Trip to Barrow, Alaska

Ian and I took a trip to Barrow this weekend. I've had a hankering to see the arctic and we decided to go before he goes to Iraq. The highest temperature we witnessed was probably -5. At night it dropped to -25 or so. It ended up being one of the best trips we've gone on. The people were so nice, we were able to watch women preparing seal skins for the spring whaling boats, and to top it all off we saw three polar bears! It's truly unlike anywhere we've ever been before.

Colin and Andrea joined me last Thursday for our fifth annual ski weekend in Salt Lake City. The weather could not have been any better. It was sunny and 20's on Thursday, Friday and Sunday and it snowed steadily all day Saturday. Since the kids didn't get in until Thursday evening, I skied alone on Thursday and on Friday, the three of us took an all day private lesson with Christopher, who has been teaching telemark and alpine skiing at Alta for the last 18 years. All three of us were telemarking (although one of us is considerably less skilled) and Chris did an excellent job of working with each of us on our skills. Apart from the pain from dislocating my shoulder early in the day, I really enjoyed skiing with the kids, even though they ski through moguls and trees that are beyond my comfort level. I'll try to get a couple of photos posted this weekend.

We stayed with Scott and Patricia Woller, who live at the base of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, which is where Brighton, Solitude, Snow Bird and Alta are. This year, we did all our skiing at Alta. It would be hard to find a more beautiful setting or better snow.

Leah is considering enrolling in a college in Salt Lake City, which may mean that there will be even another reason to visit there next winter. If you haven't skied in Salt Lake City, I recommend it highly.

ROb

Ian's promotion Ceremony

Ian's promotion ceremony was thankfully put off till they were back from the Philippines. It was my job to put his new rank on his uniform. Afterwards we had some cake and Indian food. It's nice to finally call him Captain Stroud!

Ian's back and we've been dog sledding!

For those of you who don't know, Ian returned from the Philippines on Friday which was two days early! We had a wonderful weekend involving dog sledding. We drove up to Trapper Creek yesterday (about 120 miles north) to go mushing with Francine again. We went with her last year when Andrea came up. We had a fantastic time, although my sled tipped over once and threw me off. I landed hard, but I'm ok. It's amazing how fast those dogs can run!

Ian had a good time in the Philippines and from what I can tell the experience was rewarding. He leaves for Iraq in the first or second week of next month. I wish I had him home longer, but at least he'll only be gone 7 months.

oops that was me, not Sam. He was signed on my computer.

Chilling in NY with Sam tonight.  I've been very busy with school and without a functional camera for several months now.  I will be done with my third year required rotations on April 21st, very exciting.  I will hopefully be able to tell everyone soon what I will be doing with my life.  Sam is most likely going to be accepted at Dartmouth for his PhD program, so we may end up in NH after I graduate.  That's all the news for now.  Its March, a great month for Birthdays of course....I will be 27 this year, wow!

PS - promise to get back on the ball with pics after I get my camera fixed.