Hillbilly Ice Picnic

Last weekend, in the midst of our carpet fiasco, I was spending my time reading and working on the computer in the church basement, my temporary home, when Jeannette (the pastor's wife and my good friend) came over and asked if I wanted to go with them to the landing to shoot some guns and hang out. She said they were all tired of being cooped up in the house and needed some fresh air. So, I agreed and off we went! Bob wasn't around for this, he was still out of the village for work.

We all bundled up in our snow pants and gear and piled into their suv -all 8 of us, with guns and fishing poles and hot cider, and of course our cameras! Mike dubbed our little outing as the "Hillbilly Ice Picnic." We drove way north of town to the public landing sight where boats can launch on the Newhalen River.



Once we arrived, everyone fled from the car to go play on the ice. The kids and Jeannette and I had an ice sliding contest to see how far we could slide into the river. Mind you, we were safe, the river was frozen halfway out and we didn't go too far, but it sure was fun. Later, we created our own game of rock bowling. Just like in the summer, when you skip the rocks on shore, we skipped them on the ice - well, slid them on the ice - to see how far they would go and if they would hit anyone elses rock first. Although, finding rocks on the shore that were not solidly frozen to the ground was a chore within itself!

Then came the shooting. Of course, this is what the boys enjoyed. They all took their guns and targets and had some fun practice shooting with Mike's supervision.

Jeannette and I warming up with our hot apple cider! Mmmm, so good when your fingers are frozen!

Even Jeannette got to shoot a little. You go, girl!

EVICTED....(For a Weekend)

Last week and weekend was quite the ordeal. Bob was preparing to leave on a long trip for work and we had been told that the carpet people MIGHT come around then. Well, I asked Bob on Thursday if he had heard from the carpet guy and whether or not I needed to prepare for him. (This is another whole side story.) Somewhere around 11:45 am on Thursday, Bob called and said he checked with our air taxi and the carpet guy was not on the manifest. So, he said, I guess, we'll just assume he's coming a different weekend. Ok, so I went about my business at home. Then just 20 minutes later, I got a phone call from the carpet guy who says he's getting on a plane NOW and will be there in about an hour! WHAT? Clearly he chartered with a different plane company.

This is where I'll break to give you a little background. The previous renter in our home had a blind and invalid dog who urinated mostly in the hallway on the carpet. The smell was horrendous! We tried so hard to clean it so many different ways, but it was stained horribly and always smelled. We even tried air purifiers, but it brought the smell out worse and we had to turn them off or else leave the house! So, the State of Alaska (We are required to live in state rented housing as part of Bob's job.) agreed to get us some new carpet so we wouldn't have headaches anymore and have to deal with the stains and smells.

Well, after many, many months of bids and contract issues and picking carpet, a contractor finally called Bob to set up the arrangements to come out here and install it for us. This is where the story gets interesting. You see, this guy would call Bob several times a day to ask questions and tell us when he'd be out here to work. First things first, Bob said to him. "Have you even shipped the carpet out here?" The guy answered, "No, but don't you guys (the State Troopers) have a helicopter in Bethel you can take it in?" Bob, thought is this guy for real? A roll of carpet or several rolls of carpet and padding will not fit in a helicopter and they're NOT going to sling load (carry it by swinging cable underneath the helicopter) all the way to Iliamna! Secondly, the Troopers do not use their helicopter to transport cargo, it is only for rescues and law enforcement related issues. Who IS this guy? So, Bob explained all this to the guy and further explained he'd have to ship it BEFORE he arrives because these things take a long time and are often delayed. So, the next question was, "So what are the hotels in Iliamna where he can stay." Bob just about choked, "Hotels? Uh, we don't have any. There are a few seasonal lodges, but they are closed now. There's no where to stay except in the other side of the state housing unit, so you'll need to bring your sleeping bag." "Uh, ok," says the guy, "I'll just eat a restaurant then." Bob, kindof chuckled, "We don't have ANY restaurants? You'll need to bring your own food or buy some snacks from the local store, but it's very expensive out here. I recommend you bring your own food." The guy was a little dumbfounded, but moved on to the next question, "So, we saw the state put out a bid for some work in King Salmon, maybe while I'm there working on your place I'll drive to King Salmon to check on that bid." Bob laughed again, "Have you looked at a map? That's great but you will not be DRIVING. You can charter a plane to get you there one afternoon, but King Salmon is an hour away by plane." "Oh," the guy says. Ok, so Bob gets off the phone with him and shakes his head. He immediately calls me to inform me of the level of competency we'll be dealing with regarding the carpet guy. I asked him, is he even FROM Alaska? Does he have any idea what the bush is like and what to expect? I didn't think so, GREAT!

So, another day passes and the guy calls again with another barrage of questions for Bob. This time, he can't seem to find anyone that flies in Iliamna. He tells Bob he's called all the airlines and no one flies here. He asks, how do I get there? Bob, chuckled again, "Yes, I tried to explain that earlier to you, we only have one little air taxi that has scheduled flights in and out of here and they don't fly on Sundays. You can try to charter with a two other services, but remember weather can hold you up and these carriers may stop at several other villages along the way."

So, needless to say, when the guy finally arrived, I wasn't surprised to see him only wearing his big parka coat and carrying a small plastic shopping bag with fishes on it with a few Reeses Peanut Butter Cups inside. Whatever tools he had were stuffed in his pockets. His hair was a mess and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. Did I mention his smell? I seriously think he might've been homeless or some sort of transient from the Anchorage area. He wasn't the smartest guy on the block. How did HE win the bid? In fact, we had to give him advice all along on what to do and how to keep managing his time properly. He told Bob he wasn't sure how to seal the floor from all the damage before, but he would read the paint can to figure it out! Great! After my frantic afternoon of moving all items from closets and moving what furniture I could, the guy and Bob moved the rest of the furniture and tore out the old carpet. Bob shouldn't have even participated in the job, but this guy didn't quite seem with it and was all by himself! So, the first night, Thursday, we left the house late at night so the carpet guy could paint/seal the floor and let it dry without us being affected by the fumes. As we walked out the door, I reminded the guy, it might be important for him to open some windows and get some ventilation from the fumes while he was painting. I also pointed out two fans we had to help him. Clearly, he didn't listen to me......

The next morning Bob went back to check on the house before work. The paint was still very wet and the guy was no where to be found....probably in the unit next door. So, later in the morning I went over to the house. Again, the paint was still wet and no windows were open AND NO FANS WERE RUNNING! What? I heard a noise and as I turned around, the carpet guy was standing in the doorway behind me. I asked him what time he finished painting last night and he replied, "Oh, somewhere around 5:30 AM." He said, "I fell asleep a few times with the roller still in my hand." (I thought, we've got a real bright one here.) "Uhm, are you sure you didn't PASS OUT instead of falling asleep? I see you didn't have any windows open or fans going?" "Oh, uh, maybe, I don't know, but I think I was out for more than an hour or so." Ok, well, let's hope he's got enough brain cells left to finish the job.

The next two days were spent with a second guy who arrived and actually knew how to lay carpet. Thank goodness. They did a fine job, but every time I went over there, the second guy had to keep getting onto the not so bright guy about focusing and getting the job done. It's a wonder the job was even completed in a weekend.

In the midst of it all, Bob left town for work and I was left to pick up the pieces. Literally. I couldn't get the two out of here and to the airport fast enough on Sunday to meet their plane. However, now, we have a nice home with new carpet and it feels, looks and smells wonderful! We are both very thankful! Bob hasn't actually seen it yet - he's still gone!

Well, if we don't have any open lodges in town to stay in during our temporary carpet eviction, then where did we stay? The church basement! They have one bedroom with a bed and a shower in one of the bathrooms in the basement of the chapel. So, Bob and I moved in for a couple of days. It worked out quite well. Our pastor even invited us over for dinner a couple of nights. It was so nice to spend time with them and to enjoy their wonderful hospitality.



This was our temporary home - the church basement, for several days.

Happy New Year 2010!!

We hope everyone had a fun New Year's celebration. Ours was spent eating some good food and playing games and watching a comedian with our church family. At midnight, several people in the village set off fireworks and you could see them from pretty much all over the village. It was a great evening.



This is our pastor, Mike and his wife Jeannette and 4 of their 5 kids. (One boy was away at Winter Bible Camp in another village.) During the evening we made 2010 glasses to spice up the night with some glitz and glamour. We held our celebration in the basement of the church.

Bob and I modeling our New Year glasses!!

My Home-Making Skills...

Christmas break in the village....Hmm, what is there to do? Nothing really.

But, I've actually managed to fill my days with all kinds of tasks around the house. I haven't even gotten bored yet! I'm having a wonderful break from school and learning some new hobbies at the same time. Last week, I made some more bread. Bob said this was my best bread yet! Way to go me! ha ha!



3 yummy loaves of my honey wheat bread.
Bob already took a slice out of one loaf. He likes to eat it warm straight from the oven.
Mmmmm, so good!

This was my first sewing project for the home. New curtains for two little windows in two of our doors. They are so small, that I used some cloth napkins I bought at a craft fair as the material of choice. These didn't take too long and weren't too hard, so I thought I'd move up a little and attempt to tackle kitchen curtains.

I've determined that sewing really isn't that hard, it's just that darn bobbin that sends me over the edge! One day, I couldn't find my instruction book and had to call my mother-in-law, Brenda to help me figure out how to thread the machine again. You can tell I'm a novice, eh? Then the next day, it took me ALL morning to figure out what was going wrong with the bobbin. I called my friend Lyn and she said, "just flip the bobbin around." Are you kidding me? 4 hours of dealing with this fiasco and THAT was all I had to do? UGH! Seriously! I was on the verge of dropping the sewing habbit. As you can tell, from this picture above, I managed (2 days later) to find my sewing instruction book and get back on the wagon and give sewing a go again.


Thank goodness for seam rippers! Delila, my home-ec teacher would not be happy with that hem!

And yet, another jumbled mess! I can't blame this one on Lyndall, like I used to do in high school. I would tell Delila (my home-ec teacher) that Lyndall, who was another good friend in my class group, was annoying me and screwed up the project! This one is all because of the sewing machine....it would NEVER be MY fault! Yeah, right!

A close-up of my fabric choice.
Little coffee and hot chocolate mugs for the kitchen. Suitable.

The finished product....after 3 days!!
Are you surprised I made it this far? I was!
This is the evening view, when we draw the curtains.
So, they're certainly NOT perfect in any way as I made many mistakes and learned new lessons too. Even after washing the fabric first, and after calculating all my hems and everything, I learned that I should've calculated and extra 1/2" for fabric shrinkage and gathering when making curtains! I thought that was the point of washing the fabric FIRST! Ugh. Oh well, I learned my lesson and hopefully I won't make the same mistake and have "highwater" curtains in my living room. As you can tell, these are just a smidge shorter than I intended, but I guess they'll work because I'm not starting over now! I want to move on to something new. I think I have sewing attention deficit disorder. Ha ha!

And this is the daytime view, when I have the curtaind tied back.
So cute! If I do say so myself!

Operation Christmas Box

Our church (Iliamna Baptist Church) worked real hard to serve three communities in our region, by making boxes of food, hygiene products, clothes and toys to give to families who could use some help. Together, with fellow church supporters from Anchorage and other churches across the nation that support our pastor and family and church, and our local church community, we were able to donate tons and tons of boxes to families. It was neat to see how many people came together to donate their time, finances and services to this project. It was also a great start to reaching families the community through evangelism as we donated a few bibles in each box.

We spent several weeks collecting donations, even right to the very end as we waited for LARGE mail shipments from churches in the lower 48. I'm not exactly sure on the weight, but I thought I heard the pastor say the church received something like a total of 2100 pounds of boxes sent for Operation Christmas Box!! WOW! That doesn't include the items donated from local families in the village. What a blessing to the people out here - even to those of us helping to deliver the boxes, it was so neat to see how people from all over can help out way out here in the bush.

The week of Christmas, we had to contend with weather issues, but managed to help fly the boxes over to each village and deliver them to the families, personally. This of course, was after many hours of dividing up the items and wrapping and packaging all the fun items individually for each family. It was a huge church community effort. Not to mention, great fellowship time together too.

Below, are some pictures from our Iliamna Baptist Church "Operation Christmas Box."

Dividing up the food and other items to package into the boxes and wrapping the boxes in Christmas paper.



The first set of boxes wrapped and ready to deliver. The church received 2 more shipments of supplies a few days after this (primarily because the weather prevented the mail from being flown in on time), so there was another afternoon of packaging items and boxes as well - last minute - the day before Christmas Eve.

One of our delivery days....
Bob and I went with the Pastor Mike to deliver a load of boxes to the village of Levelock, about 40 minutes southwest of Iliamna. Pastor Mike flew us all out there on his plane and then we took the boxes, with the help of one of the school teachers in Levelock, to all the families' homes.



Bob and Pastor Mike preparing and loading the plane with the boxes. I got to fly with them to the village too. The next day, Bob and Pastor Mike flew another load of boxes to Nondalton, another village northwest of Iliamna and delivered those to several families there.


Levelock from the sky as we arrived.


A closer look at Levelock from the air as we came in for a landing. The large building at the right side of the picture is the school, the center hub of the community. Just above the school and slightly to the left, you'll see a sort of hidden brown building. That is the church our pastor also teaches at. He flies his family there every Sunday morning, pending weather issues, and preaches to the community from that church. Then he flies his family back to Iliamna in the afternoon and preaches to our community in the evening.

Levelock is a small community. According to a 2008 census, there were 70 people living there. Although, we've heard several families moved away and there are no longer many kids in the school, so I don't have an exact number on actual population. There is no store there. The village is located on the Kvichak River, which is 40 miles north of Naknek and King Salmon on Bristol Bay. Originally, the Russians founded Levelock and called it Kvichak. In the early 1900's, they had a good fishing industry with a cannery. The cannery no longer works, but the fishing is still good there. One of the teacher's from the school told me she can see the Beluga WHALES swim in to the area in the springtime....from her kitchen window!!!! How cool!!


We couldn't miss the opportunity for a GREAT photo! Ha ha!
As we drove away from the airport, this is the sign we saw on a little shack. Needless to say, it's probably no longer "international." Ha ha!

A few other things to note....When we arrived, we did a few "fly overs" over the village, so they knew we were coming in for a landing at the airport and so "someone, really ANYONE" would be kind enough to drive out there and get us. So, the first person we saw was a guy on a 4-wheeler. He arrived all bundled up in his snow gear and goggles and rifles and shotguns attached all over the 4 wheeler. Come to find out, he was the VPSO (Village Public Safety Officer). The first words out of his mouth were, "So, did you see any wolves or caribou nearby, from the air?" Clearly, he wasn't too concerned with us and just wanted to do some hunting. He was a nice fellow and because Bob was a Trooper, gave Bob a ride back to the village to pick up another double 4-wheeler (Rhino) for us to use and bring back to the plane. So, Bob bundled up and hopped on behind the VPSO and off they rode back down the gravel airstrip towards town.

Now, as I attempt to paint a picture of what these experiences are really like, I just wish you could see them as I do because nothing really prepares you for these little adventures in life. So, as Bob and the VPSO were gone, there stood Pastor Mike and myself - alone, on the gravel strip, next to our plane and no building anywhere in sight. There was no bathroom (unless you count the wilderness - which becomes necessary at times - even if you have to drop 8 layers of warm clothes and snow pants and risk frostbite to your hiney!) Well, Mike and I stood there and chatted for a while and then on the horizon came a red pick-up truck. Hmm, wonder who this is? So, I think his name was Dusty, he said. He showed up and asked what we were doing. Mike told him, jokingly, we were playing Santa Claus today and had a few boxes to deliver to some families. So, Dusty radioed back to the village on the VHF radio (I'll have to explain about that in another entry) that "Santa" was here and for everyone to meet at the school. Unbenownst to us, this had occurred and Mike and I clearly missed it. So, Dusty said, I'll take you two to town. I looked at Mike and had this "What about Bob?" look on my face as Mike just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Oh we'll meet up with him along the way." I didn't really think much of it as you just kindof have to roll with the punches around here and do as they say. It's just the way things are. So, we loaded our boxes into the back of the truck and Mike and I got into the truck and off we went, back towards the village. All along the way, I was hoping to spot Bob and tell him that we'd left and moved on to the village as the airstrip is a ways away from the village. No such luck....No Bob to be found anywhere. Oh well.

So, the sage continues as Dusty dropped Mike and I off at the school and I noticed several people showing up at the school with kids and all lining up to sit on the bleachers. There was a big chair in the middle of the gym floor. I thought, Hmm, this is a little odd, I thought we were going to houses, but I'd never done this before and didn't really know what to expect, so I just went with it. I looked at Mike again for guidance and he just shrugged his shoulders too. I don't really think he knew what to expect either. Well, we unloaded the boxes and set them on the gym floor. I organized them all up again according to families. I went over and introduced myself to several of the people and asked them if they had seen Bob on the Rhino. I had to give them a description of him as they didn't know him. One lady told me, yes, she saw him, but he was asking for directions back to the airstrip. Can you tell we are clueless about everything out here? You get dropped in the middle of a no-where village, have never been there before and from the ground, all you can see are old shacks and lots of ice and snow among the trees and of course, NO STREET SIGNS! So, it is a little difficult to find your way around, even in a tiny village!

Well, we kept hearing people talk about Santa Clause and all the kids seemed so excited, but as more people kept coming into the gym, I looked at our boxes and began to worry. Hmm, something doesn't feel right. I don't think we have enough boxes. What are we going to do? Although, no one was around to give us any guidance and Mike was searching for his teacher contact while I just stood around and joked with the people that we were Santa and bringing some goodies for everyone.

After what seemed like a really long time, the tension and awkwardness grew. What's going on? What do we do next? Why are all these people just staring at us? I don't know what else to say. I don't know the families we're supposed to meet. I don't know anything about this place! What about Bob? Where IS he?

Finally, a loud teacher comes rushing out of the hallway...."NO, NO, NO! Sorry, people. This is NOT Santa Claus! Go home and we'll call you when he arrives." What? We ARE bringing gifts for people, what's going on? I'm so confused. This is SO EMBARRASSING and AWKWARD!

The teacher finally explains, the whole village is REALLY expecting Santa Claus. You see, the Army National Guard and Coast Guard pair up together to fly into several remote villages during the holidays to make an official "Santa" visit and bring some toys for the kids. Ahh Ha!! So, that's what that big chair was doing in the middle of the gym. It was Santa's chair, waiting for him to hold the kids and visit with them. Interesting!

In walks Bob all flustered and cold. Finally, "Where were you?" I asked. He said he was driving all over the village trying to get back to the airport to get us and then had to make his way back the school because he heard that's where we went. How comical!

So, we embarrassingly, re-loaded our boxes into a school truck as the teacher drove us from house to house to deliver "Operation Christmas Box."
What an operation it was!! LITERALLY!!


This was one man's home. I forgot his name already, but he was a deaf mute. We had to open his door and go in, just to get his attention. When he saw us and received his box, he smiled just as big as you can imagine. He seemed so sweet and happy. We don't know if he could read or not, but we tried to explain this was for Christmas. I wonder if he has the ability to read the bible we placed in the box?


This was another home we went to. It's quite a difference from the other home pictured above. This is a HUD built home, which most of the communities have in some way or shape. Some HUD homes are newer and others are many, many years older. The inside of them was usually fairly nice and fairly clean with a decent kitchen and living space and wooden stove. This particular home was for a great-grandmother who is taking care of her toddler aged great-grandchildren. She was also very appreciative of the boxes.

Several of the homes we visited ranged from nice like this one to in-between and not quite as bad as the shack in the first picture. They were all fairly rough, but housed some of the nicest and friendliest people.

Afterwards, Pastor Mike took us over to the church where he preaches on Sundays and showed us around there and then the teacher showed us around the school. I saw one of the girls I had met during the volleyball season when we traveled to other villages and told her hello too.

All in all, it was an honor to visit Levelock and meet a few people from this village and to be a part of God's community in spreading some Christmas cheer and help during the winter months.

Flight to Kenai

Bob and I took a trip back to Kenai this week. During our trip we used a really cool new little device called "The Spot" to track our trip. Our parents and some other family members and friends were able to track us in real time as we flew through the mountains and back to Kenai. It was a fun way to stay connected to family and friends. So, after our trip, I stayed up until 1:30 AM working on this alternate website and uploading pictures from our flight so you can see what it actually looked like. I have a few videos of the flight as well, but that was just taking too long to post, so I'll try to get to that in the future (maybe). If you have a moment and would like to check out our flight path and see the photos connected to the flight path, check out the below link. It's REALLY COOL!!

Disclaimer: This was my second time working with this program, so I'm still ironing out all the kinks. If for some reason, you are not able to view the pictures appropriately, let me know. Our internet is super slow out here and this was a really tedious job. I'm giving up for the evening, but will check back in the morning to see if anything went wrong.

Fly Away to Kenai for a Day

Widget powered by Spot Adventures: GPS Geotagging

Frozen Doors?

We just wanted to share a picture of our lovely storm door!
This photo was taken about a week or so ago. It's a view of our storm door from the inside of our house, NOT the outside! I can't remember the temperature, but it was obviously COLD. So, cold in fact that we have to keep matches by the door because sometimes the lock freezes us in or out of the the house and we have to warm it up with matches!

Don't you wish you lived here?



The lock on our front storm door. This was one morning around 9:00 am. This was on the INSIDE of the door - INSIDE the house!
It takes a while to get outside sometimes. Ha ha!