We are still here...

 

We are still here in Nenana, preaching the Word and loving the people. We are in our fifth winter here and this one seems like the coldest.  They all seem like the coldest!  Temps these last few days have been down to -60 degrees F.  Way COLD! 

Our kids are doing great.  Aerin is homeschooled this year in 8th grade, but she is taking mostly high school classes from online sources.  She does go to the public school for band and is looking forward to music fest in April.  Ethan is just finishing up a unit on Da Vinci for his fifth grade homeschool lessons.  He is also in the public school band, and both kiddos play the trombone.  Emily has two bottom teeth and is really a joy to have around.  We all dote on her and spoil her rotten.

Bill is starting a new preaching series, Daniel one month and Thessalonians the next, until both are done.  He just finished going through the book of Romans.  Church attendance is down when it is so cold, but we usually expect about 40 attendees when it is -20 or warmer.  Bill is attending a Men's Retreat this weekend featuring Bible Study, Bullets and BBQ.

I am busy being the homeschool teacher, working as a file clerk ten hours a week, being a mom, wife and friend.  We have had some traumatic events during the last year and every day I struggle with heartache.  But I guess you can learn to live with it and it is not the overwhelming emotion all the time.  My kids and husband make every day a joy, and I try not to dwell on the things that are so upsetting. 

I was reading in Daniel last week and some of my favorite verses are in chapter 3.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Bill's mom, Cheryl Troxel, passed away unexpectedly yesterday.  She was found dead after passing away in her sleep during the night.

Bill has left for Iowa to make arrangements and to conduct the services.

We are all shocked and saddened by this turn of events as Cheryl was planning on moving in with us at the beginning of May. 

Please pray for Bill during this stressful time and for Cheryl's family in Iowa.

Merry Christmas from the Troxels!

Winter 2010

Dear Friends,

I hope this post finds you healthy and content.  May the spirit of God be with you this blessed holy season. We have had so many things to be thankful for this year, although we have also been through some hard times.  I hope to hear from all of you soon and hope you will share what God has been doing in your lives too.

Our New Year started out with a bang!  We found out that we were going to have a baby in September.  We were all full of joy and very excited. However, the baby was miscarried the end of February, the last full day we were in Hawaii on vacation.  Hawaii was warm and wonderful in February.  We had an exciting time there; we were evacuated from Waikiki due to a tsunami warning! But we also got to visit the zoo, Pearl Harbor, beaches, shopping districts, and we had good times visiting with my mom and dad and grandma, who were also in Hawaii with us.
 

We also got to visit Disneyland this year!  We spent the month of October traveling in California.  We stayed in LA for a week and visited not only Disneyland, but California Adventure Park, the California Science Center, La Brea tar pits, and Hollywood.  Then we spent a week at a friend’s family’s cabin up in the San Bernardino Mountains, west of LA.  We rode Amtrak from LA to Redding, and visited with some fellow Village Missionaries in Willow Creek, CA.  They let us borrow their car to spend a day viewing the Redwoods along the coast.  We returned to the train and continued on to southern Washington, where we attended a VM conference in Ocean Park.  We were gone long enough to really miss Nenana.

Bill was diagnosed with “Mood Disorder due to a Chronic Medical Condition”, depression related to losing the baby and from dealing with his liver condition.  He was put on medication that greatly reduces the pain level he constantly experiences and is also an anti-depressant.  He is feeling much better lately, after being on the medication and going to counseling this year.  I have also been diagnosed with two more medical conditions this fall.  I’m pregnant again! We are expecting a new little Troxel in May.  The pregnancy has aggravated a condition I already had; Premature Atrial Contractions, a condition were the parts of my heart don’t beat in sync.  This is normal according to the doctor; but it is uncomfortable, and the symptoms should decrease after the baby is born. 

Aerin and Ethan are growing tall and more wonderful every day!  They are excited about the baby and can’t wait for it to arrive.  They won trophies in Tae Kwon Do this year for sparring and patterns.  Aerin plays trombone in the junior high school band; Ethan played Santa Claus in the class Christmas play.  Aerin was also elected president of the local 4H ATV safety club.  They both attended Camp Li-Wa this last summer, and had a fabulous time. When we returned from California, they both had chicken pox.  They are very good kids and make us proud. 

We started a new hobby this year.  We are now chicken owners!  We have 19 hens and one rooster and I enjoy them so much.  Gathering eggs is a real treasure hunt.  We are using and selling the eggs.  We made them a house out of straw for the winter and next summer plan to make them a real coop.

May God bless and keep you and yours.

Aerin got braces!

We have been helping with Project Overhaul this summer, a local effort to clean up Nenana.  We took 14 tons out of town this summer already, and there will be a few more work days scheduled.

A picture of Aerin

A photo of Ethan

This is Lynn, a friend from Tok, who has been spending a lot of time with us this summer.

We hosted a Freecycle at our house and lots of people showed up.  We love to BBQ and talk so we had a great time!

The kids and I took a walk and found this old car seat out by the river.  We sat for awhile and enjoyed the breeze.

There was a fabulous double rainbow!  The sun was shining through it so beautifully, there was more than one set of colors on the big rainbow. 

We have a beautiful new sign!  We put this sign up and take it down every week. 

Two more quilts given away.  That is now four this year.  I hope the kids feel loved and always can find a hug within the quilt when they need it.

Two more quilts to be given away today.  My friend had two little foster girls arrive with nothing more than their clothes on their backs.  I thought the girlies would like a quilt of their own.  The first one was half finished, (had been for about a year) so I got it out and finished it yesterday.  The green one was just waiting for the right kid to come along.

We were invited on a boat ride upriver with our neighbors. I took lots of photos! I want to share them with you!

Can you see the temperature!!!! 83.1 degrees at 4:22 p.m. This was in the shade! WOW!