Christmas Letter 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Christmas and New Year is a great time to re-connect with everyone. Hope you all had a fine Christmas. About a week ago, every single tree branch was coated white with fresh frost and snow, but it didn’t quite stick until Christmas because of some warm wind and weather.

Thankfully we have had a very good first year of retirement in spite of the uncertain economy. Lois Ann is still working half days at the elementary school and she enjoys it. I have been finishing up some decades old projects at home, and putting in a lot of time working at the lake house making it more comfortable for John, Heidi and Emery. (Golf and hockey still take quite a slice of time.)

We took a fun road trip over the Alaska Highway to Washington in June. Heidi and John took us along as adult guests to Young Life camp Malibu, north of Vancouver, Canada. We had a very good time. We spent some more time in Anacortes and visited with Holly. On the way home we went over to Spokane and stayed with Vivian and Micheal Norris, and the next day stopped by Bruce and Susie Stinsman’s in Idaho. On the way north we went through Banff / Jasper parks in Canada and did some hiking. The Alaska Highway is way better than it was 20-30 years ago, no dust or gravel.

In July John, Heidi, and Emery moved up here. They are helping Young Life grow on the Kenai Peninsula, and also working with a local Christian college. It is sure fun having Emery close by.

Holly is living in Anacortes and making coffees for a living. She travelled to Alaska a few times this year, and India!

Christoffer lives about 9 miles away and has kept busy all year as an electrician. We get to do a little hiking, golf and hockey together.

We hope and pray everyone has a good 2010. These are interesting times and changes we are living through. (New Year resolutions: do more blog and facebook photos and entries.)

God Bless Everyone,

Trail beside Exit Glacier

This is one of the best hikes on the Kenai Peninsula! It is about 7 miles to go up and down. Here you can see some of the zig-zag path going up. I asked everyone where they were from so here is the list: Boston, Texas, Seattle, LA, Ottawa, Holland, Colorado, San Francisco, France, Spain, Belgium, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Florida, Virginia, Whittier (the only ones from Alaska and they were summer hires) California, DC and ?? (they didn't understand English)Mark, Holly, Christoffer
This makes a good desktop photo. There are not many trails around with green forest and ice.

It was so very nasty on top that we did not see the hut until we were about 50 feet away from it. Thankfully the fog and clouds cleared off before we headed down and we could see some of the Harding Icefield.

Frog search

Every spring when the ice melts off the pond you can hear the frogs making a racket. I decided to try and find them or their eggs.

Christoffer's dog Chompers helped in the search.
Lois came along for a walk to the pond. This is the best time of year as the sky stays light almost all night.

CBS with his new motorcycle

Here it is!! Christoffer was away working for 5 or 6 weeks straight. Guess what popped into his mind when he was free for a few days and the hot summer sun was beating down.
I had to sit down and imagine what it would be like to be a member of the Nobody Motorcycle Club.
I do like Christoffers haircut. He is imagining what it would be like to be retired.

Where is Holly?

Holly used to take care of about 90% of the spring raking for us : ) It is May 1st here and most of the snow is melted and missing.
Now we really miss her especially with all this dusty/sandy ash all over the leaves and snow.

On May 3rd we went over and helped Christoffer with his leaves. After about an hour he got smart and sucked them up with his riding lawnmower.

'A time to finish'

Here is a project that was started 30+ years ago... Like Ecclesiastes 3 says, "there is a time for everything - a time to start, and a time to finish what you what you once upon a time started". It has taken a long time to do part 2. I am very good at starting projects, but it often takes a long, long, long time to finish. A few years ago i would think silently, "There's something i can do when the plant shuts down."
Now, here are some post dated blog entries and photos from April and May. Even with more time on my side it is hard to keep this blog caught up.

Volcano smokes

The volcano started blowing harder as if someone opened the vent valve about 10 more rounds.
Another view from a few blocks down the road.
This is from Lamplight road.
Here is a biblical view with our church. I will get a photo here when it really blows.
If you have a pair of those red blue glasses you can see the dome building. This is from May 16th by Game McGimsey and Peter Lipschutz from AVO where you can see hundreds of photos.

Survival Strategies for Tough Times

Here is how one person tripled his income by having the dog and cat helping out. (Also, the dog and cat income is tax free.)

Rare animal photo

I looked out the window after putting Chomper outside and lo and behold the cat and dog were together. Extremely rare event and photo. Usually Chomper chases the cat all over without ever catching her or him. Of course it was early on Sunday morning - the day of rest...
The cat was a stray that adopted us and hasn't even let us touch her/him. I think we will call the cat Dash. She is kind of a scaredy cat who stays under the shed and runs around in the woods.:

Brad preached a great sermon once about three kinds of love. Chicken love: if a chicken has a cut or hurt the other chickens will attack the hurt. Cat love: cats only come to you when they want to, on their own terms. Dog love: they always want to be with you and stay close no matter how you feel about them.

we've been ASHED

There was a dark cloud overhead about 4:30, an hour after the eruption, and it came down like rain except it was fine sand and powder. It dumped on Nikiski and our house for about 20 minutes then moved up and dumped on Anchorage too. Look at the dust blowing up on the highway after a car went by.
The following photos are from the AVO webpage. This first one shows the thunder and lightning that go along with volcanoes. If you read Exodus 19 it seems Moses might have walked up on a volcano to get the ten commandments. This was taken by Bretwood Higman.
I downloaded this Landsat5 picture from space. It was very impressive and the real file is 23MB if you want to get it from the AVO photos page.
The dark cloud in this space shot is one of the eruptions!

Mt. Redoubt Volcanoe

Last night Redoubt blasted off as we were sleeping 5 times! There is a link in the title to the official AVO website. Here is a link to the Anchorage Daily News article. Also here is a link to the weather service so we know which way the ash is being carried by the winds.

Here is a photo taken on the 15th from the end of our driveway; you can see a small steam/gas plume.

Spring break visit

Emery and me. Holly, Heidi, and Emery came up for Lois Ann's spring break.

Life is full of choices, do I want the pacifier or the stuffed tiger?
This photo is also sort of an optical illusion; Emery looks like she is standing.
Getting ready for a photo shoot of new hats.
Emery found her feet. This is the first time to find them herself.
I like all the mirrors in the hotel room.

Posted by ms at 2:34 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Heidi and Emery

This is one of my favorite photos of Heidi and Emery. Look at her little fists.

reading through the Bible - - - FAST

A little over a month ago i found this mind expanding article about reading through the Bible faster than most people would even think about doing. Most folks have seen plans for reading it in a year, like that is a big accomplishment. This article shows how and why to read through in several months. Some audio Bibles are only about 70 to 80 hours in length, so an hour a day and you should be through in 3 months!

It is better news than what is happening in the world today, and there were some tough times recorded in the past that we need to recall. Also some answers and solutions to similar problems.

Why stocks are down

Many folks are wondering what is happening to the world economy, and it seems that very few can figure out what's up? (not much) Here are a few links to some of the better explanations.

Here is the link to a very good you tube annimation/video about the credit crisis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU There is also a part 2 since you tube only allows 10 min. per video.

If you have some extra time you might be interested in checking out this free 'crash course' by Chris Martenson http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse It is well done with great graphics and explains some of the stuff that led up where we are now. Toward the end he suggests some steps to take. Most of the crash course was finished before the crash started.

For a more radical cycle view on the economy here is a 77 page typewritten pdf file. http://www.contrahour.com/ItsJustTimeMartinArmstrong.pdf

Emery in New York

Here are a few photos of Emery and her parents and cousins and aunt and uncle. I've never been to New York city so am a little envious of little Emery. They all look a little cold.
The Dads
Nice group photo.
I've seen this statue before.
Is this a yawn or a cry?
Since we saw Emery at Christmas she has learned to lift up her head. I think she is 3 months younger than her cousin.

1, 2, 3...

March 6, 2009 5 months old already!
February 6th - 4 months old
Here is Emery at a few days old.
November 6 - 1 month old. Nice sign.
December 6 - 2 months old. I think she has John's eyes.
January 6 - 3 months, she appears to have been exercising. Is this a wrestling outfit?