We are here!!!

We have been in Kenai for a week now, and are finally starting to get settled in. The kids are absolutely loving the location of our new home. The above picture was taken right behind our house. Every day I am astounded by the beauty here in Alaska. Grace loves that the beach is nearby (even though it is frozen for quite a bit of the year!) Noah loves that we live at the end of a quiet street, so he can ride his bike and scooter to his hearts content without worrying about cars. We feel so lucky to be able to live here!

The actual move went about as smoothly as a move to Alaska can possibly go. Loaded up with 8 suitcases, a dog, two kids,  my mother in law Marsha and I boarded the first of three planes that would get us to Kenai. 18 hours later we finally arrived in our new home town.

The kids favorite part of the trip was the last leg on the puddle jumper from Anchorage to Kenai. It is only a 15 minute flight (that saves you a 3 1/2 hour drive), but Noah and Grace loved every minute of it! (The plane in the picture turned out to NOT be our plane. Ours was much smaller) :)

The drive to Anchorage to pick up Steve's truck and the pallets that we shipped was absolutely breathtaking! Around every corner was a more beautiful view waiting.

We have heard more than once this week that we must have brought the Arizona heat with us. We have had record breaking temperatures here. There was a heat advisory last Friday morning when temperatures were said to have hit 80 degrees. We are trying to take advantage of the good weather in between unpacking boxes and getting settled in to life at ACC.

 One of the things that has been hardest to adjust to is the ever-present daylight. This picture was of a late night shopping trip with Marsha at Walmart taken at about 11:30pm. Last night Steve and I were putting in a late night painting when he called me over to the window. He told me he thought the sun was finally setting (this was at 1:30 am). We watched the sun go down...and then come right back up again about 20 minutes later. :)

Steve started work at ACC June first, and is getting settled in to his new office. Our students are at home in their villages for the summer, but there is still much to be done. This coming week begins the visits from church work teams that will spend the summer updating and maintaining the campus. Steve and I will have the opportunity to host several of these teams. We will be able to work alongside those teams, bring them to dinner in our home, and show them around our beautiful city. This is such a wonderful time to build and strengthen relationships with those people who have been faithfully supporting and praying for our ministry. I would invite any of you who are interested in finding out more about ACC to look into putting a team together for next summer!

Before I close this post, I wanted to make you aware of a special prayer request. One of the villages that is represented in our student body is that of Galena, Alaska. This month as the Yukon river broke up and began to flow through the village, an ice dam was formed and the village flooded. One of our students, Kaylin Kopp put together this video sharing her experience.

Galena Video

Please keep the people of Galena in your prayers. After the flood there were only 3 homes left standing. All of the missionary organizations here in Alaska are working together to try to help these people clean up and rebuild their village before the cold and potentially deadly winter hits again.  If you would like more information you can visit http://www.akmissionconnection.org/galena-relief/ or https://www.facebook.com/GalenaRebuilders. 

Thank you all for your prayers during this time of transition for our family!