2-Week Recap

Well, I was doing a great job of posting on a regular basis, and then volleyball season started! I have spent the last two weekends with the volleyball team. We were in Fairbanks two weeks ago and then had four home matches last weekend. So, I really haven't had any weekend time to spend blogging! I will start by posting pictures from two weeks ago.
This Fall has been much colder so far than last year. The temperatures always warm up when it snows, and we have only had a couple of light snow dustings so far this year, so the temperatures have stayed cold. The ice was already forming the first weekend in October.
Here are some pictures from when I flew into Kotz two weeks ago on my way back from Fairbanks:

Kotzebue from the air:

Ice starting to form out in the Sound:

The lagoon behind town:

It has been around 15-25 degrees for the past couple of weeks. So, all of the lakes and the lagoon are frozen all the way through. In fact, Michael and his friends were out on the lagoon last night playing some boot hockey, and today I saw some people out ice skating and ice fishing. The Sound is also frozen, but I don't think I would walk on it quite yet. Here are some pictures and a video from last weekend:

The frozen Sound:

Here I am standing on the ice. Notice that I am not wearing snow pants, and it's probably about 20 degrees out. Oh yeah, I am turning into an Arctic woman!

Michael decided he wanted to show you how hard the ice is. So, here he is testing it out (sorry it is sideways!):

The funny thing about having already been up here for one year is that all of the things that were crazy to us last year have become normal to us. When I sit down and think about the fact that things like sunrise at noon and a frozen ocean are normal to us, it makes me realize that we will never be able to look at things the same again!

I am off to Barrow next week for a volleyball tournament. So, I should have some good pictures from the top of the world! I am having a great time coaching this season; I have a really fun group of girls. They are very young, but have a lot of talent. It's my first season as the official head coach, and it's looking to be a good one!

So, there's the recap. I will try to do a better job of staying updated, even through the busy-ness!