And it gets colder....

This week has been cold.  The temperature remained between 0- 10 degrees all week except for Tuesday.  On Tuesday the temperature reached 20 so we were able to take the kids outside to play.  Friday's high temperature was 4 degrees.  This cold seeps through the walls and make me glad that we have been keeping our house thermostat set at 70-75 degrees (and thankful that the school pays for our utilities).
This was a hard week.  Flora was home taking care of her sick granddaughters on Monday and by Friday was home taking care of her granddaughters, her daughter, her sons and her husband.  She is still well but is extremely tired.  Cecelia was gone on Thursday taking care of her daughter, Mary T. was gone with her daughter on Wednesday, and Mary L. was gone all week doing site visits in Elim and Nome.  Even being this short staffed I made it through the week.  Even though it was hard and stressful at times, I feel like my classroom management skill have increased a lot because I wasn't depending on Flora when the kids got loud.
Next week is Thanksgiving...wow the year is going so fast!  We have 18 school days until Christmas break!

This is Mary, our site supervisor with Kawerak Head Start, wearing her guspuk.  Her great-uncle (grandpa's brother) is the face on Alaska Airlines planes.

 I can't say enough about how beautiful it is here.  The snow is so clean and and air is so clear.  Everything is brilliant when the sun is shining.  The sunset was beautiful on Friday night.  It set at 4:40pm in the southeast over the mountains not far from where it rose.  We have only had snow on the ground since mid-October and I already have so many pictures of it.  It's just so beautiful.
When it is this cold, the snow doesn't give way under your foot steps.  It seems to freeze, too.  Now it is 2 degrees and falling to a forecasted low of -14.

The wind blows the snow in ways that make it look just like sand at the beach.  

After the snowicane came a snow storm that brought us 5-8 inches of snow.  These are our back steps.  

Sunrise on Friday.  The sun is now rising over the mountains in the south.  It is 10:30am.

St. Michael Bay is completely frozen now.  The snow that fell began to cover the ice and now it is all white.  I haven't seen any waves since the snowicane.  

11:00 am on Friday as the sun comes over the mountains.  It was beautiful!