Campground Playground

The kids all had a blast at this playground! Mom and dad took all the kids to the campground and got the rv set up. They played all day, had lunch, biked, etc. Mark and I had the afternoon to ourselves to do some shopping. We stopped to get Subway subs for everyone and then headed out the camground for dinner, a campfire and mountain pies! Then we brought Anna back the house with us for the night, while mom and dad stayed with the boys. Wow...an evening to sit and watch a movie without being interrupted by boys' bathroom trips! Grandparents are fantastic!

Two things...

...that Grandma and Grandpa are especially good at, among many;
lots of story-reading,
and camping with the RV!
While on vacation, Mark and I enjoyed a break in routine from bedtime stories. Don't get me wrong, we love reading bedtime stories. But every night for years on end? A break is nice now and then. :)

The boys were most excited about camping in the RV while on vacation! The first night, due to time constraints, they just "camped" in the driveway after roasting hot dogs and marshmallows around the campfire on mom and dad's property. Towards the end of vacation they actually took the rv to a campground, which had a great playground to boot, and the boys still talk about it!

Time with Grandpa means...

Going out for ice cream...

















Riding bikes...



















Washing cars...



















And tractor rides! (Unless you're Mark, in which case it's more of "Well, I guess if you really need the help then I guess I could manage to mow your yard for you. I'll sacrifice and ride the tractor around a while. If I have to.... See the grin on his face)? :)

Let the Vacation (Memories) Begin!

Our trip back east was by far the highlight of our year! We thoroughly enjoyed our time catching up with family and friends! You know a vacation is too short when you're just not quite ready to come home yet...our overwhelming feeling on leaving was "Goodness, we wish the rest of our family lived closer."

The kids were troopers for the flight there, especially considering that our flight left Anchorage at 2 a.m. It counted as a school day...a field trip to the airport! And Andrew traced our path on a map of North America that was packed in his bag.

It was fun getting the kids ready to go...the boys each got an early Christmas present of an LLBean backpack. (Hmmm...I wish I had remembered that it was a Christmas present a few weeks ago). Anyway, LLBean packs are truly kid-sized but adult-version durable. And nothing like adding a bright splash of color to your child's back to keep track of them in the airport! The boys had all manner of novel snacks, coloring books, 4-color pens, etc. They did really well! Even Anna only had one bout of fussiness...and I was grateful that she wanted daddy most of the way. ;)

Ready or not...

...here comes the vacation pics!

I know some of you may be wondering why I'm even bothering to post pictures from our vacation in September. But, this blog is our main vehicle for recording memories, assuaging my guilt of not scrapbooking...so in the vacation must go!

I feel a huge relief in not having this huge project hanging over my head-I don't function well when I have major unfinished stuff. Getting there!

Anyway, the posts will coming 3 or 4 a day for the next week-a total of 19 vacation posts in all! I'll warn you that they are almost entirely collages. The fastest way to blog (for me) is from the picture program, picasa, that I use. However, it only lets you post 4 pics at a time the quick way. So, 4 pics at a time, 900-some pics to sort through=collages are a lifesaver. I posted them all as large as possible, but if you want to see the pictures better, just click on the picture and it will pop up enlarged in a new window.

I'm going to skip Friday Funny posts and any other postings just so that these are all together...I'm picky like that. Sorry.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers since the last post regarding everything going on here. The first memorial service went very well, and in actuality, Mark just had to open in prayer. (A compromise between the family that wanted a service and the friends who said there was no way that the deceased would have wanted anything "religious"). Mark was amazed at how many people expressed genuine appreciation for the prayer...really from the last people you would expect.

Tomorrow is the big memorial service for the native man that lived next door. As of now, they haven't been able to arrange for the medicine man to come down from Anchorage-and that may well be how God is using your prayers! And the funeral home is releasing the body for the service, so someone from church is taking care of that tomorrow morning. Communication with the girlfriend of the man who died was better today than it has been (there are some mental issues there besides grief), so Mark is getting a clearer idea of what to expect, but she's still rather vague on some things, and very muddled in her beliefs. (Think "a little of this religion and a little of that religion spread over with some native spirituality...some prayers here, some peace pipe smoking there...that's just right"). I don't mean this to sound offensive to anyone, and perhaps I'll go back and delete this part tomorrow. I just wanted to give a better understanding of what Mark is having to sift through in preparation for tomorrow. The one song she requested is "As the Deer," and we're also doing two old hymns (Victory in Jesus and Old Rugged Cross). Please pray that the message in it's entirety is accepted as truth!
The service starts at 2 our time...we covet your prayers! Thanks so much for the prayers to this point...we can feel his grace being our sufficiency!

PS: Isn't it supposed to be "Three weddings and a funeral?" What's that from? Just thought of it since we've had "Three funerals and a wedding..."

Sophie's growing!

Here's from the latest batch of pictures the breeder sent...

Prayer Support, Please!

I just want to send out a quick request for prayer for our family the rest of this month, and especially this coming week. There's just so much going on-most of it stressful, some of it hard.

On Sunday, we had a long but fruitful congregational meeting regarding the property the church is ready to purchase...it was a unanimous vote to proceed. When the dust settles, I'll let you knwo the whole story, as God's hand has obviously been moving in great ways. But, lots of decisions, paperwork, and follow-up still to do to bring it to closure.

Last week, 3 people in MP died within 24 hrs. of each other. Two were a married couple...he had a heart attack, then she drowned herself in the lake. To our knowledge, neither of them were Christians. The other was a new neighbor next to our church (he slipped and fell on the ice, had a brain hemorrhage, and died there in the driveway). They had only lived there a few weeks, and he had come to church once, and the church had helped them with firewood. We don't believe he was a Christian, but hard to say for certain.

There was just going to be a memorial potluck for the couple that died, but we just got a call from MP a few hours ago, and the family wants Mark to officiate at that tonight.

Apparently the man next door that died really liked our church, and so they've asked us for help in planning and conducting his funeral potlatch (he was native). It's been difficult ascertaining how to work within cultural customs, etc, and now they've also asked Mark to officiate and want some music, too. That said, please pray for the service Friday afternoon, for us to share and help in the name of Jesus, and for spiritual protection (and for the coordination of everything that has thus far been characterized by poor communication, as the family is completely rattled and drained by their grief).

Saturday we drive to Anch. to get our new puppy, and have to be training her in the midst of the following craziness.

On Sunday we have a wedding, for which Mark and I have been doing premarital counseling over the last several weeks, which will continue into the new year, as well. The wedding will be after church, with a potluck following for the reception.

Then, after that, the ladies from church are having a Christmas party/gift exchange.

Add to that the kids' Christmas program that I'm coordinating, with several practices b/t now and the performance at our Christmas Eve service.

We close on our house Friday, Dec. 26th (we have written in the agreement occupancy till Jan. 5th). If we remember to put our tree up, we'll have to take it down that day.

We'll celebrate Christmas w/ my family on Sat. after Christmas, but it will have to be just a quick over and back trip, as we have church the next day.

Sunday we have yet another church meeting regarding constituting and incorporating as an independent church (trying to get that done in time for the new year). Continues the process Mark has been in of writing/adapting a constitution and bylaws to establish the functioning of the church.

And to top it all off, we need to have all of our earthly belongings ready to load into the u-haul on Sat. Jan. 3rd.

That said, we feel like we are just going to crack if anything else is put upon our back, and 'tis the season for everyone else to be too busy to help much! We're making some progress in packing...Mark and I got several boxes done last night in just a few hours. We're loading them up and taking them to the warehouse at Mark's work to get them out of the way, and then we'll just go there first with the U-Haul.

In case you're wondering, no-I'm not sending Christmas cards. Merry Christmas, love you all, but I'm not going there. I should wait til after the New Year anyway, to confirm our new address and phone #!

Anyway, thanks for your prayers for the memorial services and , and , and , and , and that 's going on here!

PS: For those of you who thought you saw a vacation post yesterday and then you didn't see it again, you're not losing your mind. I thought I was about done with all the drafts of vacation stuff, and then realized I wasn't and had some reformatting I wanted to do. So it was there, and now it's not. Sorry to get your hopes up, Karen-I did get your comment! :)

Disagreement

Andrew and Jacob do not agree with Mark and I on naming the puppy Sophie. Their pick? Jabby.
You know, so we can have Abby and Jabby.
Perfect-in their minds.
No, we're not giving in.

Meet Sophie!

This is our new puppy Sophie! We haven't even met her yet...we go to pick her up on Dec. 13th, from a breeder just north of Anchorage.
We feel slightly nuts for breaking in a new puppy right when we're moving, but there's not much we can do about the timing.
We've been researching LGDs for a while now...Livestock Guardian Dogs. LGD's are bred specifically for protecting livestock, not as herders, but perimeter guards. Puppies are socialized with the goats/sheep they will be guarding (it will be difficult for me to let her be an outside dog while she's in her puppy stage!), and trained to bark at appropriate stimuli and to protect their farm. It's quite the fascinating subject if you're interested!
We started researching LGD's when we knew we would be moving back to MP. While the pack of "wild" dogs in our neighborhood do well at deterring bears, we're leaving that irony of a helpful nuisance. Our criteria for an LGD was tough: a dog of a true LGD breed, while of a breed less likely to be constant barkers and diggers. Must be good with children. And available in AK for a reasonable price.
The closest we could find that would fit our criteria were some Maremmas in PA for $800 each! And then, on a brief "chance," Mark noticed an ad on craigslist for Saint Bernard/Great Pyrenees puppies. When he tried to go back to it, the ad was gone (puppy ads get flagged and removed quickly on craigslist, to discourage puppy mills, I guess). So we just posted a request for whomever had listed the puppies to contact us, which they did shortly thereafter.

Well, we feel that this puppy is the perfect find (we'll see how we feel in a few months in the midst of bark training)! Her sire (bottom pic) is a purebred Saint Bernard. They're sociable, quiet and affectionate, and absolutely faithful to their owners and family. Because of these traits, they've become a great family dog. They also make good watchdogs, as their size can be startling to strangers, though their temperament is actually mild.
Sophie's dam is a Great Pyrenees/Landseer Newfoundland mix (below). By nature, the Great Pyrenees is confident, gentle, and affectionate. While territorial and protective of their flock or family when necessary, this breed's general demeanor is one of quiet composure, both patient and tolerant. They are strong willed, independent and somewhat reserved, yet attentive, fearless and loyal to their charges--both human and animal. Landseers are a cross of Great Pyr and Black Curlycoat Retrievers, developed when Pyrs were brought to Newfoundland as livestock guardians. The Retriever mix added an adeptness around water.

So, after 8 years with our beloved but short Abby, we're in for a huge dog! She'll get to weigh between 120 and 140 lbs. I'm sure it will be hysterical to watch Abby and Sophie together as Sophie grows! (For those of you who have never met Abby, she looks like a husky/shepherd mix...minus the legs). We're really excited about the experience of training an LGD, and thrilled to develop an extra measure of protection against the bears, for the sakes of the goats, the future chickens, and our family. We'll keep you posted on life with Sophie! We named her Sophie from the Hebrew name Tzofiya, meaning "scout," "guard," or "watchman." We pray she lives up to her name!

Friday Funnies

Lately Jacob (as I suppose can by typical of boys) has enjoyed using words like "pee-pee" and "poop" and "butt," in out-of-context rude ways...just trying to get a reaction, I guess. I'm not sure what brought it on, especially as we know it doesn't come from Andrew. In our house, we discipline sins with the mouth (back-talking, rudeness, lying, etc) with "medicine" to help remind it to talk kindly, etc..."medicine" being a touch of Tabasco to the tongue.

At any rate, we were in the van, and Elmo was along for the ride with Jacob. I hear from the back seat some random talk about a butt, though I can't remember it verbatim now! We've been over this a zillion times with Jacob, so I didn't have much patience for it.

"Jacob, do you need some medicine for that mouth, since it's talking so rudely?"
"That wasn't me. It was Elmo."
"Tell Elmo that if he keeps talking like that, he's going to get some medicine."
"I can't. He's asleep."
"But he was just talking. How can he be asleep?"
"He was really tired and fell fast asleep just right now."

And when I don't know whether to get frustrated and push the issue or to just laugh right out loud, I generally opt to just end the conversation with silence!

THE Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! Granted, it's the end of the day here, and for the majority of blog readers its already Friday-sorry! But I love celebrating Thanksgiving! It's in our human nature to both be forgetful and to take things for granted...both things God admonishes us not to do!

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the thing your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

I Thessalonians 5: 16-18
By joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

We are extremely grateful for so many things this year.

• For God's Spirit moving in and through our church...lives touched, ministries sustained, people changed, God glorified in so many ways
• For our children, who are a delight and a joy (or really good tools the Lord uses to teach us things like patience). :)
• For the way God is leading us through seemingly odd circumstances-our house that we bought just a year ago is now sold despite the incredibly horrible housing market, and God is making a way for us to move back to MP.
• For our humble start in hobby farming...we love our goats, we're excited about the future with them-and that we just found a Livestock Guardian Dog (well, puppy at this point) that we'll bring home in a few weeks (good for the goats, the future chickens, and our own kids as we move back into the potential for bear trouble).
• The Holy Spirit has been, for about 2 years now, making our hearts tender to the plight of orphans around the world...and opening our eyes to our responsibility to love and care for them. We're praying our way through the process of choosing domestic vs. international, choosing an agency, selecting a country from which to bring home our fourth child.
• That the moose we hit on the way home from my parents house tonight did very little damage to the van, the moose landed dead in the ditch and not on the road, and that Mark is such a skilled driver to get us nearly stopped on icy roads in blowing snow within seconds of the moose running out into the highway.

There's lots more, obviously, but I'm also thankful that the boys get two overnights this weekend...they got to stay at Gramps and Grandma's tonight, and Aunt Becca is taking them sledding Friday and then they get to stay overnight at her new cabin on Friday night. Which means that tomorrow, I get to do all my Christmas wrapping and work on sewing projects that need to be finished before Christmas...so that I have a prayer of being ready to move on January 3rd. Read: I'm going to bed to get a good nights' sleep since the one who wakes us up several times a night isn't here, and then I'll be ready to tackle lots tomorrow!

Not typical...

Most people don't generally post pictures of crying, even screaming babies. But I was just experimenting with some of the new picasa features for collages, and, well, had these pictures that actually crack me up. I had been trying to take a nice picture of her sitting on the porch, and she was in no mood. But I took a picture anyway, which made her mad. So I took a picture of her mad, which made her more mad...you get the idea! :)

Progress

Okay, I'm making progress at getting back to blogging.
I've gotten over our missing pictures. We still haven't been able to connect with Dustin and Christy, despite seemingly valiant attempts at getting our schedules together. Maybe not so valiant on their part? Nah...they've already put in their order for the dinner menu. :)
I've installed Picasa 3, I've unloaded our vacation pics securely, and today actually took just half an hour to actually sort our vacation pics into appropriate files. Soooooo...should be easy (or at least easier) to get started blogging them. Hang on to your hat once I get started!
Oh, and another Jacob/Elmo tale for Friday coming up this week, too!

Friday Funnies

Last week I mentioned Jacob's imagination, and the comical results thereof.
Here's another example.
He has his little stuffed Elmo that is a pretty constant companion, especially at night. He also recently comandeered a stuffed Larry the Cucumber that Anna had just gotten.
He was in bed, and was supposed to be asleep, but we can hear him talking to himself. He finally comes out of his room to talk to Mark about his trouble sleeping...

Daddy, I can't sleep. Elmo and Larry won't stop talking.