The last of our Alaska vacation

We returned from Alaska Friday evening and I'm just getting around to posting about the rest of our vacation there. That jet lag really got the better of us with the 10 hour time difference. (I took this picture as Sam and I left for Fairbanks. This is the view at the end of Mom and Dad's road. I think it's absolutely beautiful)

We had a pretty rough trip home - it ended up being 18 hours of travel time before we got to Germany. I was so happy to see Gabby when we got here. I'll have to do a post about her escapades while we were gone which got her in lock-down at the veterinarian for a couple of days and ended up costing us about $600. I'll try to do the whole story in another post, but let me just say that I was very happy to see her. She looked a little skinny from not eating during her time at the vet and she seemed to be in shock at seeing us again, but she's getting back to her normal ornery self. She's been incredibly loving to us though - we'll see how long that lasts :)

Well, let me see if I can remember what we did that last week we were in Alaska. We didn't do too much the first week Sam was there because he ended up getting really sick. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday my poor husband was practically on the couch all day. Anyone who knows Sam knows that if he's laying around all day then he's really sick. He's usually on the go. It drives him crazy to lay around and not get anything done. I keep telling him he needs to learn how to relax.

Thursday we went to Fairbanks for a couple of days. Living in Germany, we have a hard time getting some of the things that we're used to, so we planned to buy some items to bring back with us. I love the town of Fairbanks and just enjoyed being there again, shopping at stores I'm familiar with and eating at American restaurants. We stayed at Ft. Wainwright's lodging that night so we didn't have to make the trip back to Delta.

Saturday we all drove down to Tok. It's about 100 miles east of Delta going toward the Canadian Border. I worked there at a hotel my first summer out of high school. It had been quite awhile since I'd been back and Sam had never been, so we had a nice drive there and back and ate lunch at Fast Eddy's.

I thoroughly enjoyed being back at my home church. Dad pastors The Last Frontier Church. It's a very small, but welcoming place. There have been new people coming in and God has really been moving in the services.

We've had a hard time finding a home church here in Germany and it was just so wonderful to be back in some good services. We had a potluck after the morning service. It was a really nice time of fellowship. I so enjoy being back with people that I know and feel comfortable with. Here are a few pictures from last Sunday.

Dad, me and Mom

Me and Sam

Being silly - Michele(young lady I use to babysit for), Sam and me

Christian, Grace and Abraham

For awhile now, Sam and I have been interested in buying some land in Alaska and an opportunity presented itself while we were there. There was a 7.5 acre plot of land on the same road I grew up on selling for a really good price. So, on Monday we closed the deal on that. It's really a great piece of land with an acre already cleared. We're very excited about it and are in the process of making plans for what we want to do with it.

Art and Dad went moose hunting on Tuesday and Dad got his. In Alaska that's a very exciting event. Moose is a staple food and if you get one you know you'll have plenty for the year. Hopefully I don't have too many gentle readers that would be offended at these pictures. This is everyday life for us, but I know it may seem a little gross to others. Anyhow, here are a few pictures I took while the guys were hanging the moose quarters. Moose season is such a busy time that the butchers can't take it until the Oct 10, so it needed to be hung. It's cold enough outside at this time of year, so it'll keep with no problem.

Sam posing with one of the moose front quarters

Sam and Dad hanging a bag of meat

Sam

Tuesday evening, our last night in Delta, we went over to my cousin George and Gaylene's place. Sam wanted to shoot some guns, so we all tagged along and Gaylene made dinner. Her parents were there too and we had a really nice time. We wanted to be able to spend more time with everyone, but between being sick and having things we wanted to get done, we just didn't have time. We squeezed this visit in at the very last moment and I'm glad we did. Of course, the guys had to get some pictures with the guns.

I find it hard to take them too serious when George is wearing that moose hat

Here are a couple of the many faces of George

Our time back home flew by way too fast. It seems like we just didn't have time to get everything done that we wanted too. I'm never ready to leave, but this time I think it was even harder. Before we knew it Wednesday was there and we were on our way to Fairbanks. We went out to eat at the Turtle Club that evening. Chad, came with us and we had a very nice evening. We stayed at Ft. Wainwright lodging that night since we were scheduled to fly out the next afternoon. The next morning we went out to breakfast at The Cookie Jar (one of my favorite places to eat).

Coming back to Germany was not a depressing thing, but I do really miss my family and my country. It was so nice to not be a foreigner for a few weeks. We so enjoyed our time there and I'm already starting to make plans for when they come over here next year. I'm getting back into the swing of things. We really do have a good life here. We have so many blessings. I'm thankful for the time we had with Mom and Dad and would love to be able to spend more time with them, but at this time in our lives it's just not possible.

Here are just a few random pictures from Alaska -

This was the evening that Sam arrived. He wanted to read the newspaper, but Lucky had other plans. Sam really enjoyed playing with her. She's such big baby.

Sam did some things around the house that really helped Dad out. Here he was fixing the tile under the wood stove

Sam cleaning the chimney

Me and Mom at our land

Sam and Lucky