Life of the Frick JRs

Sorry there hasn't been an update on the goings on in Alaska recently, but things have been pretty busy up here recently. And I wanted to make sure that I had a good variety of pictures to post up for everyone to look at. The weather here has finally returned to normal after being very weird lately. It was -20 for three weeks, and then the weather shot up to the 40s and rained. It was so bad with wind and rain conspiring to make the streets icy, that school was actually canceled three days in a row!

However, the weather is once again cooling off-it is now in the normal 15-20 degree range and snowing. Luckily for me, Kieirn has decided that he is big enough now to add helping me shovel the driveway to his (short) list of chores that he does. He actually is a help out there, as his job is to clean up the little "snow mowhawks" that I tend to leave behind me.


Jessica and I are very lucky that we have two boys that are such good buddies. They like each other and they like to hang out and play together. I think that Connor feels a little lost whenever big brother is not around to play with or to help him out. It must be such a joy to have a brother.


I guess Jessica and I better enjoy these times. I can imagine that they may not always get along so good. Still, they will always be part of each other's lives, and they can get together when they have kids and tell their kids stories of their crazy parents.


Kierin is still playing hockey. He gets better at skating each time he hits the ice. He is frustrated that he doesn't get goals every time there is a game, but I think he enjoys it. He is definitely fitting in more, skillwise, this year now that he has a year of hockey under his belt. Of course, Connor loves to go to hockey games and watch. I think that he will be out there on the ice before too long.


i just HAD to include this picture! It is such a handsome picture of Kierin. He is getting so big!


And of course, I had to include this handsome picture of our 3rd child!

Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers v Cardinals

All of the Frick Jrs are rabid Steelers fans and we will be watching Super Bowl XLIII (43 for you non-Romans) as we root the Steelers to their 6th Lombardi Trophy as NFL Champions!

We only were able to watch the 1st half of the AFC Championship Game this afternoon as Kierin had a hockey game at the Dimond Center in Anchorage. However, I recorded it and watched the rest of it once we all got home. It was a hard fought game against the Baltimore Ravens that went down to the wire, but the Steelers were able to put it away at the end of the game.

Join us all in saying "Go Steelers!"

Brrrrrrr!

It has been so cold here in Alaska for the past few weeks. It has not been above 0 degrees since before Christmas Day, if you can believe that, and has routinely been as low as -20. Your Alaskan friends, including the Frick Jrs, are freezing! Luckily, it is supposed to begin to warm up early next week, although the weather service continues to push the warm up day back. It was supposed to begin warming up today, but it is currently -16 and supposed to be around 0 through the weekend. Please send us warm thoughts!!

The funny part of the whole thing is that when it does warm up to 0 or to 15-20 above, it will feel so hot and there will people in short sleeve shirts!

Its funny, though, because Jessica and I were talking about this very thing in the late fall. I am currently teaching an intensive for the Alaska Model United Nations (AK MUN), and the topic of this year's conference is Climate Change (AKA Global Warming) and Environmental Sustainability. So Jessica and I were talking about how the climate has changed in recent years. The thrust of my part of the discussion was about Alaskan weather. I have lived here for 30 years. In that 30 years, I have seen the climate and weather patterns change dramatically. For example, when I was little, there would always be snow on the ground for Halloween; the first snow would always be in mid-October. In addition, the winter would be cold, but there would be a couple weeks here and there, usually in late December and mid-February, when the temperature would drop to -20. The last 10-11 years, however, the snow wouldn't come until late October and it rarely got below 0. The year Jessica and I met (2002), we met in late October and we went for long walks-it did not snow until Thanksgiving! In fact, there was a pattern where it would actually warm up to 40 or so and rain in late December and early February. Of course, this year is very, very different. I wonder if this will be the new pattern or if it is just a downturn on an otherwise upward trend. BTW, this summer was one of the coldest, rainiest summers on record!