Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Foulds
May you have many wonderful years together.

Sledding

What a beautiful day--Who will win the distance race?

That little one...loved the ride down but hated the climb back up.

This past week brought some beautiful weather. I was able to escape the classroom for a bit to go sledding with some of my kids :) We had the opportunity to take the speech language pathologist with us. She is from Texas and this was her first time sledding.

A nice break from school work :)

Happy 2007

I have included some pictures of my time at home--and some people very important to me.

Spruce Hill Church 12/27/06--This is an 18 ft. tall Christmas tree from a nearby farm

Grandma and I

Well...here we are more than 2 months since my last post...what a slacker I've become. I was home for the holidays and had a wonderful time, it was great to see everyone and just have time away from work.

Rach, Mom and I at our Family Christmas 12/28/06

We have a lot more snow in the village, and it continues to fall, but the temperature has been decent and we have much to be thankful for. I have been without water all of this week again, this means showering and using the bathroom at the school--makes life interesting. I had guests for supper last night. We (well at least I) had a delightful time. Rocky has been a good little trooper, not chewing nearly as much and has been very content. He and Iain became friends over the holidays.

Everything was so beautiful--snow on the ground and frost covered trees.

This week we will have two funerals in the village, so things have been a bit irregular due to the days of mourning and trying to get back into routine after break. This week brings our third set of parent teacher conferences, I need to hurry up and get all my progress reports in. I am also taking two classes this semester...must have thought I was more bored than I really am. :) Enough of an update...enjoy the pictures :)

A bit of snow?

Crazy Busy

Well....it's been forever since I updated, I'm sorry...I'll try to do better.

Well...lots has happened...

Halloween: we had a carnival at school, the kids were done with class at 12:30 and all staff and students then assembled in the gym. The students were divided into groups, with at least one high school student per group. The day was fun, and teachers were exhausted by the time the day was over....it's more exhausting to do a carnival than to teach all day.

Beginning of November....we had election day and voted for a new governor and oil tax as well as the local election.
Staff and students have been plagued with sickness. Nasty colds going around and one case of whooping cough among staff.

Last weekend I went on a trip as a chaperone for NYO (Native Youth Olympics) it's an interesting experience. The activities take a tremendous amount of strength. Our Jr. High team took 5th overall out of 11. Pretty good...this is the first time we've had an NYO team for several years.

This weekend Kat and I ventured out to Bethel it was a great get away. We spent 1 1/2 hours sitting in the newly remodeled airport (curtousy of Nick and his HS class)....needless to say our toes were well...numb might be an appropriate term...it's freezing cold out there. The first Yute plane came said "we don't have any seats" Kat and I were wondering what in the world...but smiled and laughed as we were starting our adventure. The plane came a little after six and I made my first ever trip going to or from Tunt in the dark. We could see all the lights from neighboring villages, and when flying into Bethel...Bethel looked like a metropolis. Let me tell you, Bethel is a HUGE city, with a grand population of maybe 6,000 people. Upon arrival in Bethel we checked in at the hotel dumped off our stuff and left for the grocery store. I spent entirely too much much on groceries..but it was worth every penny for the fresh produce and goodies that I purchased. We ordered out from our favorite place for supper friday night...I had americanized mexican food...this time the Enchilada's were not vegetarian enchiladas (last time they were made with Tofu). We had very happy tummies.

Saturday morning I woke up a little before six and laid there...a little after seven Kat says "are you awake yet?" I laughed and said yes. She turned on the light...and we went to the freezer to get our containers of ice cream. We returned to the room to eat ice cream and watch stupid cartoons. We got motivated and went to another grocery store, came back packed all our groceries from the previous day and headed for the craft sale. The craft sale was a bit disappointing this year. I did find some cute earrings and have a request in for my fur hat. :) We checked in at the airport early; they were able to get us on an earlier flight (ours was supposed to leave at 4...we left a little before 3) our groceries were delievered later. (Well...the 20 lb. turkey in my duffel bag flew on our plane...LOL--adventures). It was a nice weekend, and a welcome break; and a wonderful thing....Ehab was waiting to talk to me when I got home. :) (he's 11 hours ahead of us). It is getting much colder outside and days are getting shorter. Right now the temperature is about 8F or -13 C with a windchill of -4F or -20C. This morning sun came up about 9:15 and set around 5:00.

Hope you all have a wonderful week,

Updates

What a whirlwind week. :) Beginning of the week was crazy busy. Travis came back from Juneau on Tuesday and had lots of stories to tell. I spent long hours at the school earlier in the week and found myself waking up extra early to work (and to chat with someone :$ ) On Wednesday we had four people from the district office in the school---talk about flying.

Our new boss (the director of special education) was amongst the ones who came out. He showed us a new program that he'd like to start using for paperwork...initially it will be a lot of extra work but in the long run I think it could potentially save hours of work and be more accurate than the program we currently use. He offered a lot of helpful advice and his visit turned out to be less daunting than I anticipated:)

We had our second set of parent/teacher conferences this week, and they went well. We had a good turnout.

My homemade blackberry jam was a hit. :)

The most exciting news of the week is that I have water--after 23 days!! :) The sewer was pumped and Mark came to fix something Friday after school---all I owe him is a bag of cookies :)

One of my co-workers came to me with a prayer request this past week--their baby grand daughter was being medi-vacced to Anchorage, she wasn't breathing and had a 25 min. seizure. She is doing better now, they have her off the respirator and she was given a diagnosis of phenomena and meningitis. Please keep this baby in your prayers. She is still in Anchorage with her parents. The other siblings are home with other relatives right now.

Rocky continues to try and eat EVERYTHING in his sight, he's chewed up my snow boots and chewed on my rain boots, and found the box of prizes I have for my kids. Gotta love him :)

Kat and I were going to head into Bethel this weekend to do some shopping and eat out. Upon second thought and looking out the window at school, we decided that we would rather stay home. I have no regrets as some people are still weathered out of the village. We had snow/rain and high winds.

Have a great week!!

Sunny Sunday

This weekend, like all others has flown by. Yesterday we had a work day at school as it was the end of 1st quarter last week. I'm trudging my way through progress reports and other SpEd paperwork. Seems it's never ending.

Today is the first sunny day we've had in quite awhile. The kids are out and about, not just huddled on my steps or the school steps. Russian Orthodox church is holding a cake walk fundraiser today.

Friday night staff played the high school volleyball team and then we played staff vs. staff. It was an enjoyable evening. Travis is still in Juneau and will be back on Tuesday.

I am still without water. The boardwalks have not yet been replaced meaning the sewer pumping equipment can't make it to my house. It is a good lesson in patience for me :) I am thankful I live so close to the school. :)

Have a wonderful week!

The Stores

We have three small stores in our village, each of them carries something the other one doesn't ...you never know what you may find at the stores. Oh...if we go anywhere on an adventure it usually includes a trip to the store. :) (Sound exciting?)

This is known as the Pavila or Angut Store--cheapest of the three stores

This is known as Book Store (no they don't sell books) or Paul Andrew Trading Post.

This is "The Corp" or Quinarmiut Corporation...This is the biggest of the three stores and the most like the stores at home.

The stores occasionally get things like bread, eggs and produce. You will never find a gallon of milk in the stores, and you usually don't find a pound of hamburger in the freezer.

Brief update

Sorry to those of you who have been checking my blog the last few days only to find the same old entry. :)

Last few days have been hectic. Today was the last day of the quarter--the year is sure flying by. One of my one on one aides was gone for a few days...missed her TONS and gave her a huge hug when she came back :) The one on one aides that I supervise are amazing and when they are not around things just don't function properly. Thanks again Maat and Sylvia for doing an incredible job. We also had a visitor from the district office earlier in the week--they are a great resource and a tremendous help but the day is crazy busy when they come.

I've been working on paperwork...trying to stay caught up and if possible a bit ahead. Travis left today and will be gone about a week; he is attending a writers...something or other in Juneau.--Little sidenote...the radio is getting more and more enjoyable. :) I really enjoy the commentary, and something other than the monotony of my cd's. Travis has a growing selection of music. :) He is now doing school announcements in addition to reading the Principal's Monday news and has staff and students from the school record messages that he plays later.

Weather has been a bit warmer around mid 40's and rainy. Snow is again in the forecast for the next few days.

I still have no water in the house, as my sewer has yet to be pumped. They have to wait until the boardwalks are repaired. Water is still high from all the flooding, and some of the boardwalks (as mentioned) are pretty rickety (or broken).

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...and find myself wondering how I could hate philosophy so much in college and find myself asking so many philosophical questions only a few years later. :)

Will try to post more pictures of the village tomorrow.

Tundra Adventures

WOW!! What a week.

The first few days we had snow and stranded teachers. Then we had flooding and broken boardwalks. I have no water as the sewer tank was only partially pumped.

On Wenesday night I called and had Nick escort me home from school at 11:30 pm...kinda sad when I only live...50 feet from the school. He walked me home and called the VPSO. On Thursday our dog made enemies with someone..not the first encounter. However after much profanity and kicking the lady walked away. Needless to say she called my boss, and threatened to sue . What's happening these days?

Yesterday a plane crashed into the bank of the river. The nose is pretty beat up and windows on the pilots side are broken. The wing has been propped up to help slow the leaking gas. The pilot was the only passenger and is fortunate that only his face is banged up. It's a wonder he wasn't hurt worse. He was hauling about 1200 pounds of freight. Nick said the pilot tried to land about four times prior to the crash and he thought it was a new pilot.--Will try to post pictures later on.

Today the store had produce :) and more food. The shelves have been pretty bare for awhile and there has been no produce since we've been here. We ran into Nick and Dana at the store, they gave us a ride to the airport to look at the plane and the project the high schoolers have been working on. We were almost home, Kat and I and all the packages riding in the trialer, when the trailer veered left as the four wheeler continued straight. The trailer came unhooked and veered left off the boardwalk. Surprised us a bit and we were stuck amongst packages for a few minutes. Nick felt really bad..nothing he could do. Accidents happen. :) It was a bit of a drop but everything is wet and spongy..again the accident could have been much worse.

The guys who will be installing our new water treatment center have arrived. They are living in the spare house we have in exchange for helping Frank hook up the older housing to the school sewer system.

Tonight may be a good time to just curl up with a good book or watch a movie and drink some hot cappucino. :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Tunt Post Office

Not much news today..these pictures of the post office were taken last week.
I haven't quite figured out how they manage to store all the outgoing or incoming packages sometimes. :) The snow has subsided for now--lower village boardwalks are flooded more than they were yesterday.