Gold, Moose, and Sad Farewells :(

(So actually we left Alaska over a week ago. But I haven't posted since so this is the "official" au revoir!)

A beautiful shot of Nome from the beach

Nathaniel hasn't gotten a moose yet, but God provided in other ways. Some good friends offered a hindquarter of their moose. So we drove out to their house and began butchering. It took an entire evening to get the hidquarter (roughly 70-80 lbs. of meat) butchered and packed--some into mooseburger and some in roasts. But we had fun doing it and are so thankful for God's provision to get the Hobbs through another winter!

This hindquarter is HUGE. It's hard to tell in the picture.

It was a beautiful evening so we were grateful for the chance to cut the meat outside.

It's a family affair! Even the kids pitch in as busy little butcherers :)

Leg, anyone?

(Okay so I'm being oober dramatic here, but it really was very heavy.)

The family who gave us the moose enjoys recreational gold prospecting. After we cut up the meat they showed us how they do it. So fascinating! And SO much work for such a tiny amount of gold...

The gold flakes in the larger bottle are what they collected from the year of prospecting.

The nugget was mined by a professional miner.

Pretty cool!

Here's a picture of the "real" miners out on their gold dredges on the Bering Sea. They pepper the sea every day that it's calm until winter sets in. It's intense work, too... one man is underneath in the frigid water, sucking up the sea floor through a huge hose, while another man on the dredge monitors the flow and makes sure that the guy below isn't having any trouble. They still find a huge amount of gold on the sea floor. All this work for riches that will one day melt away. How much harder should I work to secure the riches that are eternal--more precious than gold--laid up in heaven!?

It was so tough to say goodbye to my dear friends James and Amy and their little boys Justice and Archer. They're leaving Nome and settling in a part of Alaska on the road system where James can more easily pursue his art career.

He's an INCREDIBLE artist.

Seriously...

(Click here to see a slideshow on their blog of a mural he just completed in a village school)

...And I pray God will bless them on this new adventure. I'm super excited to see how He's going to lead them! but it sure won't seem like Nome without them there!! I'll miss popping over and chatting with Amy over some random craft or project she's working on. *sigh!*

A final early morning picture right before mom and I left --all of us (even Nathaniel) in our kuspuks.

Oops the boys are in jammies, but Mimi is making them kuspuks so maybe next year they'll be dressed up too. :)

But wait... why on earth is THIS GIRL sporting a kuspuk!!??

Alas, she is abandoning me tomorrow and flying to...of all places...Nome Alaska.

Look out, Nome, she's takin' you by storm! :)

RuthAnn, RuthAnn..... how could you leave me!?

Okay. In all truth I am SO, so so happy for RuthAnn. She's going to be working with native children and families through the Nome Community Center (where I used to work but a diff. job). This is a dream come true and an answer to a boatload of prayers. God bless you my sweet friend, and may your wildest dreams come true in Alaska! :) I would never in a million years keep you here, but I will miss you terribly.