Peculiar things about this peculiar place

SCHOOL: the hub of events

Bingo for books was the January event the teachers put on for the community. Free books lined the tables and floor around the lunch room to be won while Jack served ice cream cones.

Pep rally for boys basketball

Jack, the coach, and athletic director.

The coach's dad, an Elder, saying a prayer for the team.

Zax got picked for a free cup, lol!

And his prefect attendance slush puppy ticket.

INDOOR HOBBIES
Wearing moosey socks on moosey Monday

I knit and Jack sews.

Jack did an awesome job with their hats!

Playtime!

Play date with Emma, a teacher's daughter.

This was at 11:50am. I was heading into the post office and saw the sun rising over the frozen ocean.

Different day, same time, view from the counselors office. Our cellphone service stopped working after Christmas for no reason so I was there getting ready to teach my relief society lesson on the school landline. We use gmail to call for the other meetings to listen to at home.

THE FOOD

The village store inconsistently has fruit, sometimes it has already gone bad, and it's expensive. This batch was $35. When it is in I am grateful.

Whale chili. The meat on its own was hard to eat, so Jack made it into a chorizo sausage and it was great in our chili.

Fresh crab, still alive!

Trying to escape

Ila swiped Jack's shake at school.  We're staying healthy with Isagenix shakes now.  My sister introduced me to the company and now I'm hooked and glad they ship here!

The sister missionaries are over the bush branch and scheduled this FaceTime session to get to know us!  In our branch it's expected to never meet the fellow members since it spans across the entire state, anywhere rural. The sisters teach lessons on skype and email with members and their friends.

Crew just turned 7 months old. Toothless, hairless, but lots of smiles and love.

Christmas through New year's, lots of firsts

 

This Christmas was like none other.  I did it alone with the kids in the village.  Jack left for 11 days first to LA for his brother's wedding and then made his way up to Idaho for Christmas with fun stops along the way.  This picture is Crew and me at open gym so Zax and Ila could run around with other kids.  It was around 0 degrees most of the break so taking walks was painful or out of the question.  Ila got a bit sick for a few days so we couldn't have friends over to play and that's when I was ready to quit life.  Ok, no, not really.  We endured well.

The school Christmas program was each elementary grade performing a song on stage.  Then, Santa  came with a gift bag for each student.  The principal has usually been the one to be Santa, but last minute Jack got a parent to do it! 

Kindergarteners singing, One little two little three little snowflakes...

Last day of school before Christmas break was a free day.  Parents were invited in at 9:30am for a movie and snacks.  Then at 10 the kids did their secret Santa gift exchange.

The kids were excited for their gifts.  These kids were so grateful for what they got. More than one student gave the other a bag of socks or gloves! When i asked Louisa on her birthday in November what she wanted she got more excited when i suggested clothing than toys! 

I was so excited Zax got Louisa's name so I could buy something girly.  She is a sweet girl that I enjoy having over to the house.  She loved her new outfit and immediately went into the bathroom to change into it.

Crew is 6 months old and a busy body.  He likes to crawl after his siblings and check out what they are playing with. It amazes me how quickly he (babies in general) develops new skills.  After he could sit up for a week he figured out how to crawl and sit up again and go back to crawling.  

To mix things up we brought a movie and popcorn to the school library to watch on the big screen.  The other teacher families couldn't come so I invited the janitor's family.  His son is in Zax's class and the twins are 4 so it was perfect.

And the gym that kept me sane.

Just Dance with the Ninja Turtles. 

Christmas morning!!  Stocking gifts first, breakfast, then under the tree gifts.  The kids were so fun to watch.  We facetime-d Jack for a couple hours so we could see each other open presents.  We got to see the Kingsford fam at the Meservy's. 

Ila falls on the ice and in deep snow often.  Sometimes she gives up and lays there til someone comes and helps her up.  She is always entertaining us.

From the kitchen window you can see the snowplow clearing the runway for the bush planes to land safely.  There are a few days a month flights don't come in because of weather.  Wind and fog deter the planes most often.  It is disappointing especially when I am waiting for packages to arrive.  Walmart is taking extra long this time and I ran out of diapers yesterday.  The store is closed for New Years, but luckily I have about 10 left over from his old size so he's sporting those and I'm hoping for not too many blowouts. 

When Jack finally made it home we had the kids line up their toys they got for Christmas to show Jack.  Then they were able to get their presents he brought for them from him and his family.

Ila posing with her new outfit from Tito and Silvia! She loved all the clothes and gasped with excitement with each new outfit given to her.

My mom sent the family matching socks, including Crew!  We now have a tradition to wear them on Monday for, Moose-y Mondays.

We joined the village at the school for a New Years Eve dinner.  It was delicious with turkey, ham, potatoes, chocolate cake and more!  They are very low key events, but Jack found out the tradition is to shoot your gun at midnight outside your door.  Just make sure to point away from the village.  I didn't make it to midnight, nor did I try, and Jack said shooting alone wasn't much fun.  Maybe next year.

We rang in the new year with a "looking forward to in 2016" poster.  It was a great excuse to use finger paints and be creative.

Jack cracked open nuts that were given to us from the city as a gift to everyone in the village.