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.

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.