Thursday, June 14, 2012

16 Years


16th Anniversary
OK this is not about Alaska, so forgive me if you are wanting to read about our new great state.  John and I will be celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary on Friday, June, 15.  John is super excited about this anniversary because the number 16 is a perfect square, nerd.  I did not have any idea what to get him for putting up with me for 16 years, so after listening to one of our favorite singers, Ben Folds, I got an idea!  I decided to make this slide show of our life over the last 16 years.  Cheesy, I know, but well...I am pretty cheesy.  If you decide to watch the video, I hope that it inspires you to appreciate the love in your life, or perhaps inspire you to make a meaningful relationship with someone.  I also want to say that if you fall in love with someone, why wait, get married and build a life together.  John was 22 when we married and I was 19.  We were young and stupid, but we were sure that our love was real.  The last 16 years have not been perfect and as a couple we have faced many hardships, but our love has been perfect and our faith in God strong!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Kevin's Big Adventure

A few days before we left for the summer we got a great idea!  We decided to invite one of John's students to come spend a week and a half with us.   We were really excited that we get to share some of the south with Kevin Tocktoo.  Our trip from Brevig Mission to Atlanta, GA took about 21 hours.  Once in the South, Kevin got to visit three states:  Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.  He got to go to the Braves game and Carrowinds amusement park.  We also shared some of our favorite redneck pastimes such as shooting off fireworks and going to Bass Pro Shop.

My mom really loved Kevin and was impressed by how sweet and polite he was.  He ate her southern cooking and even tried squash and fried okra.  We took him to one of our favorite greasy spots, Krispy Kreme.  He loved the hot glazed donuts, but, then again, who would not?
 Cate, Kevin and Claire in Greenville, SC
 Kevin has one foot in North Carolina and one foot in South Carolina.
 Carolina Cobra, the forward, then backwards, roller coaster.  I promise, Kevin and John are on it.

 Drop Zone. Takes you up 320 feet and drops you.
 Kevin left today to head back to Alaska.  I have to say he is a pretty brave kid to fly 5000 miles by himself with 4 layovers.  I don't think I could have done that at 16.

End of the School Year

The last few months of the school year have been super busy.  We completed standardized testing (yuck), took students up river, celebrated Claire's birthday, prom and graduation.  Needless to say we were exhausted when May 18 finally hit.  Lucky, for us we have a fabulous principal who surprised us with root beer floats on the last day of school.

Easter
This was the first Easter where we didn't have a sunny, warm day to hunt eggs.  The  Easter Bunny found us still in Alaska and we celebrated the resurrection of Christ with our new family in Alaska.  The morning of Easter we awoke to a blizzard which caused us to have an indoor egg hunt.  We ended the day, however, with calm winds so our family decided to borrow the schools sleds and go sliding.  It was a fun day.  Below you will see a picture of the ham we ate.  I bet no one in the lower 48 paid that much for their Easter ham:)




Solar Flare
As the days became longer we began to experience some problems with our Internet, satellite, and cell phone connections.  I really don't understand all the science behind it, but I know this is the brightest I have ever seen the sun.  The picture below explains why wearing polarized sunglasses this time of year is a necessity.





Claire turns 8
May 4th was Claire's birthday.  We still can't believe that our oldest is 8.  Time truly flies.  John and I waited 8 years before starting our family.  We often say that we cannot remember life without children. I mean this in a positive way.  John once told me ,when he was 22, that all he ever wanted was a wife and children.  Claire was an answer to prayer and she was brought sunshine to our lives for 8 wonderful years.  Below are some pictures of her celebration with friends.  Her one request for the day was to have Subway, so we called Subway in Nome and had it flown out to the village.  (You don't want to know how much that cost:)



Prom
Since our school is so small, prom is open to everyone.  The evening starts with the elementary kids who stay for a couple of hours and then leave so the older kids can enjoy the night without pesky little kids getting in the way.  John was in charge of the music, but luckily he had Helen Bruns and Angela Olanna there to help him, otherwise the kids would have had to endure Def Leppard and Bon Jovi.

 They both have moves like Jagger.
 John and Claire square dancing.
John and Claire doing the Cha Cha slide.
I love these ladies!  Amy in the middle and Ann Marie on the right.

Graduation
This years high school graduating class consisted of six students.  Since our school is small each graduating senior gives a speech.  One of the elders, Rita, gave the graduates some words of wisdom. A PowerPoint of graduates' baby pictures was shown followed by cake served to the whole community.  It was neat that the whole community attends graduation.  

Another group of students also graduated this year.  The Brevig Mission 4 year old preschoolers graduated from Head Start. Among the graduates was our very own Ella "Cate" Moore.  The guest speaker and presenter of diplomas was none other than John Moore.  

 She was so excited!
 John's speech was short, but sweet.  



Cate with her teachers Liz, Darla, and Hannah.  Oh, and Cate's best buddy Carol.

Saying Goodbye to Friends
On the Thursday before school ended, the Brevig Mission staff put together a dinner to say farewell to two of our teachers who will not be returning in the fall.  Karen and Ann Marie have both decided to take positions on the Kenai.  I will greatly miss them both!