Driving in Fairbanks

This was from week before last. The snow is almost completely gone now, except for the huge snow burns on the side of the roads and parking lots. We don't even wear coats during the day. Shortly after we arrived we quit wearing hats and gloves. The mid-temps average in the 30s and 40s but it feels a whole lot warmer!

The air is very dry here. We have to drink extra water and wear extra moisturizer and conditioner (for the static). But I must say, after living in the very humid South all my life, this is an interesting change. I like it!

Sunset

The surnrises and sunsets are spectacular up here. Of course they are very early and very late now! We are having a very, very difficult time going to bed before 11pm because of the beautiful energizing sunshine. However, I hope to purchase blackout curtains soon!

Expect many more pictures of the sunrises and sunsets. We love them!

Rucci and Revells Little Cheeses

How did we celebrate Easter?

This snowman was built on Easter Sunday! We would like to dedicate this picture to John Andrew Chassevent. Sorry John, it didn't make 10 feet, but maybe next year when you come to visit!!!

The other two youth in the picture are Jared MacGregor and Alicia Markle. They are awesome with our children. John-James asks all the time when Jarry (Jared) can come over! Alicia is a favorite of all our children. Brennan and David race her and play video games with her, and the others love it when we lived with her and they could play after school!

Chapter Two

We moved in this week...thus no blog entries! Sorry!

We have enjoyed our church services so much! Easter was so special. The worship was free and set our feet to dancing. Even Brennan went forward and danced. He was so excited!

Wednesday night Chris had the group collectively list about 30 BHAGs (that would be Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals). That was fun and revealed the passions of our youth. We will be strategizing over the next few weeks to set our "UnAshamed" groups core values and purpose.

This Sunday we had a guest speaker, Dan Baker. The worship was phenomenal again. I was dancing with Brennan, Gabriella and John-James with streamers and a flag. It was so freeing! We are learning a lot of new-to-us songs.

Here is a snapshot of the latest news: David asked me today to pray for him so he wouldn’t miss everyone so bad. Isabella is now eating rice cereal. Elysiana is talking in short sentences. Gabriella and David are in a race to lose their bottom teeth. Whoever wins gets an extra 25 cents from the tooth fairy. Gabriella and David have splinters in their hands from the wooden fence behind our house. (The enticing slush back there is very deep.)

We have a functional kitchen and bathroom. Tomorrow the plans are to complete the bedding. By Tuesday we want to finish the closets. Hopefully we can get our curtains up by Wednesday. Gabriella and Isabella still need a bed. The boys children and Chris and I need chests of drawers. I need a few misc. kitchen tools and lamps, end tables, etc. There is a bit of wallpapering and painting left to wrap up, but all in all, this really feels like home. We are very excited to be here and discover what God has for us.

Cleaning Our Home!

The youth and college group wanted to help us clean our home! Check this out! Wow!

Snow-machining and Ice-Fishing

The LaBean family hosted an evening on the frozen Chena River. They used snowmachines (aka snowmobiles) to haul all the fixin's for hotdog and marshmellow roasting to the middle of the frozen lake - very cool! Then they let everyone snowmachine. We have video of the boys learning to drive and riding all over the lake.

John-James went ice-fishing and immediately caught 2 fish and then proceded to drop the reel into the lake! Chris pulled it out by the line. It is very interesting how John LaBean drills a paper plate-sized hole in the ice many feet down to the water. You gather around in camp chairs and fish with shrimp (defrosted in your mouth).

Brennan and David talked non-stop about us saving up enough money to buy a snowmachine...I know what will be on their Christmas list next year!

The New Home and Church

This is a little clip showing a bit of our new home and Jubilee Worship Center. Listen carefully to the children's reactions. They are funny.

Alaska is AWESOME!

The weather is amazing, here! It is warming up and Fairbanks is going through "spring break-up." The snow is disappearing rapidly - well, as rapidly as several feet of snow can! John-James has enjoyed splashing in the slushy snow. I have to wash his clothes everyday just about because our other clothing hasn't arrived yet.

We were glad the children had at least one chance to sled the big hill up at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF). This is a giant hill. They came home exhausted.

It has been in the 30s-40s during the day, but because it is so dry here, it feels much warmer. We don't even have to wear coats during the day. The sun is so beautiful! It rises early and sets closer to 10pm now. We have stayed up late every night to maximize our time with the Rucci's. I can tell it will be hard to go to bed this summer with the gorgeous sunlight streaming through the windows.

Our little home is getting painted (by Chris and Rob) and yesterday, we got a new front door. Hopefully, soon we will be able to move in. Moving will be very easy! Just haul six suitcases and some miscellaneous Wal-Mart bags over! Unpacking will be even easier! The girls are the only ones with a chest of drawers. Most everything else will stay in a suitcase! Which reminds me, I must purchase hangers for our few hang-up clothes.

A family here is giving us a futon/bunk bed and TV and 2 wing chairs. The youth are raising money for us to have a nice bed. Other families have given us a lot of baby and toddler items. And we have continuously been given gifts of winter gear and food, diapers, etc. Now that Mary Beth has cleaned out all the kitchen cupboards and lined them with brand new paper, I can start putting away all these gifts.

God told us to trust Him for He knows what we need and He would add all these things to us. He is indeed my faithful Father.

Ruccis

Well, I know everyone is anxious to know more about our surprise guests and their visit! Rob and Mary Beth Rucci flew ALL the way to Fairbanks to help us move in! They were able to extend their visit to almost TWO weeks! We are in the middle of it right now. I will post some video and later some photos of all the children. They have been such a blessing. This transition time has been easier on our family having our best friends here.

Here we are up at UAF to check out the museum (which was closed!) and then some snow video...