Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting ready to take the dogs for a run

Norah helps stack wood

Decorating Daddy is a fun way to spend the evening

Reading as a family

This will be a short post because we're busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and I know everyone else is too!
We have BIG NEWS!
If you hadn't noticed yet by looking at our 'thermometer' to the right of our blog, we have reached about 90% support!!! This is HUGE!
We have been astounded the last couple of weeks at God's amazing provision and the people He has impressed upon to join the ministry partnership here at Victory by jumping onto our support team. It seems so fitting, too, that we get to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow because we have so, so much to be thankful for and it's on the front of our minds right now. We feel like a huge portion of the weight of worry about our finances is gone, and while we're still not 100% of the way there it is definitely in sight! We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supports us and prays for us, because we know the support comes from people who desire what God desires--that more people can know Him--and that the prayers said in intercession for us are the reason we have nearly reached our support goal.
Other interesting happenings/updates: we took Norah to an ear, nose & throat specialist and talked about tubes. We could not get a definite answer and were slightly uncomfortable with the whole experience, so we are taking her to a specialist in Anchorage next month for a second opinion. Prayers for us to have wisdom and discernment and for Norah's ears to be well would be appreciated!
This week we discovered we have mice in our house. I know it's a common thing in a lot of households but it really bothers me! We are setting traps (I take that back: JUSTIN is setting traps) and we are thinking about getting a kitty. I know it's cold outside, but these visitors are unwelcome. :)
We have most of my family from Kenai arriving tonight to spend a few days eating, enjoying each other's company, and giving thanks to God for the awesome things He does daily in our lives. I hope that you will do the same tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to Winter

The girls & I took a trip to Kenai last week. Norah had fun with Uncle Max!

Justin stacks wood for the winter. So far the shed is 3 rows deep!

Greetings from Victory, where it's an invigorating 17 degrees and the sun is shining!
We have experienced lots of adventures lately as we battle against the cold. It's truly amazing what an effort it is to keep up a basic existence in a place like Alaska, and it makes us very thankful for the warm roof over our heads!
We came home from a trip to town a few weeks ago to step inside the house and find that it was only 42 degrees....inside!! (It was about 20 degrees outside.) Power surges around camp while we were gone had temporarily broken our heater and our house was frigid. It was late and we were hungry, so while Justin ran to the camp's woodshed to borrow some emergency logs, I put the girls on the couch with their winter coats and a blanket and started dinner. Justin got a fire going in the woodstove, we pulled out our small space heater, and soon it was a toasty 52 degrees inside! One of the camp's awesome maintenance men came and fixed the heater, but we quickly made the decision to rely on wood heat from there on out.
Justin enlisted the help of a couple of young men from camp and they spent one of Justin's days off chainsawing and hauling wood to our house. In the days since then Justin has spent many evenings out back with the chainsaw cutting the wood, and stacking it. I am thankful for a husband who works hard to keep his family warm, and thankful for a nice big woodstove to heat our home effectively and (somewhat) cheaply!

We woke early yesterday morning to find that our pipes had frozen, and there was no running water in the house. Matt and Andre came to work on the pipes and it wasn't long before I heard running water...coming from the pipe space beneath the girls' room and the bathroom. The pipes were spraying water everywhere and poor Matt was soaked. It was about 12 degrees outside and the wind was blowing off the lake, and Matt and Andre were having to run from house to truck and back again for parts. That is a recipe for hypothermia! The problem was eventually under control, but we need it to snow more here so that our pipes can be better insulated from the outside of the house.

We've had our fair share of sickness here lately, and now to top it all off, Norah came down with a stomach bug today. The crud is definitely going around camp and the community as well. Hopefully we can all be well again soon and not worry about sharing germs with each other!
On the program side of things, Justin is gearing up for Victory's high school retreat from November 16-18. He is also working with the program team on the theme for this summer. The theme has been chosen and now they are just working on the layout of everything.

Some ways you can be praying for us right now:

-That the fall sickness would leave our house and camp
-That we would have wisdom to know whether Norah should get tubes in her ears- (she has had recurring ear infections) we have a consultation next Wednesday with a doctor
-For the high school retreat, that it would be safe and fun, and many young hearts would be awakened to Christ