Sunday! December 9, 2012

December 9, 2012

Wow! What a beautiful day it was today! The temperature was just perfect for outdoor activities at about 2 degrees with a gorgeous, white, snow falling. We didn't accumulate a whole lot of snow today, probably only about 1”, but it was beautiful.

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll to church, where the children first had a Sunday School lesson and then joined the adults for the main service. There were about seven junior high and high school students for Sunday School, and our four boys for the younger class. We are working on parts for the upcoming Christmas program to be held on December 23.

For the main worship service, there were probably between 20-30 people present. One of the ladies in the church was able to get a keyboard, so I played that for the song service. Another man in the church was prepared with a message, so perhaps Roger will preach sometime in the next few weeks. Our goal while being here is to be a blessing and serve in any capacity, so while we are trying to be available, we are also trying not step on anyone's toes. After the service, we enjoyed visiting and meeting people in the body of believers and then headed home about 1:00pm.

 

 

 

We took the “long” way home, playing out in the snow, taking pictures, going by the airport to see if any new airplanes had landed, and just having a good time. When we got home, we “unwrapped” our art project. (I've included pictures.) This turned out to be a really fun and cute project and the kids had fun rolling the colored, frozen balloons out on the snow. Chandler wanted to bring his inside (hmm...frozen water with food coloring? I think NOT!) and Garett wanted to save his frozen balloon to bring back to Wisconsin to show Nana (probably not the best idea either!). So, we lined them up on our porch, and I'm sure we'll enjoy them while we are here.

Back inside for a late lunch of leftovers and hot tea, followed by nap time was a perfect way to spend the rest of the afternoon. Now that it is dark outside, we're playing pictionary, making lists for our trip to Fairbanks, and working on various projects before Bible time and bed.

We so appreciate all your prayers. While the blog covers a lot of our news, we can in no way cover everything or write about it all. We treasure your prayers and thank God for each one of you.

Posts for Saturday and Sunday

December 8, 2012

It's hard to believe, but today marks the one-week arrival of our family in Manley Hot Springs. It's been a good week; we've done a lot of things as a family, adjusted to home life in our cabin, met some of the families and people in our community, learned to use our daylight hours wisely, and I've learned to make do or improvise on recipes and mealtimes. I've decided to post a few of the thoughts and things I've learned this past week. This is meant to be slightly humorous, so it's okay to laugh at my mistakes...I sure do!

1. Even with trying to wear clothing items twice, our family still has a lot of laundry! (And more laundry is created when you forget to put a pull-up on the child who isn't potty trained at night!) After spending 10.00 on laundry on Wednesday, and having another two loads today, Roger put up a clothesline in our cabin to help cut down on costs.
 
2. Many recipes can be made from scratch by improvising or cutting something out, however; ramen noodles and rice are not delicious when mixed together!
 
3. It will usually only take a child one time to remember not to cry outside! At -20 degrees, tears are not comfortable on the cheeks!
 
4. It took four days with a head-ache, but I'm feeling better. My caffeine addiction has lessoned since I refuse to spend $2.50 for a small bottle of Diet Coke! I would still like some, but the headaches are much better.

    5.  One of the best inventions ever made was the...honey bucket (a five-gallon pail with a toilet seat attached). It has saved many a cold, dark trip to the out house and has been a huge help with young children. On about day three of living in our new home, we realized that Wyatt wasn't going to go outside to go potty. He had many an accident and no amount of coaxing would convince him to go outside. We decided that he could use the honey bucket even during the day, and he's been accident free since that decision.

         6.    I have several products that get rave reviews in my minds' eye! One is dry shampoo. This product comes in a bottle and can be sprayed on the hair to prevent it from looking greasy...awesome! Two, who knew that egg replacer would be so handy? I found this product in the natural foods section, and it has been instrumental in saving money and salvaging recipes. Three...Amazon.com, I'm enjoying the fact that they will ship my product to me for free...but I'll hold my final opinion is deciding if this company makes my list after I get the diapers! I received an e-mail saying that the estimated arrival date for the diapers would be December 5. Well, since it is now December 8, I guess we'll see! Also, International Delight coffee creamer is on my list! A friend gave us a whole box of the little cup ones and they survived the trip and still taste great, even after being frozen. And a little creamer adds so much to a cup of tea or coffee.

       7.   Roger had a smart idea when he decided to haul that toboggan from Wisconsin. That sled has been so helpful in many walks around town for small, little people with short legs and limited walking abilities...it's hard to move when you feel like a snowman!

           8.    Sometimes, miss-communication is a good thing! We thought that it was $1.00 for a three minute shower, however, at the washateria the signs states that it is $1.00 for ten minutes. Now, it's definitely not ten minutes, but it's longer than three! YAY!

Clockwise: Art project at washateria, Wyatt and Travis helping the cook, Garett with the sled, Roger and Travis hauling wood, boys with the sled and Mom and Travis

There are many, many more things that I've learned and memories that we've created, but this is just a sampling of what is on my mind. Our love to you all, Sarah

Catch Up!

December 11 and 12

 

 

This will be short and sweet! I wasn't able to write a post about yesterday,but to sum it up...the weather was beautiful!Wyatt was sick and home schooling Garett filled my day. 



 

We did get about three inches of snow between December 9 and 10, with a prediction for more on Wednesday. Please continue to pray that would happen. The weather has been warmer since it's been snowing, so we've been spending quite a bit of time outside. On Monday, Wyatt was sick most of the day and managed to throw up a little in the bowl and a LOT on our bed! So, we have more laundry to do! Roger and the other boys spend about two hours outside, watching the mail plane come in, talking to a bush pilot, and just enjoying the outdoors and freshly fallen snow. It was a beautiful day...did I mention that already?!

 

Another highlight of my day was the mail! We received four letters and two packages...I love to get mail! (Even in Wisconsin, but it's even more exciting here!)

 

Today: December 11, 2012

We left for Fairbanks about 9:40am before the sun was even up. We made fairly good time out to Fairbanks, coming in just before 2pm. We took the kids to the Mcdonalds with the playland andWe have  Bro. Earl came to meet us there. We had a good visit, although short, but it was good to connect with him before he and his family leave for the lower 48 states. We again have a long list of things to get done and needed items (read: Sarah learning to plan a better grocery list!) We need to get the oil needs changing, the truck still needs to be washed, (which at 4 degrees, it will be fine), Roger needs a haircut, and oh, I have lots of laundry to do!  Since the forecast is for ten inches of snow tomorrow, please be praying for a safe trip back home. The roads can be a little tricky with newly fallen snow. I'll try to update again soon!





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!

A few more days!

Getting into the routine

December 4, 2012

 

I'm sorry that I don't have pictures to go with the words, but the internet is sketchy at best.

It’s a chilly morning here in Manley. Temperatures started out at -23 degrees, but the most recent peek at the thermometer indicated that temperatures are still dropping; it was at -28 degrees. I think we are starting to get into a routine here, as school went much better today, praise the Lord! I spent the morning working on school work with Garett, making bread (it turned out a little better today, but it is still on the heavy side), and then making craft projects with the children. After the sun was up, about 10:30am, we went outside and took a walk up to the cemetery and around our house.

Following the walk, we came back for a lunch of warm bread, cheese, and hot chocolate. Now, we are moving on to naptime, which hasn’t been much a problem here. I’m thinking the cold and fresh air is doing wonders for wearing our children out! We’ve been going through wood faster than normal, so Roger will be looking for a place to cut wood soon.

We went to the Hot Springs this afternoon. Since it was about -28, we drove the truck as we were going to be getting water as well. It was about 50 degrees inside the greenhouse, and the hot tubs were wonderfuly warm! The kids had fun jumping in and out of the different temperatures, and it was a welcome relief to feel clean! Soap is not allowed in the tubs, but pitchers are provided so that you can suds up outside the tub and then use the pitchers to rinse off. We will be looking forward to returning next week.

We came home about 5:30pm and everyone bundled up to go on the walk to the school. The school has an open gym night on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we thought it would be a good way to meet other people in the community. It’s about a one-half mile walk to the school, so it was a brisk, cool walk! We had fun though, and then came home for supper, devotions and bedtime.

I went to the school yesterday to practice hand bells with some of the other ladies. We’ll be having a Christmas program, in which we’ll be playing several carols of Christmas. It was fun, and I’m looking forward to practicing again on Friday.

We are tentatively planning on taking a trip into Fairbanks next week. The cabin stays snug and warm in the main room, but the back bedroom is cold. We are looking into purchasing a box fan to blow the heat into the back room. And while the cabin has electricity, the outlets are limited! So, we need to purchase a power strip in order to make use of a few more things. It would be nice to have the computer and the alarm clock both plugged in at the same time.

Please continue to pray for snow. It’s needs to warm up a bit in order to get a nice dumping of snow, so please continue to pray for that.

Thanks again for your love and prayers.

Washing Day

December 5, 2012

We are headed to the washateria later today, so I’m trying to get this post written on the computer. I’m very thankful that our cabin has electricity as it makes using the computer possible!

It’s warmer here today about 0 degrees. When I came back in from using the outhouse, I made the comment that it is much warmer today. Garett immediately looked dismayed and said, “Oh, I don’t want the snow to melt!” Well, I think we’re okay there! The skies are clear, with no sign of snow, so that is a continued prayer request.

I mentioned that we would probably be taking a trip into Fairbanks soon, but please pray that we would be able to find a dentist to take care of Chandler’s tooth. He went about a week, while we were traveling, without mentioning it. He mentions that it hurts at every meal, so I’m thinking that we will need to do something about that soon.

The mail plane comes in today, so we are headed into town on our morning walk in a little bit. Since we’re here for a while, I’ve been experimenting with ordering diapers and such off of Amazon.com. Amazingly enough, I haven’t received an e-mail saying that they won’t deliver here, but the company doesn’t offer two-day shipping to Manley Hot Springs!  I’ll let you know if and when I get the diapers!

Roger and I have been talking about ways to get more involved with the church, and Roger is planning on mentioning on Sunday about having a mid-week service at our house. Please pray that this would be something that the people would be interested in doing. I think it would be an encouragement to them and to us.

Well, back to the laundry! Have a wonderful day, friends.

It's long and lengthy! A summary of four days!

Arrival in Manley…December 1

Update: Since it took about 15 minutes for the single picture to upload, I will upload a picture blog when we go out to Fairbanks!

Our little home sweet home!

After a three hour drive, (we made good time) we arrived in Manley Hot Springs on December 1, 2012. It was about 2:45 pm. and we met up with Damaris (the lady I’ve been e-mailing) at the town hall. The community was having a Christmas Craft Sale, so we were able to meet several other people in the community as well. We then went to our cabin, and had our first glimpse of our new home. Damaris and some of the other ladies in the church did a lot of work to get it ready for our arrival, so it was clean and tidy, but very chilly! Roger started a fire right away, as it was about 24 degrees. We started hauling in our stuff, and are still amazed that we managed to fit all that stuff in the truck!

The boys had a hard time grasping the fact that the potty was outside, so that was an adjustment. The wood stove warmed up quickly and within 10 minutes of being in the cabin, three of the four boys had burnt a hole in their coat! But we adjusted and the cabin warmed up, although when we went to bed the memory foam on our mattress was still a little frozen! But after several days of the fire going non-stop, the whole cabin is feeling warm and snug. It was cold the first few days we were here, Sunday was -25, but today, Monday, is only -10. I’m learning to take advantage of the daylight hours and spend time outside and plan school and meals around the daylight hours.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

It’s cold here this morning, about -25, but we are excited about worshipping with believers here in Manley Hot Springs. Roger kept the fires going through the night, so the cabin is starting to feel warmer. I made cookies today for the church dinner, but I could not find a cookie sheet anywhere! So, I ended up taking apart Sara Scherzer’s marker boards that she had made for the kids. She had covered some cookie sheets with contact paper so the boys could write on them on the trip up here. I took the contact paper off so that I could use them to bake the cookies…the Lord knew that those cookies sheets would come in handy! I also made a pasta dish for the church dinner, but since I couldn’t find the crockpot either, I put it in a saucepan with a lid.

We left for church about 9:30am. We put two of the boys in the toboggan sled along with the pasta dish and Bibles. Since the cabin is up a little hill, the sled made good time going downhill, which wasn’t a problem until…one of the other boys tugged on the sled spilling the pasta into the snow! UGG!! I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t have time to make anything else and the snow was clean, so I just picked the pasta up off the snow and put it back into the pot! The snow was clean, and since it’s just water, I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Sure enough, it tasted fine and I didn’t get any complaints. Brother Earl had called to say that he wasn’t feeling good and wouldn’t be able to make it. There were five children for Sunday School, four of them being ours. The Sunday attendance was down due to it being so cold…even plugged in vehicles can be hard to start and several families were sick. But we had good services with those that were there and the church dinner was compiled of all kinds of delicious food, like caribou steak, salmon dishes, ham, mashed potatoes, and several desserts…yummy!

After church, it was about 2pm. so there was still some daylight left. We went back home, and started up the truck. We took a tour of the town, and went out to the dump, collected 30 gallons of water from the well, peeked in on the washateria and checked out the Manley Hot springs. A lady was there cleaning the hot tubs, and taking care of the plants, so we were able to have a chance to talk to someone and made an appointment for our first experience at the Hot Springs. It cost five dollars a person to use the hot springs for an hour, but the kids are free. So it’s actually cheaper to use the hot springs for our family than to shower at the washateria. After our tour of Manley Hot Springs, we went down to the end of the road to see the Tanana River. It was well frozen, of course, but still beautiful. We came back home and spent the rest of the evening making supper, sipping tea, working on school work, and other such pursuits.

Monday, December 03, 2012

It’s not quite as cold here this morning, only about -10 degrees. The sun came up about 9:45, and we heard the mail plane come in about 9:50 Am., so the boys were delighted to see that. The mail plane comes in on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays between 9-10am, weather and light permitting.

After I got the bread started, and breakfast was over, we started in on school. We did a few subjects, and then took a break about 10:30 to go to the post office and take a walk around town. We met the postmaster, Dana, who already knew who we were and chatted for a few minutes. Then we went to Damaris and Art’s home, another couple in the church here. We talked for a bit, and the kids played with some toys. Then we headed back home to check on the bread and eat lunch. Before lunch, another neighbor stopped by and brought over a crockpot (yay!), and home-grown potatoes, carrots, squash, and zucchini as well as some salmon. We are looking forward to eating up those yummy items! We invited their family for supper sometime later in the week after her husband is done working on the runway project here in town, so probably later this week or next week.

I finished the bread, a complete flop, by the way! For some reason, the whole wheat bread didn’t rise as well as it should have. Oh well, we ate it anyways! Besides, I’ll just try again tomorrow! We had lentils and wild rice for lunch, and then laid the little two down for naps while Garett and Chandler headed back outside to play.

I’m heading into town to the school at 4pm. Some of the ladies in church are working on a hand bell piece for the Christmas program and the school is lending us the hand bells.

We do have several praises and a few prayers requests.

Praise: the people have been very friendly and open to having us here.

Praise: the weather has been a little warmer so we can spend more time outside

Praise: the cabin has electricity and stays warm

Prayer Request: It’s easier for Sarah to interact with the families here as the moms are stay-at –home moms, but pray that Roger will be able to find some ways to interact with the men in the church and the community.

Prayer Request: We need snow here for the dog musher teams and the trappers. I know that many of you are praying for us, and if you could add that to your list of things to pray for, it would be that many more people interceding for the enterprises of the families in this town.

Almost Home!

Today is an exciting day for the Robertson family! We are finally going home to Manley Hot Springs. I think we will all take a sigh of relief to be "home". I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of being at home, visiting friends, and I'm even looking forward to getting back into the school routine with Garett!

If we thought the truck was loaded down before, after grocery shopping it is really packed in tight! We all enjoyed our last long, hot, showers for a while and the conveniences of indoor plumbing. Even though I will miss those conveniences, I have such a sense of peace and relief and feel like we are coming home.

We will be fellowshipping with other believers at Manley Baptist Fellowship, and we're looking forward to being involved in our local church. Please pray that we will be a blessing and an encouragement to many.

I'm sorry that this will be a short post, but we still have a few things to finish up before leaving again. We enjoyed a day of down time yesterday. The kids were able to go swimming, played at the local McDonald's play land, ran errands, etc.  We postponed a few of the things we were planning on getting done, like the oil change and car wash (we'd have no hope of getting out of the car if we washed it in -27 degrees!) We plan on doing those and a few other non-essential errands when we come out to Fairbanks in a few weeks.

My husband feels like he is returning home. He spent many years in Canada and in the winter climate, and he has just transitioned right back into the routine of life in the North. He plugs in the vehicle (hopefully, I won't drive off with it plugged in!), he bundles up the kids, he loves the people and the pace of life up here, and in some ways I feel like I'm seeing a whole new side of the man I married (no worries...it's in a good way!) Please pray that the rest of us will transition easily as well.

For those that have been asking, I'm including our address. If you write us, we will write back! The posts on the blog will be becoming a lot more sporadic as we don't have easily accessible internet access in Manley. When I do post, I will probably post in increments of two or three at a time. Thanks again for your prayers, love and support of our family.

Our address:
Roger Robertson
General Delivery
Manley Hot Springs, Alaska
99756

Our boys...minus the one who didn't want to be in the picture!