The Arctic Foxes: April 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

A Hug for Nome ~

During quiet time one afternoon Ruthie came downstairs and asked me, "Can I tell Nome I love her and hug her?" Of course I granted that request!

The girls and I have been having tea time some mornings. I've enjoyed bonding with them during that time...I'm thankful I have little daughters!

Ruthie and Nome have been helpful outside with splitting wood and piling it. By the way, Ruth's new nickname for Naomi is "Nome." Lately I've noticed myself calling her it too.

During Bible study I noticed Ruthie wrote this message on her coloring sheet [see below].

We had two men from our missions organization stay with us at the beginning of the week, and then we had a lady from Colorado visit us. She's an author and somehow got my phone number. It was nice to meet her and hear what she's written about bush life (her dad was a Mennonite bush pilot years ago).

The snow and ice is melting, slowly. Above: airport swimming pool. Below: the Yukon awaiting break-up in May.

While Ruthie was at her daddy-daugther date this week, Nome and I had some fun times together at the house.

The girls were cuddling with me while I took an afternoon nap.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Okay To Be Happy ~

After looking at a picture book, Ruthie pointed to the girl in it and said, "She's immodest...but I can still love her."

We had a friend come help us cut wood last week. The girls were a big help too.

Mommy: Yum. I love this broccoli.

Ruthie [in a sacraficial tone]: Oh, Mommy, don't worry about eating them all up. I don't mind if you eat them all up. Go ahead. Would you like mine?

We've enjoyed seeing bare ground again. The sun has melted so much of the snow but yesterday it snowed again...hopefully for the last time though!

I was very encouraged when Naomi came up to me and initiated an apology. She asked me for forgiveness for screaming at me. This encouraged me and made me smile.

During a whining episode by Naomi:

"You know, it's okay to be happy all the time." ~Bradley

I like that idea and should apply it!

Ruthie and Nome were playing in the wood pile and Ruthie came inside with pitch ALL over her hair. I've heard butter works well to get it out but she needed a haircut anyway. I cut about seven inches off...she wasn't too happy about getting her hair cut (she said she was wanting to grow it out like me), but then she heard about Auntie's new cut. Now she is happy. :)

Brad took Naomi on a daddy-daughter date this weekend. When I asked her what she would eat during her date she said, "I am eating a daddy-daughter date." Apparently during their walk on the date she would ask Brad, "Is this the daddy-daughter date? Are we at the daddy-daughter date yet? The church isn't the daddy-daughter date! No, that's silly! Are you going to sing to me at my daddy-daughter date?"

One night Brad and I woke up to a loud crashing sound....after we both jumped up in bed we looked at each other and said, "Did the garage roof cave in?" Even though Brad has shoveled the garage roof there is still a lot of snow and we're surprised it hasn't caved in yet. Brad looked outside and a huge chunk of snow fell off our house roof (hence the loud crashing sound). We were just happy to know our garage didn't cave in and our snow-go was still safely inside.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I Need Thee Every Hour ~

We spent Saturday traveling to a village about fifty miles from us. It was nice to have our good friends and teammates, Josh and Theresa, come with us. We met with some people there and did a prayer walk.

Hymn 450

"I need Thee every hour, Stay Thou nearby; Temptations lose their pow'r When Thou art nigh."

A conversation during spring cleaning:

Ruthie: When Grandma and Grandpa get here they'll say it's clean!

Naomi: Then they say, "That pretty girl make it clean!"

Brad has decided the song he'll sing for me next winter will be Steven Curtis Chapman's "I Will Be Here." The particular verse he says he will sing to me is, "Every morning when you wake up and the sun does not appear...I will be here." He did mention changing that sentence to say "Every month when you wake up and the sun does not appear...I will be here." I think the adjustment is fitting for the winter here. :)

"Dear Jesus, please make me a good mother for my babies."

~ Ruth Shilloy Fox, during a mealtime prayer

The new titles for the grandmas (courtesy of Ruthie)

Grandma Cheryl = Grandma Tea Party (no explanation needed)

Grandma Shilloy = Grandma Lawnmower (explanation: fun for her equals riding a lawnmower all summer long)

Three important rules for going outside:

1) If you see a moose, quickly run inside and don't try to pet it

2) Stay away from the house due to falling ice chunks and snow

3) If you see a bear don't run and slowly walk away, no petting it (summertime rule)

*Not sure if these rules apply anywhere but bush Alaska

The Lord provided about four-five cords of wood for next year's winter.

The last few days our house has been rumbling and shaking with all the snow falling off...our roof has about six feet of thick, packed snow (hence the reason for rule #2 in above paragraph). When the huge chunks fall it literally shakes our house.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The God Who Saves ~

We praise God for saving our friend, the man who Brad has been meeting with weekly to discuss Christ and the Gospel. Brad has been putting the Gospel before him for about a year now, meeting mainly to discuss questions he had about the Bible. As the months went by we noticed his perspective changing, but still no commitment to Jesus alone. Just this weekend our friend asked to attend the men's prayer meeting to "see what it looked like for a group of men to pray together." Near the end of the prayer time he began thanking God for the salvation he has in Jesus Christ, and praying that he wants to commit his life to following Christ. This friend finished his job here and left yesterday morning for a job in another state. His parting words with Brad were, "Now I can take what you taught me about Jesus and the Bible, and share that with someone else." We were sad to see him go and are praying for a mature believer to disciple him...we are encouraged to know that God keeps those who are His.

"Thank you, Lord, for proving it is You alone who does a work in someone's heart as unto salvation."

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Daddy Daughter Date ~

While in town Brad took the girls on a daddy-daughter date. They went to a bouncing place and then out to ice cream. After getting home, he's going to start taking the girls out separately on a date and try to do so weekly. He's a good daddy!

Fast Friends ~

I love that the girls refer to themselves as "fast friends." Even though they have their moments of fighting (which sometimes feels like we're daily training them in that regard), they still love being with each other.

Maybe this moose is boycotting the high gas prices? Actually, these prices are pretty low for what we're used to in the village (which lately has been $7/gallon).

Mom, this picture's for you. Right across from the guesthouse resides the "Mushin' Mortician." For those who might not know this musher's claim to fame, his sled dog had a heart attack during this year's Iditarod race. The Mushin' Mortician gave the dog CPR and revived it.

Now that we're home the sun is shining in our windows more than usual...due to that I've noticed so much dust that I never noticed all winter with the lack of sun. Good thing I have two beautiful little helpers around!

We had a friend over the other night and he was talking about saving up money for a future family (when the Lord provides that). I told him wives can be expensive (since I know I cost Brad more money than when he was single). Then Brad grabbed my hand and turned to our friend and said, "She's worth it!" So sweet! :)

Our friend whom Brad has been meeting with weekly is leaving this week for another job. We're sad to see him go, but the Lord blessed us with four hours of conversation last night. Brad continues to put the Gospel before him and it's neat to see his perspective changing. We will continue to pray that God will do a work in his heart unto salvation.

Tomorrow we'll have him over for breakfast before he leaves on the plane...it's encouraging to see God work in a person's heart, especially this friend of ours. When Brad first started meeting with him, he was against Christ and His Word...now, after almost a year, he's talking about attending Bible college and has aleady been talking about Jesus with a guy at work. Please pray for his salvation...God is able!

Hey Mom, thanks for mailing the girls these bottles for their babies (glad to know they don't have to feed their babies vanilla anymore). Upon opening the package the girls thought it best to parch their thirst using the baby bottles...to this day we're waiting for them to feed their babies with those bottles :)

The girls were mushing in the below picture. Ruthie tied a dog and cat to the chair and was pulling Nae around the kitchen...beware Dallas Seavey, my girls are training for next year's Iditarod!

I am enjoying this 10pm sunset!