Shoveling Job

I haven't been using the front door to the building where I live this week and everyone else in my section of the building has been out of town since the start of the week. So, Thursday after the Thanksgiving dinner at the church this is what I saw when I was dropped off. I have to admit I was a little surprised at how deep it was. There was noway in. Luckily I have another door around the corner that wasn't blocked. I only had to wade through thigh deep snow to get to it. But, on the bright side, I was able to open it.

So, this morning I got up and shoveled. First, I shoveled out a path from the door I was able to get in. Then I went around and tackled this entrance.

The snow was almost as deep as the shovel was tall.

Finally, about an hour later, my door was accessible. Yeah! I didn't even feel bad about skipping my run today.

By the way, these pictures were all taken around noon. You can tell there's not much light left here.

Stake Visitors/Busy Weekend

Last Saturday and Sunday we had a bunch of visitors from the stake up here. The Stake Relief Society President, the Stake Primary President, the 2nd counselor in the Stake Presidency and the counselors wife were all here. I ended up with a pretty busy weekend. I picked them all up at the airport, and then had a presidency meeting with my counselors and Sister Wappett, the Relief Society President. We all had lunch, which I had prepared that morning. Then Sister Wappett and I went and visited some sisters. After that, I went home and made treats for the sisters meeting that we had Saturday night while Sister Wappett was helping with a Primary activity. Then all the stake visitors, my counselors, and the Branch President's wife all went out to dinner. (The Branch President was conviently out of town.) From there, we went

to the branch house for the meeting.

Sunday was full too. I picked up Sister Wappett and Sister Burkholtz, the Primary President, and took them to church. In church both of them spoke and the 2nd counselor put in a new counselor in the Branch Presidency. Following church we had a potluck. After the potluck, while there was still a little light, I took Sister Wappett and Sister Burkholtz out to take some pictures of Barrow. We took pictures at the standard tourist spots and of some ice fishermen we saw. Then I went visiting with Sister Wappett again. Then I sent them off. It was a packed, but enjoyable weekend.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. From their expressions & what they are wearing, you can tell it's a normal Barrow winter up here.

Sister Burkholtz & Sister Wappett at a traditional picture spot.

In the background you can see the ocean and the pack ice that has moved in for the winter.

Ice Fishermen & Women

Halloween

Even up here in the middle of nowhere, Halloween is a big deal for kids. Even some high school students still dress up. We adults celebrate the holiday too. On Halloween I went over to Brandi's house for some a night of Halloween treats and scary movies. All the girls in attendance dressed up, but none of the guys did. (I'm just glad I had the costume left over from our John Wayne party last year.) Here's a picture of me, Brandi, & Fred.