We spotted this happy snowman in an Anchorage neighborhood last weekend. He seems ready to welcome winter.

We finally have some snow on the ground -- not much but a little.

And the temperatures around Anchorage are downright chilly ... minus 7 this morning on my way to work. My boss mentioned it was about minus 21 near her home in Eagle River yesterday morning.

There is no question that winter has settled in. Autumn was so long and wonderful there was a little lag in getting winter up and running, but now we're there.

Gina and I took our first ski of the year on Saturday night near Flattop. The conditions weren't perfect, but it was nice to get the skis out for the first time this winter. I'm sure Powerline Pass was filled with skiers during the day, but we couldn't get out until after the sun set (which is getting pretty early now). Noah and Katelyn joined us, along with their little dog Kiley.

We only passed one other skier while we were out. When we returned to the Glen Alps parking lot ours was one of three cars there.

It was a great way to welcome the snow and cold.

-- Steve