Final Stop....

Brevig Mission!

Before I begin to tell you all about Brevig, I will begin from the departure of St. Louis, which brought up observations and many realizations.

The morning of July 28th, 2016, well to be exact, 3 AM that morning, we prepare to leave for our trip through Seattle, WA, Anchorage, AK, and Nome, AK. With walking the dogs, preparing crates, and ourselves of course, we get to the airport an hour and half before departure. As we checked in and waited for TSA to escort us to the location to check the dog crates, we had 30 minutes at this point to check the dogs, get ourselves through TSA, and board the plane.
Well, I should clarify, at that point, the plane was already boarding. I make my way to TSA, where the line they put me in was moving the slowest, where they had to swab one of our computers. As I was waiting for the test to come back, Aaron had already passed through TSA and we were waiting on our two additional bags.
Oblivous to the fact that I left one of our Xbox's in the bag as it was run through, they had to check that too. Now here is the crazy part, they also flagged our bag to be checked because of the dog food we had. Yes, you read that right, dog food!
Anyway, as I waited for them to unload the xbox that was carefully packed with clothes surrounding it, and run it through the scanner again, there was 10 minutes before the plane was supposed to depart. From what the counter attendants were telling Aaron, as he arrived with 5 minutes left, they normally DO NOT keep the doors open with 10 minutes left before departing. Needless to say, I sprinted over to our gate and we boarded the plane as we were supposed to be lifting off the ground.

2 things were learned with this process:
1) When flying dogs, be there with 2 1/2 possibly 3 hours before departure!
2) Don't leave your xbox or dog food in your carry on bags!

AFTER that crazy experience I also realized an important thing.

This was God's plan for us this year. I say this because if it wasn't, we wouldn't be here right now. We wouldn't have boarded that plane in St. Louis, we would have been left in St. Louis with our dogs flying on that plane to Anchorage. God worked miracles for us that day.
Additionally, I would like to play a game with you... It's called Miracle or Coincidence?

Everyone knows our Husky, Zver, is an absolute terror regarding his crate. We get him to the airport with his anti anxiety meds, and he was calm. CALM! Second flight, we allowed for the anti anxiety medication to wear off completely and give him his dosage again. Little did we know, the medicine wouldn't take full effect like the first flight, because his body was already used to the side effects. The ONLY thing that this Husky did was bite at his cage, scratching his gums slightly, but nothing else. Is this a miracle, or coincidence?


Anywho,

We visited Aaron's brother, Joel, while we were in Seattle. In this picture you see the City of Seattle. It was actually a beautiful place and very relaxed. Not saying the traffic is relaxed, but overall, a very great place!

After a short few hours, which was not even close enough time to visit with Joel, we then boarded up again to fly to Anchorage.

Now let me tell you this, in all my years living in New York, I have not met sooo many people that were kind and helpful. We signed up for the Welcome Wagon, which was designed for new teachers coming into the School District, and it was the best decision that we made on this journey. It was nice to have someone there to give us advice, help us with shipping via the Bush Order at Wal-Mart, and generally being there to make everything smooth and as relaxing as possible. Additionally, we found an AMAZING dog sitter who was fabulous with the dogs, and even took last minute requests like walking them prior to us picking them up before flying. This, on top of the Welcome Wagon, was God making it a little easier on us to get here!

We arrived in Nome, and then headed to Brevig after a few hours. Here you can see the pups passed out to the world!





Now, let me tell you something, I have been in small planes before, but this one was much much different than previous times. The little dips, make you think you are about to crash. Oh and let's not forget about how as we flew, there was a point of complete whiteout where the clouds made it so you couldn't see a trace of anything around us!
Either way, we arrived safely and the pilot knows exactly what he is doing and has been doing it for years. :)



And now....Welcome to Brevig!

Upon our arrival to Brevig, we were greeted by the principal and another teacher. As we were unloading our luggage and getting ready to head to our new home, a few villagers came to ask about who we were. We were then invited for dinner at another teacher's home, which was amazing and super kind! We again, were invited last night as well, and again tonight. On top of this, we were given meat from a teacher who had extra and knew that we may have needed it.

The kindness and pure selflessness of the villagers and teachers have been amazing, and honestly the best thing to see and experience when everything is completely new! On top of that, coming from the Lower 48 and the constant hate and negativity, it's been great to come to a village where everyone is welcoming and helpful!
To add to this, the previous occupants of our home also left little items like blankets, pillows, a few dishes, and other things that we hadn't even thought of bringing. Things that if they didn't leave, we wouldn't have until we were able to purchase. It has been truly amazing so far!



It's not super cold yet, but it does get a little chilly when there is no sun! The dogs are in heaven, well except for Tink, who is being stubborn and doesn't want to use the bathroom. But we are working on it! They are all settling in nicely and starting to become their normal crazy selves!

Here is Eve, enjoying the sun that comes in the window during the day. Tink also likes to sunbathe, as she is Mexican!

Zver, who thinks it's his perogative to sleep in the bed with us!

Note to self: DO NOT wait 40 minutes wearing shorts at 7am in the morning for a dog to urinate, you will not get warm for three hours after!!

Despite these little things, this village has been welcoming!

Hope you like the pictures and the video!

Tata for Now!

*Winter IS Coming!*