Hello everyone,
The weather is quite cold here in St. Maries. Today is a dreary, cloudy day with a temperature of 22F (-6C). It is forecast to start snowing again this afternoon. We did have about 8 inches (20cm) of snow outside, but a warm rainstorm came in and melted most of it. Since then, it's just been cold, with last night getting down to 14F(-10C).
Things are going well here. Hannalize's work, like always, is keeping her very busy. Joel's work has slowed a bit due to some seasonal shut-downs in the forest, but it will be starting back up again soon. He has been very busy with school, often spending 3-4 hours each night on studying. His first term of classes finished well, and he is taking accounting and marketing this term. He is enjoying the marketing much more than the accounting.
Hannalize is leaving Tuesday for Portland for a few days. She'll get back on Friday. She has several meetings and the annual Gerber Christmas party while she is there.
Both of us are getting very excited for our trip to South Africa. We're leaving on December 22, and we'll get back to St. Maries on January 14. Joel's parents will fly in and stay at the house to take care of the dogs and keep the pipes from freezing. We will attend Hannalize's sister's wedding, and visit lots of family and friends. We're also looking forward to seeing some summer weather and escaping the cold and snow. We fly Spokane-Seattle-London-Cape Town. On the way back, we fly Durban-Johannesburg-London-Seattle-Spokane.
Here's a few pictures of the dogs and the snow....
Until next time,
Joel & Hannalize
