Snow and Vehicles :)

A few weeks ago....(maybe a month) they brought fuel tanks up; they were working on installing them using a crane, and trucks!! We all turned our heads to catch a glimpse of the trucks out our windows. Some pictures of the guys working and making noise..... The first pictures shown are of the snow we got one night towards the end of January. A beautiful, white, soft, fluffy snow :)

My front steps :) Can anybody spy Rocky's dog house??

The boardwalk between my house and Dave and Angie's house.

What I found when I opened my front door :)

Driving on the pond...(we had to take pictures; how often is a rig in town??)

A picture just for my guys ;)

One of two trucks we have in the village--don't think this one will go anywhere anytime soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My little helper :)

This morning I had my kids and one on one aides over for baking Valentine's cookies. It was a great exercise in practicing reading comprehension and following directions. They were split into 3 groups; the frosting group, mixing group and the rolling and cutting group. All worked well together :)

We had a decorated box outside the classroom for kids to place their Valentine's in. I received many cards, and I now see how valuable a handmade card can be versus a store bought card. The kids put much time and thought into some of the cards.

The weather continues to be cold. Currently, the acutal temp is -14 with a windchill of -35 F. They've been having some problems with the village generators, run by TCSA. They froze up for a few days over Christmas break, this week they were off for about 3 hours due to a leak. Last night the power was off 3 times for 10-20 min. each time....perhaps it's time to look more closely at the maintainance or replacement of the village generators? :)

The guys finished the sewer lines a couple weeks ago, and I now have a flushing toilet!! WHO HOO!! (I know, simple pleasures ;) I appreciate all the time the guys put in during the cold wet weather. They deserve a raise :) Soon, (if things thaw out) we will have water running into the older teacher houses (mine included) so all we need to do to fill our water tank is turn on a valve. Frank has seen to many improvements in housing during his time as Site Administrator.

Hope you have a wonderful and relaxing weekend! :)

Christmas with the Family

Beautiful trees!! Taken as we were driving out the driveway, headed back to the airport.

A little behind the times getting pics posted....but here are some from our family Christmas. Lance and Rachel
Dad and Mom
Grams
Jonas and GlenThe table....Mom got roses from Dad :)
Glen--trying to figure out some computer gizmo for his truck.

My little Christmas tree at home in Alaska....the other 2 pictures show my fur hat, made by one of the women in the village. It's made with silver fox fur and incredibly warm.

School Christmas Program

Well...today was our first day back to work, and now it's time to play catch up with my blog.

On December 19th we had our school Christmas program, I was in charge of organizing/planning. I could not have done it without Kat, Georgette, and Lisa...all huge helps.

The program went well and I think all had fun.

Something to ponder...

A Message by George Carlin:
The parAdox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to l ife not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less.
We plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window a nd nothing in the stockroom.
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
I hope this finds all of you doing well.
I arrived in MN early this morning,this time without my canine companion...I'm missing him already, but am sure he's having a fun time with Kat, Iain and Mia.
My first flight went very well and actually arrived in the village at the scheduled time. I went to Bethel were I stayed the evening, I ordered supper, and curled up for the night before nine. Saturday (the 22nd) I flew out of Bethel and again everything went smoothly. I met up with a friend from Kwethluck and another SpEd teacher and we had a great chance to chit chat. In Anchorage, I met up with another friend and we were on the same flight to MN; this helped time to fly while waiting at the airport.
Before boarding the last flight I felt a wave of nausea, I found myself praying "please God, help this flight to pass quickly." Needless to say when I arrived in Minneapolis...you can say it was a "grand" entry.

It still does not seem possible that Christmas has arrived. Tomorrow we will start the festivities, and they will be staggered through the 5th of January. It's great to be back with family and friends.

God bless and have a safe and happy holiday season.

Trip to Bethel with the girls :)

The ladies and I went to Bethel on Friday morning. Around 9:30 I received a phone call that the plane would be here in about 3o minutes. We loaded up our bags, got Rocky over to Kat's and headed down to the airport in the "airport shuttle" aka the four wheeler, trailer and our excellent driver Iain. We waited for our plane until around 10 am. Needless to say our feet were more than a bit cold by that point in time :) We kept ourselves entertained with Angie's Catch phrase game. It was a much needed and very welcome get away :)

Pam and Angie on the ride to the airport

Kat hanging on as we encountered the drift covered boardwalk. :) headed for the airport.

The sky around 10 am 11/23/07--also notice Nick driving ahead with the snow go to make sure we didn't get stuck with the four wheeler.

Pam, Marie and Kat...waiting for the plane :)

Pam and Angie waiting at the Tunt airport: Pam's trying to warm Angie's feet.

Pam and Marie in the car....The smartest thing we did in Bethel was rent a car for around $100/day plus $20 collision insurance. Notice that we are well packed. :) (and those aren't even all of the boxes...some of them went with Maat, Zach and Lena)

Loading all our stuff at the Hageland terminal....will we be under the 1200lb limit????

Iain and Angie loading our stuff into the trailer when we landed...home sweet home :)
The moon above the river when we landed in Tunt around 4 pm 11/24/07

I splurged and bought a pair of slippers at the craft fair this year :) thus far it's been a worthwhile purchase. :)

Kat and Angie in the well loaded car
Bentley's....our second home when we travel to Bethel.

The view out the window while we ate our lunch at Yolanda's; we had a beautiful day to drive around Bethel.

Pretty scenery in Bethel...looks MUCH different with the snow and frost :)

Kat, pumping gas...LOL I guess MN drivers have a hard time figuring out Alaska gas pumps :) The station worker came out twice to tell us how to operate the pump :) Gas prices were $4.77/gal in Bethel for self-serve and $4.93 for full-service.

Simple Beauty/supper at Marie's House

The View from my back steps--simply gorgeous!!

The view out my bedroom window
The small snowdrift in my house :)

Cooking--she is making a letter "E" while tearing up angel food cake for supper.

Supper at Marie's House- The kids worked hard and 20 of them came over for Hamburgers, French Fries, Juice, mixed berries and strawberry angel food desert

Carving our Class Pumpkin--The kids were so focused and did a great job :)