Holiday program

 Silent Night in Yugtun with the kindergartners.

 Jingle Bells in Yugtun.

 Dorothy with her third and fourth graders waiting their turn. There is a Cindy Lou Who and Max the dog near her.

 First and second graders recorded their Yugtun version of A Christmas Carol.

 The Grinch Stole Christmas (English version) was acted out by the 3rd 4th graders. Dorothy needed to step in for Max the dog.

 Then Santa needed a place to dress and get stuffed. Off to the staff bathroom hoping no one would see. Bruce was a pretty good sport as he'd only been in town less than a week.

 Bell Choir stepped in and played several songs. The 6th, 7th and 8th graders had the hang of it. These high schoolers got the giggles and had a hard time pulling it together. They had the audience just cracking up.

 We have assemblies every Friday for a variety of reasons. One of those is to hand out positive action slips, or what are called POP slips. Ashley is doing that in this picture as she stalls for Santa to make his entrance.

She is trying to get everybody singing together, and Santa is swaying with the tunes....Ashley is wearing the traditional style of mukluks, or paluguks (skin boots), for this delta region. She is also wearing a qaspak, a dress like shirt.

Gwen and Lily are trying not to be seen....

A few shots

 Bruce getting started on the remodel....

 We went out for a walk and these three snowmobiles whizzed past heading northwest. The branches are frozen into the trail to mark it to Nunapitchuk and Kasigluk. This family must have been coming back from Bethel as they had a Christmas tree in the sled. I heard the trees are shipped up from Washington.

  Gwen trying to decide if she can see through her glasses or not. Or maybe it was the lemon coughdrop....

Bruce is starting to get that northern look....He went off with the neighbors to pick up the snowmobile I bought in Bethel, a Polaris 550 with an electric start. Hmm, sounds like the one-pull-wonder.

 

Lily and Gwen went to some classes before school let out for the holiday break. For the Christmas program a group of students were learning to become a bell choir. Both girls were able to participate. We'd never been around these bells. They have a lovely sound. The school had three sets. In these school attics all kinds of past "projects" can be found. They even had a tuba up there!

Getting comfortable. Note the Santa costume on the chair....

Family arrived cold, but safe

 I could hardly stand it. I thought I was doing somewhat ok with the distance, until I saw everyone. Then, I lost it. Problem was tears freeze, so it didn't last long.

My first question, "Where are your snowpants??"

 So Joseph and I got everyone rounded up; gloves, hats, hoods pulled up. Note Joe with the ball cap...people are tough out here! I climbed on top of the bags and off we went.

 Didn't take Gwen long to find her favorite spot.

 Lily took over the desk and found it to her liking.

They look happy now....sharing a bed sort of worked. Eventually, a twin bed was made and put in the "shop" and both girls found the couch to be pretty comfortable.

New cabinets, now??

  So, family comes in one week...these photos don't show the tear out, the cardboard boxes, the where does all the stuff go when one remodels? You'd think I'd be use to it by now, but there was little space to wiggle and three more bodies were to show up.

    No water, so dishes were washed over at the school. No water, showers weren't happening. Sponge baths and rest room needs, over at the school. Was hoping the family arrival would have been a bit more welcoming.
   What Bruce didn't know yet, was that he was going to have to finish up this remodel. As he said later, "Who would have thought that I'd travel clear out to the boonies and have a kitchen remodel to finish..."

Birthday boxes....

 Figured it was time to clean up the house and take on some projects during my birthday week. So, first off, only paint around, forest green over some odd type linoleum. I was hoping to cover some pretty ugly behind the stove spots. Three coats later it was still obvious where those spots were.

 Needed to come up with something creative as that has been my goal up here. Took on stencils on fabric I found in a back closet. Used this green paint, oil pastels and blue glitter glue (for eyes on dragon flies).

 Missed my family a lot.....

Kind of fun for a quick project. As it turned out new cabinets were ordered and all of this was later replaced. We do have running water, but it's recommended to filter it before drinking. That's why there is tall bottle to the side of the sink.

 Puppy sitting and birthday box. Thanks to B and the gals, flamingos and other goodies arrived safely. They quickly found a home.

 

 Invited Dorothy and Eli to a birthday dinner, but it was their idea. We had toasted cheese sandwiches (she had the bread, we had Velveeta thanks to another birthday box-thanks Kath) with avocados.

Mom and Dad I loved the gifts. Fit perfectly!

Thank you to those who sent cards!

 Yahoo, another birthday box from Annette. What looks like wine is wine vinegar. The villages are dry, absolutely no alcohol. If I were to be caught, immediately dismissal.

 Shopping in Bethel the following weekend. This is in front of AC, one of two main stores. It was quite blizzardy.

 Next day after the blizzard, shopping at AC. These folks have boxed it up, tied it down, now with child holding it all down, they are off back to a village.

Beautiful braided garlic-thanks Annette. We've been eating roasted garlic like crazy. What a great treat!

More fun in the snow

Not many hills to go sledding. These two had it set up to go from their porch, down the steps, onto the bank of the river, down finally to the river ice.

We use to take our sleds, brooms, and curtains and set up sails. We'd have river races when the wind blew.

Fun after a storm

Whoever made this had to figure out how to get the head on top of the ten foot figure. It was huge!

 Just like on the beach! Cover him up and walk away! It just happens to be about 10 degrees!

 Off to the river by snowmobile. The darker color on the ice is the overflow. The little bit of tidal influence will create areas where standing water occurs. This is nothing. Some areas one can go through three feet of it!

The AtmauNepenthe found its winter home. Harry came into school and told me I forgot to pull out the plug for the water to drain out in the spring.

About a week later he showed up with the plug. He had taken the time to chop it out. I baked him some cookies for his effort, what a sweetheart.

Atmau will find another home this spring. I ended up selling the boat with all its fixings to Eli. Trying to start the one-pull-wonder just never worked for me. There are other ways of getting out on the water....




We have two dog teams in the area. One is active, getting out not quite daily hoping to compete. The other was very active, the owner having a wall of trophies. He is now older and family just hangs onto the dogs.

 Time for a steam bath. Someone has this one fired up.