SNOW DAY 2020!

WHUT? 0445 and the school district posted all schools are closed for the day!

Alaska schools "never" get snow days....but it appears the hours of freezing rain, followed by snow all evening has earned us a SNOW DAY!

Phoenix took one look and went back inside.  

We determined to do all the things! You know...all the things Stacia's heart has been dreaming of all winter. It's been hard for her to be the only one at home during the day. I've watched her try to build the sledding hill by herself and then try to talk the boys into playing in the snow when they get off work. I've listened as she remembered playing with the neighborhood kids in Japan and me bringing out hot chocolate every day. The snow here has been too dry to build a snowman....but today...it's wet and sloppy and perfect.  Sort of.

Krista and Stacia headed up to a side they deemed perfect for sledding.  I set out to find them.

When I thought I was near the right spot I planted my cup to be retrieved later.

I found them.  Michael caught up with us too. This road had not been plowed and the snow was deep and unpacked.

This meant the girls spent significant amounts of time packing a trail down. In the end - it worked.

Ok, now - it takes some skill to grab a photo while sledding down the hill. Stacia calls it foolish and dangerous...but I know she's impressed. LOL

We need to find another sled like the one above (it can be steered) and the one Stacia is holding here (it goes fast).

So much fun! The three colorful hats are Alaskan Happy Hats - which Stacia makes. The white one is one Arielle made for me years ago. 

Krista, Micahel, Me and Stacia

When we deemed ourselves sufficiently wet, cold, and satisfied we headed back to our house.  The girls sled as much of the way home as they could. Sometimes it is nice living at the bottom of an incline. Michael spent quite a bit of time today working in the garage. He is making a project for the male family birthdays and trying to get the garage arranged the way he'd like it. 

We dried out coats, gloves and hats (coat rack placed by the woodstove is working well) and then went out again when Nolan returned home.  G dog came out and determined it was too wet to make a snowman....and the snow was too deep.....

G dog...agreed to put on gloves and snow boots

G Dog's assessment didn't stop Nolan, Krista and Stacia from building their snowman.  I remembered... and made up a thermos of hot chocolate to take outside.

I spend more time "chilling" in the snow than staying upright. LOL 

Isn't he classy? The snow was deep so they dug down to build him. He is sitting on a pedestal.  He sports a knitted tie Arielle made for one of the brothers and an old hat that no one has been wearing. 

Nolan, Krista, Stacia, Me, Olaf

When they finished building Olaf they all decided to make snow angels. The snow is incredibly soft...

Krista angel 

Wednesday night activities were cancelled and we enjoyed another quiet day around the house. This snow day was a family blessing. 

SNOW STORM

Yes, I believe this qualifies as an-honest-to-goodness snow storm.  As the temps begin to warm up we get MORE SNOW....and more light...all in all this mess is a sure sign winter is entering a new phase...spring/ BREAK UP will eventually come. I've begun to dream of seeds and gardens.

This was our view this a.m.  Our mountains have disappeared.

Almost time for winter bonfires

I wasn't getting out of this conveniently placed door - it leads to the backyard and the chicken coop, garden etc.

That's a lot of snow

The chickens were not impressed one bit. Some of the more courageous ones were willing to venture out of the coop. The new roofed area is priceless. Next year, I may put a barrier on the fence to help with wind.

The roads were bad - but I had  a schedule to keep. I picked up Alex at work and we headed to the doctor. He's been having trouble with his ankle/foot now that he is working 8 hour shifts at McDonald's.

On the way to get Alex I experienced a truly frightening winter driving episode. The roads hadn't been plowed. Everyone was driving 35 or 40 mph - a sure sign it's "Alaskan bad." Alaskans don't slow down for anything.  The turn onto the road which leads to us was barricaded with 2 feet of a snow berm. I plowed through....and then as I zipped into town at 40 mph...all the snow from my roof slid onto my windshield. I hoped there was nothing in the way and pulled off the road. It took a lot of work to clear the car.

When we came home, Michael and Stacia were out clearing the driveway and indicated we should park at the head of the driveway. We jumped out and began helping....it took 2 1/2 hours to clear it...as more cars joined the driveway line up. The school district sent Krista home early. She said she couldn't figure out why until she neared our area. LOL

It's hard to show snow depth 

Michael and Stacia 

 

 We spent the rest of the sunlight hours clearing snow....

Krista

Up by the road

We attempted to make an easy route for Dad's paper delivery. 

Nolan got off work and joined the fun

I took a step and sunk up to my thighs. I told Dad he needs to let us get the paper for the next few days. 

I have never hit Michael with a snow ball in 37 years. He was properly surprised....

The power went out for quite a bit of time. We were happy to have kept my lamp from Liberia....and candles....the woodstove proved it's worth and the gas cook top was perfect for heating up some dinner.

Games by candle light

We cancelled Ladies Bible study for the night. We are all wondering if school will have a late start tomorrow. Alaska "never" cancels school because of snow....

Yard Ornaments

As the snow accumulates on the mountain, the moose are moving to our neighborhood, our yard to be exact. They are very appreciative of the lasagna bed I've been building this winter. ::snort::

We've seen their tracks in the garden and through the yard. We've seen the hollows where they've been sleeping. Aren't they cute yard ornaments? Beat gnomes any day of the week.

Thing 1 and thing 2

That Sunday Thing

This is a story which goes back to my Sunday school teacher when I was a child at our home church in Springfield, OR. Kathy and Chuck were college friends of my parents. I can't remember a time when Chuck and Kathy were not a part of my life.

In addition to supervising our Sunday School department in my growing up years, Kathy ran a Children's Release club which she STILL RUNS.... she canned, gardened, baked bread, and excelled at hospitality.

Every Sunday Kathy cooked a big Sunday meal. At church she and Chuck invited people over. Some of my favorite memories are from around her table. They've lived in the same home for decades and it's not a big home. Her yard and garden are magical. Her home has been a welcome refuge for many over the years.

I grew up and got married. I did not have the gift of hospitality. HOWEVER, God began to talk to me about the role of Biblical hospitality/community/relationship in fulfilling the "Great Commission." He showed me how His heart is to move strangers into His family. He did it for me. I can mirror his heart through hospitality. In short, I learned hospitality is a command; not a gift.

Our ministry has always been "relational," but hospitality requires something of us....First, humility if one doesn't happen to be a stellar cook or home decorator. ::Snort::  Seriously, our homes are our place of sanctuary and rest. It took a bit for me to step out and begin to serve in my place of rest. 

For a time Michael and I had people over after church every Sunday evening. There has been times we've had people over most Friday nights.

After Michael retired we spent seven months in my hometown while Mom was going through cancer treatment and Michael was being seen at the VA clinic.  Once again we benefited from Kathy's hospitality. All these years later she is still having people over every week. I am convinced her invites are the only one some get. I know her's was the only invite offered to our family.

We began to talk about having people over every week after church. Our first year up here we had our children over most Sundays. Our home was very full and having many extras over seemed daunting. Of course, we didn't know many people outside of family.

For the past six or seven months we've been grabbing young adults to go out with us after church on Sundays. It's been a blast to have Krista home....we've enjoyed Sunday lunches...but we began to suspect  it would be budget friendly and lead to greater friendship and fun if we moved some of the lunches to our home.

We've hosted a life group for the past two years and we've invited people over...but the "Sunday thing" stayed in our minds.  Honestly, Sundays are a REST day for us. I didn't want to have to work hard Saturday preparing for Sunday. I wanted to and I didn't want to...how's that? The more Stacia and I talked about relationships and the role hospitality can play in living "wide awake and fully present," the more I began to sense it was a God call and it was simply time.

We talked as a family and  agreed to start slowly with simply opening our home 2 Sundays a month. We wanted anyone to feel welcome to come: family, friends, church family, church visitors. We didn't want it to be a potluck as we didn't want others to be too burned out to come "fellowship."  Kathy and Chuck invited a family or two at a time...but we weren't sure WHO to invite...and so we simply invited everyone....and told them to invite anyone they thought would enjoy coming over.

Our thought has been maybe I'd fix something on one week and the other would be some sort of themed potluck....but always with all knowing to invite visitors or whoever to join us..... Honestly, I am going to need ideas. LOL

Our first invite was posted on Facebook, I passed out invites to ones I knew weren't on my Facebook. We cooked soups, made salads and desserts, and waited to see what would happen. There was a bit of rearranging of rooms and cleaning involved too.

Caitlyn, Pastor, Britney, Merritt, Nolan, Josiah, Brittany
Stacia, Sandy Allie, Jessie, Krista

We had thirty-three people show up. The house was big enough to easily handle the crowd. There was more than enough food. People ate upstairs and downstairs. 

Games began downstairs...while others visited upstairs. I've never played Nertz and I didn't make it downstairs.

People came when they could break away from church...some came after church at another church, Arielle and Benny dropped in, and my personal favorite was the young man who showed up - invited by another young man. I LOVED IT.  We met him as he was leaving with the last group. 

Some ate and had to run home to pets or other activities. Some stayed and played games an hour or two...several stayed until 7:30 p.m. The time flew by. We ate, talked, and laughed together - and it was good.

Benny got my phone and took about 50 photos of Britney
and Allie...and his foot. LOL 

Our plan is to open our home the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. We know numbers will fluctuate. We will be flexible with other things going on....but we will keep striving to have people over - often. Community is worth the effort.

We continue to try different things with our neighbors...and they are slow to respond....but this we can do.

Looking at March...the first Sunday is our church's annual business meeting. We thought of doing the 3rd and 5th Sundays, but then we heard one man who works away for weeks will be home the 22nd... We are going to have one lunch in March on the 22nd. We are combining suggestions from a couple of folks....

I'm contemplating taking down the Christmas decor before our next Sunday Shindig.

Preparing for Sunday's Lunch

 Today is prep day! We are opening our home tomorrow to anyone from church who would like to come over for lunch...or anyone someone from church would like to invite for that matter.

We began by moving the exercise equipment to the girls room, furniture from the game room to the study, and the laundry table and card tables into the game room. THEN we put Dad's lifetime table upstairs, with our dining room table.

Arielle and Benny got caught up in the preparations. Benny was happy to help Krista "paint" glue on the completed puzzle of Portland, OR so it could be moved. 

I baked bread and made soups.

Stacia baked desserts - brownies and some yummy orange cookies dipped in chocolate.

We stopped for a tea break and Benny was thrilled to froth my chai for me.

All the soups are cooling off and heading for the downstairs fridge. I'll put them in crock pots in the morning and hopefully they'll be ready to go at lunch time. 

More to follow.

Winter Survival Tip #838

Yes, this windshield cover is worth its price. No more scraping the windshield in -0 weather.  No driving to town with 3 inches of viewing space (not that I would ever do that).

YES, I DO let it warm up for 15 min....but it was often NOT defrosted OR warm!  I just pull the cover off and throw it in the back....clear windshield.

If you don't store your car in a garage - heed THIS winter survival tip....BUY ONE OF THESE!

Buying Meat

I only buy meat when I can get it at 50% off or better....and then I stock up. This week I found boneless, skinless, fresh chicken breasts for $2.49 a lb. I canned 22 pints....and about 6 pints of red beans too.

It makes me happy to have canned chicken on the shelves. It's GREAT to whip up a chicken salad, add to green salads, or make Chicken divan, enchiladas, rice bowls, soups, etc... a life saver during our busy school year schedule.