Bread and Water

That's what I just fed my girls for lunch. I should feel like a bad Mom but I don't. They have food in their bellies and it's healthy too! The bread is a homemade potato bread made with wheat flour, garbonzo bean flour, rye flour, cheese, onion, and more. It's a wee bit stale but it still tastes amazing! The water is dirty looking tap water from who knows where filtered through our brita thing in the fridge. It tastes fine and I don't think there is need to worry but I still do on occasion. I'd give them something better but we're out of better. I have been watering this jug of milk down for like 3 days now. Arwen doesn't know it's just cloudy water at this point. Praying for REAL milk to come in today. All in all, I would say today is a great day. We are so completely blessed to even have the option to have milk flown to us! It may take a while and we surely do feel hungry at times but we will never be starving. We will always have our Amazing God and He always comes through for us. Always.

last weeks meetings/happenings

Thursday night we had a meet and greet at the school. The new superintendent and 2 members of the school board flew in and stayed a night in the school. We served grapes, bread with salmon spread, and a brown rice lentil-ish dish (I made). It was thrown together kind of hastily as nobody is ever especially clear on what they expect. Was it a formal meeting? Should we have food? How will we get the villagers to show up? What are we doing exactly? None of these questions were really answered so we just prayed and went with it. We both enjoy the new super and loved meeting the villagers. I think they got good information about the school and such. Praying the school stays open AT LEAST this year... we believe it will, but it may not make it much longer than that. That was the biggest concern discussed Thurs.

This is my favorite picture of the night. These 3 can be a hoot!

Friday night we had an ice-cream social at the school. Sort of a fun meet and greet for parents and teachers and family we had yet to meet. We have 3 types of ice-cream (the usual) and lots of toppings... that never made it. I tell you Warbelows is a pretty crappy airline. We called and had the ice-cream boxes put on a chartered flight out to our village... they went and forgot ALL BUT the ice-cream. So, I saved the day by serving my delicious raw almonds, almond shavings, some DELICIOUS brownie crumble I made up, and a bag of M&M's I found. Everyone loved it! Anyways, the main point, I believe, was to remind parents to return the enrollment forms. The kids could not eat ice-cream unless they brought an adult with them! It was a success! We had a lot of fun. It was nice to see the "younger" crowd and feel the energy... not like the night before. There was LOTS of energy... I think the photos show that.

These two went into the school, found a chair, dragged it to the gym, and pushed it up to the ice-cream bar to drool over the goodies!

Looks like the adults weren't the only ones who were exhausted!

Saturday... well I'll just copy and paste this email I sent to me Ma.

We had LOTS of kids over today. It was so sweet. I really enjoyed it. It was so incredibly noisy and fun. P. is 8 and she just kept looking at all the polly pockets like she's never seen so many toys and was asking things like... I can play with all of it? these are all theirs? She had a blast with Molly! A. and J. were in awe of the legos and table. Macy played the the 3 boys and they blew all kinds of things up! LOL! We all watched Toy story and ate oodles of air popped pop corn after it started to get close to bedtime. Joe walked them all home. It was a fun but exhausting night. There were 8 kidos in here! Such a small space!

Im exhausted.

Sorry no pictures of this night... no time to take any :)

Day 5-8

Leaving Grandma's we had a relatively short 6 hour drive up through Wisconsin into the Upper Peninsula, the closest that the lower 48 gets to interior Alaska. We told the kids to start looking for wildlife; supposedly there were moose and black bears around. We weren't quite sure if there were, but sure enough, one of the kids got lucky right away.

"I saw a whale jump out of the water and splash but it didn't die it swam away forever!"

Who cares if there wasn't any water around. I wish I could live in Molly's world for a while, life would be so much more interesting.

On the drive there, Mom mocks Macy's earlier comment.

"So many amazing things that can be!"

"That doesn't make sense," Macy retorts. "I know sense!"

Gavin must have been listening to us grown-ups a bit more than we thought; as he was trying to buckle in Molly, Thora wouldn't get off the seat belt and he muttered his first audible curse word.

"Dammit, Thora." Mom caught it. Guess it's more of a reminder for us to watch our mouth.

We get to Mom and Pop's northern resort. 3 miles off the main road. It was well over 90 degrees and the mosquitoes and flies were everywhere. Way too far south for me. We stopped down the dirt road to pick some flowers for Grandma and horseflies start dive bombing the car. Luckily, we covered ourselves up in 5 inches of dirt from the road and they lost track of us.

4 days catching up with the family was nice. We hung out at Linden Lake and got a chance to grill out and brave swimming in a lake. Arwen swam au natural, of course, and Macy was a natural swimmer (she went deeper than Dad). Molly got to prove her reading skills in the bathroom.

"I-C-U-P...like the eye can see you going potty!"

We also got a chance to head up to Calumet to check out Alice's Grandpa's childhood home. We looked for Great Aunt Angie's gravesite, too, but couldn't find it in the massive graveyard. (She recently 'passed' after an amazing 100 years!!!)We did find a really nice Co-Op with some amazing health food, which is a bit harder to find in the U.P. than in Brentwood, TN. Of course, it's a bit easier down in the U.P. than the Bush.

We got to sleep in a nice loft area all to ourselves, but we did have to sleep in bunk beds, which was great for the kids and odd for the grown-ups; took me back to the Fort Wilderness/any other church camp days. When it was finally time to say goodbye, Arwen was a pro at waving and shouting to everyone out the window.

Next stop...Ontario, Canada.

Reminder for me

This post is more of a journal entry... a reminder for me. 2nd day of preschool and kids show up! I don't want to forget some of the things that happened today. Art class is creeping up on me so I will soon be too busy to think about our morning and the cute little things will fade away.
10 Minutes early M. and K. show up with their Mama!! YAY! We have friends to play with today! Mama hangs around filling out some papers for me while the kids adjust. M doesn't take long because Mrs. Alice just dumped a huge tote of lego duplos on the floor for him to play with. His first real comment/question for me? "What the heck is that?!" Nice.
K. just wants to help fill out the papers with Mama... wants nothing to do with this "Mrs. Alice" It takes her about 15 minutes to warm up. By the end of the day she is pushing piles of books out of my lap to make room for herself. She wants me to read to her.
M. LOVES the lego airplane and hells-a-coper. He takes it all the way to the bridge to pick up a package. I seriously laugh out loud! The bridge?! I ask him where else he wants to fly because I am in the little plane and he says, "You go to Arctic Village." He's got the whole world before him and he's just going to go to the bridge and nearest village! Adorable. So I ask him to please pick up some pizza while he's at the bridge and he runs to the "kitchen" and "makes" me a pizza with a huge hunk of meat on it. I jokingly say, "M. I can't eat this wonderful pizza you made me because I am a vegetarian and I don't eat meat." He takes the pizza away and says, "No it's meat. Eat it. It's good. Eat it." I pretend eat the meat that looks more like a pile of dog poo. He is very happy with this. More giggles.

I ask M. what he would do if he were invisible for a day and he says, "I will shoot. I'm a shoot zombies from my hells-a-coper!" I seriously can't stop laughing! "That is FANTASTIC," I tell him!

K. is about Arwen's age so not a whole lot there. She bonked her head while we were reading books in our cozy corner. She was rubbing her head saying, "ow ow." I wasn't sure what to do because she wasn't really hurt and I wasn't sure she would let me hug her so I told her to shake it off. I showed her how to shake it off by shaking my head back and forth and waving my arms around like a mad man. She loved it and did it to. Then she fake hurt herself so I would tell her to shake it off again!

I might actually be good at this. This first week I think we will just play mostly... throw some learning in there randomly (I tried to show/explain what a triangle was to M. He kept drawing circles and saying YAY see a triangle... he didn't get it.) but really just get to know each other a bit better before diving into learning and instructions and such. We worked a bit on our about me pages for the posters I want to hang in the classroom. Some of their answers were adorable. Like when I asked K. how old she was she said, "Yes." Arwen said, "No." LOL!

I will attempt pictures tomorrow of our new friends.

First day of preschool

Preschool is 9:30-11:30 each morning. It's 10:45. The only kids here are my own.

We had a fire drill this morning. It would have been terribly annoying if I had to take a bunch of preschoolers outside while the crazy annoying alarm went off... it was scary for Molly and she is my own kid. I can't imagine a kid, that had just met me, would have been too happy with me after that.

First week!

We survived our first week of school, an accomplishment even if it was only a half-week. I've met all 9 of my students, 2 of which are my own, 1 of which is moving away and will be a correspondence student. We'll need one more to get to 10 and keep our funding from the State! The correspondence student's younger sibling should be coming up to fill that spot for me.

Teaching such a small number of students is a bit overwhelming, given I have K-8 students and only 1 of me. P.E is interesting, too. It's amazing how the kids create entertaining games that still work well with very few kids and a big age gap. Alaskan Native students have surprised me at how well they interact with younger students. The students are far behind on reading and math, though, and it's going to be a tough year for teaching and learning how to be an administrator.

We went to a community cook-out today and met about half the village. It was nice to get out in the community and see people in their "home" setting; it really, again, showed the good and the not-so-good of the village. You can tell the pockets of the community that have problems dealing with addiction and those that don't, or those that fall somewhere in the middle. You always meet interesting people, though, people with more of a story, it seems, than a lot of people you meet in the "states." Quite a few people were surprised at how young we are, and most assume Alice is the teacher. She is getting to work at the school as the pre-school aide and sometimes the art teacher, so she's been busy getting things ready for the start of preschool on Monday!

The food was the most "junk" food we've had in a long time; our diet has been a lot of lentils, brown rice, soup, and water. The kids had a blast with that, and they got to see a bunch of new puppies, and no, we didn't take any of them home with us. Our dog has been tearing things up in her kennel (her pillows and stuffy) because she's cooped up there all day with everyone at the school. All of us spend most of our days up there.

We're exhausted and about to watch some of our new satellite television. I just watched a clip of A. Rodgers throwing a pretty nice (pre-season) touchdown pass...

Making preschool perfect

That's my goal... I think I can get close. Here is the list of things I would love for our class to make it perfect:
A circle shaped rug for circle time (I think I am going to make a circle type blanket with my scrap fabric and try that... It's cheaper that way)
A cozy rug for the cozy corner (right now I have the kids rug from home in it)
A bean bag chair or big pillows for the cozy corner... To make it cozy
And baby dolls. There is only 1 white baby doll and it's pretty old. I need a brown, black, and an asian doll to widen the kids choices and to break up fights.

I think I can convince Joe to buy these for the preschool room but he's tight on funds already... I may end up making due with what I have and supplementing with imagination. Makes me wish I hadn't gotten rid of so much before we left. I may be able to make a few dollies but I'm not sure other kids will get our sense of 'style'

For the art class I need...
Not. A. Thing. They seriously over bought for art this year... I have no idea what they were thinking. In all my years of art class I never saw so many choices and so much supplies! I am in heaven. Today, we will use oil pastels and make little monsters while we explore primary and secondary colors. I am sooo excited! Praying the kids are enthusiastic and learn much :)

first day of school! first day of school!

You have to say/sing it like Nemo or it's not as much fun. Here is a peek inside our day...

Principal Waarvik (worrying about me making him late taking his picture)

I can't even express how this makes me feel! My little monster's first day of Kindergarten

Look at those adorable dimples!!!

This looks more like a mug shot...

I can't believe she's so big now!

Trying to figure out what exactly his class knows... at this moment it's shapes. Does he seem a little frustrated? He's more worried about the kids than frustrated. He will be grey soon :)

These two get along well! Gav is a smart smart boy!

My BIG girl in a 'REAL' school

Trying to cheer up the littles after the bigs leave for school

Nice. Molly also took a photo of me but it's probably worse than both of these LOL!

Tomorrow, I will spend the morning setting up my room for preschool some more. Then, I have to get ready.... tomorrow afternoon is my first day TEACHING ART! Mrs. Lockhart would be so proud... or horrified IDK

Interview

(I found these someplace on the internet... they are not mine. I know the one is inappropriate if you are not married to your boss or work in a mattress store but I am. That makes it HILARIOUS! BAH HAHAHA!!!)
My heart won't stop trying to beat its way out of my chest! I am/was a nervous wreck. You see I just had my first interview in years and years! I went up to the school today to be interviewed by the school principal and my new boss... Mr. Waarvik being in the position he was in not only had to interview me but because we are married we had to do a conference call with someone in the district. I thought I was going to throw up! Seriously, I'm just a house wife who likes children and working with them and playing and singing and dancing and playdough and books and glue and paper and crafts and... well you get the picture. Me and preschool just go together but I have never looked at those things like a job... why in the world would someone pay me to do the things I am already doing with my kids?! I love it. The interview is over. I enjoyed "meeting" the 2 people we met over the phone and genuinely can't wait to meet them in person! YAY!
Ujvala you flatter me. As I was talking to the director of the preschool program she told me you said some very nice things about me! Thanks so much friend!

the convo went like this

Molly: Mom? After we eat all the donuts Dad brings can we go to Pizza Hut?
Before I answer Macy says: Molly that was our oooold house. If we tried to go to Pizza Hut now it would take us years and years and years to get there!
Molly: No after donuts with Daaaadd MACY!
Silence.
Macy: Is this song about God?

LOL! These two crack me up! I love how Molly says donuts and Dad like it's a magical combination that can make ANYTHING happen!

He's on a boat

Ok not yet but he will be. The weather is looking rough* and doesn't look good for tomorrow either... So more than likely the planes will not fly here tomorrow. He called our handy man so Mr.Man will be picking him up tonight at the bridge! Somehow a 5 night turned into a 2 night trip! Ah I love life! We will run out of milk and dog food today so it is perfect timing. I can't wait to hear all about the drive to the bridge and the boat ride here. I am so excited for him to experience this... It also means that all (or most) of us will be taking that boat back to the bridge in September for inservice... Our car will be left there and we will need it lol! Sometimes you just gotta grab life by the beans ay?

* by rough I mean it will rain... At most it will feel close to a pouring of rain... But not like Tennessee pouring... Like you want to go outside and play in it pouring rain. Mostly no wind, no thunder (that we have heard), or lightning... Basically it is cloudy enough that a small plane can not see much through the clouds for long stretchs. It's wonderful!

Thora Arista Bunny Boomer Waarvik

Yes that's her full name... we all had a say in it.

Joe and I named her Thora, Macy picked Arista (like the little mermaid sister), Molly picked Bunny, Gavin picked Boomer because she farts, and Waarvik is a name we just happened to like ;)

A gorgeous photo captured at the base of the Rockies at our Hinton KOA.

Anyways, she is ok. I posted a while back to pray for her. She was having a rough night and I couldn't decide if it was the rat poison killing her or she caught that kennel cough. She is much much better now. After that first really awful night (she was breathing oddly, coughing, and well just freaking me out) things got better. The next morning she was still coughing but not as bad and her breathing was normal. I made her eat lots of spinach in an effort to get Vitamin K in her (vets give vit k to dogs who have eaten rat poison apparently) and had her drink lots of water. I looked for my charcoal but didn't find it until this morning or I would have given her that too. I was so angry for a couple nights. Rat poison?! Really! When we got here we were told about it and then told they got it all cleaned up... obviously not. This pile was under a shelf we moved and then we found a giant pile behind a wall thingy... they missed some. I am just so thankful Thora got it instead of a kid! Can you imagine? I wish it hadn't happened at all but, as I am not a time traveler, I will have to be satisfied with the fact that no one was hurt.

On a happier note, check out how huge she is now! She is taller than Arwen now and weighs 63 lbs (a few weeks ago anyway).

She likes to lean against me

She doesn't especially like to be hidden like a horse. Arwen is actually shouting "Geh up geh up!"

Well, she got up! Too funny! *No dog or person was injured in the snapping of this photograph.*

Hey, remember when...

Remember that time you had someone to play remember when with? It has recently become a favorite game of ours (me and Joe) before we go to bed. We both crack up every night at the inconveniences that have recently become the norm for us. We are now at a point where we can laugh at these things and really overlook a lot. I don't have Joe tonight so you guys get to get in on a few of my favorites.
Remember when...
...our bed was longer than our bodies?
...it would get dark outside?
...we had windows that would open?
...we picked out and bought groceries from the store instead of online?
...our walls were anything but wood paneling and old wallpaper?
...we woke up to something other than men's voices, house shaking, and construction?
...we didnt have to decide wether you were going to fly or catch a boat ride home?

...when we could call our friends and families after the kids were in bed? (what do you mean there is a 3 hour time difference?!)

I mentioned we were at a place where we can laugh about most of this, but I'm not always looking at the bright side of things. It helps that I have friends, with an outside look at things, willing to share their perspectives with me. This one particularly had me rolling and in tears! You may not get it, but I sooo do. It makes me happy so I am sharing it with you guys! Thank you friend for sharing just the right kind of humor with me when I needed it most :)

I saw the pics of the nifty trailer you'll be residing in. The post sounded kinda bummed about it so I thought I'd compile a list of fantastic things you may not have thought of. Here goes:
1.In the first picture: I believe if you look closely you'll spy a little red cup next to that blue tarp covered pile. This cup to me suggests that the blue tarp is not merely hiding a pile of dirt. No. Those little red cups are only found at parties. It only goes to reason that the pile of "dirt" is more likely a big pile of brownie crumble. Have you peeked under the tarp yet?
2.Also in the first picture: Thermometer by the front door? I've always wanted one of those but I'm concerned that there is no window in the front door. This means you'll have to open the door to actually go outside to see if the thermometer reads "If you're reading this you're probably mostly dead by now" or just "damn it's cold today". Could be a problem but still nifty.
4.The second picture: The sign could mean two things.

1. It's a little jab about you mainlanders coming up to AK and how funny you'll be trying to adapt. Just like the show "Northern Exposure".

2. They want you to flash your boobs as a morning greeting. Think what a nice greeting card that would make! Good morning! Shawing! That's the last time you'll see these! Door slam.
7. Arweeeeeeee picture: Oh sweet Lord is she cute. Just hug her when you're feeling down.
8. The bedroom picture: I love lamp. It's sweet. That closet looks nice and hugeish. The only unmentionables I could make out would be Arwen's diapers so your friends will not be offended. Lastly, that comforter looks uber fluffy and warm. Jealous.
9.Kitchen picture: Firstly, those chairs are eons better than ANY chair you've ever had in your kitchen. Two of them too! Nice. I love the sweeping effect of that little sink area. That cushy little mat by the sink is so super comfy. Open cabinetry? How very modern of you! I also see that there is a teeny tiny thermometer in the kitchen window. Solves all your problems. You can eat breakfast while you mull over whether or not you want to go stand outside and die in the bitter cold. I dunno. These eggs are pretty good this morning...nah. I'll go on to live just one more day. Is that tall plastic tube on the counter by the blue cups some sort of bong? Niiiiiiicccccceeeee...
10. Gav and Arwee bunk house: You brought the creepy ballerina doll...uh... Wood, wood, wood and more wood! I love it! Look! The bunnies are so smart! They've already figured out that playing with Legos is the ONLY way to go! Yay bunnies!!! Looks like Arwen has a super duper big secret hiding place under the bed. Bonus!! Her bedding is sooooo much nicer than mine...jealous.
11. Post office picture: Cute, cute, cute little post office. I like how the mailbox is right next to the trash barrel. Send your mail or throw it away! It may not make it anyways! Super thoughtful! Is the building just to the right and kinda behind it the church? The power lines above make such a nifty cross on top. Four handy burn barrels to dispose of your vanilla extract paraphernalia. Honest officer, it's for cooking. I didn't even inhale...much.
12. Playground picture: Playground? You have a playground? Right outside your door? Jealous. Very jealous. I don't even need to point out all the awesomeness.
13. School picture: That is by far the prettiest little school I've ever seen. Welp dear, I'm off to work this morning. Okay darling, have fun at Crayolatopia! Don't walk too fast though, speeding is a crime you know. I want to go there and I hate learning! Of course, Joe is a pompus ass which makes learning NOT fun. :) Alice'll make it fun for the kiddos though. We love you Alice B....wait...probably shouldn't make it THAT much fun.
14. Yukon picture: Oh, sorry. I was drooling. Soooooo gorgeous. Makes me want to move to AK. Just for the scenery, pretty trees and Crayola colored buildings. Plus you guys are there too. Bonus!

OMG #11 is HILARIOUS! If you guys missed the post she is referring to you can read it again here. I just did. To really enhance your reading experience click on the photos to zoom. LOL! I soo did not see the bunnies in the legos! Look how into it they are! Thanks again my friend. Today, my heart is happy.

While Joe is (supposed to be) away

We made wooden dolly families...

a fish tank...

and a quickly thrown together house...

mostly thanks to a website called madebyjoel. It's fabulous! I have always loved his crazy designs and ideas but never took the time to try any out. With Joe gone these days, I planned to accomplish some of the ideas. Yesterday, while Joe tried to make a school schedule, we made wooden dolls with clothespins, scraps of fabric, paint, embroidery thread, and a hot glue gun.

Then, today, while Joe was in his meeting via skype, we made a fish tank using a cardboard box, elmer's glue, blue paper we found at the school, vinyl sheeting (that was in our house when we arrived), embroidery floss, buttons, and these coloring pages. Then, just a second ago, Arwen found a hole in the cover I made for the tank and drowned our people. She kept saying, "Dolly bed!"

LOL Honey that's a SEA bed. ;) So I threw together a cardboard house for her dolly. Everyone is happy.

We are going to make a paper city next. Then we are going to color some of his fabulous animals! That Sheep sooo looks like something I would have drawn. Love it! If you guys have any crafty ideas send em my way! I am looking for ways to entertain the munchkins (but mostly myself in ways that don't involve baking as we are low on food) for the next 3 days. The plane didn't show up again today. Maybe tomorrow.

Muah hahaha!

Joe called warbelows to ask what time he should expect his flight to arrive in Stevens... They told him it was canceled due to weather! It must be raining in Fairbanks. You see we rarely had issues like this in Venetie because they flew larger planes with wrights. Well, wrights doesn't fly to our village. I am considering begging them to add us to their flight list... We might actually get packages and Fred Meyer orders on time then. Running low on milk and almost out of flour... Thank goodness Joe is heading into town and bringing stuff back with him. Bah! He has a really important meeting in the morning that he is obviously going to miss and now is worried but seriously both of us are glad to be spending another night together. If all goes as planned from here on out we will only have to spend 4 nights apart!

I wonder how often this will happen to us. Wait wait wait for the plane that never arrives... Oh sorry we didn't call and tell you... We canceled your flight! Nice.

*The above photo is of our flight into Stevens. We chartered a flight because it was cheaper than buying everyone a seat, paying for the dog, and paying for the extra weight (beyond 50lbs allowed for each person). They had to get one of the big planes for that trip... normally the planes are much smaller. Can you imagine?

Berries!

Of the Rasp sort!

We promised to take the kidos berry picking but didn't want to get too far from the road because of bears. They enjoy the berries just as much as we do!
We didn't have to go too far before we found an good spot... then we moved to an ok spot closer to town because of a crazy man who was not so friendly then oddly friendly... ya know bro?! It's interesting seeing the good and the bad of the town. This man was obviously not all there; probably suffering from a slight mental handicap and an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He came by a second time to apologize for the first time. And then kept coming around, but, then, he was riding his 4 wheeler around town and it's a pretty small square. It was a bit unsettling, all in all. We took the dog and a can of bear spray for protection... there is a bear living near the airport road apparently...which is where we took a walk yesterday without knowing. I think we make too much noise to actually see a bear though.
Gavin and Joe did a great job picking berries but dropped them alot with the end result being berry mush

Macy got a lot but most came with stems (I'll have to clean those off later)

(Macy's smile is too cute and do you see what Arwen's doing?)

Molly picked good ones and bad ones... all the bad ones went into her mouth and she ended up with about 20 VERY good berries in her bucket

and Arwen ate all of hers... and some of everyone else's! LOL! Little stink pot. Even after she was back in the backpack she was being fed "BERRYYYYY!" The kid is addicted.

Arwen spots a juicy one in the back...

...almost there...

... SUCCESS!

Even Thora had some! But she mostly enjoyed this stick and tangling her leash around Joe.

We met a lady on the walk back who told us where to find blueberries! So when Joe gets back I am sending him and Gav (or him and another adult willing to go) to get us some. While they are doing that me and the girls will stay close to the house and gather some rose hips. I am really excited to attempt rose hip syrup! It is terribly expensive to get fresh fruits and veggies (and milk and eggs and cheese and such) out to the village. The wild sort are seriously a blessing to us when we get them. They are free and delicious and there were no hefty shipping fees to get them into our bellies. Now if we could only get the natives to spit out where the REALLY good spots were (and then give us a lift on a 4wheeler) we'd be in heaven.

Also on our way home, we met some boys looking for Gav. They wanted him to come play with him! So cute. So Joe supervised the kids at the playground while I started a late dinner. It was already 6pm!

Macy hates this thing but wanted to play... she settled for pushing her sister on it. These 2 can be so adorable!

Molly on the merry-go-round. She loves this thing!

Gavin and his two new buddies playing with guns

Some of the sites during our walk

The old church

Yukon

I thought the broken glass (most likely the rest of that vodka bottle over there) was beautiful mixed in with the rock colors.

That was our day! Please pray for us this next week. Joe is leaving for 5 nights tomorrow and we both are having a hard time processing this... or rather we are trying NOT to think about it. I will take one day at a time. He will be spending some time in a hotel and the other time in Fort Yukon with access to MY amazing friends and good cooking. I will have 4 kids (who miss their daddy), dirty laundry, and my loneliness. It seems so long and unfair but in a week it will be over!