In Need of a Visit to the Lower 48!

My father very thoughtfully sent Logan and Owen some newspaper clippings from their local paper. It was so nice to see photos of trees, mountains, and many animals that we don't have on the island. We looked through the pictures and really enjoyed them, even though they made me a bit homesick for the northwest. But there was a moment that made me realize that we really need to visit the lower 48 soon! I showed Owen a photo of some pigs and jokingly asked him if he remembered what they were. He smiled and said, "Yes...sheep." Oh my, I thought. So I say, "Logan, are these sheep?" Logan confidently replies, "Nooo. They're goats." Oh my oh my! (Just a note that when we looked at them later in much better lighting, both boys identified them as pigs...thank the Lord:)! )

We are beginning the 2 month countdown until our vacation. I'm glad to say that our days will be quite full until then. Marissa, a camp counselor who we met in Fairbanks, just arrived this afternoon and will stay with us 2 weeks. She's out visiting with the youth as I write. When she leaves, we will be hosting 4-6 Russians for a couple weeks. The new school is opening soon and Savoonga is inviting people from Siberian Russia to join in the festivities. (There are some Yupik Eskimos 40 miles across the Bering Sea from us and they all try to gather together for big celebrations.) After the Russians leave, YWAM (youth with a mission) will join us for the month of September and then we fly north to Barrow, AK for a meeting and then south to Seattle/Ohio the beginning of October. I'm excited to see this year unfold as we know more people and feel more able to encourage them to participate in (and hopefully take leadership in) church life. It's also excited to meet the new and returning teachers as they come back into town. There's also a Baptist family with young kids moving here and we just met our new neighbor today...a doctor! Yeah...I hope we never have to visit the clinic, but it makes me feel better to know that someone with more medical knowledge is residing here now. During dinner, we watched him receive his first Honda(ATV) driving lesson...I have to admit he was much better than me:) Sivoy let me drive his Honda the other morning and as I backed up, I caught a glimpse of the 4 construction workers who live across the street from us, all watching me out their window...entertainment in Savoonga!

Uncle Sivoy

I haven't been so faithful to post to our blog or keep up with friends since returning from Bingle Camp for many reasons...temporary loss of Internet, more house guests...but I believe the biggest reason has been Uncle Sivoy! We met Sivoy for the first time when visiting Savoonga last June. He was the 18-year old "youth leader" and was preparing youth for camp when we visited. Upon moving here, he told us he "retired" from the youth group and wouldn't be coming anymore. He came around to visit in March when the director of Bingle Camp stayed with us for a few days. She told him to give us a chance. We didn't see much of him again until the Korean group came. He was really impacted by them and their stories of living lives very similar to his own and then God lifting them out of their self-destructive lifestyles. After the Koreans left, he said, "I used to just pray, 'Now I lay me down to sleep. Amen. But, now I say words and stuff." He came around a lot more and said that he really wanted to know God more and that he felt guilty for doing some of the activities he was doing with his friends and he wanted to stop. We went to Bingle Camp and since returning Uncle Sivoy has joined the family!:) He comes over everyday and for the past several days, he has come before breakfast and left just before we go to bed! I spent a few hours teaching him how to play the piano and within 24 hours he was playing the melody to his favorite praise song. He's very excited about studying the Bible and he wants to lead the youth and help them to know Jesus as he now does. It's such a blessing to see someone excited to live out his faith.


Owen and Uncle Sivoy at Bingle Camp.


Sivoy learning guitar and the boys with Gina, their favorite friend from camp.


"Okay boys, let's take a picture with Uncle Sivoy!...Boys. He's not a jungle gym!:)


Logan, Owen, and Uncle Sivoy.

Pretty Good Reasoning for a Not Quite 3 Year Old

Yesterday morning Logan told me that he lost his "big machine". Jacob overheard the conversation and told Logan that he hid the "big machine" because the boys kept fighting over it. Logan and Owen agreed, "Me be nice...Me share." So, Jacob retrieved the "big machine" out of hiding and all was well. That evening, a teary-eyed Logan cried, "Me lost my Band-Aid!" Jacob told him that he would go upstairs and look for it. Logan was so very upset and continued crying and finally said, "Daddy took my Band-Aid!" I said, "Daddy didn't take your Band-Aid." Logan replied with tears and trembling, "Uh-huh...Daddy took my Band-Aid and hid it!"

Bingle Camp

We just returned from a wonderful week of meditation and renewal at Bingle Camp, outside of Fairbanks, AK. Below are some photos from our week.

Welcome Home! We stayed in this retreat center all by ourselves. It was so very beautiful and peaceful.


There were hiking trails right behind our place. The beginning of the week was a little chilly, but still felt warm to our Savoonga blood. We saw it as a good activity to cover up our skin with warmer clothes and venture out into the mosquito infested woods!


We still received many bites! One day, I found the boys counting and comparing their mosquito bites:) Good fun! The camp was on a hillside. That is the lodge at the top and we are at the waterfront below.


The weather was in the 80s F during most of our time at camp. The Savoonga kids were dying of heat stroke and my body was so very happy to finally be warm again! The boys spent every afternoon playing in the water and sand. The only thing that could drag them indoors was the promise of yogurt and ice cream, two things we are sorely deprived of in Savoonga!



After swim time came bathtime. I quickly tired of wrestling the boys in the shower so we spotted this nice cooler. It made a great bathtub.

The boys cleared the lawn in front of the lodge of dandelions..."Picked for Mama!" :)

One day we went out in the canoe. The boys helped us paddle most of the way around the lake. I made Logan's hat, by the way. Pretty impressive, huh?:) You can't just run to the store in Savoonga to pick up any last minute supplies, so I sewed his hat on the plane...fortunately we don't have any close-up pictures of it!


You can see that the boys enjoyed the food!

Every evening after dinner, Logan and Owen would slide down this steep grassy hill outside of the lodge. Before the week was over, most of the youth joined them in their fun.


We were able to stay an extra day because the winds were too bad for us to fly into Savoonga. We made it home safely the following day and are glad to be home although we really enjoyed our week away. Owen cried the first night in Fairbanks, "Me go Boonga(Savoonga) home." Then, he cried as we put him in the van to go to the airport, "Me miss trees. No Boonga!" I think he's just opposed to change:)

Time for a Retreat

The last couple of weeks have been pretty intense in these parts. I realized that one of the hardest parts of this job is that you can't get away. It costs $400 to leave the island via plane, which means $1600 if we'd like our whole family to go! Any other place that we've lived we were able to venture off to the mountains or beach or somewhere away from our immediate community usually on a weekly basis. We have not left Savoonga for 4 months now. It's good to be with people, but it's also needed to get away now and then. So, the boys and I walked a couple of miles outside of the village today. We still saw some people who were going out to camp, but for the most part we spent a few hours OUTSIDE and ALONE, two words that usually don't go together here! It was beautiful and much needed.


Notice that it is July, yet we are still wearing winter coats and that is really snow behind the boys!:) But, also notice all of the green that has come out. We spent a good hour observing the many wildflowers. There were so many different kinds all living so very close to each other. (We really need to work on Logan's posed smile:)!)

Sunday, we leave for a week in Fairbanks. Jacob is a speaker at a Presbyterian Youth Camp and our entire family was invited to join. Yippee! Trees and uncontaminated dirt to play with:) We will be traveling with 13 youth from our church and another youth leader.

(I was rather behind in posting photos, so sorry about all the new posts in one day!)

Entertainment for the Coming Winter

Our friends from the Korean Presbyterian Church in Anchorage also left us a drumset. Another perk of living in the church! I think that it will be well used this coming winter:) I was only going to include one photo of each boy, but their facial expressions are so priceless! I wish you could hear them singing as they play. The first two photos are of Logan and the last 3 are Owen.

Long Line at the Pump

They are decommissioning the city's old fuel oil tank because the barge just brought 3 new ones for future use. When fuel oil costs $7.50 a gallon, I guess it would be worth standing in line for a couple of hours to fill up your tanks for free! It provided us some good entertainment out of our kitchen window:)