Joanna the Midwife

It all started the evening of April 27th. I had just returned from visiting my parents in North Carolina for about three weeks. Joanna said, "Mom, Tulsa is going to have her puppies tonight."
Tulsa is the best bred, most expensive sled dog in our kennel. Joanna had bred her to a male with excellent bloodlines in an effort to produce some fantastic racing dogs.
She had high hopes for these puppies. Earlier in the day, Joanna noticed that Tulsa had not eaten her supper which is an indication she would deliver soon. Joanna planned to stay up all night if necessary to offer Tulsa any needed assistance. John and I headed to bed about eleven o'clock, but we told Joanna to let us know if there were any problems.

From our downstairs bedroom, we could hear Joanna coming in at different times to put on warmer clothes since it was so cold. She stayed with her the whole time. Suddenly, at about 3:00 a.m. she came downstairs and tearfully explained that Tulsa had been in labor for quite a few hours and nothing was happening. Joanna has had a lot of experience helping puppies get delivered. She could feel the foot of a puppy that was stuck in breach position in the birth canal, but was unable to grab hold of it to help pull it out.
We called the vet in Dryden which was 2 hours away, waking him from a sound sleep. He kindly advised that the puppy in the birth canal was probably dead, but the ones left in the womb should still be okay for 12 hours. We planned to meet him at the clinic at 7:00 a.m.

We didn't want Tulsa to have to go through a C-section and all the complications that go with it. As John brought the Tahoe up to the dog yard and prepared to load Tulsa, Joanna thought she would check Tulsa one more time to see if there was any change. She cried out to the Lord for help. And He helped her. The puppy had moved down just a bit more so that Joanna could grab hold of one foot. She gently, but firmly pulled and the puppy came out ...ALIVE!!! We all shouted for joy. Then another one came soon after. In all, there were three puppies, however the last one died.

So, Tulsa has a male and a female, Vader and Leia (Star Wars theme). Both are healthy and growing fast with multiple choices for nourishment from Tulsa. What a smorgasbord!

Our Road Department Engineer

John is a man of many talents and as most folks know, when you own a camp, you wear an assortment of hats. One of John's hats is as our road department engineer. (Doesn't that sound impressive?) Our plow truck is pretty impressive too. It pushes and clears an awful lot of snow for us and it takes a good bit of expertise to operate it, especially when you have to plow 30 miles round trip and climb up two very steep hills. That's right. Our driveway is the 325 road. It is no longer being used for logging, so since we're the only ones out here, we have the privilege of plowing it all by ourselves. John has always had an innate ability to drive different kinds of equipment. He drove large semi tractor/trailer rigs for years, including driving for Schneider National (nicknamed the Orange Pumpkins) for nearly two million miles. Now he's driving an orange dump/plow truck. Is orange your favorite color, John?

Off To The Races

It's dog sled racing season for Joanna again and she's got four exciting races lined up this winter. The first and most challenging was the John Beargrease mid distance race along the north shore of Lake Superior in January. There were 43 other competitors running the 106 miles to the finish line with eight dogs. Much of the race took place at night with two checkpoints to feed the dogs and rest a bit. I went along to drive the truck and 18 foot trailer and offer what assistance I could. Joanna's cousins, Sarah and Holly Oberg and friend, Leah Richter graciously gave of their time and energy to be Joanna's handlers, which are a bit like a pit crew. Handlers keep track of the racer's times in and out, prepare meals for the dogs so they can eat as soon as they come into the checkpoint, walk and massage the dogs, checking for any injuries, and see to the needs of the musher to make sure they get as much rest as possible. It's quite an adventure.
Joanna did quite well on the first leg of the race. She seemed to be in good physical condition and so did the dogs. But, as it turned it out, she ran into a series of problems on the second leg of the race which combined, caused her to have to withdraw from the race. It was very disappointing for her after all the months of preparation involved. Even so, she has bounced back with a great attitude and is looking forward to her next races in Dryden, Ely, Shebandowan and Pickle Lake. There's never a dull moment with our Enjoyanna!

Our Family

We've been wanting an updated picture of our family. What better time to do it than at Christmas when we were all together. That doesn't happen too often. And what better person to do it than Reseth, our own professional photographer. Getting everyone to keep their eyes open and smiles going all at once, even for adults, is a challenge.
Great job, Reseth!!

From left to right in back row- Cherish, Joanna, Jonathan and Reseth

Guess Who

No, it's not a visiting Eskimo from the Arctic Circle, but our very own daughter, Cherish. Reseth, our daughter-in-law from Oklahoma took this unique picture while we were all together at Christmas. It must have been one of those chilly days.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year 2010

We want to wish all our fine guests a very Merry Christmas and the best New Year yet! No matter what is going on around us in this troubled world, those who trust in, depend on and love our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord can experience His peace, love, joy, and provision. It's a whole different kingdom than the kingdom of this world. There is no anxiety, worry or fear in His kingdom. It's the best life possible.
What a wonderfully fun and exciting Christmas it has been this year with all our children HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. Our youngest is Jonathan who with his wife, Reseth, is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, OK. We don't get to see them very often, so it was especially nice to have them at camp for a good week, along with our oldest, Cherish, who lives in Ely,MN and Joanna who stays with us. It's a joy for John and I to watch and listen to them interact with each other when they are together. They have a great mutual love and admiration for each other. Our days were filled with laughter, fun and games and lots of outdoor activities like dog sledding, snowmobiling and hiking. Reseth is a budding photographer for weddings and other events, so she took quite a few pictures of our times together. You can see some of her work at www.resethphotography.com. Cherish too, captured some excellent candid photos for remembrance sake. Jonathan is a true northerner and was hoping there would be a good amount of snow for him to enjoy while he was here. His desire came true as we had about a foot of fresh snow fall during the week and when they got to Knife River near Duluth,MN to visit his wife's relatives, they really got dumped on with 20 inches of fresh snow. Just to make sure he got his fill of snow, even Oklahoma City got fourteen inches. Now he can go home and throw a snowball. We aim to please, Jonathan.

My Trip South To Visit Family

I had originally planned to fly down and visit my parents in Franklin, North Carolina in October. That was before I took my Humpty Dumpty fall off a ladder, breaking my ankle. After two months of recovery time, I rescheduled for the Thankgiving holidays and was driven down to Ely by Joanna where I connected with our other daughter, Cherish. She drove us down to Duluth to catch a flight which took us to Detroit and then Ashville, North Carolina. Cherish was quite a trooper helping me find wheelchairs at the airports and carrying extra bags for me. She is our oldest child at 32 and works at a real estate office in Ely as the advertising executive and also pastors Oasis Intl. church in Ely. Being the busy girl that she is, she was in need of a relaxing vacation to visit her grandparents.
We had such fun with Mom and Dad who are 83 and 85 respectively and still in very good health. My sister Wendy and her family also live in Franklin, so we got to spend lots of time with them. My brother Rick and his family live in Gainesville and came up for Thanksgiving day. Each day had some exciting adventure or fun activity planned. Relationships are more important than anything else in life. I so enjoy spending time with family and friends. My sister and brother in central Florida were not able to make it this time, but hopefully I can plan a spring fling on the Florida beaches with them. Right John???