Before I share the exciting news about our Aunt Phil update, the great gift idea for the upcoming holiday season from Aunt Phil’s Trunk, I need to share updates of what’s been happening in Aunt Phil’s world since my last blog post a few months ago.

First, I want to thank everyone for the prayers, donations and well wishes for our now-5-year-old grandson, Toben, in his fight for his life against the leukemia that invaded his little body last August. He finished the heavy-duty chemotherapy treatments this summer and began kindergarten like a normal little boy last month. He will be on a maintenance regime of chemo taken daily at home, and once a month at a clinic, for the next two years. But the prognosis is good and we are hopeful that he will succeed in this battle. Continued prayers are appreciated.

While helping with grandchildren as Toben underwent treatments near Sacramento, I managed to finish all the curriculum workbooks and teacher guides for the Aunt Phil’s Trunk Alaska history series. The response, since their publication two months ago, from charter schools, village schools and home schools has been phenomenal. The feedback from students and their teachers include raving enthusiasm with this method of learning about Alaska’s colorful past. Entire families now are using the system, which also includes crossword, word search and word scramble puzzles based on chapters in the books, and having a ton of fun. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that, and I’m feeling so blessed.

And as some of you are aware, I also produced a couple of books with workbooks for literature study, as well: The Call of the Wild and Other Northland Stories, by Jack London, and The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses, by Robert Service, with biographies written by me. This curriculum focuses on teaching students to create poems and stories from two masters of their crafts. I fear that youngsters are losing the ability to write in this digital world and want to help them realize how much fun they can have creating their own works.

All of the books and curriculum for history and literature are available on the Aunt Phil’s Trunk Website. There are several packages that offer nice discounts and free shipping. Check out the packages here!

Now to get back to my new offering of a special gift for the upcoming Christmas season. A local Anchorage potter agreed to make a few special sourdough pots for me, so I’ve created a limited supply of gift baskets that come with a packet of my great-grandfather’s sourdough starter dating back to the 1896 gold fields of Hope, Alaska.

Go to my Website to check out this new holiday gift idea. Valued at $100, I’m offering it for $64.95, plus shipping. The package includes one handmade sourdough pot, my Sourdough Cookery cookbook, the starter, a wooden spoon and a jug of birch syrup from Talkeetna for the first batch of sourdough pancakes the recipient makes.

Order now to save more than $35 and guarantee that your gift will be delivered before Christmas. Hurry – we only have a limited number of these gifts available. Sourdough Gift Package Link

Thank you all for your love and support – Alaska history fans rock!