Alaska, here we come!

Would you like one of our Alaska prayer cards?
If we won't be seeing you before we head up there, send us your address at ImLovinGod@aol.com and we'll be sure to get one to you! Thanks!

Also, check out a way you can support us by purchasing some homemade photo cards. Go to www.laceyscards.blogspot.com

God Bless!

Hello Family and Friends! Our latest and greatest news is that...




We're going back to Alaska!

On March 27th, we received an official "letter of call" from the Home Missions Department of the AFLC (Association of Free Lutheran Congregations) asking us if we would consider going back up to the Naknek, AK area. This is where we had served for 6 months from June-November of last year on Jeremy's seminary internship. We really enjoyed our time there; and the people we met and worked with there were such a blessing. Well, we have been considering going back up there since we left. (actually, Jeremy has wanted to go up there for years) We were praying about it, thinking about it, wondering about it, looking at other options, etc. When we go the letter, it became a little more official and we began to pray harder and think about it a lot more. About two weeks later, we knew for sure that this is what we felt God leading us to. So, yesterday we accepted! We are very excited to go! (And many of you may have already heard the news via telephone. Of course, as soon as I posted it on facebook, almost the whole world knew. (Ok, not quite)

We are going to be arriving in the area on August 5th. We were hoping that we could be there for the busiest time of the Summer (fishing season), but time is just getting away from us.

On Sunday, we were able to share about Alaska here at Lutheran Church of Hope. We are only here for one more month before we head to Minnesota. Jeremy will be graduating from seminary on May 22nd in Minneapolis. It will be a fun time as we'll have family there, including my grandparents who will come from Michigan. After graduation, we'll be traveling around for a few weeks before the AFLC Annual Conference in the middle of June held in Minneapolis. We'll probably head up to Roseau, MN (way up north!) to visit with J's mom and step-dad, and we have some other plans that are still being formed. After conference, we'll be heading to Washington where 3/4th of our things are stored at my (Lacey's) parent's house. We look foward to spending time with them, some friends, and our home church for a little over a month until we head up to Naknek.

A few things we will be involved in (and hope to be involved in) up in Alaska:

Jeremy- His title? Welllllll....missionary/pastor/pilot? Things he'll be doing....missionary pilot things, traveling to different villages with Pastor Swanson, aircraft maitenance, etc.

Lacey- helping out at KAKN radio, kid's ministry, and wherever else I'm needed

Please keep us in your prayers for:

* Logistics as we are preparing for Alaska. There's a lot to be done. Unpacking, packing, shipping, barging?, etc. etc. etc. :)

*The month left here at Lutheran Church of Hope

*Safety and Health during traveling to Minnesota, all around Minnesota, and to Washington. (And wherever else the Lord brings us)

Spring Time in Colorado

One afternoon, about two weeks ago, we went fishing with Pastor Larry and two others. It was a lot of fun! Here Jeremy and Pastor are cleaning the trout. Jeremy got a little practice in a Alaska, but salmon are a lot bigger than trout!


I was holding the trout I caught initially. This is after it flew out my my hands. Those guys are slippery! I hadn't gone fishing since 17 with my dad.

One day, Jeremy and I went to "The Devil's Backbone." He has a really neat trail along the ridge of rocks.

"The Devil's Backbone"

The kids at Lutheran Church of Hope singing "Hosanna" on Palm Sunday. I (Lacey), have been involved in Children's Ministry while we have been here.

Here's a pic of the two of us that we had to take for the Servant Pastor "Magazine" that the AFLC publishes a couple times a year.

Spring Tulips!

One week about three weeks ago, our weather was like this. A huge snow downpour. Funny thing is, two days before that it was 75 and sunny.

When our friends Dary and Anna came to visit, we took them up to the Buffalo Bill Museum, gravesite, etc. There were tons of Hang-gliders and Para-gliders that day

We also took them up to Estes Park where we saw this elk on someone's porch.

It was really great to have them. We love having visitors!
This pic was taken at the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory in Boulder, CO

The boys had way too much fun with this helicopter. They thought they

could get away with buying it while their wives were away in North Dakota. :)

Anna and I drove to Grafton, North Dakota where our good friends the

Boes are serving on internship as well. There was a new addition to their family,
Bridia Abigail and we wanted to see her and the rest of the family.

We had a girl's afternoon out to "The Daily Grind", the local coffee shop.

It was such a fun trip and we enjoyed each other's company.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

(Please ignore any typos....my fingers tend to think faster than my brain, and it would be a lot to proof read) :)

Greetings from sunny Colorado!

Wow, we can't belive it's been soo long since we've been able to update our blog! Sorry for such a long delay- while we were up in Alaska we were able to check our e-mail, but for some reason whenever I (Lacey) tried to update this blog it wouldn't let me! So, now for some of you, there is LOTS to catch up on! For those of you who have facebook, you know I keep that quite updated. :) So, for the sake of time, we will get you "up to date" on our lives and post a few pics on here. But I'll also attach a couple links, so that you can look at some more pictures if you want.

Ok, let's rewind about like 7 MONTHS!

We headed up to Alaska June 1st from Washington State with 2 big suitcases each, a carry-on suitcase each, and a few small carry-ons! What a crazy nightmare trying to pack the suitcases to weigh less than 50 lbs!

Well, this is all we had for 6 months.

When we arrived, we had ONE day how to learn how to run a radio station!? Scary? yes. Impossible? Seemed so, but with God nothing is impossible! We made it through. We learned a lot while we were there at the radio station for 6 months. It was actually pretty fun once we got the hang of it. We both had never really done anything like that, and it was kind of strange hearing yourself! :)

The radio had 3 apartments in it as well! We lived in the three bedroom.

And for those of you who think we lived out in the "booneys"; here is proof that no, we didn't. :) Naknek isn't like your average Alaska village or anything. It is an town with an Ace Hardware, grocery store, Napa, etc.

Lacey at the radio!

This picture is fun! :) Working on the getting the cross down to paint. In July, we had a VBS/work come from Fergus Falls, MN. What a great group! It was so fun to have them. They stayed at the radio station, so we had 11 people there! What a party. :)

Here I am finishing up the sign for Hilltop that Mary, one of the ladies from the team started. Thank you Mary for starting it!

Another great view, this time from King Salmon; 15 miles down the road from Naknek.

And we had to post this, since you wouldn't believe us if we told you! We had a wonderful, abnormally warm summer!

Another one of Alaska's wildlife. He was pretty friendly and I should have had a carrot, but chances are he probably didn't even know what a carrot was.

Naknek's beautiful scenery.

On a 4-wheeler ride collecting rocks from the beach to use in front of the radio station for decoration. We got about 3/4th of done. I'm pretty sure it might stay that way for quite some time. :)

"Picking Fish"- Naknek is home the largest sockeye salmon run in the world and fishing in the summer is a HUGE thing there. There are 100's of fishing boats out on the water in June and July. Subsistance fishing is also big there as well, and almost every family puts a net out to catch salmon for their family. This is the Swanson's net. It was fun to go down to the beach and help every once in a while.

See all the fishing boats out there?

Our backyard- alder bushes, lots of "bouncy" tundra and some lakes or ponds. In the summer time there are wild blueberries and cranberries that grow out there.

An aerial view of one of the canneries.

The beach looking at the Naknek River and Peter Pan cannery.

And a look out how spendy things are! If you live in Naknek, chances are you wouldn't shop here for everything you need. Everyone barges food in, orders food in Anchorage and has it shipped there, flies to Anchorage, orders produce through fullcirclefarms.com, etc.........or all of the above! :)

Hilltop Christian Fellowship, the church that Jeremy had the first half of his internship at. What a great church family! I had the privelege of helping teach Sunday School. It was sad to say goodbye to "my" kids.

Besides being at the Naknek church and flying over to South Naknek, Jeremy did several trips in the Cessna, flying a Baptist pastor to a village called "Ekwok." If you think that name is strange try Egegik, Igiugik, New Stuyahok, Illiamna, Chignik..................... :)

It was really neat to see the unity in Naknek. As "visitors/new comers" it seemed that the churches really worked well together. And here Jeremy was going to a Free Lutheran Seminary, but flying a Baptist pastor around. What a blessing.

Ok. Think of the friendliest people you know. Got it? Sorry, you're wrong. Here are some of the friendliest people I know! This is half of the Sherman "tribe", a wonderful Christian family we had the privelage to meet. (left to right: Maica (pronounced like Micah), Eseta (mom), and Aniva.

And this is their coffee shop "The Heart of the Shire." We visited their a lot, for the coffee yes, but also for their wonderful fellowship! The give great hugs too! Shermans, we miss you!!!

This is Edgar the eagle. He was very interested in the camera. The wildlife in Alaska is awesome!

Beautiful Alaska sunset- you can't beat them! This is still summer time, so this sunset was at about 11 pm. :) Strange.

In September, we were able to take a trip of a lifetime to Katmai National Park/Brooks Camp. The only way to get there is by float plane or boat (we did boat). It was a colder day, but it was a BEAUTIFUL day! The scenery there was amazing, and we say about 30 bears! Some close and personal!

Katmai National Park where they have rocks that float. (pumice stones)

This bear was chasing down a salmon that was flopping in the river. (He got it by the way) In June, the salmon are trying to go upstream, so if you ever see a pictures of a bear catching "jumping" salmon, most likely it's here at Brooks Falls. When we went all the salmon are at the send of their spawning season, so they are red colored and really mushy. The bears don't seem to mind though, as they are getting their fill before winter. It was such an adreniline rush to be so close (at one point, about 10 feet accidently) to a bear, but they are so used to people there and are just wanting to eat that they pretty much ignore you. Still, it felt like you were in a zoo......oh, but without the bars. There were some observation decks though.