September

September has been another busy month.  We both thought that we would have more free time here, but work has once again consumed us.  Having keys to the school does not help someone who is a workaholic. 

The girls are adjusting well.  Claire loves her teacher.  She loves studying math and science!!  She has made some really good friends as well as Cate.  Cate is enjoying preschool.  She is going by her first name, Ella, at school.  We thought she needs to get use to using her formal name rather than a nickname.  She likes being called Ella.  Some of the kids in the village call her Cate and some call her Ella.  We have tons of kids at her house each day.  We love this because it was one of the things we hoped for when we moved here.

We got a dog!!  Her name is Mocha.  She is two years old and is half dachshund and half husky.   She looks like the native muskox found here.  She definitely takes after a husky in the fact that she loves to run.  We are all becoming very attached to her.

We bought our first native Eskimo art this month.  We bought a walrus tusk carving of seals on a mammoth tooth.  I also bought an ornament and barrette made from seal fur.  My friend AnnMarie made me a traditional Eskimo shirt called a kuspuck.

What's a muskox??  We have herds of reindeer, caribou, moose and muskox around here.  Muskox are a cross between a cow and ox.  They have upside down horns and are very hairy.  Our neighbor killed one and these pictures are of the remains. 

There is no need for a car here, but an ATV...well that's another story.  We bought a Yamaha Grizzly 750, which is now our new family car.  You want believe how many people you can fit on an ATV!  The Grizzly is mostly for John, who has become a fan of riding out onto the Tundra.

I have traveled to many beaches around the world, and have never once found a starfish.  Who would have thought that I would find a rocky beach covered with them in Northern Alaska.  We have collected tons of these awesome creatures.  We have found tiny starfish all the way to large ones.  I never get tired of collecting them.