Alaska: Day 2

It is the second morning we are here in the frozen north.  Though yesterday it got fantastically warm (that is relative, you know) and up to 50F!  The snow lessened a little, and the mud grew.

Yesterday, we had lunch with our pastor and his family at their farm.  The kids loved seeing the goats, including a pen full of kids, the tiny angus cow, the chickens, and of course the boarder collie pups!  We had delicious salmon – you have not had salmon until you’ve had it North – and enjoyed the sun.  Amelia even played barefoot on the deck and, after getting a splinter, enjoyed sticking her feet in the leftover snow piles.

Afterward, we visited Matthew’s old workplace and chatted with co-workers.  I finally got to give him his anniversary present – a handmade knife, made by a former co-worker.  It is beautiful with so many details – exotic wood, copper spacers, fossilized sea cow bone handle, and one of my favorite parts is the lanyard with the two bear claws at the end.  Those bear claws are from the bear Matthew shot and we spent a winter eating!  We had given him the paws we had saved and he still had them – what a fantastic piece of art.  I’d show you a picture, but I forgot my camera cable in WA.  Oops…  Afterward, we grabbed dinner and headed over to one of Matthew’s good friends’ house to hang out for a bit.

Today we have more visits with friends, dinner with another family from church, and, after the kids are asleep, Matthew and I are going to appear on a local, Christian talk show that airs live twice a week here locally to talk about our mission work.  Should be a fun day!

The sun is shining, though, granted, it has been for several hours…because, you know, there’s 21 hours of daylight almost…and the kids are still sleeping (at 8:30 in the morning!).  I guess I should get my breakfast and coffee before they finally decide to wake!