White Dots On A Hill

Typically, Dall sheep look like white dots on a hill. They are often at high elevations in the distance and are barely noticeable. However, on a recent drive to Anchorage, we saw a group of cars stopped along the Seward Highway. When you see this, there is a high likelihood that they've stopped to see whales, a bear, moose, eagles, or other wildlife. On this trip, it happened to be Dall sheep. Most people consider themselves fortunate to see Dall sheep from the vantage point of the top picture. We consider ourselves blessed to have seen them at a much closer range.

Snow Making 101

For the past week, it has been been below freezing here in Girdwood. This is perfect weather for snow. While we have about 8 inches on the ground, Alyeska Resort needs much more than this to create a solid base for downhill skiing. The other day we were driving, and Brent was drawn to a large mechanical object and insisted that we investigate. We drove as close as we could get and then got out and walked up to what looked like something from a movie set. Upon close examination, Brent shouted above the noise of the fan that this was a snow making machine. It is basically a powerful fan with high pressure water jets injecting water into the vortex of air. How cool (he thought) and began snapping pictures, including this one where he got a bit too close! Fortunately, the camera survived the localized blizzard.

Liz's Birthday Party

For Liz's 36th birthday (10/27), we had a party with some friends from church. One of the highlights of the party was an activity involving Play Doh (it's hard to go wrong with Play Doh). We had each person sculpt what they would get Liz for her birthday if money was no object. There were some very creative offerings, including: a private jet (to travel to Prague), the nation of Egypt (never been there!), a barrel of oil (for the jet), a

little man to do various chores Liz would rather not do, a dog leash with an iPhone (to stay in touch and listen to music while walking her furry friends), a sky scraper (place to stay when traveling around the world), a "Hoffman Way" sign (for our street with the sky scraper), a bracelet with lots of bling, and a backpack (luggage for our world travels). We have generous friends (at least in the realm of Play Doh!)