Christmas Day

December 25, 2012

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

Merry Christmas! We trust that each of you is enjoying this Christmas even if far from family. We truly have a lot to rejoice in and to be thankful about as we celebrate the birthday of the KING of KINGS and Lord of Lords! It’s a wonderful thing to have a day to celebrate the Lord’s birthday, but it is far more important and wonderful to recognize Him as Lord of your life! Yes, Jesus came as a baby; but He came so that one day He would die on the cross for your sin and mine. But the cross was not the end, Jesus Christ rose from the dead three days after the cross. Praise the Lord, I serve a risen Savior! 

 

We had a wonderful Christmas together. The kids slept in until 7:45am. Then everyone had breakfast, dressed, and we sat together to read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Following the Bible reading, we prayed together and then opened our presents. The boys found books, legos, candy, coloring books, matchbox cars, and assorted other goodies under the tree. They spent the day playing with their stuff, losing the pieces, re-finding them, borrowing their brother’s toys, and for the most part playing nicely…amazing!  Roger gave me some Alaskan handtowels, salt and pepper shakers, and an igloo nativity set. After opening gifts and playing with the new treasures for a bit, Roger, Garett, and Chandler headed outside. 

 

The weather today was ….unbelievable! It was 20 degrees here for Christmas Day! The sledding hill was fast today as the snow softened up enough to really become a fast hill. The older boys loved it and the younger two…not so much! Everyone laid down for a nap about 12pm, but unfortunately Travis was the only one who fell asleep! 

We headed to Art and Damaris’ house about 1:45pm. They graciously invited us to spend Christmas dinner at their house, so we really enjoyed that treat! I made cheesecake and chocolate peanut butter pie for dessert, and Damaris made turkey, stuffing, salad, corn, potatoes, pineapple, and bread for lunch! Wow! We had an enjoyable afternoon with them, and both Roger and I were able to call our families to wish them a Merry Christmas. (And Damaris sent us home with left overs, so I’ll have an easy day cooking tomorrow! ) Damaris and Art also gave gifts to the boys, so they have truly been spoiled! Damaris made a beautiful hat, scarf, and neck warmer set for me, which will definitely be used! We are blessed to have wonderful friends here in Manley Hot Springs.

We ended the day at home, enjoying our new Christmas gifts and just talking about the day. Wyatt asked for a bedtime snack, so I asked him what he wanted. “Rice,” was his reply! We have LOTS of rice and beans, so we’ve been eating quite a bit of that, but apparently the kids don’t mind! I made a pot of rice for a bedtime snack, and it’s a good thing I made extra as all the boys came along and asked for a bowl of rice. Personally, I’d much rather feed them rice than beans, as beans and boys do not seem to be a good combination! 

 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Sarah

Monday, December 24, 2012

It’s Christmas Eve!

It was a different sort of Christmas Eve for us here, but it was a good day. The weather was nice…actually even warming up to 9 degrees! It feels so warm after last weeks temperatures of -40 degrees and colder!

Roger and Garett went wood cutting today. About 18 miles outside of Manley is a burned area. The wood is dry and ready to be burned (again!) so the wood cutting is fairly easy work. They left at daylight (about 10am.) and headed out. They picked up a man who lives out that way and who offered to help cut wood. They just cut the trees into 6-8’ lengths and loaded them on the trailer. Once home, Roger will cut them up into lengths for the stove. It went fairly quickly and Roger and Garett were home again by 1:30pm.

Roger enjoys taking the boys on excursions like wood cutting as it gives him an opportunity to talk to them one on one. Roger said on the way back home (it was about an hour ride with the loaded trailer) Garett looked like he was thinking. So Roger asked Garett what he was thinking about. “I miss Wisconsin,” Garett replied. “Why is that?” asked Roger. Garett replied seriously, “Well, Wisconsin has Subway and that’s my favorite.”  Roger told Garett that there was a Subway in the Walmart in Fairbanks, and Garett asked when we could go there. “Well, it’s a four hour ride, Garett, so probably not until on our way back to Wisconsin.” Garettt replied, “Okay! Maybe we can go to Subway on the way back.” (I think he might be starting to miss bread, as that is still not my forte!) It was funny to hear Garett tell about what he missed and at the top of his list was Subway! 

I had some Christmas cookies to give to the mail lady, and the boys wanted to go to the store to pick out some Christmas treats (soda pop). So, about 10:30am. I bundled the other three up and off we went to the post office. Since we usually cut across the frozen slough, it’s only about a .25 mile of a walk. The mail plane hadn’t come in yet, but we dropped off the cookies. BUT, the little store was closed! Oh dear, I had three very disappointed little children. Chandler suggested that we walk to the store out to the washateria, and I agreed. I should have thought on that decision a little more! It’s a mile walk from our house, and since we were at the post office, the walk was already a little further! We had the toboggan and the other plastic sled hooked on behind. At first all three of the kids were riding in the sleds but since it’s an uphill walk (both ways! Just kidding!) to the washateria, I had to have Chandler walk. At about .75 of a mile, I was thinking what a bad idea this was, but by then we were close and Chandler was still excited about going to the store. Travis was crying on the sled, and Wyatt was asking when we were going to get there! AHH! But, finally we made it to the store! (I had been praying the whole way that it would be open, since it was Christmas Eve, after all!) It was open…Praise Jesus! We picked out some treats for Christmas and a small candy bar for the boys stockings. I also splurged and bought a red pepper ($2.50) and a cucumber (also $2.50)! The bad thing about walking out to the store is that everyone is usually okay about walking out, but the way back…well, it’s a long walk back! I was starting to feel tired, but what goes up must come down! So, we started back, going downhill this time which was easier, but the back sled tended to want to pass the front sled leading to a tangled up mess of boys, groceries, ropes, and sleds! Grrr! Oh, and by that time, Travis was ready for a nap and wanted me to carry him! Not to mention the snow grader that passed by us (but that’s another story entirely!). BUT, the Lord had mercy on me, and about .5 miles from town, a man came along in a pickup truck. He asked if we wanted a ride to the post office. I didn’t know him from Adam, but I accepted! He loaded the sleds and treats in the back of the truck and we piled into the truck. We arrived at the post office and picked up our mail. Then we noticed that the little store next to the post office was now open!!  So, I bought a small bottle of ranch dressing to go with the veggies and some sour cream and spent $6.48! (I may not be able to use coupons in Manley, but I’m saving money by walking!)  Good thing we walk and only buy things as a treat…or we’d go broke in a hurry!  By this time, all the children were cold and we still had to walk .25 to home, across the slough and back up the hill to home. Travis insisted that I carry him, but I only carried him until we reached the slough. Since the trail isn’t a road, it’s harder walking. So he wailed in the sled until we reached home. Chandler was a few steps ahead of us as he announced at the post office that he needed to go potty. By the time I reached the top of the hill and into our driveway, Chandler was at the front door. But he couldn’t get the door open with his mittens on, so he wet himself…snowsuit and all on the front porch. So, he was crying because he had an accident, Travis was wailing because he was tired and cold, and Wyatt was whining that his toes were cold and he needed his boots off! I was never so glad to walk in the door and sit down! We survived and I got my exercise for the day (or the week!). So why did I do it? Well, it’s Christmas and three little boys! (However, I’m thinking that will be the last time for that adventure!) Chalk it up to experience and a lesson learned! 

Naptime was wonderful! Everyone took a nap, then we got up and headed to the washateria (by truck this time!) for showers...Roger and I needed them after him cutting wood and my walk! However, when we arrived at the washateria, the place was closed. Apparently, the cleaning lady hasn’t come in a few days, and the place is shut down until further notice! So, no showers for us! 

 

We came home and feasted on taco dip, fresh veggies, enchiladas and jell-o! Yummy! Then the kids watched a Christmas movie while Roger and I wrapped a few gifts. Afterwards, we read a couple of Christmas books, the Christmas story from the Bible and headed off to bed. I’ve got a feeling that we’ll all sleep good tonight as lots of fresh air and exercise usually help the body sleep great!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

“Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine…Praising my Savior all the day long!” Those are some of the words to a song that I believe, Fanny Crosby wrote long ago. The words are very fitting for how I feel today and for what God has done for me.

It was a very special day. The weather was about perfect for tonight’s Christmas program. The temperature was right at 0 degrees. A wind was blowing this morning making it seem colder, but tonight the wind was still.

We spent the morning getting ready for the dinner after church. I made baked salmon, and then I put it in the crockpot. I also made a coffeecake, which Roger said was fine…but… Okay, so when a recipe calls for fresh or frozen cranberries, dried ones do not work the same way. Just sayin’! J

When it was light outside, about 10am. we bundled up to go outside. We spent some time sledding and playing and then walked to Art and Damaris’s home. Since we do not have a phone, they graciously allowed us to use theirs so that we could make some phone calls. I was able to talk to my dad and my sister, Hannah. Roger was able to call his parents as well. It was good to catch up on other news, and to share some of ours with them.

After making our calls, we headed home, ate lunch, took a nap, and then got ready for the program. Obviously, life here in Manley is becoming familiar to our children. Garett and Chandler got themselves dressed first and went outside. By the time Roger and I had dressed the other two and ourselves in outerwear, the older two boys were gone! They walked to church by themselves…taking the sleds with them. This meant that Dad and Mom were left with the two youngest children, whom usually ride on the sleds, the crockpot, cake pan and Bibles! Oh yes, we were just tickled pink! Or NOT! Needless to say, Dad had a few words with his sons when we arrived at church. One…was leaving without telling us. And two was taking off with the sleds! Well, we resolved the issue and life moves forward! J

The program went really well. The younger kids had their parts memorized, for the most part. You couldn’t always understand what they were saying, but they were cute! The older kids read the Christmas story and we sang lots of Christmas Carols. I think Roger counted 48 people that came, so that was wonderful! I played the keyboard, Damaris played the violin, and another lady played the guitar. Two weeks ago, I sat on the floor to play the keyboard. This week, we set it on something else. It was too high, so I had to stand. I wonder what the proper piano technique would be for standing and playing! J I was praying that people would come, and the Lord truly answered our prayer! The potluck dinner was delicious, and most of the people stayed around to eat. We had salmon, ham, salmon salad, vegetables, and salmon with broccoli, jell-o, bread, and lots of other delicious delectables! J We stayed to help clean up and straighten up the church building, but made it home around 7:30pm. I’m thankful that the Lord blessed us with good weather and that people made the effort to come to the program. May God be praised!

 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Three weeks in Manley

Weather wise the weather started out cold here this morning at about -35 degrees; however, the wind shifted and the temperature went up fairly quickly. By the afternoon, the temperature was about -5 degrees.

This morning (when it was cold J ) we went to the washateria. We did laundry, updated the blog, showered, took trash to the dump, and filled up the water jugs. Unfortunately, my shower today was way closer to the three minute mark! L And Roger’s was closer to six, so next time…I’m going first! J

After morning errands, we came home. After lunchtime and naptime, everyone headed outside for a bit. Chandler and Roger are working on building an igloo, and the other boys went sledding and played in the snow. At 3:30pm, I headed to the church building. Damaris and I worked on getting the church building ready for the Christmas program tomorrow. We also put together little gift sacks for each of the kids that came to the program. Since it took longer than either of us anticipated, I’m glad we did it today instead of waiting until tomorrow.  I walked in the door at about 5:30pm., and I was really missing the number to call for carryout pizza! J Instead, we pulled out the moose sausage, made the pizza dough, mixed up the sauce, whipped up some cheese (okay, I’m kidding! It was already shredded) J, and made homemade pizza. It was so yummy! We was after 7pm. when we sat down to eat, but the pizza was delicious!

Since today marks our third Saturday in Manley, I thought that I would share with you all the new things we’ve been learning! J

-         In cold weather always try to wear the same neck warmer. Oh, I also wouldn’t recommend letting anyone else use it! At -20 to -30 degrees, you can feel the nose hairs freezing in your nose; however, at -40 degrees and colder your nose will just run…continuously! So, you really don’t want anyone else to wear your neck warmer. But, if someone else does…just turn it around or inside it out as that “crusty” part can be rather disgusting! J

-         You can substitute spaghetti noodles for lasagna noodles when making lasagna. The texture of the dish does not come out the same way, but the taste is still good.

-         I need to be sure to thoroughly dry my baking pans before putting them away in the drawer under the kitchen stove. When I went to use the pans this week, they had frozen together…that’s INSIDE the house! J

-         At -40 degrees, toilet paper is no longer soft. Instead it becomes more of a white, crunchy, cold cardboard!

-         Never go anywhere without a flashlight and hand warmers. It generally gets darker sooner than I think it will. And the hand warmers may not be for me, but for the little person that is walking or riding and needs a little extra warmth.

-         Wyatt sleep walks and sleep talks. Since the cabin is small, the two little boys sleep out in the main room with us. (Not in our bed but on the couch and a cot)  Wyatt usually sleep walks or talks every night about 11:30pm. Somehow, he seems to be subconscious of the wood stove as he always walks around it. We usually just gently guide him back to bed, he climbs in, we cover him up, and he goes back to sleeping. (To be honest, it’s not “we”. Roger is the one that usually gets up with the boys. Yes, I have an awesome husband!) J

Friday, December 21

Mail is from Wednesday's mail plane; the packages we picked up on Thursday along with a registerd letter from Santa (pictured in the middle bottom row) with a gift of money...Thank-you!

Friday, December 21, 2012

First of all, Happy 33^rd Wedding anniversary to my parents! Since I will not be able to call them, I’m just letting them know that I did not forget! 

The weather is still bordering on the frigid side! It’s about -45 degrees, and I would love to see the temperature warm up to -20 degrees! We still haven’t been able to go out for wood, since it is just too cold for vehicles, chainsaws, trailers and children.

I’d be surprised if the mail plane makes it into Manley today. The plane didn’t come on Monday, due to frigid temperatures and since it’s about the same temperature today…I have my doubts that we will get mail. So we were able to get mail one day this week. The good thing is that the mail plane will come on Monday, providing the weather is good! 

With the temperatures, we are facing a little bit of cabin fever. Grumpy children with limitless energy can make for a long day. I’m thinking of bundling them up to go outside, but it will take longer to get them dressed then they’ll be able to stay outside!  So, I’m thinking of another craft project and maybe some cooking making. (The cookie making depends on how much sanity I have left after the craft project!) I have to say though, Roger is amazing with the kids. He helps with the craft projects and cleaning up. But at these temperatures, Roger has to keep stuffing wood in that stove to keep us warm! (And of course, the emptying of the honey bucket, dirty wash buckets, etc.)

The lid fell off the water barrel this morning. It is next to a table that had some magazines and Roger’s art paper sitting on it. Chandler was in a hurry to get something, and oops! into the water barrel went Roger’s paper and the magazines! I’ll admit I wasn’t very happy, and it was not one of my finer moments of parenting! So, now the papers are sitting in front of the stove. We are trying to dry them out to see if they are salvageable.

Woo Hoo! The mail plane DID come today! Yay for mail! We received four letters and a package from my other sister, Jenn. It was a pleasant surprise to have the mail plane come in today.

Today was also the last day of school for the students here. Since we’ve gotten to know the teachers, I invited them to dinner next Saturday. We are looking forward to sharing dinner with them in our home.

Please pray that the temperatures will warm up a little bit. I’d love for our family to take showers before Sunday!  Also, there are many families trying to travel into Fairbanks or other parts of the state, but the frigid temperatures can make traveling dangerous. Since we also have the Christmas program on Sunday, it would be a huge blessing if the temperatures would warm up a little for that as well. I’m going to the church tomorrow to help put together goodie bags for the young people that come to the program. The boiler was turned on today to get the church warm enough for Sunday.

Top Row, left to right: 10am, 11am, 12pm: Middle Row:1pm, 2pm, 3pm: Bottom Row: 3:45pm
Dark by 4:15pm

Christmas is very different for our family this year. We’ve foregone a lot of the traditions we normally have just do to limited accessibility, availabity and money. But, it’s been good for our family to focus on the real reason for the season…Jesus Christ! We’ve been able to study people of the nativity scene rather than just Mary, Joseph and Jesus. I love that! We’ve discussed Zechariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the angels, the wise men, and Simeon and Anna. So, for that I am very thankful! We did bring a few presents for the boys, and people have been VERY generous to them. The only things I forgot were items to stuff the stockings!  So, using my creativity…I’ve decided that I will spend $4.00 and the boys can each have a can of soda for their stockings! Watch and see…that will be their favorite gift! 



Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cold, cold, cold! The temperature today is -42 degrees, so we were not able to cut wood today. It’s too hard to take out the truck, trailer, and children in such cold conditions. We received 15 letters in yesterday’s mail…yay!  And, because the mail plane was late (it did not get here until 1:30pm.), we didn’t pick up the packages until today. So, it was like getting two days of mail! We received packages from my sister, Roger’s sister, and our friends from church in Wisconsin, the Scherzers. It was so much fun to see the boys opening the boxes and their expressions of delight. The Scherzers sent us a little fake, green tree with ornaments and lights to put on it. It adds such a nice green look in our cabin especially since our real tree is losing needles by the pound (if that’s possible!). 

We also received craft supplies, so we spent part of the morning creating a huge mess crafts. The boys had fun; and since it was too cold to spend any length of time outside, the crafts provided a nice distraction. Our friends also sent us some banana bread wrapped in newspaper. Roger and I spent about 20 minutes reading the paper that the bread was wrapped in to catch up on news! (I think we’re a little news deprived!). My sister sent Christmas movies, lotions, coffee, and small gifts for the boys. The older two received little guns that shoot marshmallows. Hannah also sent along a bag of marshmallows for the guns, but Travis and Wyatt keep eating the ammunition… much to their brother’s dismay! 

Roger walked over to visit with a dog musher today. They had a good visit, and Roger enjoyed lunch with them as well. We are headed to the school in a little bit to enjoy the Christmas program. It’s sure to be a cold walk with the little ones, so we’ll have to dress warm and get out the hand warmers.

We had a great time at the Christmas Holiday program. Probably about 40-50 people attended, which was a good turnout considering that the temperature was about -45 degrees. The school kids did a good job with their program, and it was fun to play the hand bells in the community group. After wards, we had desserts and punch. One of the differences between having desserts here and having desserts down south is the fact that up here there are not nearly as many pre-packaged goods. Out of about 15 different treats, only one was a store bought treat. Everything else was home made! It was all very good...cheesecake, jelly roll, chocolate muffins, oatmeal cookies, etc. Yummy! We had a good time meeting and visiting people.

Every year, the Native American Indian Counsil (I think that's right) picks two villages from the surrounding area to give gifts to the village children. There are about 36 different villages that they do this for, and this year Manley and Minto were the two villages chosen. A gift was given to every child in Manley! These are nice gifts like remote control cars, Barbie dolls sets, big Nerf guns, and other gifts! Every child received a gift, including four little Robertson boys! Garett received a remote control monster truck, Chandler received a construction vehicle and trailer, Wyatt a pull-back racing car and car hauler, and Travis was presented with a sit and spin toy! The boys are enjoying the new toys, and it was so nice to have them included in the toy receiving. It was totally unexpected but a great surprise!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Well, yesterday we did laundry and took baths, BUT life would not be an adventure if everything went smoothly!  Travis threw up last night all over himself, his bed and his brother’s bed! YUCKY! Since our blanket supply is a little limited, I guess we will be spending more money doing laundry later today.

Today is Wednesday, the weather is about -21 degrees and the skies are fairly clear. All that to say…there is a good possibility that the mail plane will make it into Manley today! YAY! I’m hoping for mail.  The lady that is the post master here is very nice, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her. I’m praying for our friendship to grow, and I’ll get to know her better.

Roger is busy scrounging around the house, shoveling out the piles of snow surrounding a trailer. We’d like to get it out, so that we can use it to haul wood. We are hoping to go out tomorrow to get wood. The interesting part will be getting the trailer back into the yard. Our home is up on a hill and the road to our home is on a hill, so we will need to back up the road hill and then pull forward into our driveway. (I think that sounds easier written on paper then it’s actually going to be!)

Tomorrow is also the community Christmas program, so we are looking forward to that too. Please pray that we will be able to meet a few more people as well.

Well, as I sit here finishing this post for the day…I’ll need to make an addendum.  We did get the trailer shoveled out; we did not get to the washateria; we did take a walk as a family, and we did get mail today! YAY! Since the mail plane was late…as in very late…we picked up our letters. We’ll go back tomorrow to pick up the packages as Dana said we had some waiting there, but she needed to process them first. Woo Hoo! 