Sunrise

I just had to share some pictures of our walk to church this morning. I think the worship began as soon as I stepped out my door. I felt like pinching myself to see if what I was seeing was real. The pictures don't do it justice, but I hope you can appreciate the awesomeness that God has shown us. Then, we get into church, which has huge windows to look out onto the bay, and we see a beautiful bald eagle fly by! No kidding! It is a reminder of God's glory and how nothing can come even close to His design.

Getting Caught

The other day, we were all home as a family just enjoying our time together, when Carlon noticed our dining room table had been drawn on. We asked the kids who drew on the table and immediately they all denied ever drawing on the table. After much consideration and thought, our 4 year old approached us and admitted to the crime. Then, we later found another drawing on the table and I asked my 6 year old(who has also been guilty of this sort of crime) if she did it and immediately she says, "No, mom, it says on here, Alianna!" Sure enough, the culprit had signed her artwork! As hard as we tried, we couldn't help but laugh out loud! We're so glad she's loving to draw, and we hope she has learned her lesson. We're also glad she is innocent enough not to forget to sign her name on her art! I love the way my kids continue to surprise me and how I just can't be mad at them for too long!

A Beautiful Fall

We have had such a great fall here. It's my first Alaskan fall to experience and I think it's my favorite season of all! The colors are brilliant and I feel as if I'm walking through a painting every time I step out my door.



One of the things I have really enjoyed is our walks to and from school everyday. The kids love it and it's a great view. There are several of us mom's who bring our strollers and go pick up the kids from school. It's a great time for all of us. I'm so thankful for such a beautiful fall and also for friendships. It's such a blessing to not only see the beauty of God's creation, but to experience His wonderful blessings through great friendships.



Unfortunately, all too soon the leaves will have fallen and the snow will cover all the different colors. But, I will enjoy and appreciate the blanket of white that covers everything and provides some light in a dark winter. Until then, however, I'm going to just enjoy this season while it's here.

All Boy

On any given day, you can most likely find my son outside riding his bike, constructing the perfect sword out of sticks, setting up booby traps, making teepee's or anything else that might come to his imagination. Today was no different. He has happily entertained himself most of the day, building a new fort. A fort in his own yard. He comes into the house, dirt covered face, with a big grin and asks if I want to see his fort. Of course the only answer I can give, is an enthusiastic,"Yes!" Outside, underneath a large tree he proudly shows me his fort, complete with a "keep out" sign in the front (no girls, of course).

I love my boy and his zest for life. He LOVES to enjoy whatever nature has for him. Be it a pile of dirt to kick around or a tree to make a fort. He is in his element when he's outside. Rain or shine, he is out there.

It reminds me how I should be loving life and taking in the beauty and creation that is right here in my front yard. I need to enjoy what God has given us in this beautiful place. Oh to be like my son! I just love how the Lord has allowed my children to teach me so many wonderful things about life. What a blessing!

Blueberries!!!

Living up here has been one great adventure after another! I have had some great opportunities. I'm learning from some very wonderful people who are helping me survive the elements and take advantage of them as well.

One advantage of living here is that there are numerous places to go to pick blueberries. We have had the opportunity to pick them as a family and I, most recently, had the chance to pick them all day! It was such a beautiful day and we picked and picked and picked! It was great! My family didn't even mind giving me up for the day because they knew I'd come home with lots of blueberries for them!

Riding a float plane out and picking blueberries and seeing beautiful mountains were such a delight. I felt like a little kid! So, after picking for about 5 hours, I came home with about 2 or so gallons of blueberries. (The really good pickers gathered 3 gal. or so!!) Carlon and I ended up cleaning blueberries well into the night. We spent about 3 hours cleaning and freezing them!

It was time well spent. That night I could just taste all the wonderful things that come from blueberries...blueberry pie, blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry icecream, blueberry cobbler...and so the list goes on! Yum!! A friend of mine put it perfectly, she said something to the fact that this is the best kind of harvest, one you don't have to plant or take care of, but just wait for the Lord and come take your share.

Ali, thinking she's going to go with me.

The view from the plane.

The area we picked blueberries.

Bucket getting filled.

All the blueberries we picked.

Carlon, multi-tasking. He was a huge help!

Yummy blueberries.

Attacked!

On a cool summer day, one of the last days before school started, a couple of the kids and I decided to take a walk. The walk turned out to be quite the adventure, but with a happy ending.

We took a path, a nice narrow path. With beautiful greenery, beautiful flowers and even berries, which we weren't sure if they were poisonous, so opted NOT to eat them. We enjoyed a nice afternoon in Alaska walking in the tundra. The path eventually lead us out onto a more popular trail. Once we reached that trail, we turned around and started heading out. As I looked on the ground, there was fresh bear scat, or poop as others might call it. So, we were glad to turn around and go back the way we came...just in case. Bad deal number one.

Along the trail home we continued to enjoy the scenery and were able to avoid tripping over many tree roots on the ground. We came up to a place that had some sort of bug flying about in the area, in a little hole. Much to our surprise it was a swarm of hornets. Hornets that were NOT happy! So, I scream to myself and my children,"RUN!!!!" and we did! I got stung twice and one of the kids got a sting on her head. Bad deal number two.

So, after traumatizing my poor children, we made a run for our prowler (four wheeler thing). I was told by my children to drive fast! As we drove we started to finally feel relieved when suddenly out popped another hornet from who knows where! Screaming and yelling and some more tears later it thankfully flew out as soon as I stopped and opened the door. Bad deal number three.

After many tears, lots of screaming, and a few stings, we were safely home. We put in a movie ate some icecream, drank some rootbeer and enjoyed the comfort of our home INSIDE. All in all a good deal in the end. And to think, I was worried about bears!!

The berries we chose not to eat.

Standing by the "forbidden" berries. (They are probably just cranberries, but better safe than sorry)

The trail on the way up, when we were happy!

The narrow trail. Hornets here we come!

What Marshmallow Type Are You?

The other day, Carlon and I took the kids out to a creek nearby to have dessert...s'mores! We loaded up with everything in tow, kids included, and found the perfect spot. Building the fire was the boys job while the girls looked for dry wood. Once the fire was lit, we were ready to roast. As I began taking requests as to how they would like their marshmallow roasted, I realized why I like mine burnt!

I've decided there seems to be a connection with the way you like your marshmallow roasted and your personality. Those of us who like them on fire and burned to a crisp, have little if any patience. We stick the marshmallow in, start it on fire and poof! it's done! We've eaten 3 to every one that others eat. Those people who like them just brown on the outside are much more patient. There's a method and a madness to sitting by the fire (smoke in your face) turning the stick and waiting, and waiting AND waiting for the perfectly brown marshmallow evenly spread throughout. Now, I'm not sure what "type" you are if you just like them plain. Even less patient than the burned marshmallow? No taste for cooked marshmallow? A plain Jane? I don't know. We had all three "personalities" at the creek that night!

However the marshmallow, I don't think it really matters once you add chocolate and graham crackers. Really, I don't think you can go wrong. And what's even better is when you get to share them with family!

Going on a Visit

Living in the bush of Alaska has it's perks, like being in your own little world and forgetting about the rest of the world out there. Or how nice it is to wake up to see beauty and scenery in every direction and not worry about it being torn down to build a new housing development. Or even just the quiet that being out in seclusion brings. It's all very nice.

This month, however, we have come into town for a visit to grandma and grandpa. It has been such a nice time, but, oh how quickly I've forgotten how the hustle and bustle of life outside of the bush can be like.

The kids are in swim lessons and they're loving it, and my oldest girl is in gymnastics. I've forgotten what it's like to be carpool mom! The kids have forgotten what it's like to sit in a carseat for hours at a time and I had to recall my driving abilities...it's been five months! But all has worked out and we are enjoying our time and enjoying seeing cars and stores and shops and whatnot.


Shopping is an experience in itself. I'm loving it and hating it all at the same time. Finding enough stuff to last for several months is a challenge, yet I'm using that as an excuse to spend more money! I was like a kid in a candy store the first time I stepped foot into a store once we got here...again, it's been 5 months!

All this to say, that it has been a very fun experience and an enjoyable time. We will continue to enjoy being here and the busyness that it entails, but I'm already looking forward to quiet and seclusion. I guess I really must be acclimated to my new home!

Catch Up

I feel that I've needed to catch up on some of the things we've been up to lately. The kids are out of school and loving it. Riding bikes, playing in sprinklers, picnics, going exploring, it really doesn't get any better than that! Their last week of school, however, they celebrated Native Week. As a result the kids had the opportunity to make (by hand) their own pair of rabbit fur mittens! I was able to attend that last week and help out and it was so fun! The kids pretty much did most of the work themselves. They are both proud owners of their very own rabbit fur mittens. Only in Alaska!!

Here they are making the string that connects the mittons together. I think it was called finger crochet.

Coleson working diligently.

Malea hand sewing the fleece lining.

Coleson working with the fur, sewing it.

The finished product!

My daughter has reached another milestone. She lost her first tooth!! It was very exciting and there were no tears! She's so tough sometimes. She was excited and I was crying. I don't know where the time has gone that she's already loosing teeth! She was even more excited when she woke up and found money under her pillow. She thought that was a pretty good trade!

The missing tooth!

Loving sisters.

Yummy Tortillas!

Tonight for dinner I didn't have any store bought tortillas so decided to make homemade tortillas (it's not like I can run out to the store real quick!). This is something I've been trying to master for sometime. My grandma made the BEST tortillas in the world, and I would love to be able to just come close. No one can beat hers! So, I've used my grandma's recipe, with a little tweaking because her recipe was in "handfuls" and "pinches" and in "just abouts", not quite the way my brain works. I found a similar recipe online through cooks.com. So, now I have actual measurements. They turned out all right, even though their shape came no where near a circle! The kids loved them and it was fun, trying to keep my grandma's tradition alive. I even gave the kids pointers on how they could use their tortilla to scoop their food, like my grandma used to do. It was a little tricky. They almost managed!

As I watched them eat and as I looked at the plate of tortillas, I thought of my grandma. I grinned thinking how proud she would be of her great grandchildren trying to scoop their food with their tortillas. She would have laughed at my inability to make them, but I'm sure it would have made her smile.

So, I will keep making them, keep attempting to form circles, keep teaching the children how to properly scoop and hope that I will be able to keep the tradition alive. My grandma would've liked that!

The girls enjoying their tortillas.

My odd shaped tortillas.

The boys dig in!

Root Beer Floats!

Being injured has been frustrating, painful and tiring, but I must say, it has had it's perks. We have been sooo blessed by such wonderful friends. People have brought us meals, come and helped around the house and just called to be there for me. I am overwhelmed by all the kindness.

Last night, some friends brought us dinner. They brought us pizza from Anchorage. It was so fun to eat "boxed" pizza for a change. We also had root beer floats. So good! Carlon and I have been on the hunt for the best root beer ever. We've had some really good root beer, but there's always another one to try. Last night we tried Moose Tooth Root Beer. Very good! But we've also grown to love Henry Weinhard's Root Beer as well. So, what better way to decide which is better than to have a taste test. And that's just what we did! Identical glasses, blind fold and of course taste testers. The winning vote? Girls liked Moose Tooth better, boys like Henry's better. But really, can you ever go wrong when having a root beer float?

The taste test begins.

The kids had to try.

Carlon's turn.

What a pain in the rear!

What do you get when you combine an airplane ride, 3 kids, clam digging, beach exploring and fun in the sand? A pain in the rear! Ok, so that's sounds much more harsh than it really is. I'm not speaking of my kids, or my husband for that matter (although, many people have thought that's what I've been referring to). I am literally referring to a pain in the rear end. Let me explain.

We had a super fantastic time going clam digging. Check out all the details, and pictures on our other website, http://www.voranclanadventures.blogspot.com. As we were preparing to leave, I thought it best to take all the kids "to the bathroom" before we left. "To the bathroom" means finding a place in the woods to squat. Well, I took my youngest and she's only 3 so she needs quite a bit of help. I was wearing a backpack and lifted her up in preparation to "squat" her, and fell straight on my bottom where a rock was placed oh so perfectly for me to land smack dab on it. Ouch!! Fortunately, my son was able to get help from his dad and our youngest was able to finally relieve herself. I was then helped out of the woods to the plane and have been in pain ever since.

I wish I had some sort of triumphal tale to tell that would make the injury seem worth it, but alas I was just trying to help my kid go potty! So, I am doing my best to get back to normal, well my kind of normal and enjoy life outside my couch again. My husband is so supportive and can come up with one liners on the spot, referring to my injury. Like,"That sure is a pain in the rear end", or "This is what it'll be like when we're old, the way you hobble." So, he's getting a kick out of it and making me laugh, although that hurts too.

In all this pain and frustration, however I'm reminded of how awesome God is and how He can teach us through all the pain. Humility is one lesson to be learned. I've had such sweet friends come over and help out, or fix food for me and my family and all I can do is say thank you. He's also showing me, once again, how thankful I am for a wonderful husband who is willing to step in and take over and for children who give mommy hugs and kisses and who constantly tell me they love me and hope I get better soon. It is such a good reminder for me. I'm so grateful for God and for what He is showing me. Sometimes I just need to be sat on my bottom to really listen to what He has to say. I pray that I'll listen this time!

What I've learned in the last 3 months

1. Fruit is a special treat.
2. Kids can play outside in 20 degrees, and that's considered warm.
3. After 3 months, unpacked is still something yet to be achieved.
4. Even in the middle of nowhere, there are way too many things to busy ourselves with.
5. Hot chocolate is a necessity...whipped cream is a bonus.
6. If you're not careful, when you feed the chickens on a muddy, wet, day, you may fall and have chicken poop all over yourself.
7. Mud comes out easily if rubbed in the snow (if you can find any) then immediately put in the wash.
8. Grocery shopping is making a list and calling your mother-in-law.
9. Don't forget to add flour to the list.
10. Wearing your snowpants under your dress at church is normal.
11. Snowmachines are a blast...I need to get one!
12. Shopping online is overrated...especially when it takes almost a month for it to get here.
13. Watching airplanes come and go is still exciting.
14. Don't attempt to drive a snowmachine on ice...you may crash.
15. It's normal to see stocking feet in church on Sunday morning.
16. Home is where your family is.
17. God is still working and using people even way out here!

It is hard to believe that it's been a little over 3 months since we first came out here. God is continuing to show Himself to us in so many ways. We are feeling more and more settled and we are so thankful that God has put us in a place where we can be stretched and molded to become more like Him. He has blessed us with surrounding beauty and worship comes easily. We are grateful for what He is teaching us and for what is to come. I feel like the surface is just being scratched and there is a long way to go for what God has planned for us. What an exciting time!

Changing seasons

Do you ever stop to think what all goes through your mind in a single day? Well, I recently had one of those days. As a mom, there's lots for me to think about. Having recently moved to a new environment and in the process of changing seasons, there is even more for me to think about. Things I've never really had to think about came to mind. For example, I've thought,"How muddy can one child really get, and how will I get him clean, not to mention the clothes clean." Or,"I never thought mud could get there!" Another thought that came to mind is, "Will the four wheeler really make it though this slush and slime of mud?"


It has occurred to me, that we are entering a new season here. Most people refer to this time of year as spring. However, here, it is referred to as "break up". The dreaded season. It is the season where the snow has begun to melt, and there is nothing left but mud and slush. Eventually it will dry and become dirt, but for now, and for about a month more, it will be melting snow, slush and mud. What a mess! Although, it is sunny and nice out, it is not ideal "mom" weather. "Mom" weather being that sort of weather where mom doesn't have to worry about how many stains she is going to have to try to remove after allowing her kids time outside to play. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize, I don't think there really is a season like that here. In winter, they come in wet, "spring" they come in muddy, summer they come in dusty and dirty and fall, well a little of everything, I suppose. So, I will take a sigh...smile a little and enjoy watching my kids play outside, get dirty and have a ball. I imagine in the end, it won't really matter whether or not I've gotten the stains out. Chances are, they will just make new ones where the older ones were to begin with!

Water running down to the bay


More than one use for sleds!


What the road outside our yard looks like right now.