fellow colleagues and school employees, could only afford weekends as our time to search, relax and have the opportunity to fill the freezer with meat. Mr. Brown awed us with his jetboil, "90 seconds to boil a liter of water" or something like that. I can still hear the burner after a dramatical start, sucking butane as I watched our water slowly heat over the propane fed Coleman. I might want one of those for Christmas, since I seem to have problems when it comes to that time of year in relating what I really need. And yes, its developed into a need. A christmas with moose season as its theme, I can see it all now, complete with Cableas smiling down our credit card purchases and well, it'll be well worth anyone's contribution. We had a girl turn 12 in the house. You know what that means, or I know what it means in our household. Usually, it requires having two sets of things. One butchering knife for mom and dad and one for a 12 year old girl. A sleeping bag, no longer belonging to the parents, but "her own" bag, and the list goes on...her own tent, headlamp, cot, gear, perhaps because one day she will do these things without mom and dad. I actually think we'll get together on such occasions, or hope at least. We didn't catch a moose. I organized and cleaned the boat on return trips more that I can count or care to remember. But, Galena has shown its generosity again. Friends have supplied us with enough, enough to remain happy and share. Afterall, the adults in the teacher lounge, which I still have to see in Galena, talk about the latest happening out on the Yukon that time of year. And we love it.

We're doing fine...

in our little hole, called Galena. I know its hard to communicate with us through modern means; the telephone, internet, or even cell, but this post is to confirm our existance! UPDATES: We're NOT buying the house, we're now building in the spring. The difference between you and I is that you can get over this news pretty quickly. See. Now you're over it. Romay's birthday is saturday and she is turning twelve! THis is a busy weekend and so we'll be celebrating it next weekend. We will be moving into a friend's place for the winter as they needed housesitters, yay, score! We had some boarding school kids over last weekend and celebrated a birthday together. Well, that is so much news, I'll just have to sign off and not give too much of an update, what would I talk about next time? (BYE! I am 'borrowing' airwaves and wanted to keep this short)

In Times Like These...

"...we need a Savior, in times like these, we need an anchor..." I can distinctly remember the voices singing in unison at church. The song might have been sung in English, then, after a brief pause, an elder would start the translated version in Eskimo and the 'ol domino effect of voices joining took over. I admire the Inupiaq versions of hymns. I can watch drama or read the inspirational stories without getting the lump in my throat. BUT! The translated songs just have a way with me :) A simple hymn, Gram's natural ability to sing in her language without flaw, again, memories and a tune sung to remind us of a Savior who will help us in our time of need.
Gram is recovering well from her little stroke she had last wednesday. I left Galena in a hurry, landed in Fairbanks and hopped back on a plane to get to Anchorage. My brother picked me up at the airport. I had planned to stay with Gram at the hospital and wasn't sure of any kind of arrangements, so a Fred Meyer sleeping pad was tucked under my arm as I made my way up to the 5th floor. I wasn't sure what to expect.
I came around the corner and saw Gram's back and it looked like she was getting up. I knew, by her fairly straight posture that she was okay and going to be okay. Her body language communicated that to me more than anything. I remember the nurse being in the room, although Ellen was the only one I could really focus on. "Hi Qaqatuq." "Ohhhhh, My!" she said. We grabbed hands, hers soft and welcoming. It was almost strange to see her dressed in a hospital gown, she had color in her cheeks and seemed to glow.
She was discharged by the weekend. Her brain scan revelaed a speck that might had even been an earlier tiny stroke. I think the overwhelming picture here is that prayers were answered. Thank you to those that lifted Ellen and our family in your prayer time. She has a follow up tomorrow and we're considering Ellen living with us for the time being. She shouldn't be alone and well, lets just say that she is stubbornly admitting that a woman of 79 might need someone to help her for now. Its quite late and I do have to check in at 5:45 am. I was driving 'home' tonight with the perfect country song, you know how country tells to story of life and well, life is taking a new turn. And under the circumstances, even though I'm sure at times it'll all be a stuggle, I'm thankful for reminders of encouragement from a simple hymn.