21 Days of Prayer for Sons

Exciting news! On September 6 I will be leading a 21 day journey of prayer for sons. Warrior Prayers is signing up participants for the Fall challenge now on their website, http://www.warriorprayers.com/ , if you are a mom of boys, a grandma of boys, a caretaker of boys, grab this chance to pray for the guys in your life in the areas they need it most.

I believe this 21 days that we will spend praying for our boys will be amazing, and will have lasting results. God will move in us and mold us more into the image of His Son as we spend time praying Scripture over the boys in our lives.

Come join me on this fabulous journey and invite others to come along too! Go on over to warrior prayers an sign up today. When you sign up, if you'd like to be in my group, go down to what type of group you would prefer on the sign up form and check other, then type my first and last name in Shelly Roy.

Hope to see you for the 21 day challenge!

Good news!

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to move out of the Land of Denial, I have good news. I packed this morning and moved my abode to the Land of Living Vicariously. At this moment, the land is rather cramped and filled with a rumbling noise. Alyssa is somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean winging her way to Switzerland where she will begin a five country European vacation. I am SO glad I was able to arrange to go with her! I am sure I will enjoy the tour much more than the toe surgery that is in my near future in real life.
Check back soon for pictures from the European traveller!

Cool, cool summer

Our summer so far has been rather on the cool side. Today was 63 degrees and we were feeling pretty warm! Our annual July first swim at Aleknagik Lake was postponed because it was 49 degrees and raining on July 1st. So, for us, July first came 10 days later and the kids all braved the frigid water while I sat in the sun . I took the kids to the harbor this afternoon and they were longing to go in the water. Amazing how warm low 60's can be. It is 9 pm and Thomas and Dillon are playing outside in the sunshine. With such wet weather I can't find it in me to make them come in yet. Maybe after I finish this post.

Ron's youngest brother Brian spent the first week of July with us. Backing the Toyota up to the the boat trailer, I was struck by how well the brothers communicated with calm and unhurried hand signals. You would have thought they had been together frequently, and not been separated for 10 years.(Quite a difference from when I direct Ron as he is backing up to the boat! ) They took the boys camping on the lakes when Brian determined he would rather fight with smaller fish, than king salmon. He caught the largest fish of the trip at 24". He went home a happy fisherman. Ron and Brian, Thomas and Dillon also got the stair railing on our stairs. Hooray! No more boys leaping from the stairs to the chin up bar, no more thumps as they land on the floor from 5 stairs up and no worry about slipping on the steps. My man has just finished the long handrail 16 feet on the wall. I can't wait to try it out.

Thanks for stopping in to catch up on our doings! Hope to see you again soon!

A New Season

I sent my second born child out the door with her father to head to the airport. From home she will first travel to Salem to visit Kendra and Brad, then on to California to stay.
I have packed my bags and moved into the land of denial, it is 78 degrees and sunny here, perfect for a stay. It is lovely here in the land where everything is as I think it should be. All of my children happy and cozy at home, learning, laughing and loving God and each other.
In the real world it is 52 degrees and misty; the learning, laughing and loving God and each other is intact and we are moving into a new and different season of our life as a family. While I mourn the passing of being a mother of five wonderful, busy children at home, I am also ready to celebrate being a mother of three wonderful, busy children at home.
BTW, yes I know that Kendra left home three and a half years ago, but her leave taking was different, I still had many children and little children at home. With Alyssa's departure comes a whole new look to our family make up. We are boy dominated for the first time ever. Wow! Who knew boys could be so much fun? And so loud? And SO energetic? I am typing to the background music of "Clone wars" on the TV, and one boy who is using a quad folded wrestling mat to practice his round house kicks and leaps off the couch. I believe that girl time is going to take on a whole new meaning as the lone sister left at home will need mom/daughter talks, practices her hair cutting technique on me and mani-pedis may become a Saturday afternoon fixture in my life. You know, reality doesn't look so bad after all.

Got Moose?...not this year!

This year marked Ron's 11th season moose hunting here in Dillingham. It also marked the first year he went on his yearly meat shopping trip and came up empty! Aw, man!!

However, he did get a bear...by necessity, not by design. When the bear spotted him, she paused and then decided on the direct route...straight at him. Exciting, but he says he could live a long time without that kind of excitement again!

Thanks to friends we have moose in the freezer to carry us through to the winter hunt. This is especially appreciated by our children who were horrified at the thought of having to eat beef. :)

I will ask Ron to relate details of the bear "hunt". For now I hope this picture will suffice!

Grammy's visit

At the end of January my mom flew to Alaska to speak at the womens retreat at Tanalian Bible Camp. We had a wonderful week-end of fun and laughter and tears as my mom guided the group through building our house to last through the seasons of life.
My mom detoured to Dillingham after the retreat to stay with us for a week. We had such fun visiting, laughing, playing games and loving on each other! The kids adored having Grammy here and shortly after she left I was asked when Papa (my dad) would be coming to visit. When I said that Papa is not fond of cold and snow, the boys quickly decided that we would have to go to him!
What a blessing it was to get to see my momma three times in one year! Although we keep in close touch by phone and email and mail, it is not often that we get to spend time together face to face. We had Kendra's wedding in October, then we visited California right after the wedding, then mom came to AK in January. God is so good!

Open House

laundry room

dining room

mom's nook

living room

We held an open house today and had a wonderful time showing and sharing our new home with many, many of the people who helped us and prayed for us during this last crazy chaotic year. Here are photos of the insid eof our new home! Enjoy! You can find more photos if you are interested on Facebook.