first snow

We just had our first snow of the season. And what a nice sight it was in the morning. In fact, it was cold enough in the morning, I thought that beautiful blanket might stay all day. But alas, the sun is shining and much of it is already melting away, except of course for the sidewalk going up to our front door that will now remain a sheet of ice until spring, since it never sees direct sun.

sorry for the blurry photo, but here's a pic that i snapped as it was coming down:

In other news, we had a great Thanksgiving weekend here in Chinle with Michelle (ryan's sister), Rob, and niece and nephew, Abby and Luke. It started with a 2 mi. "Turkey Trot" that turned out to be more like a trudge down a dirt trail turned mud-pit across the endless desert in cold rain...

(thanks to rob for the video)

but on the upside, both kids got first (and only) in their age group and us adults all got second (and last) in our age groups, resulting in some great "Chinle Turkey Trot 2008-Top Finisher" sweatshirts as prizes and a great memory!Fortunate as we are, we also got to come home to a warm house, hot showers and a delicious feast.The weekend continued with lots of fun exploring around Chinle, and a great adventure up in the Chuska mountains for a Christmas tree!
check back for a link to all the photos from the fun weekend.