Thomas Joseph Nayuk Qapqan Yee Chang London (yes, that's his whole name!) was born today at 8:03pm after almost 48 hours of contractions for Shirleen.  He is 6 lb 14.9 oz, 20.5 inches long, 13.5 inch head, 13 inch chest and is a happy and healthy boy.  Shirleen is happy and healthy too. :-)

The Alaska Volcano Observatory counts that we have now had 17 major eruptions (ash clouds of more than 25,000 ft) of Mt. Redoubt over the week, with many minor eruptions (ash clouds of 25,000 ft or less).  The highest ash cloud reached around 65,000 ft, so far.  To give you a reference point, Mt. St. Helens erupted and sent up an ash cloud between 45,000 and 60,000 ft.  (Of course St. Helens threw out more ash in the one time event than Redoubt has in any one time eruption...so far).  The eruption picture is from Krista Pitsch who just took less than 2 hours ago.

Where we live, Kenai, we have seen very little ash (only a trace amount) because of the direction of the wind so far...but areas around us have seen ash up to 1/2 or an inch.  We have had a few ash advisories (one is in effect right now even) which has prompted me to change the oil and air filters in our cars.  I also put panty hose over the air intake and covered the car that we have outside with a tarp.   The school sign with ash picture is from www.adn.com.

Did you know that ash clouds can cause static and even lightning storms?  Well, they did last night.  What a show...too bad I went to sleep early.  The lightning photos were taken last night by Bretwood Higman during two separate eruptions.

I'm sure many of you will think, "Why are these photos in black and white?"

They are NOT in black and white...those are color pictures...crazy what ash looks like, right?

Photos from Game McGimsey & Cyrus Read / Alaska Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage Daily News, KTUU, AP, and Bonnie Dee Childs.

Below is also a picture of the most recent SIXTH major eruption.

It is now 12 hours after my last post and things have calmed down a bit.  Over the night there were 5 large eruptions and several small eruptions coming from Mt. Redoubt, the volcano that is about 50 miles from our house.  The last large eruption ended around 5pm this morning and sent ash 60,000 ft in the air.  Fortunately for us, the wind carried the ash almost entirely north-northeast.  Some of the cities to the north report that accumulated ash fall is currently at about 1/4 of an inch.  For those of you that perhaps haven't spent all night looking at volcano information, some of the dangers of ash fall are: breathing it in is hazardous to you health, it can cause damage to your eyes, ash destroys electronics, it causes damage to vehicle engines, and if a build up of 4 or more inches a roof can collapse.  The experts expect Redoubt to continue to erupt for up to a period of several months, so we can expect more ash in the future.  Am I strange to think this is exciting?

The above pictures are from KTUU, the local news station.  The ash was falling just like snow up in Trapper Creek. :-)

As of right now 1:20am, Redoubt has erupted at least 3 separate times with ash cloud estimated to have reached 50,000 ft in the air and is expected to travel a few hundred miles, mostly northeast.  The ashfall is expected to be light.  I'll update more when I know more.  Shirleen and I finished covering all our doors and windows and are waiting for the ash to come.  What an adventure!

Shirleen and I went on a date on Wednesday night.  It could be our last date together before the baby comes, so it was a lot of fun.  We went to the circus in Soldotna and it was pretty crazy!  While it definitely had a bit of a small town feel, there were still a lot of amazing things that the circus people did.

On another note, it's spring break this week for AEC, so our students are all out and about the Bush...and one student is even on a mission trip in Nicaragua!  It sure is quiet right now on campus.  When the students get back next week there will only be 5 weeks left of school.  Hard to believe...it's almost summer time again.

Shirleen and I were driving into town today and noticed what appeared to be a large plume coming from Mt. Redoubt.  However, we were skeptical because a couple of days ago AVO lowered the status of the volcano from orange to yellow.  Well, I went home and checked the AVO website, and not only was it a plume, but the largest plume yet.  In fact, it even shot out ash this time. 

The picture above is an actual picture taken today by Heather Bleick with AVO.

The volcano has now been upgraded again to code orange.  Pretty crazy.  Here's what was posted on the AVO website:

2009-03-15 14:50:14 - VAN/VONA
Seismic activity at Redoubt has increased since about 13:00 AKDT and is continuing. An AVO observation flight reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 ft above sea level and produced minor ash fall on the upper south flank of Redoubt. Last reports are that the plume is now mainly steam.

Will it blow?  And when?

That picture is a moose that a local snapped a picture of not too far from our house in Kenai.  Yes, it looks a little bit different.  You can read more about it at http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/030909/new_286525251.shtml.

On another moose note, we got another road kill last week, which sure is fun.  I'm hoping to make most of the 2 quarters hanging in my garage into ground moose.  A lot of people don't care for the taste of moose for some reason (not me!) and ground moose is a great way to disguise the flavor.  Moose tacos, moose-loaf, and other ground moose meals taste pretty much just like beef.  God is good to provide for us!

Two weekends ago Shirleen and I went on a college-age retreat aimed towards students from Western Alaska.  It was an excellent time.  I recruited a little bit, but mostly just retreated.  I was really struck by how I need to remember that Jesus is alive!!  I was in need of some encouragement and the retreat was really an excellent time for just that...encouragement.  I was reminded that I need to live out the Victory of Christ in my every day life...amen!