The Ringenberg's Take Aniak

And they are here! After 8 long months I was finally able to see my mom and dad. As you can see, they haven't changed too much...haha...

As a welcome to Aniak gift, I made my mom her very own kuspuk. After all of her years sewing for me, I was so excited to sew something special for her.  Thankfully it was a perfect fit, and she looked beautiful as always. 

  

Even though it was a short trip, (they were only here for 3 days) we had a great time showing them our little village.

One of the first places I took my parents was down to the famous Kuskokwim River.  Even though it was an overcast day, they were still able to see the mountains and enjoy the beauty.  They were even able to catch a few fisherman cutting up their fresh caught salmon.  Below are some salmon eggs. These are used for bait. 

Here are some Salmon fillets, yum! 

Sunday morning we all hopped on the quad and rode to church. Since we don't have a car, traveling with four adults was interesting. For the first several days we were all able to ride together as one big happy family, that is until our motor started smoking! After that it was individual rides only.

Sunday afternoon our good friend "Wilderness Tom" (his new nick name) took us out for a boat ride on the Kuskokwim and Aniak rivers. 

  

As you can tell by the picture, we were all very excited to go on the boat ride. 

Riding as the lookout, my mom was on the prowl for wildlife.....Did she see a moose? An Eagle? Or a bear?

 These are VERY happy feet!

One of the best parts of our boat ride was when we stopped for some camp coffee and wilderness survival training........ 

 Oh, and watching my father shoot his first gun.... A 500 Smith and Westin. If you ask him, the gun had a HUGE kick. 

Here is his "post kick" picture.....Good ole peer pressure was the precursor for this event. Tom taunted him with the "real men do this" speech, and hence my father had to shoot the gun. And of course, Ian followed shortly there after. 

Here we are getting water for the coffee. Wilderness Tom can do everything! He used this little gadget to collect river water and purify it for our coffee.  

Then Tom showed us how to build a fire without matches. He used only chapstick, a cotton ball, and a flint. First he had us gather several small sticks and build a little tee pee around the cotton ball. Then we continued to gather larger and larger sticks until we had a area that would sustain a fire. Sure enough, it worked! 

Here we are enjoying the fruits of our hard labor...camp coffee. As a coffee epicure, this stuff was actually VERY good. 

On the way back Tom let both Ian and my dad take turns driving the boat. As you can tell they had a lot of fun navigating the Kuskokwim. 

The following morning Ian took my dad to the Aniak Walmart..the town dump. Seriously, people throw away some of the most useful things...just ask my dad, he found 6 license plates! You know how the saying goes, one man's junk is another man's (my father's) treasure!

Afterward we continued the sight seeing tour to our good friend Randy's garage (unfortunately I do not have a picture). He is a master builder, collector, jack of all trades. My dad found a man after his own heart with all his tools and odds and ends. Here is my dad holding a mastodon bone likely from the pre-historic era. 

Next up was a stop for my mom. This is Kathy, the president of the Canine Comfort dog rescue. My mom just loved her and her cause. 

We had such a great time with them. As their flight was taking off I stood in the airport and sobbed like a little child. No matter how much I age, the love for my family never grows old.  I am so thankful to have four wonderful parents: my mom and dad, and Ian's parents Jon and Dianne. We love you all so much and count you as blessings from God.

 Here is where I should also mention my brothers and sisters.......Jason, Blake, Susie, Orianna, Bri, and Jay....

And of course my nieces and nephews: Niecko, Evian, Malek, McClaine, Micah....

Love you family!

-Sarah