Fall in Fairbanks!

Yes, I know, it's been a VERY long time.  SOrry.  Life has really picked up since last time I wrote, so that explains the gap in writings.  Here is what our fall has looked like.  And YES, it is fall in Fairbanks.  Fall is actually almost over.  I hear it will continue for about 2 more weeks.  Then the snow may come.  AHHHHHH!  Right now, it's beautiful!  70 degrees again today and blue skies!  Love it!
These first pictures are from a trip to Birch Hill! Gorgeous cross country ski area with lots of cranberries.  We took Finley, he loved it! 

 Taking a break jumping through the woods.

 I love when he's snuggly!

A wiped out Finley.  Too much twig eating, leaf eating,and tree jumping!

The next pictures are from the other night when we headed up Murphy Dome Road.  A beautiful, colorful drive.  We left a little late, so we missed the best views.  The sun had already gone down. Still some pretty views.

These are more fall pictures taken tonight of different areas around town and by our home.

 View from UAF campus.

 Tons of fall colors - Alaskan Range in the background (a bit cloudy).

 Front of our church.

 Driveway out towards the street.

Heading down to our house on our driveway!

Some extra of Finley!

Jason blinding him with the flash while riding in the car.

 Love this picture!

Finley LOVES the new toy, Kathy!  Thanks so much!  IT is so cool!  He has been chewing on it like crazy!  And YES, he is a HUGE packer fan!  You should have seen him as Jason was yelling during the game on Thursday.

SO life has continued on. . .

We are very busy with church events.  Sunday school and Bible class have both started up.  Jason's Bible class is entitled, "Church: It's About GOd's Family"  He seems to really be enjoying it.  I am teaching Sunday School to the 3-6 year olds.  First one down and it went quite well!  I have also started playing organ every other Sunday.  This also has me quite busy due to the practicing, but I still enjoy it.

 We are continuing with member visits, and really enjoying those as well.  We have had some geat conversations with our members. 

Work for me is going ok.  Haven't worked with kids yet, so until then, I am just putting in my time. 

Finley is keeping us very busy!  He continues to grow like crazy, and is able to jump up on everything.  His biting of the furniture has decreased, but his biting and stealing of everything left on the floor has increased! We love him SOOO much, and are so glad that we have him in our family.  Every night we explore a new area of Fairbanks with him, getting him out to run, walk, and play.  This has been great for Jason and myself as well! Exercise and good time spent together.

I pray that everyone is doing well!  Keep in touch, call, e-mail, skype, facebook! Anything!  We would love to hear from all of you!

Love ya all!~

(Some videos to enjoy)





One more video.

One more video!

This is of Finley playing with the new toy from Angela and Ben!  He loves it! 

August is done, on to September

 

It’s been another wonderful week!  The Lord continues to shower his blessings upon us.  We continue to keep very busy with church work, my work, dog watching, feeding, playing and walking, and so much more. 

On Sunday, Finley will be 11 weeks old.  He is growing like a weed!  Every morning he looks different to me.  In addition to his weight and height, he is also getting darker and darker.  You see he is becoming more like his mother’s color, the deeper red.  We are anxious to see what he will look like in a year or so.  You can especially see the color in his ears, face, and the middle of his back.  He continues to do lots of puppy things.   His biting is probably what bothers us the most.  Not necessarily the biting of furniture, he isn’t too bad now that we have sprayed a homemade mixture on everything.  It is more the biting of us.  He still thinks we are his siblings, so that will continue to take more work.  He has put a few holes in my clothes, but nothing major. 

He is making some HUGE steps though!  House training – going pretty well.  He has begun to go right up to the top of the stairs, or even the door when he has to go.  He still occasionally has accidents, but most of those are our own fault.  He can SIT and STAY!  He can come when called, even from very far away.   He has begun training for DOWN and STAY, and did it for the first time today.  We have also started training him to shake, and he actually did it twice today on his own!  (we just started this today).  It goes to show how fast of learners these golden’s really are. 

He is truly an amazing and wonderful puppy!  We just can’t wait to see what kind of a dog he becomes.  He is loving and affectionate, and a joy to have.  I already know how much of a help he will be to us in the winter.  We are so glad we did this!

Work is going well.  I have yet to really work with kids, so I am awaiting the end of September when we will have our set students.  It has been very interesting seeing how public schools work.

Home visits have been great!  Next week we have quite a packed schedule, but we are really enjoying them.  What a great opportunity to get to know these memebers, their Alaska story(everyone here has an incredible story of how they got here), and what they know and feel about Syndoulos.  Just awesome!

Jason was given a new desk by a member who is moving away.  He is now trying to sell our craigslist find back on craigslist!  He’s had a couple of people interested, so should work out great.  The most exciting news of the week has been that our BRAND NEW dishwasher has arrived!!  Tomorrow it will be installed.  A few weeks ago, we had a congregational meeting.  At that meeting the church president listed off things that needed to be fixed in the house.  Well, when we moved here, the dishwasher decided to explode all over the kitchen.  We have actually not minded washing our dishes one bit.  It is our quality time together as husband and wife.  Anyways, one of the members gave us a call on that same Sunday, and said that they will not let us live here without a dishwasher.  “Come to Sears right now, and pick one out.  We will buy it for the parsonage!”  This is what they said!  Crazy, I know!  We were just shocked about the love and kindness shown by these members.  Definitely not something we expected, though very much appreciated.  We can’t wait to have it installed tomorrow by my husband and a member.  It will be loaded and running by supper! God-willing!  We are definitely thankful for the people God has placed in our lives. 

Even though we miss our families and friends terribly, God is truly providing us with much love and support.  It is especially hard missing out on our Schmill family Labor Day camping trip, but we look forward to new traditions that can be made.  We hope and pray that everyone has a wonderful and safe Labor day weekend!

Say a special prayer for those affected by the hurricane in the East.  Be thankful for the safety that the Lord grants you each and every day!

God bless!

 Do you think we have enough puppy food?

 He love's his food.

 

After his 2nd bath.  His dark hair was showing even more. He's so handsome.

 Chilling with Jason!

 A squeaky lobster from Angela and Ben!  Just for Finley, our spoiled child!

                   Finley LOVING the toy Angela and Ben got for him.