Baby Picture!

I went to the doctor today for a checkup. He brought in the ultrasound machine and I got to see my baby! Baby was dancing and moving all over, so the doctor couldn't pick up the sound of the heartbeat very well, but he said it was around 170. He gave me two pictures from the ultra sound to take home. The second one is sort of fuzzy, but the first one has a clear profile of baby. It was so amazing to watch baby moving around inside my womb.

Update!

Well, we should probably update people on how the adoption process is going...


At the moment, it is postponed. One reason is that I recently updated my reading list. The book I'm reading is What to Expect when You're Expecting. Yes. I'm pregnant! The adoption has to be put on hold until the baby is six months old. This baby is definitely a deployment baby, (appearing nine months after a person gets back from deployment). I found out I was pregnant on 2 Oct. At the time the Dr. estimated I was about five weeks. I'm about eight weeks now. Michael and I are very excited and are looking forward to this baby.

Rest & Relaxation

I returned to the states on 3 September, just in time for the four day Labor Day weekend. After I in-processed with the base , Michael took me down to Valdez for my R&R. Valdez is gorgeous, with mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and wildlife. Valdez is eight hours away from North Pole, so we had a long drive down. After six months where the fastest speed limit is 60 kilo/hour, (less than 40mph) driving at 60mph was a bit scary. Michael said I made him motion sick.

The first day, we took a glacier cruise. Michael is my camera man, but all these pictures are mine. :)

One of the glaciers we approached was the Columbia glacier. It had created so many icebergs, the closest we could come to it was ten miles.
Our very able Captain piloted the boat around several enormous icebergs. Seeing them made me wonder, how big was the one that sunk the Titanic? The Captain announced there are only two other places in the entire world that have icebergs this size: Greenland and Antarctica.

Let's get a picture taken with an iceberg! :)
We did see some wildlife on the cruise as well. Very few of my pictures were in focus, though, so I'll have to get Michael to upload some of his pictures soon.
The next day, we went out looking for waterfalls and then took a hike.

The only wildlife (other than birds) we saw on our hike. This porcupine was really small; smaller than a volleyball. Doesn't it look all soft and cuddly? I was close enough, I could have reached out and petted it. (I didn't, though.)
On our return trip, we stopped at Worthington Glacier. Do you see the black oval to the bottom left of the glacier? That is an ice cave.

Of course, we had to hike out to it. The next picture is actually three pictures stitched together. I didn't take these pictures with the intent to stitch them into a panorama, and photoshop wanted to skew Michael out of shape. This still doesn't do it justice as to its size. Michael is at least twenty feet away, and that's only the top half of the opening. We didn't go inside the ice cave.

Here is the wall of the ice cave, at least, the wall where the roof had already collapsed.
There were several magpies in the parking lot at Worthington glacier. They were cleaning the bugs off the parked cars. One of them was very vocal. I have never seen one that vocal. It chattered non-stop.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Michael and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

2009 Fair Entries

Michael submitted three pictures to the state fair this year and got ribbons for all three. Last year he only got ribbons for 50% of his entriesSummer Monarch - 5th placeMinto Flats Smoke, Sunset, and Fireweed - 7th place

Title: Best of Show - 7th place (this car received the title "Best of Show" at the 2008 Cruis'n with Santa car show on North Pole.)

2009 Fair Entries

These are Sarah's entries in the state fair this year. She tried a new category this year with some photography. All the entries in pencil art got ribbons. She received 4 out of 5 ribbons this year.

Fluffy

Faces
Cat Nap (yes, this is also Fluffy)
Bear Hug
Abby

Recent Happenings

We are looking forward to Sarah's return home after being deployed for six months. She will be headed back at the end of August; both are extremely excited.

Michael's sister, Michelle, and her husband Tom, have just had child number two. Paul Thomas is the little brother to Benjamin, their first born. Paul is still in the hospital since he has an air bubble outside of his lung that keeps forming, even after the air being released. Please pray for whatever is causing this bubble to heal and also for Tom and Michelle.

BIG SURPRISE

Michael has been keeping several people in suspense over a surprise he wants to tell them, and if Sarah had been home, she would be keeping people in suspense as well. Your time of waiting is over. The time for truth is here. Everyone wants to know what our big surprise is. So, without further ado, we will reveal our surprise. (Drum roll please.) Michael and Sarah… (drum roll drum roll drum roll) are planning to ADOPT.

This is not a split second decision. We have been thinking about it for a while. Nor do we want to adopt because of fertility issues. Instead we are thinking of adopting in conjunction with any pregnancies and births the Lord blesses us with. We believe that all children need a loving, caring home, and we are more than able to provide that home for a child. We’re not just looking into any adoption, but more specifically international adoption. Right now we are focusing on Russia or one of its neighbors. While orphans in the US are placed in foster homes, orphans in the former Soviet Union are placed in orphanages. In Russia alone, it is estimated that there are over 700,000 orphans. We want to make a difference in the life of some of those children.

We won’t actually start the process until Sarah returns from her deployment, but once she’s back on US soil, we plan on jumping in with both feet. The adoption process can take anywhere from about 9 months to 2 years and will include a ton of paperwork. It will also include at least one and possibly two trips overseas to the country we adopt from.

The adoption agency we have decided to use is American World Adoption Association, AWAA. This is the agency that Steven Curtis Chapman used to adopt at least one of his children.

Needless to say, your support and prayers will be much appreciated as we begin this endeavor.

ALS Prayer

We pray to you, Exalted One, whom we are forced to not name by one atheist, who is working to strengthen your adversary. It is difficult to not name You, because you are in everything I see and were once the very backbone of our nation.Our nation is now trying to cripple itself by cutting You out.

I would pray for Your blessing on this place, but why would you bless a people who refuse to even accept Your name? I would ask for a peaceful gathering today, but without You there is no peace. I cannot even ask for safety, because without you we have no refuge. You have protected our nation for two hundred years, yet we have forgotten You.

You have been force out of our government, our schools, our military, and now even our prayers. Our country will not be able to stand much longer without You, our backbone. So the only thing I can ask, Unnameable One, is that you forgive us for the mockery of praying without Your Holy Name, and not to forget the few that are still faithful.

To You and You only do I pray, Amen

Sarah wrote this October 6, 2007 after Michael graduated from Airman Leadership School and was told he could not use "God". Michael and several others had talked to the base Chaplains and issues were addressed with wing leadership and apparently resolved.

Feeling Warm? Sarah is!

What do you think of these temps? I screen captured the temperature on WUnderground.com every day and then copied and pasted each day's temps onto one doc. After Sunday, the temps dropped back down to below 110*. After feeling 118*, 109 actually feels like a relief. According to WUnderground, five of the seven days this week broke the record high for this area for this time of year.

Defenders of Freedom

Can anyone find Sarah in this picture?!

Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for us. Michael is at a crossroads in his Air Force career and needs to be still, trust God, and follow His leading. Thank you.

Happenings in Alaska

Let's see, where to begin with Michael...

Well, yesterday, he was under the weather, today he is feeling better, his cell phone jumped down 20 feet and landed on the concrete, and he got his Associates of Applied Sciences degree in Emergency Management.
Other than that, not much is going on. He does plan on posting a picture of his graduation and cell phone sometime soon.

Sarah Describes Life in the Desert

I’m sure everyone at home is wondering what life is like for me over here in the desert. Well, here are a few pictures to give you an idea. I wake up at midnight to get to work at two. This is the pickup/drop off point. Jack’s is also a good place to go if you want some quiet to read a book or work a puzzle. Also, all the books and puzzles and games in Jack’s are free for the taking.

Beside Jack’s is the transient lodging. These tents are for the people passing through on their way to or from down range.
I get off work at noon. After a day at work, I return to the trailer park and try to remember which of the identical trailers is mine.
Actually they all have signs with building numbers, and the door to mine doesn’t close. (It’s not in this picture.) Once in my room, I change into my PT gear and either doze off or read a book or write or etc. Here’s my half of the room.
The next morning before work, I might decide to visit the WIFI hot spot. (It’s too hot at noon after work.) Of course, it’s right next to the smoke pit, and if they’re doing something, it’s not always quiet.
When this picture was taken, they were doing Karaoke. I didn’t hang around very long.

Here’s a question. Is it possible to take a self portrait and not have the camera in the picture and also not have the flash reflect in the mirror? The answer is YES, though it took me about forty tries to get it looking okay.
Unfortunately, the mirror won’t get any cleaner.I don’t have any other pictures, yet. Maybe soon. I have five more months to fill my scrapbook. ☺

Deployed Info

For those of you interested in KIT with Sarah, here is some info you should find useful.

Mailing address:
Sarah Huntington
379 ELRS/LGRDAP
APO, AE 09309

Email address:
sarah.huntington@auab.centaf.af.mil
sep2sarah@yahoo.com

If you plan on sending a care package and wonder what she would like, here is a starter list:

Craft Items
Jolly Ranchers
Brain Teasers
Science and Christian Magazines
Anything with Caramel
Good Books
Trident Gum
Puzzle Books
Tea

She did it! She really did it!

Sarah got her haircut. And I like it! She wanted to have short hair so she wouldn't have to put as much effort into taking care of it while deployed. It will also make those hot days a little more comfortable.
We celebrated Sarah's Birthday a couple of days late due to all the hustle and bustle of work schedules and base exercises. We were able to take about a week of leave to spend with her parents in Colorado.
Sarah enjoying one of her favorite hobbies prior to leaving on her deployment. (Don't ask me which one is her number one favorite; I can name about a half-dozen of the top of my head)
The Church had a farewell potluck for a family PCS'ing to Texas on Sunday. They said that it could be a sendoff for Sarah as well. We enjoyed the fellowship.
Sarah's folks outside of their home. Her parents have been living in this house while they get their own home built up enough to live in.


When we got back to work and Sarah was finishing her out-processing checklist, we found out that her departure date got moved up. Sarah boarded a plane Monday morning at 1:30 am on her way to SW Asia. By the time you read this, Sarah will be in Europe. She is expected to be in country later this weekend.

Deployment!

It is official. I am deploying again. This time, though, I'm not going to Iraq but to Qatar. I don't really want to leave Michael, but I feel that God wants me to deploy, so I'm at peace about it. I'll be leaving in just a few weeks and I'll be gone for six months. This will be my last deployment, though, because when I come back, I won't have enough time left in the Air Force to deploy again. If you're not sure where Qatar is located, here's a map.

It's going to be a major climate change for me. Right now, the weather in Alaska is around -15 with no humidity. In Qatar, it's in the seventies with over 80% humidity. Come summer, it's going to be up in the 100s. I'm not really looking forward to the heat. Oh well, I'll survive.

I'll try to keep everyone posted and the blog updated. I know when Brandon was over there, he couldn't check their blog...I may have to email Michael what I want posted and have him post it.

Crazy Weather

The cold streak finally broke Sunday night. Some of the old-timers around here say it set a record for being the longest cold streak. We went three weeks where the warmest it got was -36. If you want cold, that's cold. In like three days though, we went from -45 to positive 45. It's a BIG jump. Everyone here is walking around in their shirtsleeves, no jackets or anything. I've heard that everyone down south is getting some really cold weather, though, so while we're up here enjoying the +50 temperatures, everyone in the lower forty-eight is freezing. Hahaha. Seriously though, having such a drastic temperature jump up here is very dangerous. The snow melts and the water covers the road and since the ground is still cold, the water glazes over so the roads and highways are just a solid sheet of black ice. Every hundred yards or so, there's another spot where a vehicle went off the road. Even we aren't exempt. Sunday (before the temperature warmed up) we had a little fenderbender in our new Toyota. When it's really cold out, anything plastic doesn't bend, it shatters. So, our right front bumper is shattered. At least Michael says it's only cosmetics, it didn't damage the frame. Our warm weather isn't going to last, though. The weather site is predicting it will be back down to zero by Monday night. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.....

Physics @ -40 Degrees (& Colder)

This entire post has one purpose; to show you how cold it has been here lately. We have collected these images over the last week . We heard that one marquee sign in Fairbanks showed -63 degrees. bbbrrrrr...! The coldest that we have actually seen ourselves this week is -52. More of these same temperatures are forecasted through the end of the week (as far out as they dare try to predict). And oh, BTW, the high temps have only made it to -38. This picture was supposed to be toward the end, but accidentally got deleted and had to be downloaded again. this is where it ended up. This is what happened to the bubbles after being exposed to the air for just a couple of seconds. When the temperatures get this cold, we get a dense build-up of ice fog. This picture shows North Pole as viewed from the highway overpass above the town. This is the accumulation of ice around our three-pane windows in the bathroom. Michael is enjoying the snow... in his bare feet of all things. This "Hanging Glacier" on our front room window is growing bigger each day. It collects its ice from the warm air that leaks out through the window and wall SEE THAT?! We are not just making this up. There is proof the temperatures get colder than negative forty degrees!! What do have to say for yourself now? This is the bubble film left over after the bubbles burst in the cold. Michael is blowing bubbles outside while Sarah is safely indoors with the comfortable 68 degrees.


This video demonstrates what happens to cold water thrown into the air at -40.


This second video demonstrates what happens to hot water under the same conditions. Be sure to turn up the volume and listen closely