A few updates...and a picture!

December 6, 2012

The weather is at about 0 degrees today with clear skies. Since I wasn’t feeling well this morning, the boys played outside for a while. Later this morning, Roger and the boys took some cookies down to our neighbor and visited for a bit with him. (Cookies are always a good ice-breaker!) When they came back from their visit, I was feeling a little better after a nap, so I started school with Garett and made good progress in a short amount of time. “Focus, Garett, focus!”

After nap time, we bundled up for a drive out to Eureka. (It’s really just a mile marker with a few houses there, but it’s called Eureka.) A family that attends Manley Baptist Church lives out there, and since they weren’t able to come in on Sunday due to their truck not starting, we decided to take a trip out there. It’s about 16 miles out of town, which is about a 30 minute drive. We took some cookies, and visited with their family for a bit. They have a little girl about Garett’s age, and twins that are close to Wyatt’s age, so the kids had a great time playing with other children. We really enjoyed getting to visit with them and are hoping to have them for dinner sometime when they come into town. They also have sled dogs and offered the boys a ride, provided we get some more snow!

We can tell the days are getting shorter here as we move towards the shortest day of the year, December 21. The sun does not completely climb out of bed and into the sky until about 10:30, and by the time we left our friends house at 3:00ish pm. the sun had already set and we were driving in the dusk of the night. We did see a wolf on our trip out, and it’s always nice to see wildlife.

Once we were home, we made supper. Then Roger and I worked on putting plastic over the windows to try to conserve our heat. We also moved around some furniture and did a little more insulation caulking. Our home stays fairly warm between -7 and 0 degrees, but any lower temperatures and the back room stays on the cool side. Damaris did bring out a box fan, so I’m sure that will help with circulating the heat as well.

We are staying warm and enjoying our time here. Please continue to support us with your prayers. Our love to you, Sarah

                                                                Pearl Harbor Day

December 7, 2012

The weather is back to -24 degrees today and still no sign of snow in the skies. We spent the early hours of the morning working on school work, and then we bundled up about 9:30am, to head down to the airport to watch the mail plane come in to land. We can see the plane from our house, but the boys wanted a chance to see it land on the runway. I figured we would miss the landing, since the plane usually comes fairly consistently about 9:45am. Well, after a walk around town, and then a visit to the trading post for some ice cream (not for today but for a supper with friends tomorrow), I headed home with the three younger ones, who were complaining of being cold. About ½ way home, I realized that we would be waiting a long time for the plane to come in today...since it's Pearl Harbor Day!

After the little ones were warming up with hot chocolate and popcorn, Garett and Roger returned. Garett said the plane was taking to long to come and he was getting cold! I then explained again that the mail wasn't coming today since it was a holiday. (Sometimes, the days all run together, and we have no idea what news is happening outside of the community.) But we all were able to get in a nice, brisk walk outside. We enjoyed lunch of moose links (which the boys called hot dogs), and roasted potatoes. Following nap time, I'm headed to the school to practice the hand bells, and then we are going to the washateria for showers! YAY! I'll also try to post this today if the internet is consistent.

Tomorrow, we are having a family over for dinner. They have young children as well, so I'm sure it will be an enjoyable evening for the kids. We are looking forward to fellow shipping with them and getting to know other families in the community better. I'm planning on moose roast and vegetables for supper and Nicole is bringing bread as that is definitely not my strong point right now! I have yet to get the bread to rise enough to still taste yummy when it's not warm. It's tolerable and tasty when warm, but for sandwiches the bread tends to sit like lead in our tummies!

It's hard to believe, but tomorrow we will have been here in Manley for one week. We so appreciated your continued prayers and support of our family. Blessings on your day, Sarah

 

UPDATE: I went to the school to practice the hand bells, and discovered that the mail plane did come in today. After turning around twice with mechanical problems, the plane finally landed at 12:30pm. Hence, the plane we heard landing at the airport right before nap time! And we didn't make it to the washateria today, so we'll have to see if that happens tomorrow!