Missing FruDan

Somewhere up among the Aurora Borealis tonight flies RuthAnn. I'm sad to see her go!
Being outnumbered by children 5 to 1 for a week might endanger my sanity and their safety. Carlee and Nathan, knowing this, thoughtfully asked my friend RuthAnn to come and help me "mommy" during Carlee's surgery week. What a blessing it was to have her! So refreshing. She was a life-saver in so many ways, and the Hobbits loved her. And, I think she just might have been bitten by the Nome bug!* Kate said it for everyone when RuthAnn left: "Oh, I miss my FruDan!"


The best memory of RuthAnn's time here was the night Brenda (my favorite Eskimo!!) and Nate came over. We watched Lorna Doone, and after the movie we sat around; laughed uproariously and talked late into the night. At about 2:30 am while it was nearly blizzarding outside, Nate took us for spins (litterally!) around town on the 4-wheeler. What a happy memory.

Me and da bro!

(I love Brenda so much!)

I had fun taking RuthAnn around Nome and showing her the sites that are so foreign to us in Ohio! She's a blast because she's delighted with everything and easily impressed. :) Yesterday my brother took off work early and came to stay with the kids so RuthAnn and I could have some time alone together. We drove out towards Anvil Mountain and saw some musk ox and this georgous fox. I also identified some bear droppings that I thought she might find interesting, of which she promptly took a picture. (snicker!) ...Okay, okay. So I did the same thing the first time I saw bear poo.

...And we hit a few gift shops too. My favorite part of the gift shops are the beautiful furs they sell. Fox, seal, wolf, rabbit, wolverine, beaver, and so much more. Here she's trying on some seal skin gloves. Don't be fooled by the faux fur oven mit look: these guys are priced at over $250.00!


Then we did the Touristy Thing and stopped in the center of town for a few pictures. I, of course, am NOT a tourist. I'm an "almost-Nomeite" by now. ...But,.. I still kinda like taking touristy pictures. :)

We both found men at Anvil City Square who struck our fancy. Upon getting to know them a bit, though, we agreed that neither was much of a conversationalist and they seemed a little stiff.

Thanks for coming RuthAnn. May God bless you as you blessed my family and I this past week. Thank you for your servant's heart and the joy and peace you brought to what could have been a much tougher week.

*Sooo....Iditerod '09 or bust!? ;-)