Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Busy, busy, busy! The temperatures were quite a bit warmer today. It was about -20 degrees, so we were able to get to the washateria to do laundry, catch up the blog, and take showers. 

By the time we completed all of those errands, it was time to go home to hang up the wet laundry, re-stoke the stove, have lunch, and take naps. Roger also went to the neighbor’s house to see if they might have a hitch for the trailer that’s sitting in our yard. We’d like to use it to haul wood, if we can get it shoveled out!

Tuesday is our day to use the bath house. Because we are trying to save on gas and wear and tear on the vehicle, we decided to walk. Let me just say: that was the WORST idea ever! It’s about a .5 mile walk. I wasn’t too bad going out to the bath house, as the kids were excited about going. Travis and Wyatt sat in the sled, and the older two boys walked. However, once we arrived, we had to change everyone out of their outer wear, inside clothes, and then into swim clothes. Then after the relaxing waters, we had to change everyone back out of wet clothes, into dry clothes, and into the outerwear! By that time, all the kids were tired and no one wanted to walk home! Travis was on the back of the sled, fell off, and was not easily convinced to ride it again.  Needless to say, we were all ready to get home. But, that’s not the end of the story…I had forgotten to put the meal in the crockpot, so supper wasn’t ready.  However, we did eventually get everyone fed, devotions done, and into bed…that was my favorite part of the day! 

On that note:

-We appreciate your prayers

- I am going to bed 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Another cold day!

Although it did warm up a little today (-43 degrees), it was still too cold to start the truck. Hence, we did not take a trip to the washateria nor did we get water! We are in water saving mode as we are on our last 1.5 gallons! Tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer and if it is warmer than -40 degrees, we will try to take the truck to the well and the washateria. Otherwise, Roger will have to take the sled and some water jugs and get water that way. Normally, we would all walk to the well or the washateria, but -40 degrees is simply too cold for the kids that sit in the sled and do not walk the whole way!

The older three kids did go outside today for a little while; Garett lasted the longest staying outside for about 35 minutes. I took a brisk walk to go to the school to practice the hand bells. I think one of the hardest things about walking or any type of outdoor activity for that matter is learning to pace yourself. If you walk to fast or exert too much effort, you will break a sweat. But when you stop or go inside you can cool down too quickly, which could cause a cold and causes the body to shake! 

But everyone did get some exercise! We are getting ready for the community and school Christmas program on December 20. I’ll be playing in the ladies hand bell group, and we are hoping this will be a good opportunity for our family to mix and mingle with others. We are also hoping to find a family to come to dinner on Friday night, and we are praying for a little warmer weather so people will be willing to come to the church program on Sunday night.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, will be an influx of lots of news on our blog! It is also our day for the Manley Hot Springs bath house visit at 4pm. Hooray! I’m looking forward to our family being clean again! 

Thanks for your prayers, our love to you, Sarah

Sunday, December 16, 2012

“An Alaskan winter day”

Well, I’m not going to lie…it was a rather discouraging day for me. The weather was at -52 degrees, so it was beyond cold. It was downright frigid! It was too cold to go outside; in fact we found a piece of insulation and covered up our door from the inside! The propane lines froze on the stove, so I’m thankful that we have a crockpot and a wood stove to heat water! I was hoping to get my hair washed today, but since we haven’t been able to get water for the past several days, we’ve had to ration it out. Tomorrow we will have to go out for water, so hopefully it will be a little warmer.

We had our own worship service together, but I sure did miss the fellowship with other believers today! The boys are doing quite well with their Christmas program parts, and next Sunday is the program. Please pray that the weather will be warm enough for people to come out and hear the Gospel.

I made bread in the crockpot today, and amazingly enough, it was delicious! We’ve eaten leftovers today along with warm bread and cheese. We had one bag of microwave popcorn, so we popped the bag in the microwave. Then we reused the bag by filling it with a quarter cup of popcorn seed and microwaving it. The result: deliciousness! For supper, I think we will heat soup on the wood stove and finish off the bread. I probably don’t need to say it…but I’m hoping for a warmer day tomorrow! 

December 15

Saturday: Two weeks in Manley

We have been learning again,  so I’ve posted those thoughts below.

     *Garett and Travis learned this week that water freezes quickly! They were helping Roger get water, and they accidently spilled a jug of water. By the time Roger had filled the next jug, their boots were frozen in the ice!

        * Roger learned not to place his boots near the water barrel. Since the kids have been filling water pitchers, the boots were a little on the damp side!

          *We did our little experiment of throwing hot water in the air, and it really does disappear into ice crystals! Amazing!

        * We are becoming accustomed to the cold, as we had ice cream for dessert at -44 degrees!  (Of course, since we store the ice cream outside, it took about ½ hour for the ice cream to thaw enough to even eat it!)

      *  While egg replacer works in many recipes, do not use it in a fudgy brownie recipe. I’m assuming that you must need real eggs in order to achieve the fudginess. My brownies were more like a chocolate brick that couldn’t even be softened by dipping it in hot chocolate!
 
        * At -40 degrees, the leather seats in the truck become very hard. Just about the time the seats are comfortable to sit on, we’re done with our errands!

We’ve now been in Manley for two weeks. Our weather here is bitterly cold today about -50 degrees down in Manley, and about -44 degrees where we live up on the hill. Either place, it’s very cold! We spent the day in our cabin, and it was an hourly job of putting wood on the fire to keep it warm. We finished decorating our little tree, painted, played with Legos, watched a dvd, and drank hot tea.  There is frost on all of the windows, the door hinges and the inside door knob!  But, we’ve stayed comfortably warm, as long as you have on your slippers…the floor is chilly!

Roger did venture out to empty the dirty honey bucket, empty the dirty water pails under the sink, and also to walk into town to find out about church tomorrow. Much to our disappointment, church is cancelled for tomorrow.  As some families come from a distance, it is just too hard on machinery or the dogs to go out in the cold. So, we will be worshipping at home tomorrow, and working on our Christmas program parts.

Since I had hoped to get to the washateria today to do laundry, take a shower, and update the blog, I’ll be figuring out how to wash little boys and wash my hair at home. Dry shampoo can only help so much! With the temperatures so low today, it would have been too hard on the truck to take it out. Roger would have to have the battery plugged in as well as the truck. And it’s just rough on any machinery to operate in these cold temperatures. So we stayed at home, and enjoyed the Alaskan weather from the inside. Garett wanted to go outside today, so he bundled up and went out for a little bit. That’s one little boy who loves the outdoors. We told him to stay in the yard for safety reasons; and after about 20 minutes, he came in covered in frost.

We appreciate your prayers. With the beautiful snowfall this week, I’m reminded of the verse in Isaiah 1:18. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” I love the thought that Jesus’ blood has made my sins white as snow. While far from perfect, knowing that I can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ encourages me on a daily basis.

Life in the North

December 14, 2012

It was a very chilly day today, which seemed even colder than the last time we had -28degrees. I think it’s because we enjoyed a few days of 7 degrees, 11 degrees, and I think it even got to 15 degrees above zero, so it made today’s weather seem very cold!

Guess what came in today’s mail?! Yay! Travis’ diapers came today via the mail plane. We probably would have received them on Wednesday’s mail plane, but the weather was so inclement that the mail plane did not come into Manley. So, the projected date was December 5, and I received them on December 14 only nine days late.  In other news, that was the only mail we received today, so if you’d like to write us via snail mail…we I would love it!  Our address is as follows:

Robertson

General Delivery
Manley Hot Springs, Alaska
99756

Even though it was cold today, we did go pick out a Christmas tree. We went to several different Christmas tree lots (JK!)  We gathered up the kids and drove out of town in search of the perfect one. Well, all trees look beautiful with freshly fallen white snow on them; it’s when you shake the snow off that your opinion might change! We did find our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and it fits just right in our cabin. The kids had a great time putting lights on it, and stringing pinecones, but I think we might have to string popcorn tomorrow to add a little fullness to it! 

The kids are busy working on their Christmas program parts and we have our first practice coming up on Sunday. Wyatt speaks very loudly (but you can’t understand what he’s saying!). Garett also speaks loudly, but he doesn’t have his part memorized; so he just makes it up as he goes along! And Chandler, well, its Chandler…he’s not too concerned about it and can say it will little help, but so far he’s not been overly interested.

Tomorrow is washing day at the washateria and showers for everyone!  It’s still predicted to be cold tomorrow, but life goes on. We just dress a little warmer, add another pair of socks, and bring along the hand warmers to get tucked into mittens and boots.

As the preparations for Christmas increase and the season comes upon us, let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. I hope I never lose the wonder of realizing that Christ came to earth so that I could have eternity in Heaven someday. Now that is a thought worth singing about…Joy to the World!

December 13, 2012

It was a very, very busy day! With the freshly fallen snow from yesterday, we spent a good chunk of the day outside (the daylight hours and then some of the twilight hours too). We shoveled snow, made a path ot the outhouse, went sledding, made a big pile of snow for the igloo project, and I do believe that everyone will sleep well tonight!

Not only were we busy with the snow, but just the flurry of activities that are required when we return from a trip. We hauled water, did school, and took our weekly bath at the hot springs!  I also practiced the hand bells today and enjoyed a brisk walk in the snow. After hand bell practice, I came home and we made baked salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans for supper. It was delicious! Mrs. Malpass had suggested a recipe for the salmon, and it was a hit! Roger had planned to go visit a dog musher, but time slipped away as the chores needed attention. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll be able to visit someone, we’ll see.

The weather today could only be described as a beautiful winter day. The snow fell ever so lightly for the first part of the day, but then tapered off in the late afternoon. The temperature was about 10 degrees this morning, but the forecast is for much colder temperatures starting tomorrow morning.

As always, we appreciate your prayers, words of love, and mail! 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

My lips are singing many praises tonight as I write this post! I am thankful to be home again; I am thankful for a four-wheel drive vehicle; I am thankful for a wonderful husband that is willing to drive in snowy conditions; I am thankful for the beautiful snowfall; and I could continue to list many things but moving on to the rest of the post.

We spent the morning in Fairbanks, running around like chickens with our heads cut off! The temperature was about 19 degrees, with a steady snowfall and the snow was quickly accumulating. Roger went to the oil change place at 7:30am, and although it opened at 7:30am., he still had to wait a bit. I got the kids up, packed up the clean laundry, gave showers, took them to the continental breakfast, and gathered up the hotel room items. We then met Roger at the door of the hotel at about 8:45am. We went to Lowes to get gas jugs, power strip cord, and several other items. Then we went to Wal-mart to grocery shop. I knew that I would probably go to Sam's club as well, but for the items I didn't want to buy in bulk, I shopped at Wal-mart. I bought some items for the Christmas treat bags for the night of the Christmas program at church, and Christmas cards. (Now to see if I can get the Christmas cards mailed out before Valentines Day!)

Following the Wal-mart excursion, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Sam's club. Roger and I have never had a Sam's Club membership; but when we were in Appleton a few weeks before we left for our trip, we decided to purchase a membership. Praise the Lord for that decision! We bought the remaining grocery items at Sam's Club and spent over $300.00! I only say that to say that it was very difficult for me to buy groceries in such bulk! I don't think I've every spent that much in a single trip and I had already spent some grocery money at Wal-mart! YIKES! Anyways, we aren't planning on going back into Fairbanks until our trip back to Wisconsin. So, I may be sending out an S.O.S. For some items, if I need to have something! When we were loading the truck with the items from Sam's Club, I realized that I needed to change Travis' diaper. I asked Roger for the bag, and we realized that we had forgotten the diaper bag at the hotel! Not only that, but also the bag with my journal, our Bibles, and my devotional book. Praise the Lord that we realized that mistake while we were still in Fairbanks!

We finally loaded the truck, gathered the children out of the snowbanks, filled the sippy cups, and headed out of town. It was about 1pm., and the snow was coming down fairly quickly. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the drive home and the driving conditions. I mentioned that I was thankful for a four-wheel drive vehicle; yes, if we had our Mercury Sable from Wisconsin we would have been dragging snow and stuck about 2 miles outside of Fairbanks.

However, Roger felt confident and since I didn't have to drive in the snow...off we went into the snowstorm. If you are looking to increase your faith in the Lord or strengthen your prayer life, I'd strongly suggest a trip on snowy, mountainous roads! It will encourage you to commune in prayer on a minute to minute basis! I also recommend that you are 100% sure in where you'll spend eternity as you may end up there! I am confident that God gave me the right man to drive in those conditions; and once we were about 70 miles into the trip, the snow lightened up and the visibility was much improved. Just as the visiblity improved the darkness of the night crept upon us.

We actually made decent time coming home, all things considered. We stopped in Eureka to visit some friends for a brief moment and then came home. Coming home to a cold cabin is enough incentive to make me want to stay in Manley for the next seven weeks! The olive oil was frozen again, and the water inside had a thin layer of ice. BUT, it didn't take nearly as long for the cabin to heat up as it did the first time. We are warm and cozy once again, and oh, so very glad to be home!