Emmonak, Alaska

My first stop on this trip is in the village of Emmonak. I don't always have internet service in the villages, but I do in this one. We have set up clinic in the community center, and upstairs they have a few rooms to rent out, so that is where we are sleeping. This building does have running water. In the bathrooms, in order to let gravity help pull everything away, they have built a little platform, 2 steps up, for the toilet. The roof is already lower than normal, and when I have to step up 2 steps higher to get to the toilet..... Well, needless to say, I can't stand up when trying to use the bathroom. Ok, so that was probably a little too much information, but I thought it was pretty funny when I wacked my head the first time using the bathroom!

Between city council meetings, Bingo, and traditional dance practice, they have me playing musical rooms. Which is a pain having to break down all the equipment and move everything into another room. I've been a little dissappointed in their willingness to be accommodating. Oh well, you do what you've got to do.

Kids will be kids

Cute little girl all bundled up

An elderly tribal woman


Taking a walk to the store

Native tribal dance

Sledding

Lots of snow makes for great sleigh riding. So we ventured back to the same place where Kaden broke his leg while sledding several years ago. Katelyn has no fear, as she tries to do whatever her brothers do. Kaden had no fear until he flew off a jump and landed on his head. And Caleb, he just likes to have fun. Some bruises, headaches, and rosy red cheeks are all we took away from this sledding adventure. Fortunately, all bones were intact!

Nighttime Visitor

Last night as we were putting the kids to bed, Kristen just happened to glance out the window and notice a deer laying in the middle of the snow in our backyard. So we got the boys, turned off the lights, and spent the next 30 minutes spying on her. The bright moon and the 2 feet of snow that covered everything made for a fairly bright night. After a few minutes of resting in the snow, we watched the doe as she meandered around the yard, eating any leaves or branches that she could find. We moved from room to room as she moved around the house. Since we were looking from the second floor, we had a great view of her (especially when she was up eating the rose leaves along the house), without being spotted. The boys were concerned about her being cold and alone, and not able to make it back to the mountains. So it was a great opportunity for us to talk about Heavenly Father's creations, and how they/we are all created to survive different types of situations. It was a simple but beautiful moment together with our boys, spying out the window into the cold night.
Fortunately, Katelyn was asleep before this happened. Normally we would feel bad she didn't get to be there with us, but for some unknown reason she has this terrible fear of deer. When we see them while we're driving, she is sure they are going to open up her door and get her. Trying to explain to her that deer can't open doors doesn't help either. Christmas time and reindeer have helped to calm the fear a little, but I don't think we'll be having any pet deer for a while.

...A Thousand Words

About 12 years ago I was standing in a small room, in a small Mayan village, in the Highlands of Guatemala, looking at a beautiful painting. It was created by a local man, of the beautiful Lake Atitlan and volcanos that surround his village. As I stood there admiring the painting, wanting to buy it (but knowing I probably couldn't afford it because I was a poor college student), a man walked in the door behind me, walked up to the painting I was looking at, took it off the wall, and bought it. At first I was a little angry at the man, but then he stopped next to me and started to talk. He told me that he had travelled all over the world collecting beautiful pieces of local art. "When you see something that you really like, that moves you," he said, "You can't wait. You just have to buy it. Or you'll always regret it."

So a few days ago Kristen and I walked into Costco, and a local artist had a display of his paintings for sale. Many of you have probably heard of him--his name is Greg Olson. One look at one of his newer paintings and we were stricken. So we bought it. It is titled "Walk with Me." And as it takes its place on the wall of our entry way, we hope it will act as a reminder to us of where we should walk, and what path we should follow.

IT'S A SNAP

After great effort, and much determination, Katelyn has learned how to snap. I am truly amazed at my little girl's determination when she really wants to learn something. She has been asking me for months how I make that noise with my fingers, but this past week she decided she really wanted to learn how. She would ask me over and over to show her how. And finally after hours of practicing, she made her first audible "snap". She was so excited she ran upstairs and told me to "listen", as she proudly snapped her little fingers together. I love the excitement that comes with such little accomplishements. I guess I take them for granted. But my little girl has taught me a lot about determination, and that if we work hard enough on something, we can eventually say, "it's a snap!"

HAIRCUT

So the kids finally got their hair cut. Kristen and I have been arguing over this for the past little while. She likes their hair long, and I like it short. We let it go long enough that I almost didn't recognize my children any more because I could hardly see their faces. OK, it wasn't really that bad, but I thought it was getting a little out of control. So my sweet wife took them in to get a haircut--all to please dad. The boys, of course, hate their hair now, and mom hasn't quite got used to it yet. But dad is all smiles! I'll let you be the judges.

BEFORE

AFTER

St. Nicholas

We love December not just because of Christmas, but because earlier in the month we get to celebrate St. Nick also. For those of you who don't know, Kristen was born in Germany. Because of that, she always celebrated St. Nick (a popular holiday in Germany), which tradition has carried over into our family. However, the Reese version is a little different from the traditional one. Instead of leaving out wooden shoes that St. Nick fills with yummy German treats, we leave out anything from snow boots, to tennis shoes, to Crocs, which St. Nick fills with donuts and candy bars, strawberry milk and Sobe drinks. And he always leaves us pajamas. Although it might be a little different from the norm, we have fun, and we're glad St. Nick knows what we really like!