NOME Again! ~(Or, "A Wordy Post about Speechlessness")~

Carlee, Nora, RuthAnn, Caleb and I at the finish line just a few minutes after the surprise :)

Wow, there just are no words!

Well, words... yes. (Otherwise no blog post.) But adequate words? No.

God gave me a huge, huge, HUGE gift last week. One I was neither expecting or imagining! I've been missing my sister and her family in Nome SO much. Incredibly. To the point of tears, at times. And then March rolled around--(March is Iditarod season in Alaska)--and anyone who's read this blog or known me for any decent length of time is probably aware that I'm an avid Iditarod follower. :) I posted a little blurp on Facebook about how bad I was missing being in Alaska for Iditarod, and got a call a few days later; a lady "from the Martin Buser Fan Club." She declared that I had been selected at random to receive a free ticket to Nome so I could "Come greet Martin Buser at the finish line!" :) Buser is my favorite Iditarod musher. As much as I like and admire the man, though, the thought of meeting HIM under the burled arch paled in comparison to the thought of surprising my sister and dear friend RuthAnn!! ( ...But I wasn't planning on telling that to the "Martin Buser Fan Club representative. Some things are just better left unsaid. One doesn't bite the hand that feeds one, if'n ya know what I mean.)

So actually, the Martin Buser Fan Club doesn't really exist (maybe I should think of starting one. Hmmmm...), and the sweet voice calling me actually belonged to my friend Nora, who lives in Nome and read my teary Facebook status. She GAVE ME ALASKA AIR MILES to fly me from Chicago to Nome!! I "just happened" not to be scheduled at work the week of Iditarod, and there "just happened to be last minute tickets to Nome available at the busiest time of year. God is kind, infinitely kind. Wow.

So off I flew to Nome, just marveling--literally!--the entire trip that God was giving me this gift. I know He doesn't always give us everything we want. I'm more than ok with that. But here He heard a half-breathed, faithless prayer (And the prayer was, I quote: "Lord, I just want to be in Nome so bad right now!") and He put it on Nora's heart right out of the blue to fly me up.

Like I said, there just aren't adequate words. I just kept breathing "Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord!" As I gazed out my plane window at the clouds and stars and snowy mountains below. The "Thanks" was certainly exacerbated by the fact that there was an empty seat next to me on the flight from Chicago to Anchorage so I could stretch out a bit. :)

Nora and I made plans for me to surprise Carlee and my nieces and nephews and RuthAnn. Right there at the finish line, they were all waiting for the second musher to come in and I surprised them. RuthAnn screamed like a crazy lunatic lady. (Those tend to walk the streets in Nome so no one thought much of it.) Carlee just stared at me at first... then her face scrunched up--comprehension dawning slowly-- and she just cried and cried and hugged me! It was beautiful. I think it was the coolest surprise I've ever been a part of. There was so much JOY!

Nate, who lives in Anchorage right now, came in also for the Iditarod finish. So Carlee, Nate and I were together. It was reminiscent of last year (blogged about here) when all FOUR of us siblings were together!

Enough words. I'm supposed to be speechless.

PICTURES!

Under the Burled Arch with Nora:

(She's the "Martin Buser Fan Club" fabricator, friend, and benefactress.)

Record snow fall in Alaska this year, and my nieces and nephews are mountain climbers!

Wesley chillaxin' after a long day of snow machining, sled riding,

and...well just being his cute self.

Caleb, our little jolly 'Lub. Still the baby! And he brings SO MUCH JOY!

Shaina suggested I take a sled "for boxes" when the three of us walked into town to check the mail,

but noooo. Auntie Dani did not take her niece's advice

so the three of us ended up walking the half-mile home with this load!

Go ahead. Laugh.

RuthAnn and I at the musher's banquet with Aliy Zirkle, a personal favorite this year who mushed to Nome in 2nd place! Here's to 1st place next year, Aliy!!

(RuthAnn, Nate and I had a blast at the banquet. :)

It was awesome to see my sister feeling strong enough for a long snow machine with her hubby!

Nate, RuthAnn and I snow machined to the last Iditarod checkpoint before Nome, called Safety.

It was sooooooo fun. :)

Even though we had a snow machine malfunction.

My brother being the awesome uncle that he is:

I got a sweet little kiss from one of the four-legged athletes of the Iditarod!

..And I sneaked a photo op on Lance Mackey's sled when he wasn't looking.

(Shhhh!)

THERE HE IS FOLKS!

Martin Buser, his wife Kathy and I at the finish line!

WOOHOOOOO!

If you can't tell from the pic, we're practically family.

Martin and his son Rhon crossed the finish line together. It was pretty epic!!!

Here they are just yards from the finish line mushing down Front St.

Musher Hugh Neff crosses the finish.

My dear family and I under the Burled Arch. (Really; it's up there, ya just can't see it.)

I love how Caleb is trying to lick his coat!

As I stood in line for my flight back to Ohio I was crying, of course. But then I saw that none other than 4 time Iditarod champ Lance Mackey was going to be on the same flight and that cheered me up!! RuthAnn took my picture with the clueless musher as we stood in the TSA line.

Then I took this picture from the plane window, of my family and RuthAnn waving goodbye from their vantage point up on a hill, and the tears started flowing all over again.

I love you guys so much.

I am so blessed to be your sister and friend!