Sledding Runs, Hospice Quilts & Family

I SHOULD have gone outside to get photos or video of the kids today. Back in my bloggy/vloggy days, I would have....but it was 11* outside and the deck is covered in snow....my slippers have big tears in them....I wimped out.... must get some warm slippers which allow me to rush into the arctic conditions for quick shots. ::snort::

Arielle, Alex, Nolan, and Stacia have spent quite a bit of time this week building a jump for this year's sledding run. They've built steps to the top, and asked if we could get out there and "ice" it for them. We haven't yet. Today, Arielle, Alex and Stacia spent a lot of time "sledding" down the path, packing it down, in hopes of an established sledding run.

JaRissa and Josiah came out this afternoon. We visited, laughed, caught up on all the week's news and then watched a Spurs game. They lost. Again.

This was a healing moment for me. The red quilt is Mom's hospice quilt - a quilt given to me by the nurse when we switched mom to comfort care.  The Nativity is one our younger kids played with.  The quilt sits on a trunk with the Nativity on top of it.  I debated putting the quilt out. It's a daily reminder this year is different. It has a STUPID saying about death on the back, but in the end I knew it would be a reminder for me in year's to come, when I should be long over "grieving." A way to remember and acknowledge at Christmas. I have an ornament for the babies we've lost for the same reason. Benny was playing with one nativity piece at a time - over by the trunk/stairs.....

I picked up the quilt with the Nativity and moved it to the center of the room as we visited. 

He loves to push the angel and make the sound

He's dancing

It was the perfect picture. Mom didn't get to meet Benny. She adored her grandkids and great-grandkids....On the very day of the one year anniversary of Mom's move to heaven, a new great-granddaughter came home to the house where Dad is living. The photo is PRECIOUS and healing....but it's not my baby in the photo and I don't have permission to share online.

I watched Benny playing with a nativity on his great-grandma's hospice quilt.  A moment of great joy, with a shadow of sadness....family continuing on....I thought of this earlier in the week, too. God is gracious to remind us of the future, hope, and new chances to invest in a generation - right in the middle of grief.

The angel started making a most un-angelic sound. Benny knew what to do! He took it right to Gramps. Michael and Benny have a fun relationship. It warms my heart to see him reach for Michael.

Auntie Riss, Uncle Jared & Benny

These older Gherkins are pretty special to me too! 

Auntie Riss, Uncle Jared, Uncle Cy

It was a good day.

Snowy Moose

The moose have come back. Hunting season is over, and the SNOW is forcing them to look  harder for food. Our wooded area attracts them. They don't seem to have discovered this year's compost pile, or the newly planted orchard.

They are interested in the chickens and often stop to lean their heads over the chicken fence. One day I was cleaning the coop, heard an unfamiliar sound, and looked up to see three bull moose - one interested in the chicken yard and two locking antlers and waltzing back and forth.  We have had up to five moose in the yard at the same time.

Yuuki doesn't run when let out to do her business in this cold. She hurries to get back inside. She started whining, so Stacia put her leash on her and let her out. GREAT foresight... Yuuki began to pull her through the snow towards these interlopers.

Moose 1 and Moose 2 

 As she pulled leaves off the branch, the snow showered her. She'd stop and shake her head. It was cute to watch. It won't be so cute when they wander over to the orchard. We do have it fenced. With so many other options in the yard, maybe they'll leave the fenced trees alone.

I hope we have lots of moose when our out of state visitors are here! I never get tired of watching them - unless they are playing in the garden!

We are six days away from the darkest day of our year.....I am excited to start gaining light each day. I do love the seasonal changes up here.

Christmas Potluck & Bunco

It's ODD not to have a chapel staff Christmas Party, Chapel Party, PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) Christmas Party, Wing Christmas Party and 8-10 Squadron Christmas Parties to attend.  Odd indeed.  Tonight was our one and only "Christmas" party.  

We donned our holiday apparel and prepared to have fun hosting a Christmas Potluck and Bunco night at church.  It was a lighthearted evening  in a season of rushing for those who could fit it into their schedules. 

Opposites attract? 

The evening began with dinner.  This gave us time to sit and visit.  I was a bit worried there may not be enough food. I heard a couple remark we had enough food to feed the whole church. 

Bunco usually has four rounds/ 6 games each round. Last month Bunco was 3 1/2 hours....we added a potluck and a white elephant exchange and weren't sure how long it would all take. We settled on playing two rounds. We were done and cleaning a bit before 9 p.m.  just under 3 hours.  The timing was perfect for a snowy, winter night at the end of a long week. 

For prizes, everyone brought a white elephant gift; everyone went home with a "prize." It will be amusing to watch which groups are returned at future Bunco nights. 

White Elephant Gift tip number 1 - be sure you know which gifts your wife is trying to whisk out of the house....and don't select one of them when it's your turn to pick a prize. 

Laughing with those you share pews with on Sunday? Priceless! 

Ms. Bonnie decided she would like the ammo Robert had chosen. 

Highlights of the evening were meeting a new couple I'd not previously connected with on Sunday, sharing dinner with folks I could spend years with; and laughing, HARD together during the gift exchange. 

The kids had a youth lock in going at the same time. They had a great time. Stacia remarked, "It's the most tired and most awake I've ever been." I think she may have extrovert tendencies. ::snort:: 

He's not the Scrooge he likes to pretend to be! 

Questions - Questions

WHEW! What a busy time summer and fall are in Alaska!

We added to the normal madness of felling dead trees, splitting wood, building coops, planting gardens, hiking, filling the freezer with salmon...a trip to California and Oregon.

During the crazy pace it seemed quite reasonable to put quick blurbs on Facebook  - the thought being it would capture a few ideas which could grow into blog posts when there was more time. Alas, Facebook thoughts get buried under the weight of more Facebook thoughts.....

And when the winter came....instead of the slow pace I remembered from last year...came women's ministry conferences, increased outside of the home school commitments for Alex and Stacia, teaching two weekly studies and one online study - hey that makes 3, new evaluations for Michael, men's ministry and hosting a weekly life group - which finally grew. There has also been lots of time with grand blessings. Winter also brought the absence of MY camera - which has been taken over by a budding photographer. I have tried to take photos with my phone - but they are terrible quality. I've discovered taking a daily photo (or dozen) kept me mindful of highlights of the day and motivated me to blog.

For a while last year I was blogging and vlogging with videos nearly every day. It took more time than I want to carve out for such things.

Then, too, it's been hard for me to define my audience now that most the kids live here and Mom doesn't read it daily....and suspect I'm pregnant when I don't blog.   In my heart of hearts, I know Michael is right....the blog is a family journal and the audience is our family....whether they are HERE or not....they may appreciate the record in future years....

That brings me to one of my concluding thoughts....Blogger has started freezing blogs. Folks simply can't open their blog, nor post to it. They can't save it or print it out or access it. I had PLANNED to print out our blogs...but I decided I wanted to do some editing so it looked "prettier" and wasted less space (resulting in less pages to buy) -  it is slow going. I've not printed a book in several years - o.k. six years. I need to get printing.  Maybe I can take any chicken profit and pour it into buying blog books....to give you an idea it was taking 4 of the max paged books a year to print one year of the blog....$300 - 400 per year.   Others mention the blogs they can't access are ones where they've not been active.....no posts, no visitors, no activity....blogger shuts down.  And so.....I ponder.....



Could I not keep a blog like journal in word - away from the internet as I'm no longer sure of my audience? I need to make sure to keep "active enough" on the blog that blogger doesn't close my blog before it's printed.  What would be the quickest way to at least "save" the posts? Each one copied into a word document? That will take some time (maybe I need to hire an assistant). What is the best way to "catch  up," as this is supposed to chronicle our family's life? Should I do one monthly post for each of the missing months? They would be LONG. Should I just pick the key things from the past months (i.e. chickens, selling parents homes, sorting through things, adjusting to life without a mom, the approaching due date of a sweet new grand, earthquake, parties, new opportunities, update on the elder Gherkins) to blog and not try to sum up month by month?  I miss most that I've lost the daily chronicling of  Bella, Gideon and Benny's growth. Such a sweet time to have them all close.


How would you attack it if you had 5 months of daily blogs to catch up? What are the advantages and disadvantages of an online platform versus word on the laptop? Would the world end if the blog went away before I got it saved?

2018 Colony Christmas

The day began with wet, cold, snow and a Men's Breakfast at church.  We planned to spend the day looking at crafts and exploring the event after Alex and Michael got home. We'd end the day by meeting up  BreZaak and kids at 3 p.m. to pet reindeer, catch dinner,  and then on to the Colony Christmas Light Parade and Fireworks.

As the day went on the weather looked crummy. I told Mike, "I don't know what it's doing out there, but it's cold and wet."

"It's RAIN," he informed me.

"Oh yeah - rain."

I was impressed that it was RAINING in such cold temps. I thought that was impossible.

Arielle decided she didn't want to stand outside in the wet and cold with Benny.

Josiah and JaRissa were coming out to enjoy the festivities. We stayed warm by the fire as it rained, snowed, and rained some more. Our thinking was that as the sun set, around 3 p.m., the temp would drop, and the rain would become snow. It did.

We met up for dinner and the Light Parade.  BreZaak and the kids were a bit further away with Josiah, but here's the rest of the gang.

Me, Michael, Stacia, Jared, Larissa, Nolan and Alex in the back 

Free hot chocolate was amazingly perfect for the evening.

The Light Parade was nice. We were happy to discover the crowds were manageable even when the whole town showed up. Both Josiah and I had the same thought after observing the parade - we should enter a float next year. I was thinking in terms of the church - nativities, angels etc. were in short supply.....he was thinking a family story time with all the family riding along. Either way - I think it would be fun. 

We walked over to the library and waited 15 minutes for the Colony Day Fireworks. We weren't expecting a very big show. We were proven WRONG. They were spectacular and lasted quite a long time. We were on the curb across from where they were setting them off on the library's lawn. We couldn't have found a closer viewing spot.

If you'd like to get a taste for the show - watch the quick clip below.  It was a great outing....I'm glad we didn't let the weather keep us inside....though I will NOT wear Crocs next year. LOL 

Are You Ready for Some BUNCO?????

We were introduced to Bunco in an informal young marrieds group at the church we attended while Michael was in seminary. Wayne and Sherry hosted the group in their home each month. They'd put a sign-up sheet up at church, and when the sheet was full - the list was closed for the month. We'd share food, play games and then exchange White Elephant Gifts. The game is such that one is always changing partners, thus, the opportunity is there to talk to a lot of folks in a non-threatening environment. 

One fond memory were the few items that were sure to be returned month after month for the gift exchange. It was a challenge to remember who had picked "it" the month before, and to see if they could sneak it back in with the other gifts. 

We have hosted bunco nights at various chapels and in our home. It's always enjoyable to fellowship in a different setting with your Sunday Morning group.  Michael has been wanting to have a bunco party at our house, he talked to Pastor, it was announced and tonight we had our first Bunco party for THIS time around in Alaska.   

I love that many ages can play the same game. We had youth, college age, young adults, singles, married, seasoned citizens - all having fun together. 

Serious business. 

Ms. Bonnie scores a Bunco! 

The funniest comment of the night came from one of our guys. "I heard bunco was a woman's game, so I wore my skinny jeans." ::snort:: Maybe you have to know John to hear how funny the comment is.

Most had a good time, several asked if we were going to do it monthly. I'm not sure we'll do it monthly - but we hope to do it often enough to become a "bunco group."

Termination Dust, Family & Rainbows

This morning, while driving Nolan to work, we noticed termination dust on "our" mountain range! This first dusting of snow signals the end of summer. I ignored the dying of the fireweed - it wasn't dead EVERYWHERE.  I cannot deny the termination dust on the top of our mountains.

I love the fall colors with the approaching snow in the background. We need to get out with the cameras and get some photos before a wind storm blows all the color away. 

I realize we totally went off line for June, August and September. As this is a family JOURNAL, I will figure out a way to "catch up." Summers in Alaska are frantically manic. We work and play hard and long - knowing  in a few short months shorts days and snow will return.

Currently, we are adapting to our new school year, a new year of ministry with our church, and new work out and study routines. We are harvesting the garden, getting the girls ready for winter, splitting wood and planning other projects we MUST finish before winter arrives.

I dug out the candles this morning - viva la fall. I am no longer in denial.

As long as I am blogging, I may as well share today's adventures. Jamin called early to see if any of us wanted to accompany him, Jared and Josiah to hike Hatcher's Pass. We would have. We've been wanting to get back up there.....but Michael had a couple of loads of wood scheduled to arrive  and would need help unloading it and stacking it. We countered with an invite to come over for dinner after the hike.

It turns out they got lost and ended up hiking most of the Mat Peak Trail - very near us indeed. ::wink:: They came off the mountain and arrived at our house. We had salmon, potatoes, quinoa and lots of laughter. We hadn't seen the boys since Stacia's birthday, August 16th. It was good to re-connect. 

Jamin, Nolan, Jared, Stacia, Josiah, Michael 

The evening was capped with a gorgeous rainbow (which turned double) over our mountain. It's a special blessing to sit around the table with loved ones and be treated to such a view.

No termination dust on the mountain seen from our dining room yet. Maybe I can deny the end of summer just a tad bit longer. ::snort::