Bikes & Maids

I just made these Indian Maids. Aren't they cute?

I have been busy.

I am working on getting an audio book online. So far I have two chapters done. It is the story of some friends that we have, Paul and Nattie Boskoffsky. It's his story. Sneaky peek. I will have the rest of the chapters done soon. (I hope.)

My husband has been wanting to 'upgrade' our 1983 4-wheeler so we spent some days last time he was home and then the last two days this week looking and looking and looking..sigh.

Yesterday we came home with a black and white Polaris 500. I love it because it has a Queen seat for me! I just need an umbrella with spoongee's on it! You know, those little hangy down things. (Used to see them in cars in the '70's.) So far we have taken a ride to the grocery store, and the post office.

We even rode on the bicycle path. (hehe) Hubby said he was on a quest to plow over some cyclists! NO, not really, but when he said that I just had to laugh! I am not serious and still am slowing down around the bike riders. :-)

Here in Houston we have bicycle paths on both sides of our highway! We just KNOW that they paved over the trails we 4 wheelers made! grrrr!

This is our new Polaris ATV. Imagine the one-up seat on it for now. I will try to get a picture of it soon!

Grandkids just came over!

Knuckle Down by 1/3

Well, Doug managed to hurt himself again! This time he ended up in the hospital. He was working with a grinder on a log for this house and it kicked back and cut his left index finger really bad.

He shaved the bone on both sides of the knuckle and lost 1/3 of his knuckle too. Dr. Mark Clyde cleaned out the knuckle and sewed him up during sugery at 12:30 A.M. (accident happened at 4 PM) and he was back in his room at 3:15 A.M. After we saw the doctor and heard his report my daughter and I went home for sleep.

He is concerned about whether or not he will be able to play bass guitar with this damage. I am not so concerned since the evening he was released from our new MatSu Valley Regional Medical Center he managed to make practice! Bandages and all! His playing sounded pretty good too, even if he was using only two fingers. (His pinky and ring fingers.) P.S. I still have Christmas lights hanging downstairs, hehe.

This was the first time we were in our new local hospital. The emergency clinic seemed really slow for being the ones dealing with an emergency. But I will give them a break and admit that just as we got there three ambulances were scheduled to arrive and then one motorcycle victim came in while we waited. I guess a mangled knuckle is not high priority.

When Doug was admitted and prepared for surgery (about 10:30 p.m.) they wheeled him up to a room and the service on second floor was incredible! The nurses and doctors we encountered while there were great! Their great bedside manner sure changed our whole attitude towards the new hospital when they showed kindness and concern while actually helping Doug! I don't think it's being selfish to say --- we felt waiting over an hour in the emergency just to be screened was too long. There were three of us waiting to be seen by the nurse doing the screening and only one sick baby a head of Doug. I think they started hopping when they saw the blood beginning to ooze out of the bandage Doug had wrapped around his hand... while he put his tools away and carried the log into the shop!!!!!

Doug was the first person to stay in Room 240 on the second floor of the new hospital. In the hospital the patient orders food from the kitchen when he/she is hungry rather than there being a set time for meals being served! So it's kind of like being in a hotel! Guest's can also order meals and eat with the patient.

Here is a close up of his finger! The middle finger just got gouged! It is just a regular ol' cut, says Doug, but the doctor stuck a few stitches into that too.

Send him a get well note HERE! (hehehe)

Make Me An Offer!

I ran across this INTERESTING STORY online and just for fun I thought I would put something up for exchange myself!

So, would anyone out there want to trade something for this butterfly amulet bag? One side has a blue butterfly and the other is a yellow. The bag is peyote stitch. It is twisted fringe with Delica and Czech beads. It would be a great gift! (It has a $95.00 value.)

Make your trade offers here. Make me an offer I can't refuse! All offers will be considered.

We had a very good Easter day. After we went to church the Grandkids came up here and went looking for the 98 filled eggs we hid (Doug and I).

AJ found the most eggs with 32! Some of the eggs had numbers so they won some small gifts afterwards. Then I made them all breakfast and we ate the Easter bread my sister brought to me at church. Yummi bread Mil!

After that we had dinner at Kim's and then went on to the highlight of the day which was watching our first Grandchild Alexis get baptized! I am very thankful to see the grace of God being extended to the Grandkids! There were 12 people total that were baptized yesterday!

So, did you think of anything to trade with me yet??? :-)))) Authentic Alutiiq made handcraft! hmm? hah?

Tetelestai!

It is finished!

Tomorrow we will go to church, come back here and let the grandkids look for eggs we should have already put out early tomorrow, then we will all eat dinner at our daughter Kim's new home.

Happy Easter to all!

A Desire of My Heart

Doug read the book"The Journey of Desire". When he returned home for a few days in the middle of this hitch (away job), he brought the book to me and said, "You should read it too." So I have been reading it.

Author John Eldredge's subtitle "Searching for the Life We've Only Dreamed Of" describes the contents of the whole book in one sentence. (John Eldredge Website Ransomed Heart.)

"We long for life and we are not sure where to find it." -John Eldredge.

This book opened my mind to new thoughts about our desires and why we have them and then begins to direct the reason for those desires and how they fit in with Heaven and knowing God. I like to believe many of his thoughts because many of them are thoughts I have had myself.

Remember the saying, "I'm trying to find myself!"? Seems that I heard it a lot in the 70's and 80's. Many times I heard it come from women who were venturing out to escape the confinements of house and home. They were discontented and went out in pursuit of all that was important to themselves. Now, thirty some years down the road we see a lot of business women who are successful in a world that was mostly for men.

I've seen women way up in those big ol' dirty, dusty, road construction monsters! Women who normally love to be clean! I've wondered why in the world they want to do work that has to be hard on the fingernails! I just hate it when I work in my garden and then all my fingernails break off.

Who is giving Momma cuddles to the little ones that are left at home or in a daycare? Most likely some will say that I am WAYYYY behind the times when I say that I still believe Mom is the one that was given the lions share of "womens intuition" when it comes to children and knowing how to meet their never-ending needs, especially those emotional needs.

Men have moved quite valiantly into the vacant kitchens and nurseries that women have left behind and have done a great job! Even still, I still think there is so much more good women can accomplish in this world when they choose to be there for their children.

I want to know this, now after the years have past, and those women are totally honest, do they feel that the desires they were looking to fill were filled? Or do they look back and desire what they could have had with their children?

What are the desires we have in our hearts now? Desires lead us down roads that after years have past make us question just what we were thinking when we did them. Whatever places/things these desires led us to do, good or bad, we can't redo the past. It's gone, it's over.

We think we are doing what we want to do, but only God knows what we want. He made us the way we are. He created us with a free will. Free to do what we want,even to know Him. This is why we were created in the first place and this is the desire that we have tried to fill with relationships, things, excitment, alcohol, money, positions, pets, shopping, busyness, etc, etc, and tired etc. I have heard, there is a spot in our heart that is empty and can only be filled by God.

John Eldredge wrote that as we recall pleasant times/events/places in our lives we remember how we hated for that time to come to an end. John Eldredge suggests that these are glimpses of Heaven.

Heaven. What do you think of when you think about Heaven? Halo's? Clouds? Harps? Worshipping God? (Worship=church.) These types of thoughts of Heaven leave us longing for more. When we think of something being heavenly, we don't think church! We think heavenly to be -----beautiful, many times beyond description!

A warm summer evening walk in a deep-green forest with softly chirping birds and a view that just won't quit!

A sleeping baby.

A caress from our lover.

If you prefer a LOUD perfectly running snowmachine! (Sweet!!!! ---as the guys would say.)

These are glimpses into Heaven. The feeling that you get along with memories like these are feelings we will have in Heaven. This is what God wants for us and He longs to share them with us... like it was in the Garden of Eden before evil worked its' chaos then when sin had run it's course a division grew between Adam, Eve and God.

Someday, the division of Death and sin will be destroyed.

Today I saw the effects of what this division brought into the world so long ago. Death. My sweet, cute, huggable, loveable, freshly washed and clean, fluffy little dog Chewy, got a hold of my granddaughter Ashlee's gerbil Harry (sniff, sniff) and ---killed him.

I watched the effect Death had on little hearts while she sprawled on the bed and cried for Harry who would never come back again. She would not be consoled with the promise of Mom and Dad getting her another gerbil that she could even name Harry again if she wanted to. I thought of Heaven and how we won't ever have to taste Death anymore and I longed for it.

Evil, Death and Hell exist. Heaven is where God is and exists. Mankind and God will live together in harmony again, just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. That will be Heaven and I long for it. It is a desire of my heart to live in a place God is and never see Death again. It is a desire of my heart and if you don't realise it yet, it is a desire of yours too. God gave us that desire, Satan decieves us into thinking that there is no such place as Heaven.

Think about that time that you didn't want to end...

My Mom's Family- The Krautter's

One day last year, I sat and visited with Mom and we looked at elementary school report cards that my cousin Tom Shugak had salvaged from going into a trash can. Tom asked me to see if she could remember anything about the names on the cards. One day I picked up Mom and then we sat down as she recalled all that she could about former classmates and others that were older and younger than herself.

She would pick up a card then quietly sit and think. She would smile if she remembered the person or shake her head if she didn't. Sometimes I thought she would remember the person but then decide that the information she knew I didn't need to know so would go to the next card. I wrote down as much as she told me but most names she could not say much about.

Old Harbor is the village where I and most of my siblings were born. As she spoke it made me realize how far removed we have become from the life that she and my Dad had known there. Mom and Dad raised ten children together and all were born before they made the big decision to leave Old Harbor.

Conflictions with the people repeatedly popped up after Dad and Mom had decided they could not bow down or kiss the icons in the Russian Orthodox church. The priest had told them these pictures were there just to remind them of Holy things. Dad and Mom could not get past the commandment in Exodus where God said, "You shall not make for yourselves any carved image nor bow down to them nor worship them." (Verse can be found in Exodus 20.)

It didn't take much longer after agreeing with their convictions to move their large family from the village to the largest city in Alaska, Anchorage. (Dad said his biggest reason to leave was the taunting he heard almost daily from the village kids towards us, his own children, for what they believed to be the truth.)

Dad never did earn his high school diploma and all he ever knew was commercial fishing. I admire him for his love for God and the strength of character he displayed once he decided in his heart what was the right thing to do. He spent the rest of his working days as a janitor for the Anchorage and Chugiak School District's.

While we talked about the past that day I asked about my Grandfather Raymond Krautter. "So Mom, how did Krautter end up in Old Harbor anyway?" She told me that he had been in the Army Corps and so came to Alaska and stayed.

I asked more about him and if she knew where the Krautter's came from. She did not remember or know. So I decided to write to my cousin, Don Krautter in Wyoming. I had kept in contact with Don and Jean Krautter by sending them a Christmas card most years. He responded by sending me some information but said to write to Carroll Fetherman, the son of my Grandfather's sister Olive or Ollie Krautter Fetherman.

I hit the jackpot when he replied! Carroll sent me pictures and even a family tree that helped to sort out my mind about how the Krautter's are related. My Great, great grandparents are Joel B. Krautter and Katherine (Transue) Krautter.

I was sorting through the family information then decided to start an online album at Yahoo and that explains the Flickr Badge on the left side of this webpage.

My Grandfather Raymond Krautter was not married to my Mom's Mom when Mom and my Aunt Lucia were born. My Grandmother on Mom's side was married to Timothy Kelly. Mom told me that she never really knew what name she should be known by... Kelly or Krautter. She said that both men were very kind to her and she loved them both.

I was excited to read about my biological Grandfather Raymond Krautter. He was in the Army Corps. He was married twice according to Mom. He mined for gold, silver and copper. His brother Grant (was high school valdictorian) also spent ten years in Alaska with Raymond. Grandfather Krautter died when he was 67.

A little history coming out of Old Harbor, Alaska to go with the pictures I will probably be sharing for a while here.

The Nest

Well, here I am uploading pictures even when my granddaughters are still here too. I guess we are getting the hang of having youngsters around the house. While Marie is here things just seem to run so much more smoothly! She is so good that she even gave me a pedicure (making sure I don't say "she gave me a pedigree" again)! That felt wonderful and I am still wiggling my toes with happiness!

My cough and sore throat are on the mend!

This is as close a view as I can get without climbing up into the tree!
Chevy might be a deterrent to any birds that want to join our happy family.
The arrow points to the nest in the burned tree.
This Eagle could also be a problem to Magpie eggs/offspring.

We are keeping an eye on the nest and the birds. I will post pictures again of them if I can get close enough to snap a few while they are there. I had a friend tell me that he has a furrow on top of his head from getting too close to a nesting couple of magpies! I guess I can wear a helmet when I am out taking pictures if I have to. Right now they don't look so threatening. I wish I could stick a web cam into the tree!

Well, whaddaya know! It has just started raining here!

April showers bring May flowers!

Love Comes Early!

Snow is still around. It gets cold at night. The wind still blows and makes my ears hurt....but!!!! The birds are nesting! Well the magpies are.

We have a couple that have decided an old burned spruce tree beside a bushy tree will be a good place to have a twiggy house. I am excited and have taken some pictures but don't want them to abandon the nest so I have been keeping my distance.

I moved this computer downstairs so I can keep a close eye on my granddaughters who will be staying here until Sunday. Their parents went to Arctic Man, a snowmachine/ski race. (Here is a picture page from Arctic Man.) I won't be uploading any bird nest pictures until I am moved back to my computer room.

My mother-in-law says that she loves these birds. They are a noisy bird and when they go through with their new babes after they have grown they sure can make a lot of racket!

I am including a picture of them from what used to be called Percieva and is now www.whatbird.com. I didn't get to listen to any bird call that I wanted there because they say... abuse of their site. So, bummer!

Anyway, I will post pictures of these black and white guys sometime after Sunday. I am hoping I will be able to get some cool shots while their family is growing.

Right now they have been busy gathering sticks and stuffing them into the trees branches. They have a big collection now.

Nest Material: Made of sticks, mud, and thorny material. WhatBird.com

My granddaughters keep us busy. Today my daughter stayed home from work to be sure I didn't get worn out. She is so sweet. I have been fighting a bad cough and sore throat. I guess my coughing this morning made her decide to take a day off. I really appreciate it even though I know I could have managed these girls! I think our granddaughter's have more fun when Marie is home though. She pulled out her make-up and did their faces up then had a photo-shoot. They had a great time. I will post some of those pictures too someday.

Spring is definitely making a good appearance here. I even watched "twitter-pated" woodpeckers darting here and there too!

Love is definitely in the air around here.

About Being Online

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 A.M. in the morning, the time and date will be
01:02:03 04/05/06
That won't happen again until 3006!
You may now return to your normally scheduled program.

The things we see online!

Without the internet I wouldn't have known that little fact or even heard of it!

In the Christian circles that I am involved with I get the idea that the internet is an evil place that we should have nothing to do with. I disagree. Yes, they are right about the evil BUT... this place is also place that we can learn so much from too. They are right that the opportunities to pursue evil are overwhelming when we are online but we must learn to have self-control everywhere ---even online!

I have learned to choose self-control online too. I know the life of living Godly is not external but it is internal. My heart is endlessly evil with or without the internet. The One that can see my heart is God and I have decided I do not want to hurt Him by what I do or say, online or offline.

With the Internet the possibility to spread the great news that God is NOT out there waiting to squash your "fun" life! God is the beginning of life! God created us to bask in peace and joy. The Devil is the one that whispers in our ears, "but.. you won't have fun anymore if you learn about God". What a lie!

Back to the internet.

The world of information that is available to us online is endless! It is not like the funny email with a url that says, "You have now reached the end of the internet."

I spent many hours diagnosing my own physical problem, printed it all out and took it to my local neurologist then said, "This is what I have. Can you fix me?" The doctor was not impressed and would not even look at my work, he said, "I can do my own research!" [hmmmpf!]

Through the internet I found the best place to have the surgery I needed to treat hemi-facial spasms. It was with Dr. Jannetta in Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania. He pioneered in the microvascular decompression operation.

In my opinion the internet can be a good thing. It is so fast. It has so many possiblities for use. I made some great friends and am still finding more that I would never have known without being online. It is true that it can be used for the ugly side of life too, but so can the telephone, reading and cable t.v. just to mention a few!

So we learn to "Just say No!" to the suggestions that the evil one uses in his pursuit to "divide and conquer" our families, friendships, and especially our relationship to God. Just say no to him, he hates you and wants to destroy you---because he sees God in people, we were created "in the image of God" and he hates God.

This picture is me with my online friend "Sammi". I got to meet her and her husband Gordy in Pittsburgh after I had microvascular decompression surgery. (This picture is taken about six days after surgery!) Hi ((((Sammi))))! They were able to travel to Alaska later and visit here too.

The Cold Wind Blows

The cold wind blows.
It lightly snows.
I think of her.

Life does not last.
Death has come too fast.
I think of her.

Empty, long days
While he quietly lays.
I cry for her.


Many live daily without the presence of a loved one but today I wrote this to honor Stella Havatone. She lost her husband to a heart attack on March 9, 2006. Stella and Wendell sang at this years Native Musicale on the first night. Wendell and Stella have 21 grandchildren!

Wendell was well known for his singing and musical talents since his high school years at Kingman High School. After graduating with the class of 1965, he attended Haskell Junior College in Lawrence, Kan., where he was the president of the student body.

Life took Mr. Havatone on many paths. He also formed a band in 1972 known as "Wendell and the Havatones." He worked as a telephone lineman for Citizens Utilities, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs heavy equipment operator at Long Mesa above the Havasupai Indian Reservation and served several terms as a Hualapai Tribal Council member. Wendell was also a tribal vice chairman, Tribal Livestock owner, and most recently a bush-flying reverend across Northern Alaska. (As quoted from his obituary.)

"Until then my heart will go on singing, until then with joy I'll carry on, until the day my eyes behold that City, until the day... Christ calls me home."