More from St. Mary's

Here is part of St. Mary's from the boat as we were pulling out to go fishing.
One of the school buildings that Andrew and his company is working on is at the top, left of center in this picture.
Drew was pushing us off so we could go fishing.
They were so excited to finally be going fishing. That was all they wanted to do out there. Yes we know their life jackets were too big, we got smaller ones before the week was out.
Drew is already an old pro at fishing. Every cast was an awesome one and he knew which lures to try, etc. Grant learned really quick from Andrew and big brother, Drew.
Taylor would still be fishing if we let him. He had to have help casting but then he would reel and reel. One time Andrew hooked a fish and let Taylor reel it in. He was so excited about it... but, of course, my camera died before that. :)
A bald eagle watched us for a minute or two while we passed him.
Isn't that just so pretty and serene-looking? Well, it was both pretty and serene!
Tyler ended up not wanting to fish after all, so we mostly got pictures of Taylor. He's acting silly here, making us laugh!

Getting you up to date.

No pictures right now... just thought I'd let you know that I made it back to civilization today. I had such a great time out in St. Mary's with Andrew and Drew. We went fishing a couple of times and caught a few fish. The boys just loved it. I do have pictures but they were taken on Andrew's camera and he would have to figure out how to send them to me, which I think would "tax" him too much, ;) so we will probably just wait until he comes home in 10 days or so to download them from his memory card to my computer and I will try to blog about it then.

But I did find a very important piece of information out. The reason Andrew has 4 "boxes" of salt in his dorm room is (drum roll please)..... to preserve bear hides. This is assuming he "gets" a bear while he is out there. :) So, fishing was close, but not quite. :)

And, Beth, you need to check out the comment Andrew made after your last comment about the "anchelatta". For those of you who are curious... we tease Andrew about being very "fluente" (no that is not the right word, but it SOOOO fits the scenario) in Spanish, ever since our trip to Guatemala and Honduras. We have all gotten much mileage out of his attempts at speaking Spanish, so much so that most correspondence has a reference to it. He is very good natured about it and makes fun of himself most of the time. You can find the "anchelatta" comment under the post about my girls leaving for Virginia... then read my sister, Beth's, comment, then Andrew's response. Gotcha curious, didn't I?

Breakfast, Lunch and Supper...

The ladies that are out here 24/7 have this cooking for 60 down to a science. They are doing an awesome job and have their menus made out weeks in advance. They have to be organized because they order all of the groceries from Anchorage. Sometimes they have gotten low on an item or two and had to order it quickly only to find that the airlines didn't think it was important enough to send it that day so it comes one or two or three days later. Then the ladies have to think on their feet to get the job done. Anyway, I really admire what they are doing and their ability. Here are a few interesting pictures I thought you all would enjoy.

Part of the refridgerator - like 1/4th of it.

The above three pictures are of the storage room. It is like walking into a grocery store. I imagine you have most anything you need in there. It's amazing. I will try to get a picture of the amazing cooks tomorrow.

I'm here

The boys and I made it out here to St. Marys, Alaska, this morning at about 8:30. It is beautiful!! Of course, I probably wouldn't think that if it wasn't sunny, but it is and I do. I don't have many new pictures but I just thought I'd let you know that I made it and then I saw a couple of things I wanted to comment on.

I kind of thought this was an interesting find in my husband's "dorm" room. Four boxes of Morton's salt. I'm sure there is a good reason, that probably has to do with fishing, or the like, but I can't think of what it would be. :)
Next, I thought this was so cool, I saw my husband's bible out and open to where he's been reading. Prov. 11... I'm glad he hasn't gotten to Prov. 31 yet, when he does, I'm going to have to "shape up". :)

And lastly, meet Bertha.... the oldest and heaviest and most worthless vacuum cleaner ever. :)

Really, I have already been having alot of fun with the ladies who are out here cooking for all the guys. I am looking forward to a fun week, although, after I got here, I realized that I forgot my battery charger for my camera... so I guess I will just have to steal Andrew's camera! heehee

Bye, Bye girlies!! :(

Watch out world... here come my little girls!! See our new airport in the background? Well, you can see only part of it, but those of you who haven't flown in or out of here in a while wouldn't even recognize it. We are really getting fancy... but I digress, my girls are at the airport waiting to get on a big plane to take them to Virginia and then on to Appalachian Youth Camp with U. Lincoln and A. Lyn and cousins Keith and Kelsea. I want to just hold on to them tight and not let go but it's time to let them try their wings, I guess. They are both excited and nervous, so please pray for them. (and their mommy) Why is it that we feel like if they are with us they will be safer? I don't know, but I do know that empty nest is coming up and I had better learn to let them be all that God wants them to be. I love you girls and I hope you have lots of fun!!

Miscellaneous

Well, this has been a crazy week! I don't think it will get better until school starts either. So I am just posting a few pictures of some things we have been doing. They are random glimpses into our life... just to keep you up to date. :)
Fresh squeezed lemonade. (Katie's artistic picture taking - she's so funny)

Best buds, Katie and Kaitlin

Kaitlin M. and Heidi splashing in the lake.

Well, Drew and Andrew are out in St. Mary's. Heidi and Katie are at our Dot Lake Youth Camp right now. I am going to go there tomorrow to pick them up and bring them back here so they can get ready to fly out tomorrow night heading to Virginia. They will be with Linc and Lyn in Virginia and then go with the youth group there to AYC. They are so excited. Then the three younger boys and I will either drive or fly to Anchorage Sunday afternoon and fly out to St. Mary's Monday morning early to be with my sweet man for a week. I am really looking forward to going and seeing all he is doing, etc. I will be back to my house on July 28th, Lord willing, with the three younger boys, and the girls will be flying back on the 29th. It is going to be a whirlwind, so I will take alot of pictures and try to post soon. I may be able to post while I'm out there but I may not... we'll see. I've been having computer/internet problems so that is why I haven't posted in so long!! TTFN!! (ta ta for now)

Minto, AK

About a week and a half ago, Katie went with the TLC group and a couple of other young people from church and a couple, Larry and Barbara, from our church to Minto, AK for a VBS. Following are some pictures of the trip. I'm so glad Katie is getting the opportunity to do these mission trips, it will help her, I'm sure to see what others live like and the hardships they may have to endure. Katie got high marks for all of her help while there from the leaders who went. We are so proud of her and her desire to tell others about Jesus!

The church

The group of people who went to Minto.

Katie and a little girl that she connected with.

Katie with her bare feet. I guess a little boy was embarrassed not to have shoes and socks on (although from the looks of things there were several kids without shoes and socks) so Katie told him not to feel badly, she would take her shoes and socks off too so he wouldn't be embarrassed to come. I thought that was pretty cool of her, though she probably was wanting to take them off anyway. :)

The beautiful Yukon River.

Jodi and Josh

This is my dear cousin Jodi, she and her boyfriend, Josh, just got engaged and I am soooooo excited for her. (them) I haven't got to meet him yet, but I'm hearing very nice things about him and we are glad he will be part of our family. Way to go, Jo!!! :) Love ya' girlie!