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.

Fight

I'm sure it wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that there was a fight at the high school last Thursday. After all, it's a high school. Those things do tend to happen. As usual, two guys got a little over excited about something. They sent each other some nasty e-mails early in the morning. Later during lunch they ran into each other, traded insults, and ended up in a loud shouting match that was broken up the the Principal and Vice-Principal before it came to blows. They were both hauled into the office were they were lectured and one was sent home for the rest of the day. I'm sure you all witnessed that in school. No big deal right?

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that the two guys involved were teachers.

Winter!

Well, winter has officially come. We have snow that is sticking on the ground. Last Sunday I woke up to find snow on the ground. However, by the afternoon it had melted. All week we had the cold winter wind. I had to put the outside on my light fall coat. (It's still not cold enough for my winter coat.) Yesterday it snowed and it stayed all day. It has been snowing lightly on and off all day.

A nice day at the beach.

The lagoon is already half way frozen.

I thought this looked pretty cool as I was out walking. Each blade of grass is covered in a case of ice.

Now only about eight more months until summer.

Surprise trip to Utah

A week or so after I arrived I got a phone call telling me to buy a ticket back to Utah. My sister Stacy had decided to marry her long time boyfriend, Dave. So a few hours after I ran my first race, I jumped on a plane and headed back to Salt Lake.

It was fun to see the family again. Not to mention the trees and mountains. Here are some pictures of Dad, Robert, Adrienne, Brooklen, and Hurley out on Whitney Reservoir. Not only can I look at these pictures and see family, I can remember that there are places in the world where it's green and things grow taller than four inches.

Pictures of the wedding site at the 10th Ward Building. Didn't I do a great job setting it up. (Well, I did have a little help. O.K., a lot of help)

The Bride and Groom (To quote the invitation . . . finally.)

Spaghetti Run

This year I've had a few students on the cross-country team who keep inviting me to work out with them. I've done it a few times and I have to say, even though I run on the treadmill everyday, I am out of shape. They leave me in the dust. They've been begging me to run in the Spaghetti Run this year. It's the annual fund raiser for their team.

Well, I agreed and so I competed in my first race on the 5th of Sep

tember. It was a 5K or about 3.2 miles for those of you who hate the metric system. (You know metric is really easier if you'd just accept it.) I ran against a few other adults and the cross-country teams from all over the slope. Considering it was my first race and I was running against high school runners, I think that placing

22nd was pretty good. That was out of just over 50 people, so I'm right in the middle. Next time though, my goal is to break 30 min.

The runners at the beginning of the race. I'm the bright yellow sweatshirt in the back.

Here are a few of the cross-country team. Many former and current students.

Aaron (The winner of the race. Too old to be one of mine.)

Nasuayaaq

(Try saying that one.)

Flora

(Fastest girl on the team. Also the one who keeps bugging me about running with them)

Eric

(A student from my days back in Nuiqsut)

Overall, it was a really good time and we had good spaghetti and stuff to eat after.

Road Trip

Once school was over, it was time to head out on a road trip with my parents, sister, Stacy, and brother, Matt.  We drove from Salt Lake to Detroit for my niece's, Hurley's, blessing and her brother Brooklen's second birthday party.  Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Mount Rushmore

Crazy Horse

Corn Palace

"Field of Dreams"

View down from the Willis (Sears) Tower

Rob's family in Ann Arbor

Henry and Samuel in Detroit

St. Louis Arch