Longer Days!

Hey All,

I'm sitting here typing looking out the window at 6:30 and the sun is still out! I'm definitely not complaining, but I do need to remember that there will be snow on the ground until we leave in May, or at least that's what I've been told. From what we hear, it sounds like the Midwest is getting another snow storm. Lucky ducks! We have had snow here and there, but our blizzards last about 5 minutes and then it's over. I'm kind of craving a good o'll Minnesota Blizzard. I'm sure most of you are thinking, "are you out of your mind?" ha , I might be. Some friends from church are going to Hawaii in a couple of days. Ben and I could use a Hawaii trip about now. He has spring fever worse than I do.

Well, Valentines Day was last Monday. Let me tell you, I will never have any holiday parties on a Monday ever again. Two big parties on Monday made for a very long week. The kids behavior was off for the rest of the week. Although, apparently my kids were pretty well-behaved compared to the rest of the elementary. I can't tell you how many times I saw our disciplinary person walk past my room and walking back with a kid by her side, which means that child is probably going home for poor behavior. There were also a lot of things going on throughout the week such as eskimo dancing, fishery meetings, and fiddlings. On Thursday I had one of my little girls come up to me out of the blue telling me that her mom had gone to jail. When I asked why she said that she drank to much and then this little student walked away. I said her name and she came back and I just gave her a big hug trying not to cry. It's times like these where I'm reminded of what some of the kids lives are like at home. I count my blessings everyday.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned a whole lot of what we do on our weekends. We usually go for some kind of snow machine ride. I crossed the river for the first time on Friday. I was so nervous and scared, but I'm so glad we did. It was me, Ben, Kevin, and Jessica. Once we got across the river there were all these beautiful trails that were surrounded by snow covered trees. I was expecting to see a moose, but we didn't. There were all these back rivers and lakes that you would never know were back there unless you went over. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing and freeing. On Saturday nights Ben and I help out with a program at our church called Leaders for Life. It is a program for 6th graders and basic principals are taught on being a good leader with a biblical influence. It is led by our Missionary Amanda Hunt. It's a lot of fun to go hang out with the kids and talk about real things and real struggles that are going on.

Last night we had some of our friends over to play dice. We play this every Christmas Eve at the Harvey Household. Each person put in 10 dollars and in exchange were given 20 bullets. Yes, you read that right....20 bullets. Our friends had never played this before so when Ben and I were yelling out obnoxiously, SIX...SIX-FIVE...SIX-FIVE-FOUR...they were laughing and a bit annoyed, until they started to join in as well. Kevin was the big winner of $70.

Ben and I have officially signed and handed in our contracts to teach in Mountain Village for the 2010-2011 school year. We didn't think twice about signing it and are very excited for what's to come. We both feel that we are already having a much easier time after being here for 7 months. Next year will hopefully be even easier. We are getting a hang of this whole teaching thing and are feeling very well settled into our home. Now if only we could get all of you to come live here we would really be set. Sadly, that can't happen, but we really do appreciate your prayers, phone calls, letters, and care packages. P.S. if you google image search "Waqaa" which means hello in Yupik you will find a pleasant surprise. :)

Thanks for reading!

Ben and Anne Harvey