It's Christmas time in Kodiak!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas time here in Kodiak so here are some pics from Christmas adventures of Jessica and Jonathan. I went with some friends and chopped down our Christmas tree! It's a real one for the first time ever! Needless to say, I think it's awesome even though it is kind of "Charlie Brown-ish". Here is a picture of our first Kodiak Christmas tree.


I also went and made gingerbread houses with two dispatcher friends. It was SO much fun! I remember making a gingerbread house with Grandpa and Dolores when they were up in MT visiting and it brought back some memories!


Amber and her house


Louise working hard on her house


The blank canvas


Louise and I


Louise's gingerbread house


Amber's gingerbread house


My house!

Thanksgiving in Kodiak

Hello Family and Friends!

So sorry for the delays in these blog postings! But you luck out today and get several posts! Lucky you! Things have been busy here for us in Alaska. I have been traveling back and forth to the villages once a month and also my two town elementary schools. Jonathan has been working non-stop also but we have managed time to spend together on his days off. He is currently working 4-12am (swing shift) which is the worst shift as my schedule is 8-4 M-F. Needless to say, sometimes we are like two ships passing in the night but his schedule switches to nights soon. Yeah!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Jonathan's Sergeant suggested that we all have Thanksgiving dinner at the police station and do a potluck style. I made the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pies, and everyone else brought the rest of the fixins. It was sooo yummy! Sarge even bought real silverware and plates which was awesome! Dinner was amazing and we all just hung out and chatted. Thank goodness it wasn't too busy at the station. Other officers and troopers popped in to say hello and one officer brought homemade tamales with homemade salsa! Needless to say, I ate a TON of the tamales and they definitely reminded me of Auntie Leslie's yummy tamales at Christmas time. Here are some pics of the festivities...


Jonathan and Noah


Sarge checking out the spread


Me and the best looking cop there is!


Jonathan learning how to carve the turkey from Sarge


Me and Amber (one of the Kodiak Police Dept dispatchers)


The pumpkin pies Sarge made


The turkey!


Jonathan and Sergeant Maloney




Hmmm...


Jonathan enjoying his mountain of mashed potatoes and gravy!

Rainy Days in Kodiak

Well, the fall rain in Kodiak has started! I'm getting used to it though. I wear my rain boots alot and have a great rain jacket. It's amazing how your priorities change when you move to a place where the rain is measured in feet per year and not inches! Life is good up here in Alaska. Jonathan has switched his shift now to 4-12 so he is busy getting adjusted to a new shift. On his days off, we hike, go to the beach, watch movies...generally try to spend quality time together which is such a blessing! I recently went to a women's retreat for a weekend which was great! It was on an island called "Woody Island" and we had to be skiffed over on several skiffs. There were about 100 women who went and I met some great ones-one who is the wife of a trooper here. I also met a pastor's wife who invited me to her church so that is on our list to check out.


The gals who I went with








Work has been pretty busy also. I found out that I am getting another village that I have to travel to monthly in addition to Ahkiok. It is called Port Lions and it is quite a bit bigger than Ahkiok. This last week was Red Ribbon Week at both of the schools where I work. I volunteered to dress up as "Kelso" who is a frog who makes good choices! Throughout the year, the kids learn about Kelso and how he makes healthy choices. Here are some pics from that event...


Me sneaking up on the other counselor at the school during the skit...

To the village

I went on my first trip to the village this week. It actually was GREAT! I met a wonderful woman who is now an awesome friend! We flew out together and she is the special ed teacher for the villages around Kodiak. We had a wonderful time. I brought some gifts for the new teachers and staff at the school like candy and coffee. The kids remembered me from my first trip in May and we played some games. My friend Mary and I hiked around Ahkiok and took some pictures. We actually walked around the village (it's not that big) and walked down to the dump and around back to the school. When we got back, we were told there is a huge bear roaming around down there and to not walk alone. Oops! I am going back in October and hopefully will be able to do some Uduk hunting. I guess Uduk's are little crustacean shells that are all around and are very tasty! I may also get to go octopus hunting too! I am planning more games for the kids when I come and I already have art projects planned. Here are some pictures I took from the plane and from the ground



Pic of the Ahkiok School



Some houses and Russian Orthodox church in background




Russian Orthodox Church (the little house beside it is where the priest lives.)


Village street sign


Graves at the church


Good work is hard to come by apparently


The village of Ahkiok


The dump where the bears frequent


Fishing boats in the village


Some pics from the flight







Back of the plane

Coast guard base






The plane that I flew in.