Precious People

These are only some of the precious people in our lives. They just happen to be the ones we were privileged to spend time with when we were visiting friends and family in February and March. We thank God for all the precious ones he has given us.


Girls against the boys in a game of Charades at our family March Birthday Party in Friday Harbor. Heather, Melissa, Chelsea, Allison, Margo and Heather. The girls won, hands down!

Gary and Chris, friends and fellow elder on the church board at Islands Community Church.

Jeremy and Matthew joined us for a swim at the Comfort Suites in Bellingham

Margo and Helen having a chat at the memorial service for our mutual dear friend Fred in Bellingham.

In February Bryan, Allison, Nathan and Dylan spent a fun weekend with us and snow boarding at Mission Ridge. Bryan spent most of his time helping his three beginners on the Bunny Slope but at the end of the day he and Dylan got in a couple of good runs on the chair lift.

Our good friends Ruth and Ken who spent time with us in Friday Harbor as well as traveling to Entiat to spend a weekend with us seeing the sights around Lake Chelan and Entiat.

Jeremy and his girlfriend Heather outside Matthew's favorite restaurant in Bellingham, Boomers.


Our dear friend and Sunday School Director at Islands Community Church, Alice. She called on our grandson Dylan to read about missions in Sunday School.

Visiting with the Boettchers in Soldotna is always lots of fun. This time we were especially blessed because our old friends Kevin and Maryann and their little girl Kira are living in the area while Kevin attends Bible College. This is Alissa and Kira relaxing on "Uncle" Gary's lap. All three of our families lived and worked together at Kako and we enjoy keeping in touch.

The Buckingham family in Palmer Alaska. We met parts of this special family when they volunteered at Kako Kid's Camp last summer. They graciously invited us to visit them in their home. What an encouragement and a blessing they are to us.

We always love to get together with our dear friends Thane and Chasity. This trip we caught up with them in Wasilla and spent time together with them and their little friend Larissa in Anchorage.


Our pastor Bill and his wife Sonja at Entiat Federated Church in Entiat Washington where we worship when we are at home. We appreciate their friendship and sweet fellowship with the folks there.

Friends from East Wenatchee, Janet, Jerri, Peggy, Jan, Evelyn, Valerie and Sharon. We enjoy special times of fellowship with these gals and their husbands any time we have an opportunity. We are grateful for Lon and Janet who open their home to us and share their friends.

More Precious People

Our niece Jessica and her new little girl, Rainbow. We had a picnic in the park in Everett with Jessica's parents, Jim and Jeni and took a walk in the arboretum with Jessica and her husband Tim and their little boy Sonny.

Gary's brother and his wife Janet who are also our dearest friends.

A "not unprovoked Nerf attack" on Aunt Chelsea by Matthew and Nathan. The battle raged for over an hour with the victors still undeclared.

Nephew Jared and his wife Melissa and son Miles joined us for our Family March Birthday Party in Friday Harbor.

Open Gym at Friday Harbor High School. Taking a time out after the guys played a hard game of basketball. Adam, Margo, Allison, Nathan, Heather Adam and Bryan.

Nathan and cousin Miles playing Ultimate Frisbee at Roche Harbor.


Bryan, Nathan, Dylan, Margo and Adam resting at the Ultimate Frisbee course. I think Margo threw the winning toss for her team!

Akutan School Quilt

Every year the Akutan School Children do a fund raiser to earn money for their Spring Trip. The last couple of years their teacher, Dawn has helped them put together a quilt that reflects an Alaskan theme. They have raised quite a bit of money selling raffle tickets to win the quilt. This year Dawn designed a beautiful Alaskan scene and I had the privilege of working with the students to put the project together.

Tom, David, Becky, Nikita and Shaylyn admiring the finished quilt top. The piecing of the quilt was done entirely by the students and they are very proud for their work. I am very proud of them!


All of the sewing was done by the younger kids in the classroom. This is 9 year old Nikita skillfully attaching the sashing to the quilt.




Eight year old David was one of the most skillful and by far the most precise with the 1/4" seam allowance.



The older kids are safety pinning the quilt together for the last step, "stitching in the ditch. " Notice the three layers are taped to the gym floor for smooth pinning. My knees wore out before theirs did!

Scenes from Akutan

Probably not politically correct, but who could resist? We soon learned that she became a nuisance and we discontinued feeding her on the back porch.

She was rather intimidating when we came out our back door and she wanted some more treats!

Safe Harbor Church and the Trident Seafood Company processing plant to our West


Margo took this picture from the hill behind the church. It shows Akutan village, the Russian
Orthodox church and cemetary and Akutan Bay.

Celebrating Selaviq, the Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7th inside the old church in Akutan..

New Year's Eve Party at Trident. Our Fillipino friends love to pose for pictures with us.

Exercise class at Safe Harbor Gym. We walk three miles with a walking CD on the big screen TV.


This is a view of Freighters in Akutan Bay directly in front of Safe Harbor Church

Christmas at Safe Harbor Church

Margo, Edna, Berkie and Bea decorating the church for Christmas

The Church's annual Ladies Cookie Exchange party was attended by women from both the Trident community and Akutan Village. Each woman brought two dozen cookies for the exchange as well as a treat to share.


A successful swap at the White Elephant Gift Exchange which is a tradition at the Cookie Exchange Party.

Christmas Caroling in the village as well as in the Trident Bunk Houses

Following the Christmas Caroling we gathered in the parsonage for refreshments and fellowship.


The Akutan School held it's Christmas Program on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and we were honored to be invited. This is the entire school population, Kindergarten through 12th grade. Margo has had the opportunity to volunteer at the school reading with the kids and helping with a quilting project they are doing for a fund raiser.

Joe, Gary and Mike carving turkeys and hams for our Community Christmas Eve Dinner. There were around 60 people from Trident and Akutan Village in attendance.

The dinner was served buffet style in the gym.


The Christmas Eve Candlelight Service followed the dinner. Bea Jackson led the 20 voice choir as they presented the Christmas story with songs and Scripture reading.


Pastor Gary leading the congregation in a responsive reading



Gary organized an indoor soccer tournament for Christmas Day for the entertainment of the Trident workers who had the day off. There were about 20 who participated on four teams.

"Team Sudan" the first place team won gift certificates to the Trident Store.

All in a Day's Work

We enjoyed touring the Trident plant to observe their cod processing as well as King Crab processing. These pictures were taken on two different days considering the same facility is used for both processes. It was very interesting and we enjoyed seeing several workers whom we have recently met and begun friendships.

These workers on the line are sorting cod fillets according to size and packing them for freezing.


Parasites are removed by viewing the fillets on a lighted surface where they can be detected easily. We were glad to see how thoroughly that piece is accomplished!

Cod roe being prepared for a Japanese market. Apparently this is a delicacy in some parts of the world. There is also a market for stomachs and heads. Almost nothing is wasted.

We were invited to tour the King Crab fishing boat that was off-loading into the processing plant. This boat was loaded with over a million pounds of crab.

These workers are emptying the last of the catch from the bottom of the hold. The huge basket opens at the bottom and drops the crab onto a conveyor belt entering the processing plant.

The line on the right is sorting and cleaning the crab and the guys on the left are steaming them in large baskets and preparing them for quick freezing and shipping.

I wanted you to see how we boarded the Cargo Ship, Eastern Wind when we sailed from Dutch Harbor to Akutan on November 20. I thought this basket was just for the cargo and our baggage and I was surprised when they wanted me to get in. I guess I thought there would be a ramp or stairs or something. It was as much fun as a Disneyland ride!

The crew off-loaded us the same way when we docked in Akutan.