Big storm and more intros and pictures

It's snowing. A lot. We've got about a foot already in the last 3 days. Maybe you all expect that in Alaska but it's very unusual for camp to get this much snow at once. Rodney and Nate were in PalmerWasilla (I might as well type it as one word, everyone here says it as one word) yesterday leaving Rod alone to plow. He just had the pickup truck and plow so he was having a tough time keeping up. He did our place twice yesterday and I still slid down the driveway hill and got stuck this morning. It was windy and cold so I was trying to take the kids to the bus stop but they ended up pushing me out. Ah well, we got there in time and the truck was warmed up by then so they did have a mostly warm ride. A tractor trailer jack-knifed between Sutton and Palmer blocking the road to Palmer so there's no mail today either. Basically, it is quite the storm! UPS got through, but they come out of Glennallen to the northeast.

Rodney and Nate were able to pick up the remaining things they needed to finish our utility room and Rodney was able to get the door on that today which should make a huge difference in keeping the house warm. All the old doors need adjusting, sealing or replacing because they leak so much air. That takes care of one of the three. I got another window quilt mostly done yesterday too so we're more prepared now for the really cold weather than we were last time. It has been down around 0 degrees most of the week, but for some odd reason it doesn't feel that cold. Well, today in the wind it does, but when it is still out, you don't notice the cold. Nate has been out most of the day with the HUGE plow digging out the entire camp. What a job but boy is it nice to be able to get around!

I confess that I DO notice the lack of light! We're almost to the shortest day of the year and it is getting light at about 10 am, dark again at around 4 pm. This week though with the storm it has been barely light all day. It might be letting up a bit though because I can see a few mountain peaks again this afternoon. I finally realized this week that it might be a good idea for me to use the light therapy light that my sister sent up with us. I realized that my brain wasn't really waking up until about noon and then I was having trouble getting to sleep. I NEVER have trouble sleeping! Anyway, after just one day of light therapy (15 min) and taking melatonin one night, I woke up feeling much more awake the next morning. This morning was the second morning, and I even woke up before the alarm. Success! It's a pretty easy fix and I have a lot more energy again. Funny what a little light can do!

A lot of people have left for Christmas at this point. It is pretty much just the maintenance guys, the director, the horse director, the cooks and I think that is about all that is left. Which reminds me again that I still have not introduced the rest of the people here at camp! Do you guys mind another long one? I have lots of pics to make up for it! I'm working the desk answering phones all day today so I've had plenty of time to work on this!

First, a map of camp showing where our house sits in relation to everything else. It also gives you an outline of the camp itself (and can be found without the arrow on the camp website). The Glen Highway runs pretty much east/west from Anchorage through Palmer, Sutton, Chickaloon, past camp and then on up to Glennallen. The heavy straight line on the right is the airstrip.



Next is a picture of my Christmas cactus which is blooming like crazy. I can grow things that don't need much water. ;) The reds started first, now the orange (left) are in full bloom and the pink/purple (right) are coming on. The whites (back on the right) are a bit further behind. It yields a long, drawn out display.


The obligatory scenic pics - two sunrises, the first pic by Nina up at camp, second is from our house. The oval on the lake is the kid's skating rink.



Now some pictures of the kids at the band concert





In front is Carol Cornfield, wife of Rick, the director here at Victory. She's another phenomenal cook and another amazingly sweet lady who is quickly becoming a great friend.


When I decided to do introductions of the camp staff, I really wanted to fill in a lot of details about each family. I never get around to getting those details down on paper and making sure they were correct so I'll just do quick intros and hopefully sometime get back with more details later.

Jacob & Heather Klapak - Jacob is the camp cook (ANOTHER great cook) and Heather is a BUSY mom who is also trying to help fill in as the camp accountant until the camp can find one who can be here more regularly. Their boys Luke and Cody are delightful busy beavers! Jake and Rodney enjoy discussing all things hunting and fishing while Heather and I enjoy discussing kids and all sorts of stuff. Heather is very sweet and I enjoy spending time with her and the kids.

Aaron & Chelsea Meeuwsen - Aaron is part time at camp (summer), part time youth pastor at the church (winter). Chelsea works with the youth and at camp as well (waterfront director) in addition to working at the local school in whatever capacity she can. The kids really love Chelsea and that they can talk to her at school any time.


Andy & Christie Dougherty - Andy is the program director at camp and his wife Christie is VERY busy with their three adorable boys, Elijah, Titus and Jude.


Sandy Anderson is the main office person at camp. Sandy knows everything. Any questions, ask Sandy. She runs the store as well. And she's nice too! ;)


Doug & Crystal Thiessen and their boys Carlen, Jared, Austin and Randall. Doug is the Ranch (horse) camp director. Crystal is another phenomenal cook and their kids are just awesome kids that hang out with ours quite a bit.

So that's most of the folks who are here year around. I still need to catch a couple more, but some of them are hard to catch, like Rick and Carol Cornfield TOGETHER! Easy to catch them apart, but too often they are putting out fires in different directions ;) I need to catch Nicole and Brian and their interns (like Nina of the picture above) too. I may need to "borrow" a picture to get them all in one spot. Anyway, hope you're still with me after that long one!