Talk about cold.........

Here is our weather station read out. The third line is the actual temperature this morning...

White stuff...

Because I just can't get over how much 'white stuff' there is around here, I just had to add a few more pictures. This is our fuel oil container. 300 gallons! It is BIG! Notice just how much snow has stuck on top!
This is our back yard. Just incredible.
To top it off...this is our neighbor's house. These are stairs going up to their upper deck. Now this is a LOT of snow!

Searching for tennis balls

It has been a long winter for our dog Jonas already, always in constant search for buried tennis balls!
Isn't he beautiful? We adore him.

Cave Glow

Tools of the Trade

Inside the snow cave...flashlights in the walls, shovels, water spray bottles and toboggans are all part of the art.

Snow Caving!

We have had SO much snow the last few weeks, Kyle, his buddies and his dad decided it was time to make a snow cave. Normally the Youth Group at church does this up in the mountains when there is plenty of snowfall. This year we were able to do it in our yard! Because of the heavy snowfall and Ralph plowing the snow into the middle of the yard, there are areas of snow over 6 feet tall. This is where the digging began. Soon they should be able to sit, lie down and probably stand comfortably, AND they are attaching the three caves with tunnels. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to get lots of wonderful pictures, but here are just a few from tonight.

Welcome to winter in Alaska!

Hello and welcome! We would like to share a little bit of our lives in Alaska with our family and friends. This blog is our attempt to show you, in photos and our thoughts, what it is like living in this amazing corner of the world. Sometimes we take for granted the beauty of our own location. Sometimes we rush through life not realizing what is right before our eyes. Sometimes we have to work really hard in order to enjoy things that are difficult or frightening. We have a little of all of that here. Welcome to our world. Enjoy!Looking out our dining room window, through the icicles and snow-draped winter trees, to the Chugach Mountains north of our home.