Happy Halloween!

Hello Everyone,
Happy Halloween! It's been a couple of weeks since we've posted. Anyways, I want to say thank you for all the birthday wishes and wonderful gifts from friends and family! I felt very loved on my birthday! :) As I was leaving to go to school on my birthday, I noticed it had snowed the night before. I knew it was going to be a great day! Ben made dinner and baked a cake. He is the best! The day after my birthday....the 27th, it started to blizzard. I could not believe it. The wind was blowing a gazillion MPH, there was snow everywhere. I walked home for lunch that day and was walking through drifts up to my knees. Ben came home for lunch a little later with a big smile on his face. We love it here! Yes, teaching is difficult as it is our first year and we are still trying to adjust to the new culture, teaching, and being married. However, we love it here and are learning everyday!

Last week I carved pumpkins with my kiddos. For the majority of the kids, it was their first time carving pumpkins and boy did they dive right in. I carved the top and emptied out the pumpkin guts onto the ground in groups for the kids. They went through and sorted all the seeds. Previously we had estimated how many seeds were going to be in the pumpkin. A lot of the kids guessed 6, 8, 12. When we finished we counted every seed and there was 320 pumpkin seeds. The kids were astonished and a bit sick of counting. :) I took the seeds home over the weekend and baked them. I brought them back to school on Monday for the kids to try them out. The kids loved them.

Last Friday we had our Halloween party. The kids all brought treats (sugar, sugar, sugar) just what a Kindergarten teacher dreams of. :) We had Halloween relays in the gym, played Halloween Bingo, did some art, and told Halloween stories. At the end of the day the kids got to get into their costumes and have a Halloween Parade. We started off in our room, got in a line and walked to first grade...first grade then got onto the back of our line and we proceeded to the third grade etc. Our parade finished in the gym where the children's parents were waiting anxiously to see their child in their costume. Did I mention Halloween is a big deal here? Well it is, and I got a little taste of that on Friday. Rumor has it that even the adults and elders go trick or treating. Hey, free candy right? Val and Kevin are going to come over and hand out candy with Ben and I tonight.

I feel like I'm jumping around a bit but last night we had a little birthday get together at Karen and Melanie's. Melanie and I share the same birthday. Anyways, one of our friends asked Mel and I what we miss from the lower 48 to eat that we don't get up here and she would try to make it. I requested boneless buffalo wings as I had been seeing Applebees commercials on tv. Melanie had requested hush puppies because she is from Arkansas. Well, let me tell you, Donni fulfilled our cravings! :) She also went on to make oreo cheesecake, cupcakes, apple bars. Karen, my fellow Twins fan baked me a cake that had a Twins logo on it. It was pretty awesome!

Anyways, I better get home before the trick or treaters start coming. Have a great week everyone! Welcome November! :) 6 more weeks and Ben and I will be flying back to civilization!

Much love,
The Harvey's.

Still Alive

Hey All,

Sorry it has taken us so long to update our blog. Well, since our last post we have taken a trip to a Christian retreat center, we have taken out our parkas, and we have walked to and from school on snow. Yes, that's right we have about 2 inches of snow. As Ben and I were walking to church this morning, we discussed how it doesn't feel weird that we have snow. It may be October, but when we arrived to Alaska in the beginning of August, it felt like fall. We are not complaining....yet.

Kako-the Christian retreat center was a lot of fun. The pilot came and picked us up around 5:00 P.M. on a Friday evening. When the pilot flew in, he came in on the opposite side of the runway. I was thinking....hmm, that's strange. Then, the plane looked like it was coming straight towards us and would not stop. Well, it did stop and nobody seemed to mind that he came in on the opposite side. The plane that we took to get there was even smaller than any plane we've taken before. Val and I climbed in first and had to climb over two seats to get to ours. My seat was right behind the pilots, and I mean RIGHT BEHIND. He could probably feel me breathing hard as soon as I got in. :) Ben sat in the back and Kevin sat Co-Pilot. It could only fit four of us at a time. The pilot had to make two trips. As we were flying there the pilot looked back at us and pointed to Kevin. He was letting Kevin fly the plane. Val and I covered our eyes while Ben sat in the back with a smile from ear to ear. Ben kept saying, "I'm so jealous." Well, we made it there alive and Ben REALLY wanted to fly the plane so he went back to Mountain Village with the pilot to pick up Melanie and Hazel just so he could fly. Kako was very relaxing. We got to go panning for gold as the retreat center is on a gold mine. We later found out that Mountain Village is supposedly sitting on a gold mine. Kevin and Ben were definitely plotting on how to make millions. We took a hike to the top of a mountain that overlooked many other mountains. We played many games of Mancala..(brought back so many good elementary school memories.) Some worked on puzzles...if you know me, you know I would rather watch paint dry than do a puzzle. There was also three meetings where we listened to a speaker. Oh, let me tell you...the food was amazing. We had some pulled Moose sandwiches, yummy salmon, pancakes etc. Moose is very tasty. It isn't as gamey as you think it would be. Ben and I are big fans. Ben got to fly on the way home from Kako as well. We flew really low on the way home and were able to see about 5-10 moose on the tundra. It was really neat. It ended up getting very windy though, so by the time we got home we were all feeling a little green. Those little planes bounce up and down and from side to side. I would like to say I've gotten used to it, but have not. Maybe some day. :)

It's coming up to the end of the first quarter of school. I can't believe how fast it has gone. Ben and I just finished writing our report card comments. I start tutoring this week. I meet with about 15 students three days a week for 90 minutes and do tutoring sessions which is apart of a program called Alaska Learning Labs. I do this every other week. Ben is heading up National Ocean Science Bowl which keeps him busy every Monday and Thursday night from 8:00-9:30 P.M. No Dancing with the Stars for Ben. I have started going to a Women's Bible study with my church on Tuesday nights. Ben and I are trying to figure out..ok maybe just Ben what kind of snow machine to get. I'm just here for moral support as I know nothing about engines, two stroke, four stroke, or 600 or 550, one up or two up, etc.

We have received our first full circle shipment. Every month we get a box of mixed green's, fruit, etc. This week we got some spinach, pears, grapes, apples, parsnips, peaches, and lettuce. It's kind of expensive, so we are trying to figure out if it is worth it or not.

Anyways, we hope all is well. Two months from today we will be in Anchorage onward to Minnesota. We can't wait to get home and see family and friends! We love you and miss you very much!

With love,
Ben and Anne

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!

Once again it has been awhile since we've posted. Let me tell you, I knew teaching would keep you busy, but I didn't realize really how busy it would keep us. It is very difficult teaching up in the Bush. You see things here that you wouldn't imagine seeing or hearing about down in the lower 48. However, it makes our calling to be here so much more significant. Even though it is difficult and some of the children have hard lives at home, I can't help but smile every time I see them walking through my door. They are always energetic and ready to be here despite their circumstances. Ben is getting to know his students more and more each day and so it is making it easier for him. The one thing about Ben that is so neat is that he loves being around his students inside and outside of school. If we are walking home and the kids are out playing a game, Ben will stay and play with them for a little bit. Me on the other hand...I keep walking. Once I'm out of the school and on my way home, there is usually no stopping me. :) haha Ben is a much better person than I am.

Last weekend we got to go to Russian Misson for a teacher inservice. It was absolutely beautiful there. There were actual trees. I have forgotten what trees look like. Mountain Village has little bushes, but nothing like Russian Mission. In Russian they had pine trees. I found myself taking a gazillion pictures of trees. It actually kind of reminded me of Minnesota. The thing that I find so funny is that to go to an inservice in a different villiage...we don't go by car, train, or bus. We fly there. Also, there are no hotels...so we have big giant teacher slumber party in the school. It was to get out of our village for a weekend.

This weekend there is a fall festival going on in the village. Last night there was Eskimo dancing. One of our own math teachers, Joe actually got out and was dancing. It was pretty neat! Tonight there is a pot luck which there will be a plethora of moose dishes and other fine cuisine. After the pot luck there will be fiddling. This last week I took my Kindergartners out berry picking. I chose a pretty chilly day to go, so my first back of Kinders went out and were freezing by the time we got there so we picked a few and the kids ate them by the time we got back to the school. My afternoon Kinders had much better luck. It wasn't as cold and wasn't as windy. They collectively got about half of a container of berries. As we were walking back, I noticed that all my kids had blue and red faces. It was pretty cute.

Two nights ago there were about 5 of us having dinner at Mel's house. As Ben and I walked out the door I saw snowflakes coming down and I screamed out of joy. Kevin was still inside and thought I was getting attacked or something had happened. Well, I think Kevin knows now how much I like snow and Christmas as I started singing Christmas Carols on the walk home. My sister would be so proud of me.

Thank you Harvey's for sending us a care package! It is so fun going to the post office and seeing that little pink slip saying that we have a package. We love you all and miss you! Oh, by the way...Ben and I got our Bush flights to Anchorage for Christmas break. It was about $1700 for the both of us round trip just to Anchorage and back. We have yet to get our Anchorage to Minnesota tickets. We are waiting so see if prices go down a little bit.

Love from Alaska,

Ben and Anne Harvey