Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

We were so blessed by the way our candlelight service turned out! We had about 40 people in attendance, and I think just under half of them were new to our church. (A few were connections from the school, basketball nights, and relatives of folks who normally attend.) We were thrilled.

Connor and Samantha sang Away in a Manger wonderfully with Amelia and Reid Williams, and then lit the congregations candles. They all did great! I sang two verses of O Holy Night accapella from the back of the sanctuary, and was pleased that it went well, also. We had members of the congregation read verses from the Luke 2 Christmas story in between related carols. Rob gave a wonderful, brief (5 min.?) message at the end of the service to wrap it up.

The greatest part was that most everyone stayed after the service to fellowship for almost an hour. We enjoyed cookies and conversation...

Caroling in Cantwell

Two ladies from our church headed up our caroling expedition this year. It was so great to have them take on the project and really follow through well! About 17 of us piled into the back of the decorated trailer and sang at just over 20 homes on December 23rd. It was great to share our excitement about the gift of Jesus in our community, let folks know about our candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and enjoy fellowshipping with eachother.

Second from the right is me!

It was about -5 degrees when we started out around 3:30, and it dropped as the sun went down... Hand warmers for inside our gloves were a blessing, and we were all looking forward to the warmth of chili and hot chocolate at the church by the end.

Jr. and Sr. High School Youth Event at CBC

On Monday evening, we had the older kids in town to the church for a Christmas Youth Night. We had four arrive at 6 o'clock ready for pizza, Christmas gift shopping, and playing games. (Taboo and Apples to Apples seem to be the games of choice for these young folks.) Rob shared a short testimony and scripture about Christmas (why the news of Christ was "Good news of great joys" like the angels explained). Then, three others joined us at 7 o'clock. It was definitely quality of time that mattered rather than quantity of students that were here. God is good... We had a great time, good conversation, and we had such a blast playing games that we didn't call it quits until 9:30!

Elementary Christmas Youth Night at CBC

So, this week we had a great time with several preschoolers-6th graders at our church. Not as many students as we had hoped were able to attend, but looking back on the evening, it was just what it needed to be. The following pictures should outline the event pretty well.

It started out with pizza for dinner.

Then Rob sat the kids down and talked with them about Christmas, and how God gave us a gift in Jesus that was exactly what we need. He used an unopened birthday present as a prop. When asked what he thought the gift was, one boy was sure, "it's a box, and there's something else inside." Then when Rob removed the wrapping paper, sure enough, the boy exclaimed, "I was right! It is a box, and there's something in it!"

We also watched a VeggieTales movie, The Star of Christmas. One preschooler wanted to sit on Erin's lap almost the whole movie. There were a few frightening parts, but at the end she said, "That was so happy," with a huge smile on her face.

The main event was a "store" with items that were donated by the church (and some purchased), for the children to go shopping for gifts for their family members.

Then, we helped them wrap the presents.

Finally, the kids decorated sugar cookies until the end of the event.

School Christmas Programs

Connor and Samantha performed in two Christmas programs at school (one last week and one the week before). The first was a music concert where they displayed their skill playing the recorder with their classmates (K-2). Then they sang 3 songs together as a group. Both of them did great!

Then on Dec. 15th, the school put on a Christmas play called, "A Flea on Santa's Tree" explaining how we now have the tradition of putting an angel at the top of Christmas trees, from a humorous, secular perspective, of course! Connor was the Head Elf and projected his lines amazingly, and Samantha, who had heard Connor's lines repeated many times, had to stop herself from saying his lines, refocus, and then quote hers without getting frustrated. Well Done, kiddos.

Just want to share some beautiful scenery...

We took a trip down to Anchorage the first few days of December, and I decided to take some pictures during our drive. This is just a part of the beauty of God's creation...

What amazing sights are in store for us in Heaven?

The first is about 40 minutes south of Cantwell.

(If you look closely, you can see the moon above on the right of the mountain range.)

This one is of Mt. McKinley (in the middle) about 45 minutes south of Cantwell.

These last two are some of the many mountains just outside of Anchorage.

Connor's face...

So the title of this blog post probably seems rather strange, but Connor's face had a pretty busy day yesterday!

Rob and I were trying to figure out what type of skin issue (scratches, acne, rash...) had shown up on Connor's chin this last week. We were at a loss, and then wondered about irritation from his neck gator that he wears outside everyday. Yesterday at church, Vickie Lausen identified the common problem as soon as she saw him. She explained that it is from the moisture from his mouth being covered by the gator and rubbing on his chin, and then recommended Neosporin. Thanks, Vickie!

Then, last night we decided that one of Connor's teeth had been loose long enough (almost 2 months), so he let me wiggle and move it around and then I jerked it quite a bit in the opposite direction that it naturually wanted to move. The tooth popped right out!

Two fun Game Nights for Cantwell Youth

CBC hosted "Game Nights" for the youth in our town last weekend. They were very well attended, and the volunteers from our church had fun with the kids! Here are a few of the best pictures.

Snack Time - Decorating Cupcakes

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

Preschoolers in the Bounce House

"Path Freeze Tag"

Posing in the Bounce House

Getting ready for "path freeze tag!"

Ninja Warrior with the Jr. and Sr. High kids

Taboo

Apples to Apples

Fun in the Snow!

As of two weeks ago, we now have snow that should stay through the entire winter! We got a few inches and Rob realized we needed to pack it down into the gravel driveway/parking lot so that when we do start needing to plow, we won't be taking gravel up with the snow. So he, Connor and Samantha piled into our truck and drove around and around the parking lot packing down the snow with the tires. In the picture below, Connor is steering. They had fun!

The next morning we enjoyed clear, blue skies with a snow-covered mountain range showing above the trees.

Some friends in town, Harold and Brenda Mowery, decided to let us use their older snow machine that they have replaced, so they drove it down and showed us the ropes on how to start, handle, and take care of it! This was Rob's first time on a snow machine, and the kids had fun riding on the back. It'll be a great blessing to have it to ride to the school, postoffice, and around town this winter.

While I was teaching the Jr. and Sr. High School students for a few days this week, Dana helped me out by picking Samantha up from school and taking her home with their family for an hour until my work day ended. Samantha was thrilled to get to cross country ski with them Tuesday afternoon! Apparently she did great and had a really fun time.

Community Basketball

The last few weeks, Rob has been able to participate in the community basketball nights held at the school (usually Wednesdays and Saturdays). The kids and I have gone to watch a couple times, also. It's been fun for them to have a chance to watch Dad play and interact with the other athletes. His feet/tendons haven't been too bad, although last night they started giving him some grief. Please be praying for his body to allow him to do this (no injuries!) and for this opportunity be a witness into the lives of this part of Cantwell's population. Connections are already being made...

Carnival at Cantwell School

Connor, Samantha, and I attended the Cantwell School Halloween Carnival on Oct. 30th. It's a pretty big deal here around town; folks talk about and plan for it far in advance. We had fun playing games and getting prizes at various booths set up around the gym. I decided that eating a "donut on a string" gave me the best bang for my buck! We enjoyed our time, and also learned a valuable lesson about "haunted houses"... Both Connor and Samantha were intent on experiencing the decorated classrooms, but in the end both determined that they don't ever need to experience it again! Here are a few fun pictures:

Dana Williams dressed up as a "chocolate moose" (very clever)!

Connor "put on the full armor of God" and dressed as a knight! (His suit actually has the breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit, etc...)

Amelia, Samantha's friend, was a fairy, and Samantha went as a princess.

Samantha's Cheerleading Performance

Samantha had the opportunity to participate in the cheerleading group after school for the last month or so. I tried to explain to her ahead of time what cheerleading is and what they do (You know, with pompoms, cheers, etc), but apparently times have changed! The Coach, a senior this year, created a music mix of short sections from about 8-10 songs and then had the kiddos help choreograph some of them; more like a dance routine than "cheers"... Anyway, Samantha had a blast. She really enjoyed practices and yesterday was their performance. Here are some pictures of their group.