Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race

It seems that Harold and my parents have become quite the dog mushing enthusiasts. Especially when it comes to the Iditarod. You may remember Harold traveling to Elim last winter to see my brother and to see the Iditarod mushers come through town on their way to Nome. It turns out these enthusiasts also have great timing.



My folks were up for a visit the first week of Feburary and it just so happened that there was a dog mushing race, The Tustumena 200, taking place just down the road from us. So we were sure to make our way down for the start of the race.

In order for mushers to compete in the Iditarod Race they must compete in some qualifying races. The Tustumena 200 is on the list of races that count as one of the qualifiers for the Iditarod. So we were able to see some names we recognized.



The Seaveys happen to live not far from where we are now. Mitch Seavey and his son Dallas have both won the Iditarod. In fact, last year Harold was cheering hard for Dallas as he became the youngest racer ever to win the Iditarod. Harold was sorely disappointed that Dallas wasn't around for the T200 but we did get to see Mitch take off.



Mitch Seavey was the winner of the T200 that weekend.



We also saw Jamie Nelson of Togo, Minnesota as she crossed the start line. Jamie is the four time winner of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon and has also completed the Iditarod numerous times. I felt like we were part of a secret Togo club: the Lindulas, Rudstroms and Jamie Nelson since we were most likely the only people in the crowd who have set foot in Togo.

It was a wonderfully warm and beautiful day. A great day to be a spectator. I would imagine this will become a yearly event for our family.

~AnnMarie

Return to the Seward Peninsula

This is our friend James, the guy standing on the right there.



James Adcox is our very talented artist friend. In fact, he painted those scenes you see behind him. Let's just take a moment to say "wow" shall we?

*moment*

O.K. now we can move on.

We first met James years ago when he was painting murals for the newly remodeled Brevig Mission School. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.



James was one of the artists chosen to do an art piece for the newly built hospital in Nome. James formerly of Nome now live near us in Soldotna. The pieces were painted here on the Kenai then shipped north and installed at the Nome Regional Hospital. James so kindly asked C.O. to be one of his crew members for the installation.



It sounded like a great experience, so of course C.O. agreed. C.O. now gets to add "Professional Art Installer Guy" to his resume.


This lovely set of paintings captures the process of a whale hunt in three scenes. Knowledgeable art folks would call it a triptych. I wish you all could see them in person. If you're ever in Nome, stop by the hospital and admire them for a while. You can also read more about the paintings from their infancy over on the Adcox's Blog. I also found this blog post that has many beautiful pictures of the new facility in Nome.

This is James's wife Amy, she's also our friend. I'd just like to point out that she threw a lovely art viewing at their home before "Spring Whale Harvest" went to its forever home in Nome. We sure have cool friends.


Side Note A:
C.O. and James took this little trip in early November and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Please don't judge.

Side Note B:
C.O. also got to travel to Brevig Mission and Elim to do some wrap up work for Kawarak's Head Start buildings that he has maintained for the past few years. He was able to see many of our friends in Brevig during his few days there (I was terribly jealous).  He also got to stay with my brother John for a couple days in Elim.

Side Note C:
My mom came up to stay with me and help take care of the kids while C.O. was gone. Thanks Mom, I couldn't have done it with out you.

~AnnMarie

Over the Holidays We . . .

We kicked off the holiday season with some Christmas Tree hunting. Our friends the Millers have property in Nikiski a few miles north of Soldotna. They were kind enough to invite us to come with them to find The Rudstrom Family Christmas Tree (I just can't help but think of the Griswolds right about now). Kids, dogs, fluffy snowfall finished off with some chili and beer bread made for a perfect day.

That same weekend, our church hosted the dinner theater production, "A Night at Bethlehem Inn". The audience members were dinner guests at the inn as they watched the drama take place around them.

I played the part of the Senator's Wife. The Senator was the guest of honor and a representative of Caesar Augustus as he collected taxes from the guests. 

A Night at Bethlehem Inn from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

Harold performed as part of the children's choir that was to entertain the Senator.

 

We spent Christmas Eve with our friend Andy and crew but Christmas Day was just the four Rudstroms and Aussie dog. It felt good to stay in our pajamas and eat pizza for dinner. It was restful and relaxing like holidays ought to be.

I managed to get nice Christmas photos of the kids. It seems impossible for the four of us to take a decent photo these days so we have to be happy with a couple family members at a time.

It was New Year's Eve that our social calendar really filled up. My childhood friend, Wynnie, has lived in Palmer for many years now. She drove down on New Year's Eve to spend the night with us. It wasn't long after she arrived that we all piled in the car and began the two and a half hour drive down to Seward to meet up with some teacher friends from Brevig Mission.

I taught with John and Misty Moore last year in Brevig. When they invited us to meet them in Seward at the Sea Life Center, we were sure to take advantage of the chance to see them and their sweet girls. Harold talks about the Moore girls often and misses having them nearby.

Only a few hours after Wynnie left, my brother John flew into town. The kids loved playing with Uncle John. He brought them some pretty awesome Christmas gifts too. Tizita got the Princess Tiana doll with a matching dress.

 

While Harold got his first working train set. They played with it for hours and hours. 

We drove John to Anchorage where he would see friends and continue his journey North to Elim. While we were in Anchorage we stayed with my cousin Jenny and her family, played games and let the kids stay up way too late. 

The next day we saw our friend Kenny at the hospital, unfortunately. He had been in a bad snow machine accident and was flown to Anchorage to have surgery to stop the bleeding in his brain. This guy has more lives than a cat, let me tell you. It is no small miracle that he survived. Kenny looked pretty rough so we used this opportunity to reinforce the importance of wearing a helmet with Harold. Kenny is a good friend of C.O.'s from Brevig Mission, we hope next time we will meet under less traumatic circumstances.

We continued our Anchorage tour with another hospital visit. This time to see our friend Angie, also a resident of Brevig Mission, and her newly adopted son Levi. Levi was born 3 months premature so they have been spending a lot of time at the hospital until Levi is ready to go home.  I don't have pictures of this handsome little guy but you can read about their journey starting here, then continue on here.

How wonderful it was to keep up with friendships we made in Brevig Mission.

Phew! That was a lot of goings on but we enjoyed every minute.

Happy New Year everyone!

~AnnMarie

Officially Tizita Rita

Last week C.O. and I had a court appointment to re-adopt Tizita in the United States. While her adoption was final because of the ruling from the Ethiopian courts, having an offical birth certificate housed in the state of Alaska will make it much more convenient for future business.

Since we had a lawyer and were updating her birth certificate, we also had Tizita's middle name changed. She was given the middle name Charles in Ethiopia after they found out C.O. would be the father. But after all this goes through she will officially be Tizita Rita. This will sound a lot better when she is called to walk across the stage at graudation. Don't you think?

Thankfully this whole adoption process is coming to an end but we still aren't quite done. We need to get a social security number assigned to Tizita and there will be one more offical post adoption report completed by a social worker submitted before we are free and clear. It's a long road but it doesn't seem so bad now that Tizita Rita is home.

~AnnMarie

Our Artsy Fartsy School

 

I have been teaching at Sterling Elementary for more than a quarter now and have not had the chance, until now, to share my awesome new work place with you. 'Thankful' is how I feel about where I ended up getting hired. Sterling Elementary has been a welcoming and supportive environment as I learn to navigate a new job. I am excited about the emphasis this school chooses to put on art. It has challenged me to find new ways to integrate art into the curriculum on a regular basis.

 

First let me share some of the inspirational and beautiful art that is located throughout the building. Most of these pieces were done collaboratively with students and either their teacher or with an artist in residence.

The mod doors also brighten up a traditionally bland space in buildings. I'm a huge fan of sprucing up doors. =)

 

 

 

  

At the beginning of the year my kindergarten class did an "All About Me" unit. Two pieces of artwork were produced by each student. The first was pointillism type art in which we "dotted" out our names.

 



The second art directive was to use painting and photograph to describe your personality. They turned out beautifully and the students received many, many compliments on their work.
 

 

 

 

Many students say that art is their favorite part of kindergarten. I totally agree!

 

~AnnMarie
*Student pieces were used with permission from their parents. 







What A Stud

Unlike many places throughout the U.S., in Alaska it's legal to drive on public roads with studded tires. Mid-October brought snow mixed with rain to our region so it was time to update the tires on my car.



It felt completely different driving once the new and improved tires were on my car. I love the ticking sound the studs make when I pull out of the school parking lot. The slow tick that eventually grows to a reassuring hum that lets me know my tires are firmly connected to the pavement.



I guess I have two people to thank for my snow tires. Tizita was C.O.'s assistant the evening he changed out my tires. When Harold was little, he spent a lot of time out in the shop being daddy's "helper." A few people asked if our little girl would learn the mechanic trade as well.

 

Of course! We are all about equal opportunity at the Rudstrom household. Tizita's a mechanical natural. Her cute pink snow pants have been permanently stained with dirt, grime and grease from her time out in the garage. Our sweet little girl loves getting her hands dirty and helping out with dad's projects. 

 

Here's to driving safe this winter!

 

~AnnMarie

We Are Not (Do You Hear Me?) Going to Get a Dog

There is no way we could add a dog to our already hectic life.

Dogs need tons of exercise.

They get hair on the carpet.

Not to mention the hair on your clothes.

Have you seen the price of dog food?

A dog would be such a hassle when we want to travel.

I'm sorry but, they are just too much work!

. . .

*sigh*

Meet Aussie: The dog that chose us.

It is not terribly uncommon for a dog to wander through our yard. We have quite a few neighbors and everyone in Alaska seems to have a dog. About a week and a half ago a very friendly and handsome dog ended up playing in the yard with the kids. Come evening, he didn't go home. We woke up the next morning and found him sitting on the back porch. It was hard not to take pity on him when he sat at the back door looking at us like this:

We wrote our phone number on his collar hoping he would wander home, that his owners would call and we could let them know that he had been spending quite a bit of time at our house. This is sort of what happened. "Our" dog ended up at one of the neighbor's house who decided to look him up on a facebook page which listed local missing dogs. What do ya know? A picture of this dog had been posted. The neighbor called the owners and said their dog had been found. The owners were worried about his well being since he had been gone for over a week but the lady said he looked great and even had a collar with a phone number on it. The owners ended up calling us and asking if we had been taking care of their dog.

C.O. explained the situation and by the end of the conversation they asked if we'd just like to keep him. It turns out, they had been out biking one day when a lady pulled up in her car asking them to take her dog since she was leaving town shortly and couldn't take him along. The family took him out of pity but really weren't interested in having another dog. We learned that he is part Australian Shepard and part German Shepard. He is named Aussie, he's already had his first round of shots, is house trained, knows how to sit, is gentle with children and can walk nicely on a leash. He's just an all around nice dog so despite or intitial misgivings . . . we think we'll keep him.

~AnnMarie



Meeting the Buyse Family

About five years ago we received a call from our adoption agency, Christian World Adoption. They told us about another family in Alaska that was in the process of adopting a child from Guatemala and that they had a few questions for us. C.O. and Montey had talked briefly at that time but we had not kept in touch. Harold came in October, their daughter came the following January. 

We got another call last winter from CWA that the Buyses were considering adopting again. This time from Ethiopia! They are planning to adopt a sibling set in fact. As we were passing through Anchorage during our bush living days, we were never quite able to connect. But now that we live within a reasonable driving distance, we planned a date to meet for lunch.

Over Labor Day, our two little miracles were introduced. They were so busy being five year olds, I don't think they realized how cool it was to meet each other.

The Buyses are a lovely family with a big heart for adoption. I hope that we will continue to see them over the years as our children grow. It will be valuable for our children to know there are others out there growing up in similar situations. I'm pretty sure we will be the only two families in Alaska with Guatemalan and Ethiopian children calling eachother brother and sister. =) We pray for a smooth adoption process, that the paperwork will go through as quickly as possible and that God will prepare the Buyses for their children and the two future Buyses for their new family.

~AnnMarie

Our New Home That Doesn't Quite Belong to Us

We have finally moved into our new house in our new location of Soldotna. We put a bid in on this three story, three bedroom, two and a half bath place sight unseen while we were still vacationing at the cabin in Minnesota. Fortunately, when we met the house in person we were just as happy with it as we were with the pictures.

We don't have much in the house right now. Our worldly possessions are still in Brevig Mission in our container van waiting for the barge to pick it up. The kids have been keeping themselves busy learning how to do hand stands and making paper airplanes since all their toys are packed away.

The new Rudstrom dwelling is nestled in the woods on a two acre lot on a gravel road less than ten minutes from the business of Soldotna. It's a complete turn around from our 600 square foot house on the sea without a tree in sight for miles and miles.

We have already met one of our neighbors. Iris and family live across the road and invited us over to meet their little goats. They have all kinds of cool stuff at their house, kids and dirt bikes and 4-wheelers and tractors. They seem like great people to know.

There have been some complications along the way of becoming home owners. The bank has not been willing to give us a loan until I produce my first pay stub at my new job. I've started work, I'm under contract for the school year, we have excellent credit, very little debt but they still aren't sure if we are trustworthy enough. Fortunately, the seller was understanding enough to let us move in, rent the place and wait for my pay check at the end of September so we can close in early October. What a relief!

Stay tuned. I've been very busy living, blogging very little, experiencing a lot and I can't wait to share little snippets our life here on the Alaskan road system with you all!

~AnnMarie