2006: Mary’s Year in Review

After hosting Bruce and Joan for 2005 Christmas, we brought in the New Year with hopes of moving into our Willow Fishhook home. With much, much delay, misunderstanding, and flat out patience building we were finally in about the first of FEBRUARY! It was a grand excitement to be out of a temporal boxed up existence we refer to as “Andy Anderson’s” (our landlord’s name).

After the move in, school flew by with some basketball coaching and we found out what an Alaska “break-up” was. All late winter/spring our mini-gravel driveway was flooded continuously with the ground thawing and the world turning miraculously from white to green, green, green. Alaska is truly a beautiful landscape!



For spring break, we headed to Ohio on a St. Patrick’s Day weekend for Tommy and Karen’s wedding. Some highlights were BW3’s and 1040. This was the last time I was to see, stay, and be in 1040.

Everything here and there from that point on this 2006 year was and is completely overshadowed by the trip of a lifetime. Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, and England became the life for almost five straight weeks. Life was grand on the mother road of planes, trains, Matt chauffeuring, and gondolas!



And even now, as my blog slowly recaps the trip, I feel my mind will never stop reliving every bit of it. Not only was it astonishingly beautiful, eventful, and life changing; we invited God into every bit of it. He didn’t need an invitation, He took over in all aspects! Profound! Awe-inspiring! Moving and breathtaking!



The fall of 2006 was quickly in our lap as school started in very early August. Prior to that upheaval, Casey’s parents were here for two weeks of just the right amount of relaxing along with some touring. It was a wonderful visit. Besides normal school in our second year of teaching here, Bruce and Joan showed up for a quick togetherness over their anniversary. It was a nice long weekend in our new house with some chatting, watching movies, and sharing the same air.

Now 2006 has come to a close. It was a fast and eventful year; one that will be hard to top. A year for travel, new houses, new friends, and more of God’s work in Alaska!