Moving Again...

For those of you that don't already know, Matt has been medically disqualified from the Executive Officer job that he was slated to fill. The past couple of weeks, we have been in limbo as to where we will be stationed. But today, it is finally official.

Matt and I are headed back to Alameda, CA. Matt will be working on Coast Guard Island for the Coast Guard's Personnel Service Center. From what he has heard, it is a high tempo and high visibility job that will require many hours, yet will keep many doors open for his next transfer season in 2012.

We love Sitka and really don't want to leave, but God wants us back in Alameda, therefore we are going. Please be praying for travel mercies and peace. Our hearts are broken, but we are looking forward to finally settling down for a couple of years.

ZTeam

Reindeer Dog

This past week has been pretty laid back. I finally passed my kidney stone on Wed. Praise God!!

On Thursday, Matt and I were walking in downtown Sitka and saw two boys selling hotdogs. We hadn't had lunch yet, so we decided to get a dog. When we walked up I read the sign, they were selling beef hotdogs as well as reindeer dogs. I was able to have my first Reindeer dog. At first I was hesitant, but Matt was going to get one, so I said, "hey, why not?" I could't believe it, but I really liked it. Sorry Rudolf, but that reindeer dog was scrumptious.

We've been watching TV shows online, and got hooked on Glee. We watched all of season 1 in 3 days. The weather had been a little dreary, so we didn't out too much.

We got the Road Runner (RAV4) on Friday!!! We don't necessarily need it right now, but it's nice to see something else that belongs to us. :)

Saturday, we tried to hike Gavin Mt., but we got to 1000ft and it started to rain hard, instead of the normal constant sprinkle. By the time we got home, we were really wet... :)

We went to Grace Harbor church on Saturday night, and First Baptist on Sunday. I have to say God has given me plenty of time to be in His word lately, and it has REALLY been a blessing.

Baloo and Moughleigh love the big picture windows we have in the apartment. Two of the windows are low enough that they can stretch up, and look out them, and one we have a box and a chair by so they can look out. Baloo also can stand on the base board heater and look out the window. Today, Monday, we took them both outside with their harnesses and leashes. I thought it was a good idea, until we brought them back inside, now they both want to get out. Moughleigh has been literally trying to turn the handle of the front door, and Baloo is trying to scratch his way out through the bottom of the door. It would be super cool if we could walk them like dogs, but they don't want to go where you go, they just want to explore on their own. I love my boys, I love my boys, I love my boys...(Make the meowing STOP!!!) :)

Thanks as always for reading, and keep up the prayers,

ZTeam

Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice! From Dawn to Dusk: 20 Hours of light!

Harbor Mountain and vicinity

Last week was not that eventful. I have been struggling with kidney stones all week, which has put a damper on our time. The Sitka medical staff has been wonderful. They have been very friendly, helpful, and genuinely concerned for me. We've wanted to be outside in the beautiful weather, but with the episodes I've been having it is not always what we are able to do. We did get out a little though. We went to Sitka National Historic Park - the sight of a battle between the Russians and Tlinget Indians - and we took some pictures of the totems. We also hiked a portion of Harbor Mountain (see above picture) and we were able to see all of Mt. Edgecumbe. Generally, the mountain is clouded over, but we were finally able to get a good look at it.

Mt. Edgecumbe

Sitka, with Mt. Edgecumbe behind

Erica and her friendly totem

I had my first halibut and chips today. If you know me well, you know I'm not a fish fan. They just reminded me of the fish sticks that my mom would feed us when we were younger, just a little bigger in size. They were not that bad, I wouldn't want them all the time, but I also wouldn't say I'd never have them again. I'm glad I tried them. :)

Please keep praying for my health, and for God's will in our lives.

Thanks for reading, and remember, if you have any questions, Matt has made it so anyone can leave a comment. Please just remember to say who you are in the message, so we know. :)

ZTeam

More Adventures

Well, lets see...

On Sunday, we went to First Baptist Church, Sitka. It was very small, but very friendly. I think there were about 30 in attendance. Kerry (the Pastor), preached on Acts 22. The over all theme of the message was that Christians needto treat others with respect. Paul was a Roman citizen, speaking in Jerusalem. He had persecuted the Jews before, but had changed. The crowd gave Paul more respect when he started speaking to them in their native tongue, Hebrew. When you try to witness to someone, you should not kick them before you speak to them, because they will not hear the love of Jesus; what they hear, they will only hate. Afterword there was a lunch that Matt and Istayed for. We were able to speak to the pastor and get to know him, and his family a little. Later that evening, we went through a walk through downtown Sitka and we were able to see Karate Kid. They have two "theaters" here in Sitka. Each one only has one screen, and shows only one movie. It is definitely not like anything you would find in the Bay Area. Even with that to say, I'm still greatful they have the two "theaters" :)

Totem Park in downtown Sitka with Pioneer's Home behind it. You can also see the peak of MT Verstovia on the right side of the picture

On Monday, we went on another hike. We hiked the Indian River Trail. At the end of the trail was a beautiful waterfall. The hike was 9 miles long. There were 5 "Big Bridges" throughout the trail. The "Big Bridges" were huge trees that had fallen across the river. With it being so wet here, a good part of the tail, was made of wooden planks. This is something I had never seen before. It was wonderful being in God's creation and being able to enjoy some of the beauty he has created.

That's one big slug!!!

"The Sisters"

Indian River Trail Falls

On Tuesday, I woke up at 4:30am with excruciating pain on my left side. At about 5:30am it had gotten so bad that Matt took me to the ER. From 4:30am until 7:30am I could not lay, sit, or stand in a comfortable position, I was miserable. They ran a gamet of tests on me, and finally determined I might have had a kidney stone. During our hike the previous day, I sweat quite a bit on our way up to the falls, and had not had much water. I think this contributed to the kidney stone. Shame-shame, I should know better. Matt was wonderful through it all. He sat in our little waiting room with me for 5 plus hours with no coffee, food, tv, and no where to lay his sleepy head. I felt really bad, but I'm so thankful for a husband who cares. Later that evening, we went to the other theater and saw Robin Hood. We have now seen both movies that are playing in Sitka, so we'll have to find more entertainment. We would be hiking daily if it were up to Matt, but with the issues I've been having thats not possible.

Thanks for all of the prayers and support! We love and miss you all.

ZTeam

Checked In

Hello Everyone -

Today was my first day at work! It went pretty well so far, considering all I did was check-in, get my pay started, and then left for the day. I am taking about 18 days of leave, and will be conducting my relief with the old XO starting the 28th. Please pray for me as I begin my new job; it will be an enormous amount of responsibility!

Getting Ready for Work

I wanted to let everyone know that I have been putting hyperlinks on the blog to provide a little more general information without having to write about it. Please feel free to check them out. I also changed the comment settings so that anyone should be able to comment without any type of account. You can post anonymously, but please leave your name so we know who is commenting - it helps us out!

Thanks everyone for all of your prayers and blessings!

Lots of Love to you ALL,

ZTeam

WE MADE IT - SITKA!!!*

Sorry I was not able to blog... We have not had internet connection...

**This first paragraph is not for everyone - read at your own risk**

On Sunday, on our drive from Whitehorse, YT to Skagway, AK our cat Baloo had a kitty emergency in his litter box. We were driving along about thirty minutes into the trip, when a wall of smell from the back seat hit our noses. We opened the windows and drove for about fifteen minutes,but the fresh air would NOT get rid of the smell; not to mention the "fresh scent" litter. It smelled so bad that we had to pull the car over to get rid of his boo boo. Amazingly, this is the only time we had an "emergency" pullover. Matt scooped the boo boo out of the litter box and threw it into the woods, where it is probably killing some brown bears because it smelled so bad. We started on our way again, and thought we were in the clear, but it was still really stinky, and Baloo was being a pain. He kept walking around the car, pacing back and forth and meowing in our faces. Whenever he walked around one of us, we could smell that he still had boo boo on his butt. **Continue reading at your own risk** Anyone who has ever owned cats knows that they lick themselves to get clean, and when they lick themselves, they lick everything. At one point during his pacing, Baloo was about to start cleaning himself. If you have ever seen Shrek 2, when Puss is licking himself, that is the position that Baloo was in. After taking a couple of sniffs, he decided that it was too stinky to clean and continued to pace. We tried to ignore the smell a little longer, but it got to be too much once more, and we pulled over AGAIN! At this point, Matt got his first practice at diper changing. He grabbed Baloo and the wet wipes and proceeded to clean the cat's butt for the cat. "This is one of the nastiest things I have ever done." It took about two minutes because he had to make sure that all of the dingleberries were cleaned off in order to enjoy the rest of the journey smell free. But we still weren't smell free! Apparently, Matt had gotten some "smell" on his hand. He had tried to use some of Erica's hand sanitizer, and even though his hands were disinfected, the smell was still lingering. He tried again, and the it seemed the smell was worse than before. Meanwhile, Erica, being the supportive wife that she is, was laughing so hard that she was crying. Two different brands of hand sanitizer later, Matt had the smell off of his hands. Matt was informed that this would surely happen to us again when little ones come.

**It is safe to read beyond this point**

On the way to Skagway, we also saw 4 moose calves. They were pretty skittish so we didn't get a very good picture of them. When we got to Skagway we found out that our hotel did not have an internet conection. :( We got toSkagway in no time, which meant we had a lot of time on our hands and we were able to go sightseeing.

I had no idea that Skagway, AK had anything to do with a gold rush, but it did. In the late 1800's gold was found in Dawson City, but that meant you had to go through Skagway to get to the gold. We were able totake a walking tour, given by the National Parks Department :) and learned quite a bit about early Skagway. We enjoyed our time in Skagway, but we were really ready to get on the ferry and get to Sitka.

Last view of Skagway as the ferry is leaving.

On Monday we finally got on the ferry (M/V Malaspina) at about 6pm and started on our last leg of the journey. The ferry made two stops during the night, and by 12:30pm on Tuesday we were pulling into Sitka. The ferry ride was beautiful. The water is so clear and clean, and the trees are so many different shades of greens. It was all just breath taking. The boys had to stay in the truck in the cargo hold. We were able to go and see them while the ship was in port. They seemed to do ok. There were a lot of loud loading noises that they did not like at first, but they seemed to get used to it.

First views of Sitka from the ferry.

After the ship pulled into Sitka, we had our new address, but we didn't know how to get there. We drove around for a little while, but we found it pretty quick. We unloaded everything and went to the grocery store.

It's been a long journey, but well worth the experience. The boys seam to be adjusting well. They are walking around exploring every nook and cranny. Things are going to be interesting for the next few months while we wait for our belongings.

Life's an adventure, do what you can when you can :)

**John Zach - Erica wrote this statement. I think I have her convinced ;)**

Dawn - 3:04 am

Sunrise - 4:09am

Sunset - 9:52pm

Dusk - 10:58pm

Love to all, and thanks for reading,

ZTeam

*Updated June 9 with story and picture edits

Whitehorse, YT

We made it to Whitehorse, YT. The drive was only about 5 hour. Compared to yesterdays trip, today seamed so quick. We did not see any wild life today, and were really hoping to see a moose :) I'm sure there will be plenty of time for that. We also stopped at a recreation site.

The cats were much better today. We put them into their carrier for the first hour, and that seamed to help a lot. When we arrived at our hotel we took the boys in first, then went back to the car to get our things. When we arrived back to the room the boys had gotten out of their carrier; they literally un-zipped their carrier. We had left a little hole inbetween the zippers and they found it and nudged their way out. Our cats are so smart, and sneaky...

We had dinner at a place called G & P. It was pretty good, but pricey. Definitely worth it as it is probably the last "fine dining" we will be enjoying for awhile. Afterward, we took a tour of the town, visiting the local Wal-Mart, scoping out the Baptist Church we plan on attending tomorrow, and taking pictures of one of the tourist attractions - the S. S. Klondike.

Well I'm off for today. Thanks for reading, and thank you for all of the prayers, keep 'em coming.

ZTeam

Nugget City, YT*

Today was the longest day of our road trip... We left Prince George, BC at 6:30am, and we got to Nugget City, YT at 9:00pm. That is a 14 1/2 hour day. We first thought it would be a 17 hour day, so I'm glad we made such great time!!! Matt says we drove about 1200 km today! (The fastest we're going is 100 km/h, on the highway)

We finally saw some wild life today. We saw 12** bears... 10 black bears and 2 brown bears, we got some good close pictures too!

Moughleigh and Baloo, our cats, had to have a time-out today. They wanted to sit with the person that was driving, and we all know that is not a good idea. We had to put them in their carrier, and zip them in for a few hours. They were like little kids that needed a nap. As soon as we zipped them in they whined for a minute, then fell asleep.

I'm so sleepy, so I'm off for today...

Thanks for reading,

ZTeam

*Originally posted as Junction City. Junction 37 (City) and Nugget City are two different "cities" 1/2 mile apart. See links for Junction 37 and Nugget City.

** Originally posted as 10 bears - 8 black and 2 brown. We have since gone back to kindergarten to learn how to count.

Prince George, BC

We made it to Prince George, BC. It's 6:30, and we'll probably go to bed by 8:30... We will watch TV and make sure the cats are awake the whole time we are still awake. They have been up most of the last few nights because they have been sleeping in the car all day, which in turn means less sleep for us... That's not what you want when your on a long road trip. Baloo has been sitting in my (Erica's) lap off and on today. He is getting more used to the car. Moughleigh is hiding and sleeping the whole car ride. Baloo likes to look out the window while he sits on my lap. He is very interested about the things outside of the car. It is so cool watching him look outside. The scenery is amazingly beautiful. Tomorrow is our really long day. We plan on driving 17 hours... Pray for safety and clarity. Love you all!

Sunset: 9:35pm... / June 4th Sunrise: 4:44am...

ZTeam

Hope, Canada

-We made it to Hope, Canada! We made it here with not too much trouble. We ate dinner at a little restaurant named Home, it had great home cooking, go figure.

-Traveling might not seam tiring, but we are ready for a great night sleep. We are planing to hit the hot tub up after our food settles.

-Baloo and Moughleigh, our cats, are doing ok... they are stressed out, but we're doing our best to keep them comfortable.

-Well, thats it for now,

ZTeam

Lets get this started

June 2, 2010

This morning Matt and I woke up to rain in Portland, OR. Yesterday we drove from Alameda, CA to my cousins, in Portland. We made it in about 10 hours. Today we plan on crossing the U.S., Canadian border. Pray for us as we continue our journey.