The Reunion Tour

Last week we were able to spend quite a lot of time with our extended family members. Two family reunions were planned within a few days of each other. The first reunion was on my mother's side of the family in rural South Dakota. The Fischer Family Reunion was an event to say the least. It lasted for three days and included shooting clay pigeons, swimming, bowling, German food, bon fires, squirt gun fights and some good old fashioned fun on the farm.

We then traveled north of Bemidji, Minnesota for the Wynne Reunion on C.O.'s side of the family. We came a day early so we were able to spend time with some of the Wynnes before the crowds arrived. The reunion day involved water balloons, golfing, a big bouncy house, great food, a fish fry and swimming in the lake.

So, what's so great about attending a family reunion? Here's what I think makes them special.

First, second, and third cousins get to know each other.

There may be a chance to shoot clay pigeons, shoot the breeze or shoot whatever it is that needs shootin'.

Getting to experience new things.

 

Creating bonds that span the generations.



Making sweet memories.

And of course sharing lots of delicious food.

A big thank you to the hosts of the reunions: Jim & Zelda, Jeannette & Dave and Tom & June. We hope that one day we can return the favor.

~AnnMarie

Native Pride

We still have a few of these floating around our inventory of plastic bags. It makes me smile and think of shopping at the store in Brevig Mission.

~AnnMarie

Harold in Boats

As I was looking through old photos, I noticed that Harold has had quite a few boating opportunities in his five short years. He has been in many kinds of boats in many different waters.

San Francisco, California


Chena River, Fairbanks


Lake Nabagamon, Wisconson


Brevig Lagoon, Alaska


Chilkat River, Haines, Alaska


Ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway


Picking up the "Fast Brick" in South Park, Colorado


West Two Rivers, Minnesota

On Board Las Sirenas, Belize Barriar Reef

Big Sturgeon, Side Lake, Minnesota


Lake Tana, Ethiopia

~AnnMarie

Our Bags Are Packed

We left Brevig Mission a week ago already and have been busy, busy, busy ever since. This is a photo of our container van jam packed with all our worldly possessions. Next month the barge will pick it up and take it to the town of Seward. From there it will be trucked up to our new home. It's the bush version of a U-Haul I suppose.

The bottom layer is full of C.O.'s shop supplies, outboard motors, little snowmachines, a dirt bike, a generator and things of that nature. The top layer contains our household items including a few pieces of furniture. I am thankful we had the container as an option for shipping. It would have been a pain to try ship all those things through the US Postal System.

We have spent the last week on the Kenai Peninsula getting life in order in our new location. I hope to share it with you soon!

~AnnMarie

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.