Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...

Or Nebraska. 

It would seem we just dropped off the face of the earth. I wanted to keep up on the blog but then life took over. I have some posts that were started that I still intend to share. Eventually.

We've been looking for a way to get closer to our family. A two day trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house was just not working for us. Finally, a feedlot in Idaho was looking for a cowboy and willing to provide housing. The pay was less than we hoped for but we would only be a couple hours from Brittany and Levi. 

Then Scott was offered a position managing another feedlot in Nebraska and I was offered a full time job at the school. This made it tempting to stay. Then the overwhelming desire to be close to family, and never have to drive across Wyoming again, sunk in and we started to pack.

Both Morgan and Zane wanted to play soccer. I signed them up knowing we would miss most of their games. Having soccer practice to go to helped keep things somewhat normal for them. It added to my workload but the sacrifice was worth it. Unfortunately, Spring sprung a leak and it snowed the week of their first games so they only got to do a few practices.

Because of the snow, Scott had to quit a few days early and rush the horses to Idaho. He then left his trailer so he could get back before the blizzard hit. We had a friend coming to haul our stuff and hoped we could get it all into his trailer.

When the snow settled, and the drifts were removed, we suddenly had no one to haul our stuff. A last minute scramble to rent a moving truck ended up being the best decision. But that also left us with 3 vehicles to drive and only 2 drivers. We contemplated our options and then my dear, sweet visiting teacher and friend offered to drive one of our vehicles. Her family made an impromptu visit to their family in Idaho so we didn't have to make another trip. Words cannot express the gratitude that we have for this wonderful family!

It took us 14 long hours, with only 3 very short stops, to make it from Nebraska to our new home in Idaho. We had snow and rain and, of course, wind for most of Wyoming but it could have been worse. We were so excited to finally be here that we quickly forgot all of the difficulties and counted all our MANY blessings. 

We had wonderful friends who helped us load everything. (Man, it was a tight fit!) And we had new friends waiting to help us unload everything. We couldn't have done it with out so much help! Brittany and Levi even risked their lives one last time and hauled a load of boxes for us. 

We love our new community and our new home and we are excited for the new adventures that await us here!

 

And we will miss our wonderful friends!

 

the JOY of SNOW!

 The kids bounded out of bed at 6:30 am. It was almost as if they could smell the snow, or even hear it as large flakes softly fell. On school days, I am dragging them out of bed. But not this Saturday morning... they were up and getting dressed for snow play.

My rule is it has to be at least 32 degrees before I let my young children play outside. I forced them to sit down and eat some breakfast and I made sure the fire was roaring hot, then we bundled up.

By 9:00 we had almost 5 inches of wet, heavy snow. The tree branches looked like they were going to break and the snow was still falling. The flakes eventually became smaller but it continued to snow most of the day.

 After a couple hours, the kids came inside completely soaked. We dried their clothes by the fire and sipped hot cocoa while we enjoyed watching General Conference.

 Zane's cat was wishing he could come inside too. Perched on a 4 inch fence post, staring at the snow, he seemed to be saying, "What is this cold stuff?"

We went from summer straight to winter. But no fear. Monday we are supposed to be back to summer again.

A Few Snowflakes Fell

This has been a crazy winter. It's either sunny and warm with no snow or a light dusting of snow but too cold to be outside. We finally had some snow and some wind which made some fun snow drifts around the house. The kids were anxious to play before those flakes melted away.

The snow didn't stick together very well so the snowball fight didn't last long.

Even Tucker was loving the snow. He rolled around in it with the kids. Zane thought Tucker was making snow angels. Maybe.

No Zane! Don't eat that snow!

The drift in the garden was big enough to dig in. It wouldn't stick together for a snowman though.

Then it was time to come in and warm up by the fire and drink peppermint hot cocoa. Scott recently found some cedar wood. It was almost too pretty to burn. (When Scott told Morgan that cedar keeps moths away, she quickly found a sliver to put in her room. She is still afraid of moths. Hopefully we won't have the infestation that we had last year.) We do enJOY the wood heat!

"Joy is a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace - a connection to what matters."
Oprah

Fall Fun

This has been a super BUSY week! We've managed to squeeze in some fun though.

Last night was our Ward Trunk-or-Treat Halloween party. (We are bursting at the seams in our little building.) Lots of good food and good FUN! Even though it was below freezing, we had to drag the kids out of the parking lot. We came home with loads of candy and an awesome Frankenstein cake that Zane won in the Cake Walk.

My 3 little spooks.

The MOST handsome vampire I've ever seen!

And the cutest SCARY butterfly I've ever seen.

We started out our day with a chilly WINTER storm. Digging my car out made us a little late for preschool but Zane was excited to see snow. No time to play then.

When we got home, Zane made a snow angel but I wouldn't let him stay outside by himself. He heard Morgan's bus at 2:45 and ran to the closet shouting, "Hooray! Morgan is home! Now she can play with me!" He was digging out snow boots and gloves when Morgan walked in the door. I helped them get bundled up. Zane could not stand still as I zipped his coat. "Oh, I am SO anxious!" he giggled. Then he asked, "What does anxious mean?" I explained excited and not wanting to wait for something. He said, "Yep. I'm anxious."

They only had time to build 2 walls of their igloo before it was time to rush off to parent teacher conference. (Zane asked if we could just watch the conference on TV so they could go back out and play in the snow.)

We had a YUMMY Relief Society activity last week and I was inspired to add more whole wheat to our diet. I remember my mom making hot wheat cereal but I have never been brave enough to try. This week I cooked my first pot of wheat berries and we had a healthy breakfast of wheat cereal with peaches and a side of zucchini bread. Zane only ate one bite but he said it was yummy. Morgan ate hers all gone.

Another first, I made a delicious Pig Cake. (Not as pretty as the Pioneer Woman but very tasty.) A little bit of tropical goodness is always welcome on a chilly day. It has forever been one of my favorites so why have I never made it? I think I ate most of the cake myself.

FUN, FUN!

January 2011

Cleaning off my camera, I came across some pictures of life in January...

The first big storm of the year. This one had us stuck at home for 2 days until the neighbor borrowed a backhoe to dig us out.

And another storm a couple weeks ago left the trees beautifully frosted.

A super easy craft using a fun computer font.
(I spent more time thinking about how to do this than it actually took to do it.)

{First Snow}

The kids were so excited to see snow, finally! Getting ready for school this morning Morgan said, "It's a good thing you set out my boots for me to wear today. You're so smart!" I didn't tell her I watched the weather report last night.

All morning Zane begged me to help him build a snowman. We rounded up boots and hats and mittens and headed out into the wet, drizzle of falling snow. The snow is so wet and heavy so it packed together real well.

The little guy looks so handsome in Grandma's hat and scarf! Zane insisted on a carrot nose and a cookie mouth.

The hardest part about building sand castles in the snow is getting the bucket off with the mittens on.

"IT REALLY WORKED, MOM!"

And the day wouldn't be complete without a few snow angles.

It's just that kind of day!

Happy Spring!

We couldn't believe it when we woke up to more snow this morning.

Morgan put on her boots and mittens and went out to play. She used her new sand bucket and shovel to scoop snow and build a snow castle.

Scott just re-seeded one end of the lawn. It's a law of nature - if you plant before Mother's Day there will be more snow or a freeze. Will we ever have flowers and green grass? Tomorrow will probably be summer with scorching heat so, I guess, we will enjoy today.

Mountains of Snow

You would never guess that it only snowed an inch last night. With 50 mph wind gusts it didn’t take long for our house to be buried. Our neighbor showed up at 5:30 this morning with a loader to dig us out. (Scott didn’t make it to work by 6:00.) They scooped and pushed snow for an hour in our driveway and then worked their way down the street. Morgan wished they had left her sledding hill but it was also fun to climb the mountains of snow.

Sledding

We had our own sledding hill in our front yard and Morgan couldn’t wait to try it out. This was last night at about 6:00 when we had a slight break between storms. Morgan got in almost 10 minutes of fun before the wind and snow hit us hard again.

Drifts

Not only did the snow drift outside, but we also had drifts inside the garage. Brittany thought these formations were too adorable. It was actually snowing inside the garage as well.

More Snow

Here are a couple more poor quality pictures taken from my front window.

I don't think they will be using the swings any time soon!

Snow

We have gotten a little more snow and a lot more wind! I wanted to go outside and get some good pictures but the wind is blowing too hard and my camera just gets wet.

I did take a couple from the garage door. This is our garden with snow now billowing over the fence. The neighbor on the other side is almost completely buried. (He parks out on the street. Luckily the snow is pretty hard and for the most part we can walk right on top of it.)

Here are some pictures from my kitchen window.
This is the low end of the drift. The fence is about 4 feet high and the dog is thrilled that he can just walk over it.

The drift peaks in the middle at probably close to 7 feet high now.

Scott and the neighbor that lives in this house spent an hour last night and 2 hours this morning shoveling out. Just after they both left for work today, the snow plow came by and pushed the snow back in front of the neighbor’s driveway. So much for all the digging! And yes, our driveway is solid ice!

Wish I could get some better pictures, maybe if there is ever a break in the wind. Hope you are staying warm and dry!