Sunday, January 06, 2013

It’s hard to believe but yesterday marked our fifth week here in Manley. Wow! We spent the day driving to Fairbanks, running errands, and driving home. We made good time on the drive and arrived back home about 8:30 pm.

Today we worshipped the Lord with other believers at Manley Baptist Fellowship. We had 21 people for the morning service. Roger did the song service, prayer requests, and announcements, while I played the piano and did another story segment of Sunday School Charlie. Another man, Darryl,   brought the message from God’s Word. It was a good morning, and I was reminded of how much we’re going to miss these folks when we head back to Wisconsin.

The weather here is about -3 degrees and clear skies. We’d love to get another snowfall, but so far, nothing is predicted. We went to the washateria early this morning before Sunday School to take showers. Since we spent the day in Fairbanks yesterday, we missed our “shower” day. J There was a sign on the door stating that the washateria will be closed all week long due to the “retro fitting” for their machines-whatever that means! All I know is that it means a week without laundry facilities and showers! L

A few things we learned this week:

-Our children bring us such joy and special memories. The boys enjoy playing with legos and this week they had a little competition to see who could build the best “outhouse” with legos! J

- Apparently Alaska is having a shortage of fresh vegetables as every store we went into in Fairbanks had no strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries! I was very sad!

-Out of all the NFL football teams, the Green Bay Packers seem to be the best represented here in the North. We’ve seen Packer mailboxes, Packer car stickers, Packer apparel, etc. I have no idea why it’s that way, but it’s an observation. (I haven’t noticed any NFL representation in Manley that was an observation from our trips to Fairbanks.)

- It was nice to take an unexpected trip into Fairbanks, but it was so nice to come back to our nice, quiet cabin up on the hill. I like the pace of life here, and although it takes a bit to get used to the “un-business”, we enjoy it.

-I do miss running and the exercise I get on a regular basis at our home in Wisconsin, so I do look forward to returning to that! Chandler asked me the other day, “Mom, are you going to get fat if you don’t start running again?” Obviously, we need to work on tact!! J

-Apparently, we are loved from Berlin, WI. My mom went to the post office on Saturday to mail us a letter and a package. The post master there asked what in the world was in Manley, Alaska! She said she had more packages and letters going there than to practically anywhere else lately! J It did provide a good opportunity for my mom to tell about our trip and what was in Manley, Alaska. Between the Scherzers family, Longsine family, Mayo family, Lenny and Julie Nowakowski, and my family, the post office in Berlin is swamped! J Thank-you!

-When we were in Fairbanks yesterday, I had to keep reminding the boys to flush the toilet. They’ve become very used to not flushing and so that could prove “interesting” when we return to Wisconsin! J