Alaska: Day 3 & 4

We’ve had two very full days yesterday and today, let me see if I can recap them for you and not put you to sleep.

Yesterday we had a couple of errands to run and stopped in at some very dear friends of ours.  I love this family so much and have been really looking forward to seeing them.  Their youngest (of 6!) is just eight days older than Levi, so it was always fun watching them together.  We visited for a bit, then came back to our host’s house for lunch and NAPS.  We all took three hours naps, although I think Levi played quietly for some of that.  It was excellent and, apparently, we all really needed it.

Dinner was at a family’s house – actually, our hosts’ daughter – whom we know from church.  They have four kiddos, the youngest is just a bit older than Amelia, so it was fun to watch them play together.  Levi made a quick friend in their youngest son, and all the parents enjoyed NOT answering constant questions, since they were content to just ask each other.  And, since he’s a few years older, he was able to help Levi with his food, too.  It was fantastic, as was the moose stew.  Sadly, we had to leave early due to another appointment.

We rushed back to the house, got the kiddos to bed, and Matthew and I headed out to KJNP (King Jesus, North Pole) – a local Christian radio and television station.  We were scheduled to appear on their twice-weekly talk show, Closing Comments, to talk about our mission work and advertise for a Saturday morning presentation at St. Paul Church here in Fairbanks that we are doing.  It was a fun chance to appear on local, live TV and share further with the community about our mission work.  It’s very low key, so don’t picture anything spectacular, but we are grateful for our hosts at St. Paul Church for thinking of it and setting it up.

We didn’t get home and in bed until nearly midnight, but it was still light outside, no worries there.  The kids slept in a bit and we were up and ready to go for another busy day.  We had lunch with friends from church and their four kiddos – super fun and lots of mud to inspect.  And it was fantastic to eat on the deck in the sun and watch the snow melt and run down the hills.

We came back to the house and all took yet another three hour naps.  We have no idea why we are so tired, but I’m grateful that all four of us are at least on the same page.  We got up at 5:30pm with just enough time to get out the door to meet with more friends for dinner.  They took us out to a great Italian place and, after, outside at the newly-open-for-the-summer ice cream shack.  The kids had fun and Amelia found a giant puddle and before we could get her boots on she was soaking wet and giggling.  So, we watched her attack the puddle while we enjoyed ice cream in the sun at 8:30pm.  We do miss things about the Great North!

Now, with two freshly bathed kids in bed and laundry running to get the mud out, we are trying to get ready for bed…but the sun really does mess with your head.

This weekend will be more appointments and fun and, hopefully, more good weather!  We are having a great time in AK – we even drove past our old house, all stalker-like, and were nostalgic to see that the only new things are a little dog run fence and a Steelers flag hanging out front.  It was the house we owned and worked on for four years before selling it to move to Africa.

In a totally abrupt change of topic, let me direct you to a segment that sired on CBS News tonight.  This mother, an adopting mom who adopted from DRC, has such a story to share about love.  I did not get to meet her in person, though I had chatted with her a bit on facebook on and off before she traveled to DRC.  And get a tissue…just sayin’.  It’s less than three minutes, but just a tiny part of the adoption picture that I was privileged enough to take part in while we lived in DRC.