Many miscilaneous happenings in the North

First order of business: the story of my great disturbance this morning. I was taking care of Caleb and was just about to lay him down for his nap, when he suddenly spewed upon me the greatest amount of spit-up that I have EVER seen in one place at one time. It flowed down both sides of my neck: trickling to my stomach in the front and to my shoulder blades in the back. I had to take a shower. And I was glad, at that moment, that I had purchased this deodorant a few months ago:It was, indeed, an "emotional moment". Perhaps you will call the label a pitiful marketing ploy. But I say, I just might not have made it through the Great Spit-up of 2009 without my Emotional Reinforcing Deodorant. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

On to more palatable topics of conversation.

The weather is starting to turn. The past week was extremely cold; 16 degrees Sat. morning. It finally snowed yesterday and it's nice, because the dust was getting pretty extreme. Most of the roads in Nome are dirt roads, so when it's dry the dust kicks up and whirls through town, coating everything with a fine layer. Shaina and Kate looking outside at the snow this morning-


Yesterday I drove around town and took a few pictures of things that struck my fancy:

A moose antler design

Velvet Eyes is a pet reindeer who belongs to a man in town. The guy drives a pickup truck and can be seen frequently with Velvet in the back, like a dog. This is Velvet Eyes' "kennel", I guess. :)

Souped up truck, all ready for winter :)

I took this picture outside of the Nome Senior Living center. "Seriously now: Are you really that handicapped?"

We've been seeing seal the past few weeks in the sea, but no belugas yet. :( A friend from church is a native so he's allowed to net the whales for food. We drove outside of town and saw his nets a few days ago, and there were quite a few seals watching us as we climbed on the rocks. We found bear tracks on the beach; a mother and her cub. They weren't particularly big tracks, but pretty cool nevertheless. :)


I've enjoyed working at the Nome Children's Home a few times a week. Sometimes for just an hour if they need a fill in; sometimes for an entire shift. There are 7 kids right now. Each has been removed from an unstable living environment and is living at the Home temporarily. They're from different villages outside of Nome, and they're all Eskimos (which is not, by the way, a politically incorrect term in this region.) They are soooo darling! I wish I could show you their beautiful faces. The chubbiest little cheeks and sparkling dark eyes. I love getting the chance to give them love and tickles and kisses.
Here's one little Eskimo dude I did get a picture of: Danny is buddies with Caleb, and we like to put them next to each other and laugh at the difference in their cheek size! Danny is the son of Dustin and Ariel, some friends from church. Like Caleb, he is intensely kissable.


We love having Uncle Nate here! He brings lots of smiles to our little apartment when he visits! :) We finished watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy yesterday, and I was completely captivated by the story. (Mom. Christmas. hint hint hint.)

Fascinating the kids by blowing into a glass bottle. (Notice Shaina's outfit: she is such a little FancyNancy!)