November 16th Update

Here are the girls in our first snow, trying to catch a snowflake. It snowed early, September 29th,and now here it is mid-November, and we still haven't accumulated any! It's OK with me because it still feels like fall and winter in AK is long enough. :)

We took a trip to Kansas in the beginning of October so Justin could officiate a wedding for friends of ours, and Evie could be one of the flower girls. The girls were very excited to be on an airplane! Evie remembers being on an airplane for other trips but it was the first time Norah has been old enough to enjoy flying.

We went to Iowa and got to see Justin's parents for a day. We went to a pumpkin patch that the girls absolutely loved. Grady wasn't so sure!

We had to take advantage of some family time out of state! We went to the zoo in Wichita.

This isn't zoomed in! The hippo swam right up to say hello!

It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding! We were so excited to see our friends Jessica and Mark get married. 

Evie and Norah pose with their friend Darcy, Evie's fellow flower girl!

When we got home it was pumpkin time! Evie was a little grossed out by the inside of the pumpkin.

Grady really liked scooping around the pumpkin guts!

We have 5 1/2 cords of birch to put in the basement for winter.  Moving the wood is a job for the whole family!

Even Grady can carry kindling!


Around camp, conference and retreat season is still in full swing. We will have less groups on the grounds as we get closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas. We just finished hosting the Church on the Rock ladies, around 200 people, and we staff wives got to throw a surprise baby shower for a former staff member who was attending the retreat! It was awesome!
Our high school retreat, SnoMania EXT, will be December 5-7, and I know there are still spots left, so if you know of any high schoolers who would enjoy a crazy weekend of fun before Christmas break, register on our website! 



Here are some ways you can be praying right now:

-We have more travel ahead of us- 
Camp Li-Wa in Fairbanks- we will head up to our sister camp next week with the Outpost students to help out around the camp. This means 12+ hours round trip of driving for the kids to do. Pray they'll be the good little travelers they usually are and that our trip is effective!
-The day after we get  back from Fairbanks, we're taking a 5-hour drive to Kenai for Thanksgiving. We will leave the girls with Grammie and Papa and take Grady and fly out Thanksgiving night for Florida. Pray for safe travels as we head down to the peninsula!
-We'll be in Florida for a week- This was supposed to be a trip to the Christian Camp and Conference Center Association national conference, but we found out that camp was unable to send any of its staff after we bought plane tickets, so we are still planning to go. When you live in cold snowy Alaska you just don't say no to a trip to Florida! But pray that the girls will do well without us for 8 nights. Norah has only been apart from mom and dad for 1 night at a time so this is a big step for her. Good thing they're being left in good hands! :)
-Not feeling well has been a source of stress for me, and we are going to be very busy over the next month or two. Please pray for peace even amidst uncertainty for me. I am a worrier so this is something I really struggle with!

Thanks for your prayers and support. We love & value each one of you!