Faith, Fairbanks, and the Last Frontier: March 2012

Again, I know it has been quite a while since my last post. My only excuse, life has gotten even busier. Didn’t think it could happen! LOTS OF PICS BELOW!

February went quite quickly. Towards the beginning of the month, we got to see some gorgeous Northern Lights. We went a little ways out of town the first night they were out, and that is where most of our pictures are from. The next few nights we saw them right from our porch. Beautiful! I say that they are the gift we get for dealing with these cold temperatures.

Kimberly came to Alaska!!!! She came along with the MLC college choir. It was a tremendous 4 days. I flew down on Saturday, and hopped on the coach bus with the entire choir. I was able to tour around with them for the day. Boy did that take me back to the good old days of college choir. Kimberly stayed at the same host family that I was staying at. Jason joined us on Sunday, and we had a great few days attending her concerts and enjoying some relaxing time. Seeing my sister was very uplifting! I was really missing my family. The choir sounded absolutely beautiful each time I heard them.

Finley is 9 months old! He is around 75 pounds and growing. He is in his last and final puppy class, Canine Good Citizen. We aren’t so sure how he will do in this one, but it is good practice for all of us. He continues to be the love of our lives and is one adorable, spoiled puppy. He continues to love the snow, cold temps, dog park trips, walks, treats, and any food at all. While in Anchorage, a friend of our watched him, and he had a great time! Slept the whole next day after we picked him up. His girlfriend, McKinley, lives there!

I just returned from a week in ARIZONA! A much needed trip! I went to see my Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, baby Mason, and my parents. A huge surprise was when my sister Stephanie walked in the front door at my Grandparents house. She had decided the night before to fly down to surprise us all. It was incredible. We were inseparable the rest of the vacation! A few of the things I did included relaxing in the sun, shopping with my cousin, eating at new restaurants, attending the Arizona Opry, swimming in a heated pool, eating frozen yogurt, eating my Grandma’s amazing German food, and talking and spending precious time with family. It was very hard to come back to the below zero temps after being in the 80’s, but boy was it a blessing to have this time with family. I even came back with a tan!

We recently attended the Ice Park here in Fairbanks. This is a HUGE ice carving championship that is held in Fairbanks every year. Carvers from all over the world come to Fairbanks and create beautiful masterpieces. You can see what I mean by checking out this website: icealaska.com

Church work continues to keep both Jason and myself busy. With Easter coming quickly, Jason has plenty to prepare for. Our choir is singing for almost every service during Easter week. Quite a change from what they used to do. Our women’s group continues to meet twice a month, keeping busy with several different activities. Our newest and biggest church activity is our Easter for Kids Celebration, “Breaking Free from the Cocoon.” There has been lots of planning and organizing, but we are all very excited to see what the Lord has in mind. We are praying for a good turnout! Jason is still busy with Bible class on Sunday and Monday, and several classes throughout the week. God is good.

Weather and sunlight – Yesterday was 21 degrees ABOVE! It actually started at 20 below in the morning and jumped 40 degrees by 2:00 p.m. The weather seems to slowly be warming up. Sunrise: 7:34 A.M Sunset: 8:21 P.M. – TOTAL OF 12 hours and 47 minutes. It is amazing how fast the sunlight came back. We love it. You can already tell that people have more energy. By Jason’s birthday on March 30, we will be at 13 hours and 27 minutes. Crazy! Come to Alaska, you’ll love this sun. Now only if it could warm up even more.

Other than that, life continues as normal. 8 weeks of teaching left, then a fun summer of sun and family. Many church events planned for summer as well! Remember, our house is always open for visitors. We know the trip is quite expensive, so once you get here, you have a place to stay, transportation, and home cooked meals.

God bless you and your family as we celebrate the RISEN LORD. Rejoice with one another that Christ is not dead, but has risen! So we will too one day, rise!

Take care,

Becky, Jason, and Finley too!