January Pictures

We saw this moose in the Arbys drive thru, not sure if it was planning on taking the snowmobile!

Moose in our neighborhood, two doors down

A snowblower on the roof!

Bridger and Case shoveling off a neighbor's roof

Shoveling the roof at Grizzly Lake

Sue has not been able to ski because of her knee, but she can snowshoe!

From 50 below to 30 above in two weeks!

You get ice on your eyelashes when it gets really cold
( and the hair in your nose freezes, too)

When you drive at 40 below, you have to scrape the ice from the INSIDE of you window!

Only in Alaska can it warm up 70 degrees in 10 days (feels like spring) and still be snowing!

Copper Basin 300

Hi! Ansley here! This is me helping out with the Copper Basin 300! In the first pictures I'm petting and distracting the dogs so that Nina (the vet) can check all the dogs over and see if all of them are healthy. It was funny but awesome because the dogs would just jump right up and prop their legs up on my shoulders! I would just sit there and pet them while they waited their turn to be checked! It was as if they had known me forever! They were some of the sweetest dogs I ever met! On Saturday we went to the race! The little shoes on the dogs are called booties. The mushers use those on the dogs so that during the race the dogs don't get splits and cuts on their feet. It was soooooooooooooo cool to see the dogs take off at the beginning! There were all sorts of kinds of dogs there. Some of them were Huskies, Alaska Huskies, and a whole lot of other kinds that I don't know the name of! Hope all of you enjoy the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that all dog lovers will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Miss all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December Pictures

Christmas lights on the clinic

Bridger likes to go fast

Case taking a break

Ansley on the sled

Luke going over a jump on the snowboard

A trapper with his furs

A plane on Grizzly Lake, they will be putting skis on the plane soon.

Riding the trapline, they've had over 5 feet of snow

Russ with Dede and Millie, both came as missionary nurses.
Dede, left, has been here 25 years, Millie has been here 40 years.

Merry Christmas!

Medical
This month, we wanted to tell you about North Country Clinic. Dede Duntze, a nurse practitioner, has been working in the clinic for 10 years. Dede came to Cross Road Medical Center 25 years ago as a missionary nurse, and stayed. She later went back to school to become a nurse practitioner and then moved to North County Clinic. She does a great job in the clinic and works in 2 native villages in the area. Russ has enjoyed working with her and will be at the clinic for 2 days while she is home for Christmas. The clinic is in a 2 room cabin (see the pictures, Dede is in the first one) at Grizzly Lake. Dede sees all kinds of people at the clinic and even provides prenatal care. If you need to given a urine sample, you have to go to the outhouse, even in the winter! Dede has lived in a cabin beside the clinic at Grizzly Lake since she started there. The clinic serves a great need in the area, as people would have to drive 1 and 1/2 hours to get to Cross Road Medical Center from there. Russ has been there once so far and really enjoyed it. Russ also just saw his first snowmobile accident. The patient was snowmobiling down a river and fell into a hole in the ice! He was hurt, but thankfully not severely.

Ministry
We've had some different opportunities to share with people this month. Russ has been caring for some hospice patients lately and had the opportunity to discuss end of life issues. We particularly have been praying for one man who lives alone and does not seem to have any family involved. Russ has been praying with him during house calls and talking about a relationship with Christ. The kids have been attending a youth group at one of the native churches and met a girl named Hailey. Hailey told them that she like coming to church, but that she was an atheist. She said she came from a hard home life with alcoholism in her home. She prayed for things to change but they never did, "So I gave up on God". The kids have been talking with her some and we have been praying for her as well as the many kids here that are in similar situations. Sue, Luke and Ansley went to church at Chistochina last week, a small native church. They didn't have anyone to lead music so Luke played the guitar for them and Ansley sang "Mary Did You Know".

Life
It continues to snow, but has not been as cold overall this month. It has mostly been above zero. We went out and cut a local Christmas tree from the forest. It's a little bit of a Charlie Brown tree, but we got it for free! The kids have been sledding and Luke has been snowboarding on the local sledding hill. We plan to have one or two of the single nurses over for Christmas. Sue's knee continues to heal. She has been released by her orthopedist and her limp is improving. The Copper Basin 300, a local dogsled race, is scheduled for mid January and we hope to at least watch it or maybe even volunteer! When Russ was up at Grizzly Lake, he was able to ride on a snowmobile with a trapper to check his trapline. You can see some of the furs in the pictures. It's been a fun Christmas Eve, it's been snowing all day!

Prayer Requests
- For the hospice patients in the area, for their spiritual and physical needs
-For Hailey, and the many other children in our area that are in difficult home situations and need to know that Jesus loves them even in midst of their situations
-That Sue's knee would continue to heal
-For Dede and her ministry at North Country Clinic
-For AWANA as it resumes in January and reaches out to many children in the area
-For the staff at Cross Road Medical Center, for wisdom and boldness to be a light for Christ in the area
-For nurses and a physical therapist to work at Cross Road Medical Center

Thanks to all for the many calls, packages, and especially the prayers.
Have a great Christmas!
The Meltons

Middle November- It's getting cold!

Sorry that it has been so long since our last post! Here's the update!

Medical
Russ is still busy in the clinic, seeing patients and working on the administrative side of things as well. As an answer to prayer, we now have 2 new lab techs who are doing well. One is the wife of one of the students at the Bible college. Our new providers, including Russ, have tried to be involved in the community and it seems that more people are starting to come to the clinic. We saw 100 more patients this Sept than in Sept 2010. We continue to have a variety of problems, from issues with pregnant patients ( no deliveries!), to meningitis, and 2 people that amputated fingers. It is both challenging and interesting!

Ministry
Sue and the kids continue to be active in the AWANA program and Russ has helped out at times. It really does reach out to many different kids from around the valley, including kids from the villages. Russ continues to lead a devotion and prayer time for our patients at the clinic on Wednesday mornings. On Halloween, the clinic sponsored a fall festival where parents could bring their kids to get some treats. We served hot dogs, Sue made balloon animals, and the kids helped hand out candy. We gave out bags of candy with tracts, similar to what they do for the fall festival at Riverview Baptist back at home. We've had some opportunities to discuss spiritual matters and pray with patients when they have come into the ER here. Karie, our PA, went to a conference on child abuse so that she could work with the Child Advocacy Center here, which is definitely needed.

Life
It's getting cold, 25 below zero tonight. We have at least a foot of snow on the ground. We've rounded up some used cross country skis and taken the kids skiing once. which was fun. Sue did not get to go because of her knee, but hopefully that will change. She had surgery on Monday and did well. She did not have any nausea from the anesthesia, which was a great answer to prayer. She had her cartilage trimmed, which was probably causing the pain. She did have some ligament damage, but nothing that needed surgery and hopefully the knee will do well. She's resting it ( at times), and overall is doing well. She has crutches with spikes on the bottom for the ice! Hopefully she will be off of them in a week or so. Basketball for Case is over, he was a team captain and had a good season. Russ went with him as a chaperone on the last trip to Cordova ( see the pictures). We had to get on the school bus at 7 am ( 13 below zero, cold bus ride), drive 2 hours, get on a ferry, ride 6 hours, then get off the ferry in blowing snow, ride another bus to the school and play a game! The ultimate home court advantage in my book! Overall we're doing well, but still miss our friends and family in VA. Russ' mom and sister were able to come and stay for a week. They just left 2 days ago and we had a great visit.

Prayer Requests

For the continued outreach through the clinic to the lost and hurting in the Copper River Valley. Our understanding is that depression and alcoholism increase at this time of year. That we would have wisdom medically and the right words when people come to see us. That the light of Christ would shine through us here in the valley.

Continued encouragement for the staff at Cross Road Medical Center and that God would send the right people to serve here. We still need nurses and a physical therapist.

For the outreach through the AWANA program at the Glennallen Community Chapel.

For Sue and her knee, that her rehab would go well and that she would be up and around without problems.

For the kids as they continue to adjust to new surroundings and make new friends.

Thanks for all the calls, emails, and especially the prayers!
In Christ,
The Meltons

November Pictures

Ansley with the clowns at the Fall Festival

Luke and Bridger giving out candy at the Fall Festival at the clinic

The ferry ride to Cordova

The school at Cordova with the mountain in the background. You can only get here by water or plane.

The harbor at Cordova with the monument to the lost captains

Pictures from the ferry of the rain forest and the mountains on the coast