Christmas Visit!

Mom and Chey came to visit us for a week. Yesterday, we took them out to enjoy some cold and snow!

Video of Mom on Snowmachine

Here is video of Chey on the snowmachine and Josh sleding down the hillside.

Updates coming....

I have been trying to update the blog. I am trying to put a few videos for everyone to view. I will keep trying. Stay tuned!

Sun.....Moon

The other day, while we were at Amanda's piano lessons at 3:15 in the afternoon we saw the sun and the moon in the sky. Check it out. The moon was in the northwest sky and the sun was in the southeast sky. Cool!

Ice Fishing

On Saturday, Kevin and Josh went ice fishing. It was really fun for them - it wasn't even that cold, they said.

Tonight, we were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

It's late, but....

A few pics from the Harvest Festival...

What happens when....

... you take a face plant off a swing set at school.

Hard Work

......even in the rain. My boy was out chipping away rust on our trailer. We had a trailer given to us, it just needs a little TLC. Thanks to a good friend.

Fire Safety and First Aid

We had a lot of fun Monday teaching Amanda's Home School Co-op Fire Safety and First Aid. You would be surprised at how much a young child can pick up.

Snow

This is what we woke up to this morning. The first of the season in town. They already have 6 inches up on the hill.

Gods Provision!

In January 2007, we drove our Suburban up to Alaska from Texas. Over the last year, it has gradually fallen apart. Reverse does not work in the Suburban. We have been so blessed by some friends of ours. They have graciously let us use their 3rd car for the last year. We have been praying and waiting for God to provide us with a new vehicle. Two weeks ago, we were able to purchase a 1997 Ford Expedition. It is in great shape and runs nice. We are so thankful for God's faithfulness and His provision.

The kids say it is the nicest car we have ever had.

Zucchini Relish

I'm sure most of you are tired of seeing the homemade things, but here we go again. We have enjoyed making zucchini relish. It is really good with canned salmon. Soon, we will be trying it in potato salad, macaroni salad, etc. It was fun to make and even more fun to eat. I would love to share the recipe, but it is a highly guarded secret.

Ole Man Winter!

Ole man winter is showing his ugly head this weekend. We saw some snow flurries and hail. Some places close to here had up to 7 inches of snow. Wow! I'm not sure that I'm ready for the winter.

Field Trip....

On Thursday, I went on a field trip with Sami's head start class. We went to Islands & Oceans for a "Crab" lab. We learned lots about crabs and those animals that are similar - shrimps, barnacles, etc. We had lots of fun.










Sami holding a decorator crab.









Sami and her "buddy" Serena.










Sami in front of dungeness crabs.








The kids looking at a map of the slough. The teacher was telling them how to use a map and helping them to find out the way for us to go.

Another Necessity....

To help defray the cost of groceries, I have been baking bread for the family. It has truly been a learning experience. It is something that I thought would be easy. However, I have learned that making it is easy, getting it to rise and making it look pretty are two different things. Today, I made the first batch that actually looked pretty. I have had trouble in the past with the loaves falling in the middle. I just wanted everyone to see my accomplishment.

Potato Harvest....

Here are a few pictures from today. We had so much fun. Harvesting potatoes is like treasure hunting....you never know how many you will find or how big they will be!

Now for the haul......

Dinner Fun!

This is what the Cooley girls do for fun at dinner time.

Homeade Dressing

Lately, my husband has been challenged to find a salad dressing that he likes. We finally found a homemade one that he likes:

Caesar Dressing

1 c mayo
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp milk or 1/2-n-1/2
Garlic powder, salt, & pepper to taste

* I also added a little Italian seasoning

This stuff is yummy. Thanks Jen Price for your inspiration to get more creative on our blog.

Raspberries

We have spent most of the summer getting ready for the winter. We have been gardening all summer long. A couple of ladies in town have graciously let us help them in their garden and share in the proceeds. Today, we went and picked raspberries. We will be making jam soon. Raspberry is the kids favorite. We also picked black courrants (??). I'm going to try and make a pie with them as well as make some jelly. I've never made jelly before, just jams , so this will be fun. I hope to never buy jelly/jam in the store again.

Hockey Camp

This last week, we spent helping out with a hockey camp. It was sponsored by our YWAM base. We had four hockey instructors from YWAM Hockey to help us out. It was run very similar to Upwards Basketball. The kids were taught on-ice techniques. Off-ice they were given teaching on technique as well as devotional time. We had 22 kids participate. It was alot of fun.

Gardening....

As most of you know, we have been spending time this summer learning to garden here in Alaska. It is sure helping to off set the cost of groceries. Here are a few pictures of the things we went and picked tonight. The girls favorite thing to pick is potatoes and carrots. We are all enjoying the fruits of our labor, or is that vegetables?

Update!

The school year has started off busy. Josh started school on the 20th of August. He is taking Algebra and English at the high school and is homeschooling all other subjects. Amanda started school on the 27th. Sami started pre-school this week. She was so excited. She got to ride the school bus today for the first time. Life is really busy with all the different schedules.

At YWAM, we have been spending the last couple of weeks preparing for a hockey camp. We are putting on a camp with YWAM Hockey out of British Columbia. The camp will be on Thursday and Friday nights and all day Saturday and Sunday. Please pray that the kids of this community will see God through all of us. Hope to post a few pics in the next few days.

Glaciers....calving?

Here are a few pics of the glaciers and a video of one of them calving.