Summer's end and fall beginnings

  So far this whole end of summer and beginning of the school year thing gets an A+. Seriously, the only major drawback (and we're talking that one annoying A- in the grade book that brings you down to a 96%) has been the quantity of rain we've had over the past few weeks. If it wasn't for the rain we'd still be outside enjoying life hiking, picking berries, biking, walking, frisbee-ing, you name it. The one thing we certainly wouldn't be doing is blogging! Apologies for the delays folks! These rainy days are certainly reason to get back on top of things.

  I was trying to think back on where left off- it looks like you all got a brief overview of the time I spent traveling around Western AK and then got a short introduction to the Arigaa Discipleship House. Now that the guys are moved in and have launched into their second full week of school I figured I'd grab a shot or to to show you what the house is looking like these days. It's great to live with a mostly neat and tidy group! Many thanks go out to donors and friends who helped to outfit this place. We all feel blessed and are very grateful!

  A quick overview of who's who here in the house- Hunter is from Unalakleet and is a second year aviation student. Deion is also from Unalakleet and is studying communication. Samuel is from White Mountain most recently and is studying to enter the medical field. Deven is from Anchorage and is studying engineering. I'm David and... well, ya.

  Photo wise I have a few things to share with you; first things first- while in Nome, I visited with some friends of Byron's who just so happened to be setting up a garage sale. Short story shorter- I own a pizza stone. Back here in Anchorage, Lauren and I began to experiment. The pizza was really delicious! Home made dough and all the fixin's. (I'm telling you- if you come to visit, we'll make delicious food).

Pizza Pictures coming soon... 

It's on Lauren's camera- and I just wanted to get

this post online... Check back tomorrow- it'll be here!

It'll be worth the wait.

  Ok, that was fun, but this last monday Lauren and I hopped in the car (for the third time...) to go North to 'the valley' to pick some delicious lingonberries. They were so ripe and plentiful the first time and the second time that we figured, what the heck, let's do it again!

Fall color is just starting to show up! man this place is beautiful!

Lingonberry = low bush cranberry 

   I received the fabled family cranberry sauce recipe from mom and we went to work. (Look at that shiny new food mill- I don't think they've changed that design one bit since mom bought her's new!)

  Great success with the first batch! Then it was on to bigger and better things- mostly lingon (Swedish lingonberry jam). It's even spiced. We don't mess around.

  While this was all fun and games- the real test of our merit will come in the form of salmonberry-blueberry jam. If we get it right, those little jars are truly some of the most delicious cupboard treats for the rest of the year! ('getting it right' refers to the lackluster performance in the spreading category that last year's jam scored.) We'll see how it goes!

  On the theme of making things- over here at the ministry house Sunday nights are a happening time! It's family dinner night and so far we've done a bbq, rocked some spaghetti, and other things. This week's menu I think we'll step it up a bit and take some salmon out of the freezer with rice and potatoes- or maybe a little teriyaki chicken! On the personal side- whole wheat bread is on the to be baked list. Looking forward to the delicious smells in this place!

  The end of summer also means a bit more time for reading, and I have already tackled Introverts in the Church by Adam McHugh and The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. Both highly recommended! Next on the list might be Jerry Sittser's Water from a Deep Well.