So Happy Together

September 23

Kurt called in the morning to say he was flying into Inuvik at 1:30 pm after spending the night in Yellowknife. There was a native conference in town, so all the hotels were full. Or should I say the decent ones. He got booked in a hotel room with cigarette burns in the floor, a broken down bed with springs he could feel in his back, and a noisy party next door. Kurt slept on top of the bedding because he didn’t want to risk crawling under the questionable covers. The hair on the pillow and under the sheets might have had something to do with it.

Lynn offered to come with me to Inuvik after our eventful drive from Dawson. I was grateful, especially with a baby in tow. Josiah wanted to come too. I’m sure he wanted to see his daddy, but he also offered to help out with Estelle. Awwww. The roads were rough from the start, but improved as I drove. I was still thankful for Lynn’s company, though. We had time to visit and she took the driver’s seat when Estelle got fussy. Kurt was waiting at the airport when we got there. It was so good to see him, but as soon as we were together again, it was like he had never left. We did some running around in Inuvik and it was a luxury when it was Kurt, and not I, who carried Estelle. We bought some pizza for the ride home, another luxury after living in McPherson.

When Kurt walked into the house, there was the usual tradition of card giving, hugs, and exclamations of “DADDEEEEEEEEE!” The kids gave him a tour of the house and got Kurt up to date on all their activities. But he was hard pressed to hear it all when the little ones were all talking to him simultaneously. Estelle decided to make Kurt feel really at home by keeping the two of us up until 3 am. (We found out in the morning the reason why- her second tooth broke through.)

It still hasn’t really sunk in that Kurt is done his work up here. No more 3 week stints without a husband and daddy. No more flights to and fro. No more time apart. So happy together. Now all we have to do is pack up all our belongings after 4 months of Northern living. How long do you think that will take?