History Banquet

Our school has a really great history teacher. She is a young, single girl who makes history live. Each year she has the kids choose a character and find out all about them and then they do a history fair or some sort of presentation for the parents, etc. This year and last year she had them do a banquet. And I don't think they were any specific person this year they just took and era and became a female or male (whichever you are) from that era and also from a country. Heidi and Katie somehow both chose to be females from the 1940's United States. (I don't think they realized they were both doing the same thing) They also have to bring a dish from that era and country to the banquet. So Heidi chose to make apple pie and fried chicken, Katie chose to make french fries. Here are some pictures of Heidi making the apple pie and then of the event itself. Meghan is Heidi's best friend. She was someone from Asia, obviously. :)

Here is the whole group, just about.

Kaitlyn Miller

I can't believe it but I don't have a picture of Heidi!! But here is Katie.

The Recipe for RR Cereal Bread

I thought that since the cereal wasn't able to be found in the good ole US, maybe no one would want the recipe... but maybe I was wrong. :) So I will post the recipe but first explain that the cereal is cooked and looks much like oatmeal or cream of wheat, in texture not color.

1/2 C. molasses
1/2 C. brown sugar
6 C. hot water
2 C. Red River Cereal
2 Tbs. salt

Mix in 2 qt pan, boil x 1 min. then cool to temp 110 degrees. (I think this makes about 6 C. of cooked cereal for those of you who might like to try this with oatmeal.)

2 Tbs. yeast
1 C. lukewarm water
2 tsp sugar

Mix, let yeast dissolve.

Mix the above two mixtures. Add:
1/2 C melted butter or margarine
3 eggs
9 C (more or less) flour

Knead and place in greased bowl to raise for 1 hour. Knead again. Put in 4 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 - 50 minutes.

Yum!! This is the best bread for toast!!

Bear info

Some have asked about the bear pictures at the bottom of this page... here is the link to get you straight to the story which was posted in September under Hunt 2007

Hope you enjoy the story. The bear was snapping his teeth at Andrew and Tom. Andrew thinks he was just a few seconds from charging.

Some internet problems

We've been having internet connection problems. I have been trying to space the posts out better but with the last four days being without the internet, they have been backing up. So much to write about... :) There is still more but maybe I will wait til tomorrow.

Don't forget to go to the bottom of the blog every once in a while to see if I have posted any new pictures. I think the ones that are down there now are of the bear that Andrew got this fall. It is huge so be sure to check it out.

Moose in the yard

These two friends were in our yard the other day. We have gotten quite a bit of new snow in the last week. When the snow gets deep the moose come out to the roads and driveways where the snow isn't so deep. It is easier for them to get food where the snow isn't so deep. Our dog, Aurora, had a fit. She didn't want to share our yard with these two trespassers. But she was scared of them so she didn't get too close, she just barked and acted ferocious. The moose weren't phased though.
Can you see Aurora? She is in front of the trailer but still far enough away that the moose couldn't get her. :)

Red River Cereal Bread

This bread is absolutely the best you've ever put in your mouth. It is really moist. I got the recipe from my Mother in law. The only negative thing... you have to have access to Red River Cereal, which I think can only be bought in Canada. So it is a little hard to get, but I happen to have a couple of boxes that I haven't used yet. :)

Ice fishing

Drew and Grant, along with Andrew and a couple of his friends, went ice fishing on Quartz Lake last Saturday. My guys didn't catch anything but one of the friends caught a couple of nice rainbow trout. Don't know why they didn't get pictures of the fish..... hmmmm. Makes ya' wonder. :)

And a good time was had by all!!

Paris..... Ohio, that is

My husband's family used to live in Paris, OH. If I remember correctly, Andrew would have been in second grade when he lived here. This was the building he lived in. It was an old stagecoach inn from the 1800's. My Grandma Ferguson actually lived here too about the same time that Andrew and his family lived here.

My Father in Law taught at the school that was located here, either in this building or maybe one of the other buildings that I will be posting pictures of. Sorry, Andrew isn't here for me to ask him questions. I may have to delete this whole post and start over if I'm all wrong. :) Anyway, I think these buildings look so quaint.

Now that I look at this other picture I believe it isn't part of the school where they taught but just a building close by that Andrew remembered. What intrigued him the most are the steps here on the front and side of this building. He remembers them (35 yrs ago) being worn down and here 35 yrs later they are still there. The step on the left of the picture isn't as noticable as the one that is right next to it, facing the road. It must have made an impression on him when he was 7 because he was looking to see if it was still there.

This is the back and side of the first building. I think this is the entrance to where the Bryan's lived.

The Hunter's wife

My husband took this picture. I forgot to ask him where he was when he took it. I'm guessing, with where it was in the placement of all the other pictures, he must have been at A. Carole's or U. Carson's. But it pretty much sums up my life. :) We've seen some pretty cute signs like this.. I really enjoy this kind of humor.

PS. Now that I look more closely at where the picture was in the sequence, I'm thinking this must have been at Darryl and Lisa Quesenberry's house.

Our Christmas travels

I'm going to try to condense our Christmas time so that you all will not feel "bogged down" having to read all of this! We had a wonderful Christmas vacation, especially when we found out that my brother, Marc, and his wonderful family was going to get to come and visit. Right before we left we found out that Logan was well enough to have his PICC line taken out and travel. My kids were thrilled that they were going to get to be with some cousins at my mom and dad's house. So here we are clockwise... Grandma Sankey, Logan, Heidi, A. Melodie, Tyler, Papaw Sankey, Drew, Cameron, Katie and Jordan. We were just getting ready to hand out the presents.

Here we are at our Christmas dinner. We all fit around Grandma's big table. We were sadly missing Beth and Steve and their dear family. Usually all the kids have to go out and sit in the kitchen but this year we were all able to be at the table.

My Dad's dad loved trains and was employed by Bessemer in Pennsylvania, so my dad has a deep seeded love (is that the right way to say it?) for trains. Mom got him this Lionel train set a few years ago, or was it just last year? Logan and Grant were having a great time watching him play.

Now I feel really sad because I forgot my camera at my mom and dad's and wasn't able to get any pictures of Bryan Christmas. We had a wonderful time at my mother and father-in-law's, AFTER I overcooked the toffee and threw the wassal down the drain. :) We were able to enjoy time with Daryl and Laura and their family and Lincoln and Lyn and their family. Great-Grandma Bryan joined us on several occasions helping fix food, etc. All of the cousins had a great time playing with each other and getting reacquainted. We really missed Heather and Phillip and their kids but we did get to talk to them on Christmas day. We loved making new acquaintances at the Union Friends church. It was good to see some friends we have known since Guatemala days - the Paul & Steve Enyart families.

We came back to the Sankey house for a few days, my Mom wasn't feeling very well since her surgery earlier this month and had to be put back in the hospital. I decided that since I was in the lower 48, I should stay with her and send Andrew and the kids on to Tennessee and Virginia without me. I was really glad to get to be with Mom because she ended up having to be in the hospital for 10 days to get IV antibiotics. I think I was able to help her, at least keep the boredom at bay. Thankfully, she was released from the hospital this past Saturday and is still doing well.

Andrew took the camera to Tennessee with him and took a nice amount of pictures. I was pretty happy with all that I saw. In Tennessee, they were able to go around the loop in Cades Cove with G.G. Scarbrough, A. Carole, Esther and her children Austin, Alyssa and Aric. They had a great time and got some great pictures of deer and children. :)

Here is Drew, Tyler, Heidi, Austin, Alyssa, Grant, Katie, Taylor and Aric.

Here is a picture of GG with 9 of her great-grandkids. She has 10 grandkids, 25 greats and two more greats on the way.

I think the kids were trying to see how close they could get to the deer here.

Tyler is holding granddaddy's gun and Taylor is concentrating on cousin Jeff playing the guitar.

Here they are with some of the Scarbrough clan.
Grant, Christa, Drew, Taylor, Heidi, Colton, Susan, Katie and Tyler. They were really wishing they could have seen Cheryl and Martha and their families.

Here are the girls... Christa, Heidi, Susan and Katie. I love this picture.

Now the camera battery died and he wasn't able to get any pictures in Virginia with Linc and Lyn. But they had a great time together. I really missed not getting to be there with my bestest friend Lyn. But they made it without me and I made it without going. :(

All in all we had a wonderful time with all of our family. Life is good and God is better!! I don't have a thing to complain about. We have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles safely, we have had minimal sickness, our every need has been met by God's faithfulness. We are so very unworthy and ever so grateful!!

Whoooooo Hoooooooo

Well, it is a red letter day!!! I have lived in Alaska for almost 13 years now and the car that I drive most of the time has never been inside the garage, at any house that we lived in. Of course, we didn't even have a garage for the first probably 5 years that we lived here. Anyway, it's so exciting my palms are sweaty.... (Howard Russell's favorite saying) tonight..... we pulled the Excursion in the garage. Believe me, tonight is a good night to have it in the garage because it has been about -40 degrees all day. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow, but how nice it will be to not have to go start the car early in the morning. Yay!! I'm so excited.... yes, of course I took pictures.... you didn't think I'd forget do you?? :) :) :)
Now, just so you know, I'm not expecting an automatic garage door opener for three years... :)

A gift from Dad

When Andrew came back from Ft. Yukon (oh so many months ago) he brought the kids native Alaskan gifts. Each kid got a fur hat made from muskrat, beaver or fox. Well, this was great for the boys and for Heidi, but Katie is a little bit too fashion conscious. So, before she saw it, Andrew had her close her eyes and he put it on her. You can see her reaction in the second picture and then Andrew's reaction right after that. It was great. Heidi ended up getting that hat and is enjoying it.. although she isn't really wearing it all that much. One of the problems with those type of hats is that it messes up your hair really badly. She hasn't seen it at this point.. I think she looks pretty cute.

Not so much, Dad...

This was an Edgar Bryan laugh!!

The twins got muskrat hats and the boys got beaver.

Heidi got the one Katie didn't want. It is fox. Isn't she a cutie in it?

I couldn't leave this one out. The girls bought wigs around Halloween and they put one on Andrew. I got the picture when he took a big, over-dramatized yawn. He is a crazy man!

We're home!

Well everyone, we are back safely home in North Pole, AK. We are all so glad to be home. It was a very fun trip to get to see all of our family back "east". I am planning to post more along with pictures of some of the things we did while we were gone. Meanwhile, I hope you will all pray for my dear nephew, Logan, who is still battling problems with his left eye. This has caused yet another hospitalization, two surgery's, a traumatic and unsuccessful PICC line insertion, pain and drainage, and a move to south Texas for the whole family. My brother and sister-in-law will be living in Edinburgh, Texas for an undetermined amount of time. They do not have any of their own things there. All of their personal belongings are still in Mexico, where they make their home. But please remember them all in your prayers. My heart is breaking for all of them and I'm too far away to be of any help. I'm so glad we can take them to God and leave them in His care. My Mom is doing almost 100% better. She is still in the hospital getting IV antibiotics until Saturday, Lord willing. The pain is better now - almost completely gone. Thank you all who have prayed for her.