Gotcha Day Take Four

The first hour that Harold was our child, four years ago in Guatemala, he was incredibly hungry.  His foster mother, in her great distress over saying goodbye to Harold that day, had forgotten his formula. By the time the formalities of the "transfer" meeting were over, we had one fussy baby on our hands. Room service was the surest and fastest way to get food to our room and into the belly of our chubby little guy. That is how it happened that Harold had french fries and tortilla soup for his first meal as a Rudstrom.



During our most recent trip to Guatemala, we stayed in the same hotel as we did on our first trip and called room service. Shortly after, french fries and tortilla soup were delivered as we relived our first minutes as parents.

On Saturday we once again relived our first day as parents. We cuddled in bed in the morning telling Harold our memories from that day. Saturday the 22nd was Harold's fourth annual Gotcha Day, a day to celebrate.



We experimented with fondant,



invited some oh so fun people over,



ate some delicious food and watched our adoption journey video.



Happy Gotcha Day young man. We are thankful for you each and every day.


Gotcha Day 2010
Gotcha Day 2008

Tundra Tea

One cold wintery day, my friend Darla offered up a new and wonderful hot beverage for C.O. and I to try, tundra tea. Since then I've had a little thing for this steaming hot goodness. It tastes like what I imagine the tundra would taste like if you could bend down and gobble it up.  When we're locked in by snow and ice, it's a wonderful reminder of warmer days out in the countryside.



Tundra tea is more commonly known as Labrador Tea. Here is a cute, little Labrador "forest".



This year we decided to collect and save a bunch for ourselves. This way we don't have to show up at Darla's house with sad puppy dog eyes begging for a cup.



After pulling off the leaves, we put them on a piece of parchment paper to dry in the food dehydrator. Darla just puts the whole works in the freezer until she's ready to brew her tea, but we are white folks and like to make things more complicated than they need to be.



We use this lovely little tea pot to make our loose leaf teas. It just happens to be the very first thing C.O. and I bought together as a couple. Isn't it cute and classy at the same time? Our very favorite feature is that it never, ever drips from the spout when we're done pouring. This makes my engineering minded husband very happy.



Throw those leaves in the strainer.



Add boiling water.  Psst! Electric tea kettles are the bomb if you drink a lot of hot beverages.



The tea turned out a bit weak, but still very tasty. I added some leaves to the water just for visual interest in this photo. Oh and I don't recommend sugar for this tea. Usually I cannot drink coffee or tea without copious amounts of sugar but tundra tea is different, sugar detracts rather than adds to the taste. 

I found this blog post by a gal up near the Brooks range mountains who talks a bit more about Labrador and how it is used by Inupiat people in her area. Check out the rest of her blog as well while you're at it. It's worth reading.

~AnnMarie

Another Man's Treasure

Nome isn't the only option for shopping around here. Another favorite of ours is . . .



the dump.



Honestly people throw away the craziest things.



C.O.'s love of scavenging is rubbing off on our son. Harold manages to find all kinds of useful stuff.



C.O.'s been needing a new tank for his shop and found a perfectly good one just waiting for a good home.

C.O. has come home with all kinds of other wonderful treasures: pots and pans, copper to sell for scrap, lumber, metal for making thing such as this, plumbing fittings and ATV and snowmobile parts.

Normally I'm not too crazy about going to the landfill because of the smell, but since it's getting colder and starting to freeze up, it hardly even stinks.



Certainly can't beat the view from our dump.





". . . all kinds of good stuff dear."
"There's a trailer hitch ball, they're worth $20!"
"The trailer's full, I'll get that on the next trip."

-- Quotes from C.O. during our latest dump run.

~AnnMarie

Boat Wake

Groceries and Lumber: Stocking Up

Saturday we took a little trip to Nome to do some grocery shopping. We took our boat over to Teller, borrowed a truck and drove into town.



I checked things off my grocery list as I filled the cart.



It's best not to look at the total and just hand over your plastic, sign quickly and move on.



Paper, plastic or cardboard? Some really sturdy cardboard please.



All of our groceries fit nicely into these four boxes. That's nearly $100 per box.



Harold enjoyed his break from the ordinary.



We also made a stop at the lumber yard. You don't even want to know how much that cost. Multiply the grocery total by 3 and subtract $100.  *breathing deeply*




Harold and our credit card were pretty tired by the end of the day.



Into the boat went the supplies and back to Brevig.

~AnnMarie

Hand Made Fishing Line

 

This was completely Harold's idea and design. He saw some screws lying about and was inspired to make a halibut style fishing line. He had C.O. cut rope and strings to just the right length, then put this together, complete with an anchor made from some scrap metal he found.



Harold and his friend walked down to the ocean and threw the line out. Harold was hoping to catch "fish, a whale and maybe even a shark!"



I think the line looked a bit smaller in the ocean than what Harold was imagining.



Here fishy, fishy, fishy. 

Harold left it out all day and checked it after school. Still no luck.

~AnnMarie

Cooking in Bush Alaska

Our friend Angie, also a transplant to Brevig Mission, started a blog recently about cooking in Bush Alaska, hence the name Cooking in Bush Alaska. I was pretty excited when she asked me to contribute to her project. 

What makes this cooking blog different from the millions of cooking blogs out there is our remote location. The byline is "creatively avoiding food boredom in a land far away from full-service grocery stores and fresh ingredients."


So often when I'm cooking or baking I don't quite have the right ingredients, so I have to make do with whatever I have in the kitchen. Though not recommended, a common substitution technique for me is to find something that's at least the same color as what I'm supposed to be using. Sometimes successful, sometimes disastrous. That's the kind of stuff that will give this cooking blog some heart and soul.

Cooking in Bush Alaska could be useful for those of us living in the bush but also for anyone living in a rural location who doesn't have the convenience of a grocery store nearby.

We talk a bit about making the best without every ingredient in a recipe, appropriate or sometimes crazy substitutions, using locally harvested food and the various ways we get our groceries.

Take a look when you get a chance. I've already tried two of the recipes Angie has posted and loved them! She's pretty talented in the kitchen and with her camera. The photo and food pictured above are her handy work. See what I mean? Pretty talented huh?


Stop by, I think you'll enjoy it and happy cooking!

~AnnMarie

Adoption #2 : A Referral

About one week ago we received great news concerning our Ethiopian adoption. We have been matched up with a little girl. Finally!

Our paperwork has been in Ethiopia for over a year but we began the adoption process nearly two years ago.

It's been a long wait, but by the grace of God not unbearable.

At this point, we can't share any photos publicly, which is torture since she is BEAUTIFUL with the biggest, brownest eyes and adorable grin.

We cannot share any personal information either which makes sense since we have no legal connection to her at this point. It would be creepy and weird to start talking about and posting pictures of a kid that isn't ours. But not to worry, once she's home you'll be overwhelmed with "we think our kid is the cutest" photos.

We have been warned to guard our hearts concerning this particular child. Referrals are lost from time to time due to changes in circumstances.

If all goes well, it will be about 6 to 9 months when we are able to bring her home. We will be traveling before that point to meet her and appear in court to say we want to complete the adoption. Our best guess for the first trip is sometime in December.

I know many of you have been praying for us. We are so grateful and continue to ask for your prayers.

There's a long road ahead of us emotionally and financially. Also remember this dear little girl who's life will be turned upside down as she adjusts to a completely different environment and home life.

~AnnMarie

Fall Colors Despite the Lack of Trees

You might think that since we lack trees here at latitude 65 that we also loose out on all the amazing colors of fall time. The tundra, however, is alive with color this time of year and I adore it! True, there isn't a towering maple waving it's autumn foliage over my head but the mini forest with it's explosion of color is equally inspiring.

It's hard to believe that less than four weeks ago I took the tundra flower photos, complete with irises. Time apparently moves along at warp speed in the far north.

















And last but not least, a stunning fall morning sunrise.

~AnnMarie

Harold the Entertainer

An Original Composition from AnnMarie Rudstrom on Vimeo.

From concerts to puppet shows to quirky insights;

Harold entertains us daily.

~AnnMarie

The Long Weekend

loaded boat

two hour cruise

set up camp

hearty food

warm sleeping bags

blueberries gathered
 

campfire

Teller visitors

long naps

fishing

fall colors captured

sleeping bag wrestling

 home again

warm shower

memories

~AnnMarie

A Happy Little Door

 

 Some excess paint and a blank canvas inspired this piece of sunshine.

 

 During

Before

~AnnMarie

Fishing Trip

Last weekend Harold and I went fishing.  Our friend Kenny and his son Ernie came with us.  We took our boat "up river" to Imuruk Basin and into the Agiapuk river.

It is about a 40 mile trip and takes two hours.  Along the way we took a break and threw rocks in the water.

We saw some friends leaving there cabin so we stopped to visit with them for a little while.

The best place to find the pike is in the shallow areas of the river delta away from the main channel.  Kenny and I actually had to get out of the boat and pull it through a narrow channel by hand.

Once we made it through the narrow part we drifted with the current and fished in the shallow water.  When we found the fish the action was very fast and exciting.  The pike grow to enormous size and are very aggressive.  With all four of us fishing I never seemed to have time to take any photos.

Ernie took a nap on the way home.

We had a lot of fishing action, but had a hard time getting them all in the boat.  Next time we need to get stronger line and a landing net.  In the end we came home with four pike that measured 24" to 30"

C.O.