We had a fabulous autumn! The colors were so bright and welcome. The weather was nice and warm and we enjoyed every moment.

This article on the front page of the Fairbanks paper was about our friend Walter (the man under the word escape), and how he has gotten sober and his life now, three years out of the chronic inebriate lifestyle. But look who is also on the front page! (I'm glad I wasn't picking my nose or something!)


The kids and I got to go to Denali Park on the Alaska Railroad with the Senior Center (we are volunteers) for $25 per person, a very good deal. Bill was off with his friends (see photo below). I have heard that when you go hunting and get nothing, it is a lot of fun. When you get a moose, it becomes a lot of work. John Watts, Sr. and John Watts, Jr. from Ottumwa, Iowa were here and took Bill out moose hunting with them. They all had a lot of fun.



We do a lot of visitation this way. We go out into the community and look for every chance to say hello and chat.


And we also host events. This is a Freecycle, a large community stuff exchange. You bring when you no longer want and take somebody else's stuff home. We have been doing these for a year and have a great time. We cook some food and other people bring some food too.

And guess what happened last night? SNOW!!! And here is our annual family photo.

August Update

Wow! Time for an update!

Thank the Lord that the rains came and put out the fire! It started raining August 6th, and it has been pretty wet since then. The fire crews have now left the area after waiting to see if the rains really put out the fire. School has been delayed until September 8 and the kids are kind of bummed as they were looking forward to seeing their friends again.

Bill got to go out to the drill rig, he won a place on the tour in a drawing. They are drilling for natural gas four miles away from Nenana. The first drill site found no gas, but they are going to drill at other sites. Click here to read more about it.
And this was a great year for berry picking! This photo shows over two pounds of raspberries that Aerin and I picked in about an hour. The blueberries were great too. The four of us picked five pounds of blueberries in about 75 minutes. I made blueberry sauce, blueberry syrup and raspberry sauce. Yummy!
The kids learned a new skill this summer!
It was hard to get a picture before the houses fell down/got knocked down!

We went to the Tanana Valley Fair twice, once to go and once because I had to work and Bill and the kids wanted to see more stuff. I worked the booth for CyberLynx, a homeschool program, giving out helium balloons.

The kiddos had to try out the climbing wall, and Ethan made it to the top! Both kids vowed to do it again next year.

Aerin joined soccer this fall. She will have to be in high school to play in the official games, but she can join in the practice and scrimmages. She is in the middle of the photo, in a white shirt, between two players in yellow, looking like she is going to kick the ball, which she did.
This tree is right off the front corner of our porch. Can you see the yellow leaves? Fall is definitely here! It was 36 degrees yesterday when I took Maggie out at 7 a.m. The afternoons are still warmish, but there has been frost a few mornings.
We had a very busy week this last week. Monday was calm and normal, Tuesday was Wellness in Nenana meeting for lunch then a funeral and potlatch. Wednesday was Bill's birthday and we had guests over for salmon, moose, and bison BBQ. Thursday I worked all day at Cyberlynx and then Bill and I had to go to Fairbanks for dinner with the Norwood's (VM staff), Friday I had lunch with a friend, and an invitation for a ham dinner. Aerin had a soccer match. Saturday was going to be spent at home, but Ethan's bike was stolen. I spent an hour in the car, and Bill three hours on his bike, and he found Ethan's bike down by the river. It is still in good shape. Then on short notice there was a potluck and concert at the tribal hall. Sunday (today) is Aerin's birthday (more cake)! Eating special meals (birthdays and away from home) six days out of seven is not conducive to losing weight! Hopefully this week is calmer and not so crazy. Well, Bill is called up for jury duty tomorrow in Fairbanks (I hope he doesn't have to serve, it's a murder trial).

We have some friends visiting from Iowa in the beginning of September and then Bill's dad will be visiting the first week of October.

Fire!

So what does living 10 miles from a 200,000 acre wildfire look like? I took some photos of the big smoke clouds on Sunday and Tuesday. Some days the smoke blows over us and we can't see very much at all. We have had some ash fall, but not really very much. There are helicopters flying over all day long, delivering supplies and water to the firefighters. The fire is mostly being allowed to burn, and is not being put out. There are some places where the fire will not be allowed to go, and those small areas will be fought for.

The previous photos have been the fire west of Nenana. The following photo is of a fire east of Nenana.

We got to go on a short Alaska roadtrip and visit our supporters, and have some fun. These are some photos from July 2009.

Near Eureka, Alaska


Grizzley Lake, Mile 53 Tok Cutoff


Worthington Glacier near Valdez


Worthington Glacier near Valdez


Worthington Glacier near Valdez

We had some overnight visitors last week and they said some nice things about us. Check out their adventure and what they said about us!

AdventuresforAutism

Read journal entry for June 30th!

***Notice the smoke! There is a fire west of Nenana and we are getting alot of smoke and flying ash and ashy rain. It is very rough on those with breathing problems. It is getting worse every day.***



Bill was asked to preach a short sermon after a session of native drumming that has held after the local 4th of July activities.


As a token of appreciation from the native Christian community, Bill and Rebecca were presented with gifts. Bill received a spotted owl feather and Rebecca was given a kusbuk.


This is Ida, a native pastor, singing praise songs to native drumming.


The photos that Rebecca sent in to the Fairbanks paper were printed on Father's Day! There is Bill in the photo on the left and Aerin on the right.

Please pray that our car gets fixed. We are having a problem getting the parts to Fairbanks in order to have the CV joints fixed under warranty. We are wanting to travel this week and the car was supposed to be fixed last week. Also, Bill got a notice for jury duty. He is supposed to call in on Tuesday. This is the third time we have wanted to take a week away, and the third jury notice that he has received in the same week. We feel doomed. Please pray that we get some time away and time to rest.

***The car got fixed and we got to take some vacation time! Yea!***

Bill was asked to preach the sermon for the Tanana River Blessing on June 7. This is an annual event held during River Daze, the first weekend of June.


There were about 50 people in attendance.


After the River Daze parade, a group always gathers to say a prayer for Nenana. This is Rita on the left and Sue on the right.


We like to spend time on the river bank. The kids play in the muddy silt (it washes off, really!) The river is so silty, you can see your feet when you are only in up to your ankles.


Look what Rebecca did today! She put up a rope swing which included borrowing and CLIMBING a ladder! The kiddos are thrilled!

We have had a chance to rest so far in June. Bill and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on June 6th, and celebrated in part by going to Jester's, a local bar, for soda and to listen to a friend play live music.

We had a freecycle tonight, an everything is free yard sale, and there were about 30 in attendance. We grilled hot dogs, salmon and burgers. We had some great fellowship and made some new friends too. Today was Nenana River Daze, with a parade and everything.

The church is seeing some new attendees. We are now up to an average of about 35 on Sunday mornings and 20 or so on Sunday nights. This is really wonderful, but we are outgrowing our space. We would really like to build our own building here in Nenana, but we are short in the finance department. God knows our need and he will fill it in his time.

I am looking for someone to quilt some tops for me as a charity project. If there is anyone you know who can help me, please drop me an email.

This is Aerin, the tied for first place winner of the Nenana River Daze pie eating contest!