Mature bald eagle photos

We've had that Juvenile Bald Eagle visit the bone pile all week. It's been pretty neat to see, though he was getting annoyed with the attention and flying off more and more. Last night we were surprised to find a mature eagle on the bones. Looks like Jr. decided he needed his parental unit to keep us from bugging him.

Joke was on him, though, because we brought out the cameras again to get some captures of the beautiful mature bald eagle. Here are just a few (I may have taken over 100. Yeah, not sorry.) of the photos I took while he ripped into the carrion.

This week's animal shelter photos

Just a few, the shelter was busier this week than it has been all month - but still not close to full. That's a good thing!

They have birds, cats, and dogs all available. There's even a kitten (not pictured, it was at the vet when we were there) and a puppy!

Juvenile Bald Eagle photos

Here in Alaska when a moose gets hit by a car (or hits a car) and dies or has to be put down, the Alaska State Troopers have a list of people to call offering the meat. All the person on the list has to do is butcher and package the moose.

My dad gets the call for their church so that people who are unable to do the butchering can still get the meat. He got a call on Saturday night (during his and mom's Valentine's Day Date) that a moose had been hit and killed and that they'd be dropping it off at our house.

So all this weekend was about blood and meat and bones... and the bones are now sitting out in the backyard to let the birds pick them clean. Normally that means magpies and ravens but yesterday....

 But instead this guy showed up. He is an immature (juvenille) bald Eagle. I don't think I've ever seen one in our backyard munching on moose bones before. They normally perch in a tree or just fly over (did that a lot when Yuka and Lulu were puppies...) but this guy spent all afternoon ripping left over flesh off of a moose's backbone.

Please sign the petition to bring the children home.

PLEASE TAKE THE TWO MINUTES AND SIGN THIS PETITION! There are adopted children waiting to come home and can't because of the ban on exit letters from the Congolese government. Both the Congo and the US have said these adoptions are LEGAL. That they have families. THEY JUST AREN'T ALLOWED TO LEAVE to go home with their families. They've been waiting OVER FIVE HUNDRED DAYS! Enough is enough, bring them home!

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/end-drc-exit-letter-suspension-children-legally-adopted-american-families/GF9Qrb5L

Iditarod ReStart - Official Press Release

This week has been insane so I can't blog about this like I want to. So I'll just leave you with the actual press release the Iditarod Trail Committee released this morning.

Press Release: For further information contact:
Stan Hooley, CEO, 907‐352‐2204 or shooley@iditarod.com
Mark Nordman, Race Director, 907‐360‐1814 or mark.nordman@iditarod.com
 
Iditarod XLIII To Restart in Fairbanks
Anchorage, Alaska – February 10, 2015 – The Board of Directors of the Iditarod Trail Committee held a special meeting earlier this evening to hear a final report from a four person trail committee which spent the day with race staff flying over various portions of the trail via helicopter. The Board was unanimous in making the decision to move the Race Restart to Fairbanks as it was determined that the conditions were worse in critical areas than in 2014 and therefore not safe enough for the upcoming Race.

The traditional Anchorage Start will take place as scheduled on Saturday, March 7, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The Restart will now take place in Fairbanks on Monday, March 9, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

This marks the second time in the history of the Race that the Restart has been moved to Fairbanks because of poor conditions in the Alaska Range. The first was in 2003, when Robert Sorlie of Norway, won his first Iditarod.

“While some snow did fall east of the Alaska Range over the past couple of weeks, other parts of the trail, in very critical areas, did not get much or any of it,” said Stan Hooley, CEO.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to make this very important decision this far out, but the task of getting tons of supplies and equipment in the right places, on time, begins this week,” said Mark Nordman, Race Director.

Additional details regarding the Fairbanks Restart will be available on www.iditarod.com as additional planning decisions are made.

Seventy-nine (79) teams, the sixth largest field in the history of the Race, are busy training and preparing for the 43rd running of the Iditarod.

500 Days Waiting and more...

Three-and-a-half/almost four years ago longtime family friends of ours announced they were adopting two babies from the DRC. They shared their story with the online world and we followed along and rejoiced as each milestone happened. The referrals, the call to come over, the meeting of the babies, and the bringing them home. We've gotten to watch them grow up through their blog as well as through social media. I grew up with Casey's family - her dad was the pastor of the church I grew up in, and Casey babysat me a few times. This adoption seemed to go smoother than smooth and Ezra and Evie are happy and healthy kiddos...

Fast forward to today and we learn that it seems the Chappell kids got "lucky". Soon after they came home, the DRC didn't close adoptions, but they closed down the required exit letter program that allowed the legally adopted children to go home with their legal parents. All paperwork is approved and signed by both the DRC and American (or other country) governments, and yet the last signature needed - the one that allows the children to leave the country - cannot and will not be given.

One of Casey's childhood friends and her family are waiting to be reunited with their sons in the Congo. She and her husband were over in the DRC when it was announced that there would be no more exit letters given. After a few weeks with the boys they had to give them a tearful farewell. More than 500 days later they ARE STILL WAITING TO COME HOME. They have weekly skype dates, but as the unrest rises communication can become increasingly difficult.

The financial burden is great, but manageable... it's the emotional toll that needs our help and support.

Some facts (from BothEndsBurning.org):

• Over 350 orphans who have already been legally adopted by American families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are still stuck in orphanages and temporary foster care waiting for their American families to bring them home. 
• There are at least 400 families that have been matched with children that are in the process of completing their adoptions. As the processing of their adoptions is completed, their children will be added to the list of children who cannot come home, despite having been legally adopted by their adoptive parents in the DRC and having received clearance for a US Orphan Visa from the US Government.
• The immigration and emigration office (DGM) of the Congolese government announced that they would no longer issue “exit permits” for adoptions approved on or after September 25, 2013.
• On May 26, DRC released 15 children to their adoptive families, with no apparent rationale for the cases that were chosen. Since then, 6 children that were in extremely poor health have also been released, after efforts by Ambassador Swan on their behalf. The remainder of the families to whom DGM originally promised exit permits, will not be considered until after September 25, 2014.
• At least 11 legally adopted children have DIED waiting for their exit letter without their forever family there to comfort and love them.

Please join the campaign this weekend and encourage your senators, congressmen, and the White House to end this and bring the children home. Hashtags are: #BEBcampaign #500dayswaiting #uniteourfamilies #DRCstuck

Let's show these families we care.


If you are a family currently waiting to be united and whole and wish to keep in touch please comment on this post so I can pray for and follow your journey!

Weather cooperating for the Yukon Quest

With talk all last month that the Yukon River was open water all along the trail leading out of Whitehorse, concern was growing that major changes to the course were needed to be made. Race officials held off with announcing any such changes, stating they were watching the river and were actively working on alternate routes... but they trusted mother nature to work with them.

And work with them she has. The last few weeks temperatures dropped and snow hit the area; Much as it has elsewhere in Alaska. The trail reports are all positive - the river is frozen, and the more remote parts of the trail are in the process of being groomed. The weathermen predict a -45* start to race day (that's factoring in the windchill).

Yup, it's going to be a good race.

The starting order is as follows:

01. Allen Moore
02. Brent Sass
03. Normand Casavant
04. Cody Strathe
05. Nicolas Vanier
06. Tamra Reynolds
07. Damon Tedford
08. Lance Mackey
09. Jeff King
10. Tony Angelo
11. Dave Dalton
12. Kristin Knight Pace
13. Rolland Trowbridge
14. Torsten Kohnert
15. Scott Smith
16. Ryne Olson
17. Brian Wilmshurst
18. Joar Ulsom
19. Ray Redington Jr.
20. Ed Hopkins
21. Rob Cooke
22. Mike Ellis
23. Magnus Kaltenborn
24. Jason Campeau
25. Matt Hall
26. Hugh Neff