Lily cracks me up with some of the words she uses. She usually gets them in the proper context too which is cool. A couple of my recent favorites:
1. Mommy, these gummy snacks are marvelous!
2. The ocean is spectacular!
3. Hmm, that's strange.
4. Oh you startled me!
I love hearing her vocabulary grow. She is so big!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Remember: Wash Your Hands
We got back from our beach trip Saturday evening (I'll post details and pictures in the next couple of days). Since we had absolutely no breakfast groceries in the house, we went to J. Christopher's for breakfast on Sunday morning. Lily of course needed to go to the bathroom towards the end of our meal; she is something of a potty connoisseur these days. As she was sitting on the potty, she looked up and saw a sign that said "Employees must wash hands before returning to work" and had a picture of hands with soap on them. Here's our conversation about that sign:
L:Mommy, that sign tells us to wash our hands after we use the potty.
M: That's right.
L: I didn't wash my hands after I used the potty this morning.
M: That's gross. You are always supposed to wash your hands after you use the potty.
L: But I didn't have a sign to tell me to!
M: Do you really need a sign to remind you to wash your hands?
L: Yes. Let's make a sign to tell me to wash my hands after I potty. That way I'll remember.
L:Mommy, that sign tells us to wash our hands after we use the potty.
M: That's right.
L: I didn't wash my hands after I used the potty this morning.
M: That's gross. You are always supposed to wash your hands after you use the potty.
L: But I didn't have a sign to tell me to!
M: Do you really need a sign to remind you to wash your hands?
L: Yes. Let's make a sign to tell me to wash my hands after I potty. That way I'll remember.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Alaska Vacation
After our mission trip, Ryan and I were lucky enough to stay in Alaska for a few extra days. This may be our only chance to visit Alaska! We all arrived back in Anchorage on Friday evening. On our way back we had an amazing view of Mt. McKinley that simply couldn't be beat.
We stayed again at Calvary Baptist Church, and Global Mission Partners allowed us to use one of their vans to drive around Anchorage and site see. We saw a moose!!!
Saturday morning, Ryan and I headed to the train depot where we boarded a Princess train (the same company that operates several Alaskan cruises). We had an 8 hour train ride up to Denali National Park. The ride was beautiful! The scenery was ever changing from huge mountains to lakes to tundra to taiga to little villages. We loved it. It was a very comfortable ride too. The seats are on the second level (dining in on the first), and the train cars are all glass dome tops. You had huge views wherever you looked. It was amazing!
Upon arrival at the Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge, we walked into our room, dropped off our things and headed out to explore. We took the little shuttle into Denali National Park and hiked down to Horseshoe Lake. We didn't see any wildlife, but we did see a beautiful forest and lake.
By this point, the last shuttle was about to leave, so we hiked back up and took it back to the Lodge. We enjoyed a delicious dinner on the back patio of the restaurant which overlooks the Nenana River. The views only made the dinner better!
The next morning, we enjoyed a quick breakfast and then got ready for our excursion tours. Ryan was so excited to take a small plane over the summit of nearby Mt. McKinley. Unfortunately, it was drizzly outside and not safe for the planes to go, so his tour was cancelled. He ended up being able to watch the World Cup final instead, which he enjoyed. Of course, his tour was cancelled about 10 minutes after I left for my tour. I went to a dogsled camp! Even better, I was the only one on the tour so I got to ask questions that interested me. It was awesome!
The first part of the tour was spent with a young guy who is a trapper. He traps with his grandfather each winter, from October through January. They trap foxes, wolves, mink, wolverines and beavers. He showed me how the traps work, and I got to feel each of the animals. It was really a very interesting lesson. While there, they served me hot chocolate and fry bread which is basically a big doughnut without the hole. Yum! When this part was over, I got to go outside to pet and feed their pet reindeer whose name is Red. He was very friendly and cool to see.
From here, we went to the dogsled camp. The musher is named Bill Cutter and his assistant, Emily, was there too. Bill has run the Iditarod 20 times; to date it has run 38 times so he has competed in more than half of them. He said his first race took him about 19 days and 8 hours to complete, but his best time was just over 9 days. I was amazed you could cut that much time from this race! All the dogs were so excited to see me there because they knew it meant it was time for a run. They were jumping all around and barking. They got them all ready to go in front of this big cart (it would hold about 9 people - obviously not a real dogsled) and off we went. It was awesome! We just went around the block, but I loved it! When we returned, I watched them feed the dogs (for insurance reasons, visitors aren't allowed to touch or play with the dogs), and then Bill showed me all the stuff he uses for the Race. I saw the boots he wears (they were incredibly thick), gear he takes and the sled he uses. He has used the wooden looking one that you probably think of if you think of dogsledding, but a few years ago, they all moved over to acrylic sleds which go much faster. This was really a fascinating tour, and I am so glad I was able to do this.
When I returned to the Lodge, we had a quick bite to eat and then we traveled by bus to McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. This lodge sits about 40 or so miles from the base of Mt. McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. It's 20,320 feet tall - whoa! However, it was so cloudy when we arrived, you couldn't even see the mountain existed which was crazy. We had a delicious dinner and walked around the beautiful grounds for awhile before turning in for the night. However, we had signed up to receive a "mountain call." This is where Lodge staff call you if the mountain becomes viewable. Well, at 1:15 in the morning, we got the mountain call. I was utterly exhausted and decided not to go down to see it since we had seen such an amazing view of it on the plane ride back to Anchorage. Ryan was very excited though so he headed on down and got some good pictures of it.
Our wake-up call came about 6:30 that morning so we could ready and have breakfast before our excursion left at 8:00. We drove down to the river and got ready for our float down the Chulitna River. It was about a 17 mile float that took about 4 hours. There are no rapids at this part of the river, so we were able to bring our cameras and just enjoy. We saw a couple of eagles which was awesome. The mountain ranges were pretty visible most of the time too which we loved.
When the float ended, we were in Talkeetna which is a cool little town. We had lunch at the West Rib Pub which we had seen on Food Network's "Man Versus Food" show. Ryan had a caribou burger and I had a salmon filet; both were delicious. After this, we were able to just walk around town and do a little souvenir shopping.
About 4, the Princess train stopped in Talkeetna and picked us up for a 4 hour ride back to Anchorage. We enjoyed more beautiful scenery along the way. Ryan was even able to walk outside to the back of the train a few time to snap some pictures. This train still had the glass dome tops which was great, but we were assigned to a table instead of chairs. There we met Danny and Andrea, newlyweds from Missouri. We really enjoyed talking to them and getting to hear about their trip. We arrived in Anchorage Monday evening and checked into the Marriott (courtesy of reward points). We found another place featured on "Man Versus Food" called Humpys. At this pub, we enjoyed listening to a live band while we ate dinner. We picked up some cupcakes for dessert (you know I cannot resist cupcakes) and headed back to the hotel.
On Tuesday, we slept in and then thought we would take Danny and Andrea's suggestion to rent a car and drive down the Alaska Highway a bit. Unfortunately, Hertz was out of cars, and we didn't want to spend all day trying to find one, so we decided just to hang around town. We went to the Glacier Brewhouse for lunch. This was my favorite meal of the entire trip. Salmon encrusted with crushed macadamia nuts, an orange rum glaze with sweet cilantro infused oil and a mango ginger relish; put the julienned vegetables and jasmine rice on the side and you have a meal fit for a queen! Ryan really loved their delicious ribs too. We went to several art shops and saw amazing photographs and paintings of Alaska which we loved. By this point, the rain was starting to come down pretty hard, and we really didn't want to get drenched before our flight home, so we headed back to the hotel, hailed a cab and went to the airport; we had about 4 hours to kill but that was fine.
Our plane left about 7:30 on Tuesday evening, and we arrived at 6:45 Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, neither of us slept on the plane, so we were exhausted. We're still trying to catch up! The girls were so excited to see us when we got home. We arrived at the house about 7:30, and both girls were already up. As soon as the key clicked in the door, we heard Lily start running towards us saying "Mommy! Mommy!" Mia followed right behind her yelling "DaDa! DaDa!" They gave us huge hugs and were so so excited. It was great! Liz went out to get us Chick-fil-a while we gave the girls their presents and simply enjoyed being with them again. As great as this trip was, it was wonderful to be home.
Ryan and I are so glad we had the opportunity for this trip. We owe a humongous thank you to Liz who stayed with the girls the entire time we were gone. She had some weekend help from the rest of the Birmingham family and some weekday help from my parents. We thank you all so very much. We will never forget this trip, and we could not have done it without your help. We learned so much while we were gone and feel like our eyes were opened quite a bit. What an amazing world we live in!
The first part of the tour was spent with a young guy who is a trapper. He traps with his grandfather each winter, from October through January. They trap foxes, wolves, mink, wolverines and beavers. He showed me how the traps work, and I got to feel each of the animals. It was really a very interesting lesson. While there, they served me hot chocolate and fry bread which is basically a big doughnut without the hole. Yum! When this part was over, I got to go outside to pet and feed their pet reindeer whose name is Red. He was very friendly and cool to see.
About 4, the Princess train stopped in Talkeetna and picked us up for a 4 hour ride back to Anchorage. We enjoyed more beautiful scenery along the way. Ryan was even able to walk outside to the back of the train a few time to snap some pictures. This train still had the glass dome tops which was great, but we were assigned to a table instead of chairs. There we met Danny and Andrea, newlyweds from Missouri. We really enjoyed talking to them and getting to hear about their trip. We arrived in Anchorage Monday evening and checked into the Marriott (courtesy of reward points). We found another place featured on "Man Versus Food" called Humpys. At this pub, we enjoyed listening to a live band while we ate dinner. We picked up some cupcakes for dessert (you know I cannot resist cupcakes) and headed back to the hotel.
On Tuesday, we slept in and then thought we would take Danny and Andrea's suggestion to rent a car and drive down the Alaska Highway a bit. Unfortunately, Hertz was out of cars, and we didn't want to spend all day trying to find one, so we decided just to hang around town. We went to the Glacier Brewhouse for lunch. This was my favorite meal of the entire trip. Salmon encrusted with crushed macadamia nuts, an orange rum glaze with sweet cilantro infused oil and a mango ginger relish; put the julienned vegetables and jasmine rice on the side and you have a meal fit for a queen! Ryan really loved their delicious ribs too. We went to several art shops and saw amazing photographs and paintings of Alaska which we loved. By this point, the rain was starting to come down pretty hard, and we really didn't want to get drenched before our flight home, so we headed back to the hotel, hailed a cab and went to the airport; we had about 4 hours to kill but that was fine.
Our plane left about 7:30 on Tuesday evening, and we arrived at 6:45 Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, neither of us slept on the plane, so we were exhausted. We're still trying to catch up! The girls were so excited to see us when we got home. We arrived at the house about 7:30, and both girls were already up. As soon as the key clicked in the door, we heard Lily start running towards us saying "Mommy! Mommy!" Mia followed right behind her yelling "DaDa! DaDa!" They gave us huge hugs and were so so excited. It was great! Liz went out to get us Chick-fil-a while we gave the girls their presents and simply enjoyed being with them again. As great as this trip was, it was wonderful to be home.
Ryan and I are so glad we had the opportunity for this trip. We owe a humongous thank you to Liz who stayed with the girls the entire time we were gone. She had some weekend help from the rest of the Birmingham family and some weekday help from my parents. We thank you all so very much. We will never forget this trip, and we could not have done it without your help. We learned so much while we were gone and feel like our eyes were opened quite a bit. What an amazing world we live in!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Alaska Mission Trip
An amazing opportunity was given to Ryan and me about 10 weeks ago. We were asked if we wanted to join a team for a mission trip to remote Alaska. We would go to a small village of about 300 individuals, most of whom are Inupiak Natives of Alaska. Something about this trip spoke to both of us, and we immediately jumped at the chance. So, last Friday, July 2, we all boarded a plane bound for Anchorage. Our 7 person team also consisted of our friends, Shane and Adrienne, their 7-year-old son, Jackson, and Shane's parents, John and Molly. We had an amazing journey! I will go on and say that there is absolutely no way this blog entry will do this trip justice. I spent at least an hour everyday journaling about the day's experiences, and it's just not possible for me to rewrite it all here for you. So, I will hit the highlights instead and hope you can understand how blessed we feel to have had this opportunity. Ryan and I would love the chance to talk to each of you about this trip so we can fill you in on more of the details that I simply can't write about on this blog.
We left on Friday for our 7.5 hour Delta flight to Anchorage. We made it with no problems and enjoyed some beautiful scenery on the way there.
We were greeted by Jay, a volunteer with Global Mission Partners ("GMP") which is the group that helped us with the planning of our trip. GMP is based out of Calvary Baptist Church in Anchorage, so Jay drove us there where they fed us a wonderful dinner (prepared by the sweetest gentleman from Chattanooga named Tom) and gave us dormitory-style accommodations for the evening.
The next morning, we were given breakfast and driven to the airport where we boarded Alaska Airlines and headed to Kotzebue. Kotzebue sits on the West coast of Alaska 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It is approximately 1.5 miles long by 1/2 mile wide. We planned on having a short layover before flying on to Ambler, a village about 45 miles north of the Arctic Circle that is inland on the Kobuk River. That is where we planned on staying for the week. On our way to Kotzebue, we had to first stop in Nome for a 20 minute layover. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Nome, we were told the fog in Kotzebue was too bad to land a plane, so they turned us around and we headed back to Anchorage. After landing in Anchorage, we spend awhile rearranging plane flights and collecting our luggage (we had 15 pieces between our personal bags and boxes with supplies and food for the week in it!) before heading back to Calvary Baptist. Luckily, they had room for our unplanned stay so we were given a place to stay again.
On Sunday, we were again in Nome when they started saying we might not make it into Kotzebue. The pilot was going to start heading that way and would see how things looked as we got closer. Can I tell you this made me a little nervous? I was already scared of a horrible plane crash and leaving our two sweet girls behind, but then this pilot says he will "try and see?" Sigh. Anyway, we managed to time the flight just right because we were able to land in Kotzebue without too many bumps. We were greeted by John and Terry, the pastor and his wife of Kotzebue Baptist. John is originally from South Georgia, so we enjoyed hearing a familiar accent! Ryan was able to take a quick knee-deep wade into the Arctic Ocean which was really cool (pun intended).
We had not originally planned on spending much time in Kotzebue, but our change in flight plans necessitated it. Thankfully, there was extra room at the church for us to spend the night. We spent a lot of time that evening talking with them about their experiences in Kotzebue and the bush of Alaska. He told us of the prophet Manillaq; an Alaska native who lived a few hundred years ago. He is highly respected by natives and many health care and social care areas are named for him. He prophesied that someday a big bird would bring the white man and his black book into Alaska to teach natives about the one true God. I had chill bumps thinking about that.
On Monday, we had some time before our flight, so John and Terry drove us around Kotzebue in the church van. We went on top of a nearby hill which gave us a beautiful view of the city; from far away, it looks like a quaint little fishing town. As we drove out a little bit, we saw the Early Detection Radar for missiles coming in from Asia and/or Russia; I couldn't decide if that was comforting or not. In the valley below this Radar though was a herd of caribou. Our first big wildlife siting! There were probably 100 or so that we had a good look at. That was pretty exciting. We continued our drive and passed several others eyeing the group too; I'm sure a few people had a delicious caribou dinner that evening.
Our tour ended and it was time for us to board our planes for Ambler. Because of our flight changes, John, Jackson, Ryan and I took one 8-seater plane while the other 3 were in a different 8-seater plane. Remember my earlier mention of my nervousness of a plane crash? This didn't help. I'm told bush pilots make these trips all the time which was somewhat comforting, but they don't make them all the time with Ryan and me on the plane. Thankfully though we had a pretty smooth flight, and we all landed safely in Ambler. Finally, we made it! Upon arrival, we discovered our luggage had gone over the weight limit of the plane, so they left some of it in Kotzebue and would send it when they could. Also, our host missionaries, Paul and Glenda, were not in Ambler when we arrived. Paul's mother had passed away a few weeks ago in Louisiana. They were in the process of driving back to Anchorage to get on a flight to Ambler; some car trouble had delayed their trip. However, they had helped us arrange some transportation help from some of the locals which we greatly appreciated. We thought it was so cool that they drive 4-wheelers everywhere. There are no paved roads in the village, so there is no need for cars; the 4-wheelers are way better! Of course, they use snowmobiles (or "snow-goes") in the winter, but we experienced the fun of the 4-wheeler.
We were all taken to the Paul and Glenda's home which is about 20 yards from the church. They had two beautiful dogs, Kodiak and Sitka, to greet us. Kodiak looks like a Siberian Husky while Sitka is almost pure wolf. Sitka had also just had a litter of pups the week before. All that to say, don't go near Sitka right now. We were also surprised when we arrived at the home to find two individuals staying there. Steve and Amy were with a group called Campfire which teaches cold water safety around Alaska. Since the village sits right on the Kobuk river, these are important skills for the kids to learn. There was confusion because they arrived when we were supposed to arrive, so people thought they were the missionaries supposed to stay in the house. We got all the details worked out though because they were both super nice and flexible with plans. They ended up sleeping in the local school at night while our group had some sleeping in Paul and Glenda's home (which they arrived at on Tuesday) and some sleeping in the church. It actually turned out to be a huge blessing to have Campfire there. They offered a free lunch to the kids each day at 12:30; obviously this attracts a lot of kids! As lunch was ending, we would start with our Vacation Bible School activities which all the kids stayed for. When we were finished for the day, Steve and Amy would start back up with their swimming and survival lessons. Since the sun just circled around the sky and never truly set, swimming in the evening and nighttime wasn't a problem at all. It worked perfectly!
Each day we had great activities planned for the kids. Adrienne and Molly took care of these details, and they did a fantastic job. We had singing, skits, puppet shows, story time, crafts, snacks and play time each day. The kids loved it! The songs were praise music which had the kids up and dancing around. The skits were great too. One of the skits was called "The Smallest Man in Alaska." John was covered up and put his arms around Jackson. John was then charged with the task of getting Jackson dressed (putting shorts on his arms and shoes on his hands which is why he looked so small) and ready for the day (putting on a tie, shaving with a pretend razor, brushing hair, brushing teeth and eating cereal). John couldn't see what he was doing and Jackson couldn't use his hands to help, so it led to a big mess. All kids love a big mess! The puppets were used to tell lessons about sharing, loving your neighbor and God's love. For story time, the younger kids stayed in the church to hear Adrienne give Bible stories while Shane and I were outside with the older kids telling them about Joseph and helping them relate to him. Craft time included making faith bracelets, painting rocks by the river, making felt pouches and decorating beautiful crosses. This gave the kids some creative time which was fun to watch. Snack time was always welcome, and play time was just free time to be outside and be kids. We had lots of fun with kickball, bubbles, a pinata, frisbees and footballs. The kids really seemed to have a great time the whole week. Here are lots of pictures of some of the precious children we met.
We also had a couple of ladies events where we gave out manicures. Several women attended, and we enjoyed getting to know them better. There was also a movie night where we watched National Treasure (a great movie if you haven't seen it), and a game night. We played card and board games inside the church while it was free play outside. Before we left, we also had the opportunity to meet a few of the elders living in the village which I loved. I wish we could have spent more time with them because I love listening to the stories of older people; they have so much experience and wisdom that we can all learn from. We were able to purchase handmade birchwood baskets and picture frames from them too which were so beautiful.
In the evenings while the kids were swimming, we enjoyed dinners with Paul and Glenda. They have been serving in Ambler for three years, and it was wonderful to spend time with them. They are both teachers in the local school. Paul leads the adults in worship in church on Sundays while Glenda leads the children in their home. We wish them all the best as they continue on in their ministries. Even though GMP had sent us to Ambler with so much food, Paul and Glenda were kind to share their caribou with us too. Ryan really enjoyed Paul's homemade caribou jerky. One night we had ravioli with a caribou marinara sauce which we all enjoyed. The best night though was when Glenda made her caribou chili. Wow it was delicious! I think Ryan could have eaten this everyday; he absolutely loved it.
One evening, Paul took Ryan, Jackson and me on his 4-wheeler for a tour into the surrounding hills. We ended up on top of Dome Hill which gave us amazing views of the Kobuk River and Brooks Mountain Range, specifically Jade Mountain. At one point, most of the jade from Alaska came from this mountain, but then the transportation became too difficult so it is no longer a working mine. It was truly humbling to see God's beauty here. What an amazing world He made!
Of course, the main point of this week was to make sure these precious children know that God loves them and we love them. We were thrilled at the end of our trip when a 9-year-old little girl started asking Ryan more questions, and she decided to give her life to Christ. We also found out later that Paul baptized three people in the Kobuk River this past Sunday. Praise God! We really became attached to many of these kids while we were there. We will not forget these children. The Inupiak Natives have such an interesting heritage, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to meet so many individuals on our journey. It is not easy to live in a remote village in Northern Alaska; we ask that you pray for the people that live there, especially their children.
We left on Friday for our 7.5 hour Delta flight to Anchorage. We made it with no problems and enjoyed some beautiful scenery on the way there.
The next morning, we were given breakfast and driven to the airport where we boarded Alaska Airlines and headed to Kotzebue. Kotzebue sits on the West coast of Alaska 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It is approximately 1.5 miles long by 1/2 mile wide. We planned on having a short layover before flying on to Ambler, a village about 45 miles north of the Arctic Circle that is inland on the Kobuk River. That is where we planned on staying for the week. On our way to Kotzebue, we had to first stop in Nome for a 20 minute layover. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Nome, we were told the fog in Kotzebue was too bad to land a plane, so they turned us around and we headed back to Anchorage. After landing in Anchorage, we spend awhile rearranging plane flights and collecting our luggage (we had 15 pieces between our personal bags and boxes with supplies and food for the week in it!) before heading back to Calvary Baptist. Luckily, they had room for our unplanned stay so we were given a place to stay again.
On Sunday, we were again in Nome when they started saying we might not make it into Kotzebue. The pilot was going to start heading that way and would see how things looked as we got closer. Can I tell you this made me a little nervous? I was already scared of a horrible plane crash and leaving our two sweet girls behind, but then this pilot says he will "try and see?" Sigh. Anyway, we managed to time the flight just right because we were able to land in Kotzebue without too many bumps. We were greeted by John and Terry, the pastor and his wife of Kotzebue Baptist. John is originally from South Georgia, so we enjoyed hearing a familiar accent! Ryan was able to take a quick knee-deep wade into the Arctic Ocean which was really cool (pun intended).
On Monday, we had some time before our flight, so John and Terry drove us around Kotzebue in the church van. We went on top of a nearby hill which gave us a beautiful view of the city; from far away, it looks like a quaint little fishing town. As we drove out a little bit, we saw the Early Detection Radar for missiles coming in from Asia and/or Russia; I couldn't decide if that was comforting or not. In the valley below this Radar though was a herd of caribou. Our first big wildlife siting! There were probably 100 or so that we had a good look at. That was pretty exciting. We continued our drive and passed several others eyeing the group too; I'm sure a few people had a delicious caribou dinner that evening.
In the evenings while the kids were swimming, we enjoyed dinners with Paul and Glenda. They have been serving in Ambler for three years, and it was wonderful to spend time with them. They are both teachers in the local school. Paul leads the adults in worship in church on Sundays while Glenda leads the children in their home. We wish them all the best as they continue on in their ministries. Even though GMP had sent us to Ambler with so much food, Paul and Glenda were kind to share their caribou with us too. Ryan really enjoyed Paul's homemade caribou jerky. One night we had ravioli with a caribou marinara sauce which we all enjoyed. The best night though was when Glenda made her caribou chili. Wow it was delicious! I think Ryan could have eaten this everyday; he absolutely loved it.
One evening, Paul took Ryan, Jackson and me on his 4-wheeler for a tour into the surrounding hills. We ended up on top of Dome Hill which gave us amazing views of the Kobuk River and Brooks Mountain Range, specifically Jade Mountain. At one point, most of the jade from Alaska came from this mountain, but then the transportation became too difficult so it is no longer a working mine. It was truly humbling to see God's beauty here. What an amazing world He made!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)