A Camping We Will Go!

We made a promise to our Youth Group that rain or shine we'd go camping this weekend. Well it was rain, so we went! As Stephen and I began to make all the calls we thought we may 5 of us on this trip because of the weather. But before we knew it there were 13 of us packing into 2 vans and heading out to the end of the road at Chiniak. It's about an hour and a half drive going about 35 to 40 mph the whole way. With plenty of pot holes!

Well upon arriving we all headed out to the beach and collected a bunch of soaking wood and then headed out for a short hike up to a bunker. We had to cross a little rushing stream heading to the ocean and our little Roscoe missed the log and fell in. So of course I came to the rescue as you can see in the picture.

After our muddy hike we made a fire and it actually started and was great for cooking our spaghetti, smores and heating water for our hot chocolate. We were all very wet, but th kids were amazing! They didn't complain, but instead all had great attitudes! Christian, they big orange guy in the picture with me even jumped into the ocean.

Crab Festival 2007

Every Memorial Day weekend the town of Kodiak goes nuts. Why you may ask? The Crab Festival. It's a very small version of a county fair in Nebraska. There are about 5 rides and two rows of booths, which are mostly food, expensive food! This year it rained almost the entire time. Yes, it's almost June and all week it's been 40 degrees, rain and wind! Not our idea of summer, but none the less, we had to check it out. We had a great time walking around in the rain, and talking to so many of our newly found friends.

Crab Festival is also the best time to get some great Kodiak King Crab! Stephen and I got 10lbs and we look forward to eating it with our parents this summer!!! There are so many men that risked their lives so we could eat this crab, we feel blessed!

Our First Days of Summer!

Mr. Foreman looks pretty good with his 3rd and 4th grade class. They had their end of the year program on Friday and he was amazing! The kids did their skit from chapel and they all sang Shine Jesus Shine. It was a nice ending to the year. Tomorrow is Stephen's last Monday (next Monday is Memorial Day). He just has to finish his grading and tie up some loose ends.

Stephen and I also had a wonderful weekend. It was sunny and 50 which felt like about 75! We cleared out all the dead stuff around our house. Stephen cut down a huge bush and has decided to make a beautiful patio (much more work than we thought). We are excited about the wondeful weather! Praise God!

138 7th and 8th Graders!

Sometimes the Lord calls us to quiet ministry, but other times he calls us to extreme loudness. Saturday morning Stephen and I jumped on a little skiff and headed over to Woody Island. To spend 30 hours with 138 middle school kids. While it was crazy it was a true blessing for us as well!
Stephen and I had a great time playing crazy games, doing wild skits and not sleeping at all! It was pretty chilly outside, but that did not dampen our spirits. Although I'm not sure if I have truly gotten warm yet.

Praise God for the work He's letting us take part in! We feel extremely blessed!

Sardines!

Kelli said since this was my wild idea it can be my wild paragraph. I know what you're thinking and no... we do not catch sardines to eat in Kodiak. However, as of today May 6, we do EAT sardines in Kodiak! It was after a nice hike visiting the WWII bunkers with Kelli, Roscoe, and I that I had a very unusual craving. I was pleasantly suprised by the cold, salty, textured mouthful I had of raw fish. Yes, you could say that I have grown just a sardine size more as a person today.

As for this little tid bit of photography bliss. I just happened to find my loveley wife in a very intense cutting moment with our little mess, Roscoe. It's not too often that we get to cut his hair on such a beautiful cliff. This cliff, on the west side of Long Island, overlooks a long view of the north Pacific Ocean. If you were able to see a very long distance you might just see the next land mass over...Japan!

Glimpses of Spring

We had a GREAT weekend! It was the sunniest and warmest yet this year and Stephen and I sure did take advantage of it! Saturday we went for a great hike with Roscoe on Near Island. It felt like every beach we came across was new and had never been traveled to before. It was wonderful to not have rain after a record month of rain in April (it rained every day except 4 in the month). You can kinda see in one of the pictures just a glimpse of spring.

We not only had a great hike but were able to make a big supper, rake the yard, clean the house and do the laundry. Many of these things seem like simple tasks but with our schedule it's hard to find time for all of them.
It was a great Saturday!