Fair Trade

We have certainly done our fair share of bartering and trading during our time in Brevig Mission. C.O. has gotten paid in wild berries, ivory carvings and even babysitting time. Our most recent trade involved the parka I made for myself a few years back. I won't be needing it at our new location so instead of letting it collect dust in a closet I decided to sell it.



The family that expressed interest in it also happened to have a broken down dirt bike that had been driven by their boys. C.O. has been wanting to get Harold a dirt bike so this seemed like a the perfect opportunity for a trade since the value of the bike and the value of the parka were about the same.



I think everyone was happy with the deal.

~AnnMarie

Winter Has Loosened Its Icy Grip

Have I mentioned that it's been a tough winter? It's been terribly cold and windy without a respite for months and months. Just last week (as in May 14th) it finally warmed up enough to be comfortable outside. Which certainly brightens my spirit and it also means . . .



the kids are out in full force,



folks are gearing up for a month at spring camp,



and parents like myself are fighting the battle of cleaning up a perpetually muddy child.

The Day the Harlem All Stars Came for Breakfast

The news was all over facebook: Brevig Mission Traditional Council had received a grant for the Harlem All Star basketball team to come right here to Brevig. Everyone kept calling them the Harlem Globetrotters, which they weren't, but it was in the same vein anyway.

We eventually learned the whole story of the The Harlem All Stars. The team and it's program was started by Meadowlark Lemon. Jeffrey Moore (pictured below) is the grandson of an official Globetrotter as well. So I guess you could say they had strong ties to the famous Globetrotter team.



The team flew to Nome, then drove the Nome - Teller highway to Teller where they hopped in a basket sleds pulled by snow machines, they wrapped up in tarps, then drove eight miles across the sea ice to Brevig Mission. I could see them coming from our kitchen window so I popped out to greet them.



The whole operation didn't seem organized as well as it could of been. One slight oversight was a plan for feeding these guys three meals a day. So, the first morning they were around we invited them over for breakfast. Harold and Tizita were a little shy of our visitors at first but they eventually warmed up to them. Harold brought out his boxing gloves which helped break the ice.



The All Stars did a couple shows games over the weekend.



There was quite a bit of shenanigans,



some audience participation and a whole lot of fun had by everyone.



On Saturday afternoon the team held a basketball clinic for the kids and youth. Harold was a little young for it but was allowed to join in. Dante took Harold under his wing and helped him along with the exercises and drills. It was very sweet to see.



Though they weren't quite the Globetrotters, it was still pretty cool to have this team in town. All the kids in town treated them like celebrities. The Harlem All Stars did ball tricks, put on a silly show and even entered the gym to Sweet Georgia Brown. What more could you ask for out here at the edge of the Earth?

~AnnMarie

Tizita's Homecoming

Four years ago when we began our journey from Brevig Mission to Guatemala to get Harold we created a video of the journey. Each year on Harold's Gotcha Day we watch the video and tell Harold the story of how he came to be in our family.

So of course we had to make one for Tizita as well. I have had "Your Song" sung by Ewan McGregor picked out to accompany the footage for ages. I think the lyrics are just perfect for capturing the feeling of finally being united with our baby girl. I can watch it over and over and not grow tired of it. It will be sweet to share this with her each year as we remember her Gotcha Day.

Big Fish

 

Mother's Day

Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart,
But in it.

Author: Unknown

Tizita the Alaskan

It was wonderful to be able to welcome Tizita into the United States with style but I thought it would also be important to specifically say, "Welcome to Alaska." Alaska is part of the United States but everything is . . . well . . . different here.

Nothing says Alaska like a pair of seal skin mukluks.

Step one of one's initiation into Alaska is to make peace with being bundled up. At first Tizita pretty much screamed and wrestled with us every time we got her snowsuit on but she is getting better and now seems excited to be going outside.



Spending the first 16 months of her life in an orphanage didn't afford Tizita many experiences with being in a car or a car seat. Well it turns out living in Bush Alaska doesn't either. She has however, gotten very comfortable on 4-wheelers and snowmachines.

She has had the opportunity to see some nice and dead wildlife during her time in Alaska. I wonder what she thinks of it all?

I laugh in the face of man eating mammals!

Big deal, I can open my mouth like that too.

What's with this lady and dead animals?

We are happy to report that Tizita likes musk ox meat and tundra berries. It's a good start toward developing an Alaskan palate.





She still has some things to learn about this crazy life but there are signs that she will be one tough Alaskan chick.

~AnnMarie

My Prom Date

At Brevig Mission School all students are welcome to attend prom. Each age group has their own time throughout the night to come and enjoy the prom festivities. C.O. already had plans with the other lady in his life so Harold was my date for the night.



Once we got there we ran into these ladies. I think he was reconsidering his choice for a date. The competition is stiff around here man.



It was certainly a fun filled evening. We did a little dancing,



had a friendly limbo competition,



and grooved out to the Hokey Pokey.



The evening finished up with snacks and we called it a night.



Well Harold called it a night since he was about to turn into a pumpkin but my coworkers and I continued on as chaperones. I sure am going to miss these ladies next year.

Employed

Deciding to move out of Brevig Mission and away from the security of having a job took a leap of faith. I had to make a decision about my contract with Bering Strait School District by mid-February. There is really no way to have secured a job by then but I declined the contract and hoped for the best. I wavered between confidence that I would get a job because of my many years of experience and having doubt that there would be a position for me. But C.O. and I knew that either way, God had a plan and would care for us as He always has.

Fortunately I didn't have to wonder too long, in April I landed a job on the Kenai Peninsula. This was the only district I applied with since we are certain this is where we want to live. I am so thankful to have found a job this early in the hiring season. Many schools do not do their hiring for another month or two or three. It has given us peace of mind about moving and some direction for where to buy a home.

I will be working at Sterling Elementary School in the community of Sterling about 12 miles East of Soldotna and 150 miles south of Anchorage. It is on the road system and seems like a neat rural community with beautiful surroundings. You can see some photos here on Google Images, doesn't it look sweet? It reminds me of Minnesota but with mountains peeking up around every corner.

I was hired as a Kindergarten/1st grade teacher. I might teach first grade, I might teach kindergarten or possibly a combination of the two. It depends on enrollment. I have experience with both grades which helped make me a perfect candidate for the job.

I'm pretty excited to work there. The principal has been amazing to talk with and the school has a great reputation. It has about 160 students and is a NASA Explorer School. I'm not sure what the NASA thing is all about but it sounds cool!

My excitement has burst for the moment as I have a huge stack of paperwork to fill out for the new job. But this too shall pass and I will survive filling in my name and social security number a hundred times over. I can't wait to meet my new students and coworkers this August.

~AnnMarie