Mechanical Men

Quentin loves all things mechanical. We have an old laptop and he practiced taking it apart and putting it back together again until he could do it in 11 min and 28 secs.He then turned to a not so old computer that best buy wouldn't warranty when the power supply went out because when they opened it we had spilled some French Vanilla on the keyboard. They agreed that the French Vanilla had nothing to do with the power supply, but since the computer would soon be non-functioning anyway, they wouldn't work on it. Quentin got it apart and then he and Paul figured out that one of the diodes on the power supply was bad. They took it out and it works great (it must have been an unnecessary part to begin with). Quentin cleaned the keys and it's as good as new. As the junior apprentice, Joshua gets tools and makes sure Paul's back stays scratched.

It works!

When Grandma Effie (Paul's mom) was here, she built some shelves for the boys and a box with a lock on it for Quentin. Quentin then helped the little boys make boxes so now they all have one. Quentin has been scrounging various electronic parts for projects and he was excited for me to see his latest invention.
He took an old switch from a Honda 4-wheeler and somehow convinced me that I didn't need the buzzer for our Taboo game anymore. He mounted the switch inside his box so that if the door is opened before he deactivates the switch the Taboo buzzer sounds the alarm. It works great! I haven't heard it going off except when he's showing if off because he keeps the key to his box well hidden. Now if I could just get him to sit down and do his Math without me nagging him everyday...

Quentin gets his mechanical genius from his Dad. It never ceases to amaze me the things Paul can fix. We got a very old and very sturdy like a tank sewing machine into the thrift store a few years ago. I used it some, but the tension got messed up and I couldn't get it straightened out. Paul dug deep into the google archives until he found an old service manual. He learned how sewing machines work and was able to make this one run like new.

Our phones are fixed... they were out for a week and I was kind of getting used to it...

Yom Teruah

Yom Teruah, which means "Day of Shouting", and is also called the "Feast of Trumpets", occurs every year on the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei), which by observation, fell on 21 September this year. In Hebrew the word month means "new moon" or it is sometimes referred to by the word for moon. Each month starts with the sighting of the new moon. Yom Teruah is special because it is the only "appointed time"(The Hebrew word translated feast is "moed", and literally, according to Strong's concordance, means 'an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season'; thus "appointed time") listed in Leviticus 23 that begins on the first day of a new month. We can predict when the new moon will be sighted, but according to Hebrew tradition, the new month does not start until the moon is sighted by two witnesses (YHVH controls the clouds). Therefore, no one knows the day or the hour that the moon will be sighted and thus begin Yom Teruah. It sounds a lot like Matt. 24:36... and it would also fit nicely with the sounding of the trumpet and shout at the Messiah's return.(1 Cor 15:52 and 1 Thes 4:16)

As a family, we have started observings God's "appointed times". I don't know why we as Children of God ever stopped, but it is clear that we will be celebrating at least some of them, if not all of them, in the Messianic Kingdom to come (Eze 46:1-6,11 and Zec 14:16-19) so we might as well start now. I don't think that God ever intended us to stop celebrating His "appointed times." By observing them we are reminded of what He has done in the past and what He will do in the future.

Paul loves to study the Bible and he is a great teacher. I love being his sounding board and I have learned so much as he has been studying. As Yom Teruah drew close, I started thinking about the practical side of things you don't think about until you actually celebrate something. A new moon is difficult to see in the best of circumstances, but I didn't even know which way to look! Through my googling, I discovered the moonrise and moonset times for our area and the declination. I also discovered that you look for the new moon where the sun was about two hours before the time you are looking. The new moon had been sighted in Jerusalem before it was even possible for us to see it in Alaska, so Yom Teruah had started, but we wanted to go through the motions of looking, blowing the shofar and shouting when we saw it too. These times have been great opportunities to teach the kids. We built a fire on the beach and made a celebration of it while we watched and waited. Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day and we discovered that a mountain was situated right were my calculations said we were supposed to look for the new moon. Oh well, maybe next year we'll climb the mountain so we can see better and when Yeshua returns, seeing Him will not be a problem.

We all took turns blowing the shofar anyway.

David and Quentin harmonizing.

Abigail and Sarah.

Caleb had fun tending the fire.

Regina came and brought Nakita.

The Martin's joined us.

Lavonne and Josh.

The phone guy still hasn't showed up to fix the cut line. I'm still enjoying the peace and quiet, but 17 homes, Tribal and the school are without a phone and I think most everyone else is ready for them to be fixed.

Climbing Castle Rock

The kids had so much fun climbing Castle Rock with Paul on Abigail's birthday, they were eager to take the rest of the family up. So after church we took a Sabbath family hike up the mountain. Abigail and Deborah took turns carrying Sarah and we took the Honda so the little kids could have a rest if they needed it.

Lavonne & Josh went with us and it was a beautiful day.

Paul drove the Honda through this stretch on the way up to make sure it wouldn't get stuck.

The trail went right to the base of Castle Rock. The kids scampered right up. You can see Quentin up on top next to the tallest rock.The underbrush at the base of the rock was very thick. I couldn't carry Benjamin (the girls carried Sarah), but he was a real trooper and struggled through to the top.The view from the Rock was awesome. Paul's seeing how close to the edge he can get. Of course the older kids had to follow him.

Of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to get the perfect family picture.

Anna looks like she's going to fly down to the runway you can see down by the lake. Nondalton stretches out to the right of the airport. It looks like a long way to walk...

The closest village to the South is Iliamna. It is on the horizon if you follow the Newhalen river which flows out of Six Mile Lake that Nondalton is situated on.

To the North you can see Lake Clark which empties into Six Mile Lake. At the base of Tanalian Mtn. in the center of the photo is Port Alsworth. At 20 miles away it's the closest village to the North.

Quentin

Deborah

Above Castle Rock is a flat table at the top of the mountain. It is very steep to climb so Paul went up with the kids from Caleb on up. They had an awesome time exploring the crevices while Lavonne, Sarah and I and the little boys picked the berries that surround Castle Rock.

Josh is holding a chunk of ice they found in one of the crevices.

Exploring the tabletop.

The older kids took turns driving the Honda so the little kids could take turns riding. From this view you can see Castle Rock with the tabletop above it.

As we were walking back down I started feeling something hitting my back. I turned around and saw my handsome husband with the most mischievous grin on his face. He had discovered that the hollow mountain celery made an excellent blow gun and the berries made great paint balls. Soon it was all out war between he and the kids. I tried to stay out of the way.

The berries in the picture below were the ammunition of choice. Since we don't know what their real name is, we call them paint ball berries.

We had an awesome time and were only slightly sore the next day.

Paul fixed the water leak under the apartments and restored their water. The phone is still out and I am still not missing it!

Bad Day

Paul got called away from church today to work on an airplane at the airfield. The pilot came down to use the phone at our house but he couldn't because the line had been cut. The line was cut because they are putting in a new water system in town and digging all over. It turns out that the reason they were digging this particular hole was to find a leak... the leak turned out to be coming from under our apartments. They found the leak by pushing air through the pipes. The door to our furnace room where the water comes into the apartments was propped open to dry things out. As they were walking by they could hear the air in the pipes and were able to pinpoint the leak and get the water turned off. The reason the door to the furnace room was open was because yesterday Lavonne and Josh's apartment flooded. The city's wells are running dry so they've been pumping water out of the lake. The flow has been erratic, on for a few hours and then off for a few hours (It turns out, that was so they could find the leak.) When Lavonne and Josh left their apartment the water was off so they didn't realize they'd left their faucet on. When the water came back on, a lid in the bottom of the sink plugged the drain and the apartment was flooded by the time they returned. We pulled out the carpet and are hanging it out to dry.

I suppose it will take the phone guy a few days to get out here and repair the line. In the meantime we'll enjoy the peace and quiet.

The trackhoe that cut the phone line.

How many kids does it take to find a water leak? I think most of them are under there looking.

After the initial, "Oh No," Lavonne & Josh did great and took it as an opportunity to clean the house to the floorboards.

Drying the Carpet.

Birthdays Aug - Sep

Abigail turned 15 on August the 10th. Her name means "source of delight" and it fits her perfectly. Abigail enjoys learning new things. She is very talented and when she becomes interested in something she dives in wholeheartedly and becomes an expert. It is a joy to watch her get excited about things.Abigail's friend Rachel from Port Alsworth flew down for her birthday. Below they are watching the younger kids break a piñata for her birthday.Abigail wanted to go on a hike for her birthday, so Paul went with ten or so of the older kids and hiked up to Castle Rock.They were so hot when they got back that they went swimming. BrrrrJosh Armstrong turned 12 on August the 19th. His Nana (Grandmother) threw him a big party and then we had another one at our place. Josh is a big help to his Mom and a good friend to all of us.Sarah turned one on August the 25th. She was a little awed by all the attention at first...But she quickly warmed up to the idea of yummy cake that she could dive into.I turned a year older in September. I've got a pilot's license, but I'd never flown a taildragger (as opposed to a tricycle gear aircraft). So, Paul took me flying for my birthday and I got a lesson while we looked for Moose. Teri Martin also turned another year older. Her son David turned 18 and her daughter Gilana turned 4. So, we've been busy with birthdays.