Family Time

We have gotten a lot more snow. There's probably 3 feet or more and counting. This past week, the temps were in the teens. We have had a few days well below zero. One morning was about -20. It is still so pretty outside. The snow will stick to the trees. The sun is coming back more and more each day. It is wonderful to feel the sun rays on your skin. The Lord makes known the small details. God's majesty exists everywhere. His creation is still so breathtaking.

-18 degrees Sunday morning

-27 on the way to church

As a family we decided to take a trip to Seward, Alaska. It is about 4 ½ hour drive southward from our house. We stayed overnight. The weather was warm and rainy. The town has direct access to the ocean and is a big fishing town. We went to the Sea Life center and walked the Docks. The kids had such a great time. They wouldn't stop talking about the sea critters. We stayed in a hotel with a pool. That was one of the highlights for the kids. I bet they would have slept in the pool if we would have let them. We had a great time as a family.

Ice and water fall

My beautiful bride

Stinker child

Strapping on the ol feed bags

A.K.A. supper in the hotel

This was the kids favorite. They could touch all the sea creatures.

There were quite a few avalanches that we seen on the way there and back.

Christmas Times

We often wonder where time goes. Another year under all our belts. New children born, and many gone to their eternal home. What a day that will be when there will be no more pain and suffering.  No more tears or sin. Made righteous through Jesus. Now we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior and a new year of merciful blessings. We are so grateful for having a Loving God. We have been blessed all throughout the year and so very much this season. We are astonished by all the Christmas cards and loving notes sent our way.  

We were able to Skype with most of the family during this Christmas season. We were able to open presents and spend some great time together as a family. Jared had a nice long weekend to enjoy being with family. Although going around to check heat in buildings is still a daily need. The schedule is broken up between all the maintenance staff during days off. Kenten and Kacie went sledding on Christmas afternoon with some friends while Jared and the younger kids stayed and played with the new board games. Evelynn took her nap. Here is a picture of our Black Spruce Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Here is a picture of all the Christmas cards we have received this season. We loved to read about how things are going with each and everyone of our friends and families. 

They don't celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks because it's light all night long. So New Year's eve is a perfect excuse for fire power and explosives. Almost every little community exercises the brilliant displays of beauty in the sky. The best part is watching the excitement of the kids. Our family took part in a little fireworks display and we had a blast. Evelynn wasn't so sure about the booms. She will probably have more fun next year.

There are new groups in every week ranging from family get-a-ways to church youth retreats. December was a little bit of a slow month, but now it will be busy until September. So ready or not the fun beginnings. We are looking forward to what counselors are coming back here and how God is going to use them this summer. Also all the work teams with our trips to the river for coffee and goodies.We are happy to serve no matter what time of the year or with what we are doing. We love living out each day for the Lord and for what He has planned for us each day.

We hope your Christmas and New Years was a great time of fellowship and time spent with friends and family. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts during this time of year.

Winter!

It is pretty chilly here. If we step outside without a coat we will quickly run inside.  It is that time of year when it feels warm if it is above 0 degrees outside. So far there has only been a few houses that have had frozen pipes. We don’t have much snow and that helps to insulate the plumbing. We could really use your prayers for snow to insulate the ground. We have heard several years ago that there wasn't any snow until February. Almost everyone had frozen pipes and some with frozen septic systems. We would love snow to be here. We are ready to celebrate Christmas. We enjoyed getting our Christmas tree together as a family and decorating it. We don’t see the sun much now. We see less than one hour of direct sunlight a day. We are surrounded by mountains so we can’t see much or only between the peaks. It doesn't affect us much, but there are people in this area that really struggle with the lack of sun.

Nicholas waiting for the tree to be cut down.

We arrived in Alaska Dec 15 last year so we didn't have a tree or decorations. Can't believe a year has gone by this fast. This year we are excited to decorate and enjoy this time of year together as a family, and to be our own family.

This is the most sun we see and this is at noon.

Jared has been staying busy in the shop. He is working on plow trucks. Another transmission needs replacement. Having no snow is easier on the plow equipment though. It is nice to have the bobcat to help plow the tight corners. I think that we have had about one month of not a single cloud in the sky. It's beautiful but cold.

We wanted to share some wonderful ways God has provided for the camp in the last month. Someone donated a 10,000 lb commercial snow blower. With all the snow we had last year it took a toll on the vehicles and equipment. This snow blower is 10 feet wide and has its own 3208 Cat engine to run it. We then realized that we had no other piece of equipment to move this monster around. So the donor also provided a bigger loader...a Trojan 4500 with a Cummins engine. Our old W-14 loader sold in 2 days for our asking price. God knows. Nothing more needs to be said.

Jared had the opportunity to go ice fishing with our neighbor Jake and his son Luke. So Nicholas and Jared went fishing. It was 5 below zero and windy out but it was so hot in the ice hunt that they had to open the door. They came home with 20 Arctic Char. The ice was about 26 inches thick where they were drilling.

He was not sure about touching the fish.

We were told they taste a lot like trout.

Thank you to our supporters, friends and family. Thank you for all the prayer. We love serving the Lord here and appreciate everything each and everyone of you do for us.

The winter so far

The ice this year has been great for skating on. It froze when there was no wind and no snow so it was smooth.  It was fun to see the plants and fish under the ice. Also all the air bubbles that were trapped in the ice.  The ice is thick enough that people can drive on it. Last time we went to town we got all the kids ice skates. So we have had a lot of fun practicing with those. The kids are getting good. They only fall down half the time now. Here are some pictures of how clear the ice is.

a lot of the church members and camp staff families

The bubbles are so cool.

Just to let you know the sun is up at about 8:30am and is setting about 4:30pm. It is still light in the sky before the sun comes up and then light for a little bit when the sun goes down.  Also it has been pretty nice. Very clear and sunny but only getting in to the low twenties. That is why the ice is so thick. Luckily they have not had a problem at camp with frozen pipes yet. If there is not much snow, they will fight frozen water and sewer pipes.

At first Nicholas didn't like seeing the bottom of the lake. He would not come out away from the shore.

Jared finish putting the bobcat back together. He rebuilt the engine. He had to do a test run and make sure everything was going good. He is plowing the ice rink.

Some more cool finds

We found a "you pick" vegetable farm. It was wonderful all the produce that we got and put up for the winter. Can’t wait until next year to go in the summer and pick some of the other vegetables

Also in Alaska we have been having a lot of rain this month. Here is a picture of a house that was washed away with the river. That was on the day we went to pick up Jared’s Parents from the airport. Everyone was so shocked to see this. But we were excited to have the Werkema's here.

It is Fall!

 God has been so good to us this fall season.  The weather is changing from sweatshirt temperatures to coat and gloves.

We had the wonderful pleasure to have Kacie’s Grandfather and cousin come up for 10 days. Also  at the end of the month we will have Jared’s parents up for a week. It was a wonderful time to spend together with the family. We have been picking lots of berries!! There are so many berries. We got another road kill moose. Our freezer is full. That is a wonderful feeling. The Lord has provided for us in many ways.

Ethan was camera shy.

It was wonderful weather when the family was up here. Love the mountains.

It is moose season and we were watching in all the activity.

During the time of Grandpa being here the state fair was going on so we were able to go and enjoy the fair. Jared was sick so he did not go to the fair. Grandpa and Kacie went. It was fun time to see what was out there. Tons of food booths. You dream about eating it while it was at the fair, bacon covered in chocolate, turkey legs, crab legs Chinese food, everything. My senses were going crazy with all the wonderful smells. But Kacie's eyes were on the craft barn. The quilts and wool spinners were a wonderful spot to spend a few hours. Grandpa was all over the Vegetables and how big they were.

They show reindeer.

Sitting at the Victory Booth. Girl time.

A work team along with the maintenance staff finished some projects. Here is the woodstove for the main lodge. It heats all the water and the whole building.

That is the wood shed.

 The new Wood Boiler.

 The Heat exchanger in the boiler room

Also this month we celebrated Kenten’s 7^th birthday! His big present was Legos. The hours of constructing things has started.

Next week we will have a week off. There will be no one in camp beside family of staff. It is a much needed down time for the staff. We are go to spent time getting ready for winter and some much needed family time.

That brown snake looking thing is the road we were really high up.

The snow is moving down the mountains. Here is the end of Aug. and here is now pic.

Our hike one Sunday afternoon up Lion's head with no kids enjoying Gods beauty. It was very high up. But we can't thank you enough for all your love and support. We give our Almighty Maker all the credit.