A lot has happened since my last post. Not only have I turned the big 2-2 ;) But we had a VERY successful trip to Florida for the National Youth Gathering. My kids actually believe me now that I have friends... y'all may not be up here but at least now the kids realize I'm not a complete loser! Overall the NYG was a life impacting event for many of my 31 kids and 8 adults. Good times were had by all! By the way, it was SOOOOOO nice seeing some of you there! At least we Lutherans can always count on a pseudo-reunion every 3 years!!

As for everything else, things in the office are starting to pick up. I'm working right now on finishing things up for the return service for NYG folk. I've also got things like fall/winter event planning, confirmation, sunday school, weekday school, young adult group and several other things currently piling on my desk... so, while I'm at work, I'm busy. And I'm a strong believer in not bringing work home-- although that'd probably make my homelife a little more exciting!

Hiking ministry, in general, is going well. We just finished about 10 miles yesterday to Twin Peaks. My feet are pretty tore-up so I can only do so much of the near-vertical climb so I didn't go quite 10 miles but hopefully next week (Black Tail Rocks, approx. 10 miles again) I'll have shoes and socks that don't make my feet one giant blister!

Oh! The other big news: It's FALL in Alaska. Yep, fall comes in August up here. Quite the rude awakening for me but it's also my favorite season of all time! 'Course this means that winter and 23 hours of darkness is just around the corner... eek! I'll let you know when that happens!

ALSO: There's a volcano here that's preparing to erupt. Mt Spur let a 20 mile wide ash cloud go today which the scientists are calling "small"... I don't know about you but 20 miles doesn't sound or look small. Eh.

Alright, that's it. Things are good here. Love it still. Talk to y'all later!
~Jamie