Our Furlough in Alaska

From mid-June to end of July, we have been in Fairbanks, AK, with a quick stop over in San Francisco.
It was so great to see family and new cousins!  The time just flew by and we are sad that it is now over.

Chris' Aunt, and cousin Kelsey

We first started out with about 4 days in San Francisco, where Chris' aunt and uncle lives.  It was so great to see them and catch up with them about life!  Then we headed over to Fairbanks, where Chris' brother, Jeff and his family live.  Jeff just started a new smoothie business and Chris offered to help out a several hours a day so that they can have some extra time together, while Eliah and Kaiya was home with Jeff's wife, Moriah and their  2 boys.  It was fun to see Kaiya and her cousins getting along so well :)

After a few weeks, of just settling in, getting over jet-lag, we took a 3 day camp trip to just be alone with God and to hear what was on his heart for us.  Through a great time of resting, praying, and fishing, we felt the main thing we got from this trip was that God wanted us to focus on family more, and to be more passionate about surf ministry.
Our good friends, the Picassos, came on their plane from Bethel to visit us.  We had a great time catching up, especially since Chris had not been back in Bethel since 2004!  We had a time of praying and worship where God encouraged each of us to keep pressing on for his kingdom with JOY!  Challenging us to live consecrated lives, in every aspect of life.
Towards the last few weeks of our time, Chris sisters' family came from Montreal.  We started out with a trip to Anchorage, visiting different sites, walking downtown, and eating some yummy Korean food!We drove back to Fairbanks, where Chris' dad joined us for the next leg of our adventures....Denali national park.

Because of the weather, the only person who saw Mt. McKinley was Chris' dad because he went on a 10 hour bus tour.  Us with little kiddos just stayed behind and walked around the small town, as Chris and Jeff went off on their own adventures to catch the King Salmon that was swimming upstream.  Too bad we couldn't keep any of it!!!!
Back to Fairbanks again and we ended the time selling more smoothies and tornado potatoes at a festival.  Celebrating our time together at another yummy Korean restaurant!  We had a feast!



Our time was full of rest, fun, fishing, a bit of work, and just a lot of good,quality time with Chris' whole family.  Thank you for praying for us during this time, Kaiya did great on the flights and with jet lag.  We are all sad to see the wonderful time come to an end. 

Chris' father, sister, and brother