Pictures

"The rig" at the end of the trip. Needs a bath!
The Worthington glacier from a distance.
The Worthington glacier up close.













Bridger with a silver salmon, he actually caught all 3!

2 Weeks In

FAMILY

It's been a good first 2 weeks. The people here have been very friendly and everyone is settling in. The kids have been able to be involved in the local church youth group and enjoy it. This is a good place to ride bikes and they have been able to do that almost daily. Karie Pepe, a PA that is also new here and grew up in France as a missionary kid, has been spending a lot of time with us and that has been fun. The house has been good. We're still looking for a bunk bed for the boys' room. We've been up to Alaska Bible College with Luke to look at classes for this fall. We're considering Old Testament, Speech, and Principles of Inductive Bible Study, which we hear is excellent.

Yesterday was Ansley's birthday, and besides a bike wreck, she had a good day. Today, as a continuation, we went to Valdez for the day. The trip is very pretty, through the mountains. We stopped to see the Worthington glacier and were able to hike to the face and touch the glacier. It is a really neat place. Then we went on to Valdez and took Ansley out to lunch overlooking the harbor. We were able to see some seals in the water. Right now the silver (coho) salmon are spawning and they were everywhere. We decided to try some fishing. I had brought some old rods I found in the garage here that looked pretty big and an ugly stick with 12 pound test. I hooked into a fish the first 2 casts I made! The problem was that the fish immediately started to take out drag on the old rods! We kept trying and eventually landed 3 fish (Case lost 2 right at the shore). If we had had a net with us, we probably could have had 5 more. I really wasn't expecting that, I'll be prepared next time!

MEDICAL

I've been working quite a bit in the first 2 weeks, but I do have this weekend off. I've already flown 2 people to Anchorage, and sent one by car for a shoulder fracture after rolling an ATV . We have a total of 3 new providers starting this month, myself, a PA and a nurse practitioner. We had another PA coming, but it looks like it will be next May. We just got a new pharmacist who is from the Phillipines and she seems very good. I've been doing some sports physicals and seeing general patients, as well as some prenatal and emergency visits. For you sports fans the school sports here are interesting. For away games they frequently go away for the weekend and stay overnight. One place is an 8 hour boat ride away and for another school, they have to drive to Fairbanks and then fly! And we thought travel soccer was bad!

MINISTRY

We are going to wait awhile to decide which church to join, but will probably end up at the community chapel because of the proximity to work when I am on call. They seem to be very mission minded, last week a missionary to Ireland that grew up here spoke. Sue is involved in a women's Bible study. The boys went this week and helped the pastor at a local village work on the baseball field. We are still working at the clinic on many issues, including how to incorporate our faith as we treat people medically. We do have 2 chaplains that work at the clinic.

PRAYER REQUESTS

For Sue's knee to get better, she twisted it earlier this week and is limping around

For the ministry at the clinic and a good team with a mission focus as we blend many new people

We still need a lab tech , 2 nurses and 2 medical assistants

For leadership for our family in direction concerning the local ministries in which our family should be involved

We Miss Everyone!

Thanks for all the prayers!

Russ

A few favorites from our trip and our first few days in Alaska

Hey, everybody!

Luke here. We've been in Alaska for a couple of weeks now, and we're settling in well. Sorry we haven't made any new posts for a while. It's really cool here, with lots of bike trails around the house and lots of cool people to meet!

The trip went well, with relatively few crises. My favorite part was seeing the sign post forest. It was a place where workers on the Alaska Highway put up signposts telling how far it was to nearby towns. However, they had some fun with it, adding in their hometowns and famous cities. Then, people from all over the world started putting up signs from their home towns, and how far away they were! It was amazing to see how many people had been there, and how many places were represented.

Hi

this is Ansley! I had a couple of favorite things. One of them was going to Wisconsin Dells!!!!! I oved that waterpark! I also loved seeing all of the beautiful scenary in Banff and Jasper. The views of the mountains there were UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

I loved seeing all of the wildlife life! We saw a lot of bears, bison, elk, and some moose! My last favorite part of the trip was getting to Alaska! I was really relived when we finally got there! I love and miss all of you!!!!!!!!

Hey!

This is Bridger. My favorite part of the trip was seeing the DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!!!!!!! (just kidding). I really liked Wisconsin Dells and all the national parks we visited. The first week in Alaska was great. The second day here, we played ultimate frisbee with some kids from the youth group at one of the churches. We've also been mountain biking on trails around the bible college. I miss everybody in Virginia and hope that you guys can come visit.

Yo!

This is Case. My favorite thing was the water slide . My first week was fun and I've made some new friends. I can ride my bike everywhere and I can play soccer with some of my friends!

Goodbye!