Preparing for the Winter

We live in a village of 400 people with one tiny store.  Our store is a great place to get last minute items, but it not the place to get a weeks worth of groceries.   Plus the prices are sometimes insanely high compared to the lower 48.  So how do we get our groceries you might ask.  We order in bulk mostly from SPAN Alaska, which is a mail order grocery store for people living in remote areas of Alaska.  We also get things through Amazon and Walmart because they both now have free shipping.   If we are really in a pinch for something we email a grocery store in Nome and if the weather is good they will send it on a plane that day.  We also get a weekly box of fresh organic fruits and vegetable from Full Circle Farms in Washington.  They have been a life saver in our endeavors to keep our children on a healthy diet.

Brevig in the fall

We have been super busy with the start of school so forgive me for not updating the blog.  We are excited for Cate to start her first year of big school.  I hear her teacher is really nice too;)  It's me!  Cate has decided to go by Ella at school since it is her first name.  This has been hard for me to get used to.  Claire is now a third grader and is lucky to have Miss Amy as her teacher again this year.

The weather here has been pretty dreary.  We have had lots of rain and in late September we had our first snow.  We knew an early snow was coming because the mountains have had snow on them for a couple of weeks.  So the Moore family will be snuggling a little more this winter.

Here are some new pictures taken this fall.

Nothing says scary like a mutilated doll head at an abandoned fish camp. 

We found this bone on the beach.  We think it is from a moose.

When nature calls you will go any where;)

John's parents boating up river.

Mocha got a new rain coat!  Look at her smile!

Full moon over Brevig mountains. 

Sunset from our front stoop.  You can see Claire running int he distance.

   Another great thing about fall in Alaska is berry picking.  Wild blue, black, salmon, and cranberries grow on the tundra.  Our friends Darla and Nun took John and I berry picking one Saturday.  We picked a gallon of salmon berries while they picked three gallons.  Can you tell who the amateurs are?  Darla makes great eskimo ice cream which is made of berries, reindeer fat, and seal oil.  It is really good!

Summer Fun!

We spent the summer in South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Alabama, Georgia, and Washington.  We had a whirlwind three months, but we enjoyed spending time with our family and friends.  Here are some highlight pictures from this summer.