Spring has Sprung

Spring is finally here! I can hear the water running from the roof and am starting to see the snow recede. I am hopeful that breakup will go smoothly this year and there will be no ice jamming on the Tanana. I am so excited on one hand and yet on the other this is the perfect time of year as the mosquitoes aren't able to survive yet. On the other hand I can't wait to start being able to go to the river and doing some fishing!

We are anxiously awaiting our fourth as June is fast approaching. I am so thankful that the school year is almost over. The kids and I both are so in need of a break. I am working at getting as many projects done before the baby as I can, as I know that the next year will be tough with school and two under 3yrs old. I am excited as Brent's dad will be here to help get the summer projects done with him as I am not able to help as much as I would like this summer. The wood shed, tree clearing, and log rot will be a welcome relief to have done. Neither of us liked digging through the snow to get wood out these last two winters.

For those of you who don't know we are remodeling our bathroom. This was not planned for another couple of years, but God has once again provided and made it possible. We started with a leaky toilet that we hoped we could fix by replacing the wax ring one more time. Well, it became a much more in depth project that we weren't quite ready for. One of the guys from church who does this work and is wonderful at using his God given talent came over to look at it for us. We discovered that the floor was rotted out under the toilet, tub, and 1/2 the rest of the floor. Since we were having to replace the sewer line and take out the tub to address the floor we decided to pull everything up and do it right this time. Which was good as there were three (yes I said three) layers of flooring that had been put over rot that the previous homeowner had layed to cover it up! Talk about mad! So instead of having to replace the floor yet again when we redid it the Lord provided a way for us to just redo the whole thing. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is done, or to have a shower back!

The kids and Brent got to go the circus when they were in town. Ari and I napped in the car. The kids had a blast for which I was very thankful. I heard though from some other moms that the focus on selling things and the overt sexuality was more than they had wanted for their kids to experience. At least the kids were young enough that the sexuality did not become an issue for them and that we were able to reinforce the thankfulness of having the opportunity to even be able to go to the circus. We also got to do some sledding with the kids while he was home this last time. Ari was so adorable walking around in her little snow pants screaming at the kids. She wasn't quite ready for sledding this year, so maybe next year. It was sure fun to watch the kids and Brent try to slide down those hills. David loves to go fast and Ania wipes out very well!

Pleasant Surprises

Life happens! Brent and I were just talking that we had not had any huge surprises in the last few months and we were thrilled with the lack of drama. Well, we spoke too soon! We are expecting our fourth in June sometime of next year. So with that we are looking for a new car since ours right now only seats five. Come on mini-van!

We had an awesome non-Thanksgiving. Brent had to be at work on Thanksgiving so we celebrated the Monday before. What a pleasant day! No pressure and really good food! I hope you all had a wonderful day with friends and family!

Where O Where?

Where on earth did fall go? It is now winter here in Alaska. I am mourning the fall colors and weather:( It has been snowing almost constantly and while I sure do enjoy the beauty of the snow I sure was not ready to give up on fall. Especially with the summer we had. I heard yesterday on the radio that Alaska's glaciers will actually show a gain this year, due to the cold summer. It has been the coldest year in 20 years, go figure!

I thank God for His provision. I have been hearing stories from believers about their oil in their tanks. With it having been such a cold summer many of us had to use our oil furnaces. There are many that have either had the same amount in their tank when it was last filled, or there are those that have a few gallons more then previously measured. Talk about miracles still happening! The story of Elijah and the woman with the oil filling her jars is no less true today!