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.

Jack the Yak

Jack the Yak came for a visit yesterday afternoon! He is owned by a friend of ours who is raising him to be a pack animal (for hunting, hikes, etc). Jack is very mild-mannered, and Connor enjoyed getting to feel how soft he is. Some experiences you may never get unless you live in Cantwell, AK!

It's Connor's 8th Birthday!

I can hardly believe my son is eight years old today. Time flies.

He is such a joy and it's so fun to see how he loves the Lord at such a young age...

Yesterday we had a very informal party for him. Connor invited four of his friends from school (and one sister of a friend) over to play for a couple hours. Then we had them all help decorate the chocolate cake. It was supposed to end up looking like a coral reef according to Connor's plans (water, seaweed, fish, other sea creatures), but the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders just had fun making squiggly lines all over.

The kids played around outside for a while, even though it was quite cold. This is "D" (Demetrios), Connor, and Rodney hanging out in some trees.

This is Titus using a "bat" Rob has made out of wood to hit a tennis ball for Cinder to chase.

After his friends left and we had some dinner, then it was time to open family presents! Connor was excited to receive a rock tumbler and grit (and some rocks from Samantha that we found at the edge of the Jack River just down the road from our house). He is ready to learn about the process and start his first load with Dad tomorrow.

Connor didn't waste any time getting started on a Pirate Maze book from Grandma White.

Beautiful View

From our front windows we have a beautiful view of some mountains just visible above and between the trees across the road. Friday evening there was an amazing sunset, but just before the sun went down it lit up the western slopes of these peaks. Hope the picture does it justice... :)

Saturday was quite cold (20F) and windy, but with no precipitation at our elevation. Then Sunday evening the snow started to fall, so we had a light dusting of white when we woke up this morning. It was beautiful.

Community Youth Event at CBC

A month ago, a group of us from Cantwell Bible Church met to discuss how we wanted to reach out to the youth of our community. We decided that rather than try to do a weekly "Good News Club" as the church has done in the past, we wanted to plan monthly events for both younger and high school aged kids. Last Saturday was our first event! The church hosted a pizza, movie and activity night including a bounce house owned by a member of the congregation and fun games and crafts for 3-6 yr-olds.

We were thrilled to have 30 kids attend the event! (To put that in perspective, the Cantwell School has 32 enrolled K-12.) We had two preschoolers and two out of high school. It's always great to see how the older children are happy to help and cooperate with the elementary students here. It's a part of the culture in this community. It was also encouraging to see that the parents were willing to entrust their children to us. The kids are already giving us ideas for what next month's event should look like! Please be praying for more opportunities to share the love of Christ, and that their hearts will be open to hearing about Him.

Erin - A Substitute Teacher

For a total of six days over the last two weeks, I had the pleasure of substituting at Cantwell School for a part-time teaching position while a permanent teacher was being found and hired. I taught 3-5 grade Language Arts, Alaska History, and Skills for Healthy Living/PE, as well as K-2 Skills for Healthy Living/PE. One of the teachers provided me with excellent lesson plans that made Lang. Arts and History very managable, even for a novice sub like myself. It was a great experience overall, and will continue to be on the sub call list in the future.

I had mixed emotions about having this particular job come to a close; I'm definitely ready to be able to focus my attention on my home and family again, but I'm going to miss teaching the kids I've gotten to know. A lot of these kids come from tough home lives, and displaying Christ's love for them is so important.

This is an activity that the High School and elementary students participated in together during PE. THE GOAL: 3 teams manuevered their teammates from one side of the gym to the other without touching the floor.

Spirit week was full of opportunities to dress in ways to show school spirit. Samantha (middle) and two other K-2 girls dressed up like famous people. Samantha was a "movie star".

Moose Meat and studying Heaven!

A week and a half ago our family was gifted with a HUGE amount of moose meat from the local postmaster and his wife! We were vastly unprepared when he asked us if we'd like some moose meat and then proceeded to bring 4 large game bags including 2 quarters on the bone! A friend of ours came over the next day and got Rob started by demonstrating how to separate muscle groups, cut off the sinew, and divide the meat into managable pieces for me to wrap in plastic wrap and freezer paper, tape, and label. It was quite a process; not difficult, but time consuming and cold. The temperature was cold enough that week to not worry about storing the meat outside in the shipping container that is on the property for a few days. Because of this, we were able to split it up and finish the job with some help from a lady from church and her son the next Sunday. Now I just have to start using it when I cook! God is good.

You may have noticed the title I gave to this post is "Moose Meat and studing Heaven". Well, we received the meat on the same day that our community adult book study began. We are working through the study guide for "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn, and the first two sessions have been amazing! The response has been great: 11 people in our living room including Rob and I. We've decided to be prepared with two chapters each week, and the discussions and prayer time have been so rich and deep that our time together has lasted two hours each time, so far. People who come to the table with a variety of ideas and assumptions about Heaven are asking hard, important questions. We are really looking forward to where the rest of the study will take us as a group.