My First Christmas in the Far North

High today: 20 F
Low today: -10 F

Phew, I am glad that Amanda organized a mush/skijor/bike ride this morning because I may have gushed in my morning-Christmas Eve-homesickness and stayed in my bed all day. Now that would have been a silly way to spend the holiday, huh?

So Amanda is special, because she is the only musher I know at this point in time. Amazing to have spent all this time in Alaska to only know one musher. :) You should check out her website linked on the right under "friends blogs".

Amanda, Karl, and John getting Amanda's dogs ready.

So I don't know what I was thinking attempting to ride along with these guys.. all attached to excited-to-run dogs.

John and his three canines, HAULING with excessive speed.

And Karl taking off with one of Amanda's dogs. Collegiate skier + dog = no match for winter bike on soft trails.
So needless to say, I did not see any of them after I got on the trail until we were all back at the parking lot. But it was a good morning to be out.... a bit chilly.. or maybe I just forgot how to dress in -5 with all this warm weather. Better to be out than curling up in blankets and being sad though, that's for sure. The trails were fairly soft because of new snow so I was punching through in spots farther in on the trail.

Later that afternoon I went over to my cousins' house for an early dinner. They had invited me over along with Jana's friends who are in AK for the holiday. I am lucky to have relatives in town.

Here we are playing catch phrase.. game of choice recently! I like it because of its small size and ability to take it on trips.

Josh and Jana entertained by whatever explanation Josh is giving.

Then after that first dinner, I went to another one, and somehow managed to eat an entire second meal.. all within two or three hours. I would blame it on the bike ride, but I really didn't go more than 9 miles this morning!!! 'Tis the season!

The boys are all dancing. They were quite entertaining to watch and were very cute opening gifts.

And this was officially my first Christmas Eve with fireworks. We just couldn't wait til New Year's Eve!! haha. Lighting up the skies in Goldstream Valley.
This is one of my groups of friends here. It is funny how we all met because it was through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend kind of deal. They are all really good people and I'm thankful that they stuck around for the holiday.