Resurrection Flowers - 2008

Happy Easter 2008

We certainly enjoyed Easter from the Bernie's assembling the "Big Green Egg" smoker to Finn and I coloring Easter eggs. He had blue dye on his chubby little fingers and then he decided to sample one and instantly had blue lips. What a cutie!

We sure have enjoyed the new smoker. It is capable of keeping the moisture in while smoking the foods slowly. Bernie has been the chief chef and I have been eating the fruits of his labor. This weekend we will have authentic brick-oven pizza. I'm looking for ideas for your favorite pizza. I'm thinking of a white-sauce, spinach and sun-dried tomato, whole-wheat crust pizza. Of course, I have already bought a 5lb bag of pepperoni for Dad.

Easter Sunday was a record for church attendance with 1150 people attending! Praise our Saviour. He is risen indeed! We had 17 people over for Easter dinner and, it was so much fun. We then went to Dawn's house and visited for three hours with the family. We had a full day and, the time flew by. P.S. My amaryllis bloomed with two huge red blossoms on the Saturday before Easter. It's gorgeous...pictures to follow.

Spring Break - March 2008

"Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you." I Samuel 12:24

What a glorious spring break we had! We left early on Wednesday morning and saw so much wildlife beginning with four cow moose grazing in the Potter flats area to three majestic eagles waiting for their turn to enjoy an animal carcass. There were four coyotes (at first, we thought they were fox) who carefully watched us as Bernie took pictures of them. We went south to Seward for the day enjoying fresh fish and chips for lunch and then raspberry gelato for dessert. We also could not pass up a trip into Seward's oldest dry goods store Brown & Hawkins (1905) for homemade taffy. On the way home, we went to Hope where you see the rusty old sign from the Cafe. This town was really a hoppin place back in the early 1900's during the gold rush. On the way home, we saw two sheep on the cliffs of the Seward Highway.

Thursday, we went North to Talkeetna. The weather was so gorgeous, unlike the snowstorm we encountered the day before. I think every year it has snowed on spring break. We saw McKinley out majestically and considered a sightseeing flight trip. I chickened out because I get airsick in a small plane...I think. We didn't see any wildlife this day except one little baby boy named Finn who just got a new sled. G-Pop took him for a ride around their back yard and he loved it.

Alaska in February and Fur Rendevous 2008

As I watch the blazing orange sunset behind the trees I am reminded of God's power. Truly He has made all things beautiful. We have spent our weekend in the outdoors more since the weather has warmed. The Chinook winds have warmed the temperature and we are down to very little snow but much ice. The back roads are plenty slick as well as our driveway.

Thunderbird Falls was gorgeous and as you can see the water was gushing through the thick ice. So beautiful. The hike up was sort of slick but I just held onto Bernie's arm to take him down with me(he actually had better tread on his boots than mine.)

The picture of the tree whittled down was chewed on by a beaver down by Otter Lake. Saturday was gorgeous outside and we went for a drive to see what animals were waiting to get their picture taken. Bullwinkle and Buzzwinkle did not disappoint us. One was out eating trees and the other was sort of resting in the brush.

Sunday we went down to Fourth Avenue to watch the first ever "Run of the Reindeer". There were sooooo many people spectating that it was difficult to see at first. The runners (hundreds of them) were dressed up in costume to run the three blocks with the reindeer. The reindeer actually ran along beside them. Some of our friends from church were in the running and we had fun watching them.

Happy Birthday Bernie!

WELCOME HOME SSGT KALE

After leaving in late August Bernie is finally home. He was in Qatar loading the planes. Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned and none of the pictures came out from the welcome home gathering at the airport. There were about 14 people from Kulis who were returning home from Qatar and greeted by their family and friends.

Happy Birthday Bernie

Is he good-looking or lookin good? You decide. It seems like the older you get people say that you are lookin good. Must be after that 50 yr. age mark. Happy Birthday Bernie and many more. We had a schnitzel dinner and ice-cream cake for him with our moms present, friends Gary and Lynda Elmore, and also a wonderful present of younger Bernie home from Qatar just the day before.

We're all excited and anticipating the wedding which is coming soon. The last picture is of Bernie opening up his Christmas gifts.

Here are some pictures from the Christmas Holiday in which we spent 10 wonderful days together with children and grandchildren. There were 13 of us and we enjoyed every moment of it. It was so important to be flexible and cheerful which everyone successfully accomplished. Meals and transportation were always being worked out.

The guys did different events from the ladies and everyone had a great time. From the men shooting skeet and snowmachining and the ladies going to the spa and visiting friends and relatives and playing with the kids. We said goodbye on New Year's Eve and both families got home safely. Thank you Lord for your provision and your hand of protection in our lives daily.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I really liked the January 1, 2008 devotion for the day from Daily Bread. In a nutshell it said this, that in 1722 ,Jonathan Edwards drew up a list of 70 resolutions dedicating himself to live in harmony with God and with others. Five of the resolutions were *To do whatever is most to God's glory.

*To do my duty, for the good of makind in general.

*Never to do anything which I should be afraid to do even if it were the last hour of my life.

*To study the Scriptures steadily, constantly, and frequently.

*To ask myself at the end of every day, week, month, and year if I could possibly have done better.

*Until I die, not to act as if I were my own, but entirely and altogether God's.

In six months, we will all be together again for Bernie and Angie's wedding on June 14th. We will have our entire family photo taken then. We are so looking forward to it. Oh by the way...Gretchen and Phil are expecting their second baby on August 22, 2008. They surprised us with the news one week before Christmas!

Happy 80th Birthday Mom aka Grandma or Oma

What a grand lady God has given us. Mom turned 80 years young on December 4, 2007. We had quite a celebration which actually started in July/August. With an unforgettable trip to Greece and then Vienna. We had quite a celebration in Vienna where Uncle Peter gave a wonderful speech auf Deutsch honoring this exceptional lady.

Here in Eagle River, we had started with a coffee/tea gathering with a wonderful German friend followed by a large gathering of family for Greek food and then dessert. Happy Birthday Mom! We love you.