This is better than the tooth fairy...

This morning as I prepared to venture into the -25 degree weather to go start my car, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise. The snow shovel fairy had cleared our sidewalk all the way from the door to the street, as well as the sidewalk in front of the house. I stared in awe and amazement as this had been done sometime during the time of 10:00 p.m. last night till 4:30 a.m. this morning. And yes, I began to cry with deep appreciation for whoever this wonderful person had been.

As you may recall, I had shoveled basically a walking path for me Sunday morning with a great deal of effort and rewarded with aches and pains in various body parts. So to see the entire sidewalk made clear of snow by someone was very overwhelming. I've said it before and will say it again...we are and have been truly blessed in so many ways since our move here. I don't know what our purpose in being here is as I feel the job was just the conduit to get us here, but someone is making sure that we are well provided for in so many ways.

Before heading out to my car I had a deeply thoughtful and personal conversation with my Heavenly Father. One of the things I did say to him was that I would not like a repeat of yesterday by getting the car stuck again! Five times yesterday was quite enough! I told him that I realized he had better things to do then worry about my concern about becoming stuck this morning, but I really would appreciate the opportunity of just making it to the main street without any problems. So, as I pulled away from the curb I waited to see what would happen. Would I have enough faith that he would answer my prayers? As I approached the some hill to the main street, I kept saying to myself "up the hill, up the hill, up the hill", never letting my foot off the gas pedel and voila' I made it with no problems. Waa hoo! And after that, the rest of the drive to the parking lot was a piece of cake. However, this evening coming home turned into another nightmare. All went fine as far as driving until I turned into our neighborhood and got stuck again. After finally having several guys push me out, I got stuck again. To make a very long, stressful story short - 50 minutes later I finally arrived home. I've decided that as long as the weather is like it is on our street, I am going to park across the highway at the shopping center and walk home. It's got to be better than going through this "fun" everyday. Now, I've got to hope and pray I make it out to the main street in the morning without getting stuck again. Now where did I put my lucky rabbit's foot, four leaf clover and lucky bra? Hmmmm.

What can I take away from all of this? Simply three words...I am loved. I am loved by some unknown earthly being and I am loved by a heavenly being. Yes, I am blessed. Yes, Joe and I are very blessed.

My Unusual Characters I've Met

Nancy recently queried a question of "had I met any interesting characters yet"? I immediately thought of two I'd met in the last week.

What A Day!!!

It snowed again last night and added to the snow we'd already had the preceding two days. It wound up being a very stressful day for me all in all. Why? I got the car stuck in the snow three times before I ever got out of our neighborhood and once when I reached the office parking lot. I couldn't get the car to move out of the snow no matter what I did. Luckily for me, someone upstairs heard my prayer and provided me with a couple of angels. Two men came by in a truck and got me out of the snow three separate times in three separate places. They wanted to make sure I made it to the highway. Then the parking lot hadn't been plowed and I was stuck again and pushed out into another area.

It snowed most of the day in the field. In fact, a snow blower was even used to clear some of the snow from around the office. I never stepped outside until it was time to head home and then it began again...

I was praying for a quick, safe trip home. I had run through my mind the best route to drive home that did not have me driving over the center of the street where the snowplow would have piled up the snow. I was driving to the stoplight across from our neighborhood, turning right, turning around in a parking lot and then back to the stoplight so I'd be back on the right side of the street. That way all I had to do was make a right hand turn into our neighborhood. All went well until the turn into our neighborhood and, yes, I got stuck again. After several minutes of trying to move, another angel man showed up and got me going.

I was never so happy to finally arrive at home. When I did though I got the shovel and shoveled around the car with hopes of helping me get away from the house in the morning. Hopefully there has been enough traffic to beat some of the snow down by morning.

With all this being said, I am heading to bed to recuperate from all of the excitement.

Wholly Molly Sunday

I am really beginning to thoroughly enjoy Sundays. It's soooo nice being able to sleep in, do some leisurely things around the house, read the Sunday paper with coupons, etc. all before going to church.

However, the only above thing I did was sleep in a little. It snowed yesterday (a lot) and over night it REALLY snowed (A LOT). So, I went out to shovel the sidewalk and around my car so that I could get to it when it was time to go to church. Did I mention we don't have a snow shovel yet? I had to use a regular flat head shovel. Not something I want to do all the time and it's time to invest in a snow shovel!

I left Joe at home while I went to church since he's not allowed out of the house for awhile. The drive to church was unbelievable. I was beginning that I wouldn't be able to make it there. The roads had not been plowed, especially the ones around the church and the snow was still coming down fast and furious. In fact, when church was over, I had to use my snow broom and clean off my windows before I could leave the parking lot.

We've had so much snow that I decided to stick a 12" ruler into the snow that had been accumulating on our table in the back yard. Before I left for church it was 6" deep/after church 7" deep. I just looked outside before going to bed and by morning it might be covered! Stay tuned for pictures. BTW...we are now in the actual minus degrees with windchill of about -20 degrees. Going to work is going to be lots of fun in the morning - long john time!
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I really enjoy attending church here. I've tried to figure out why. I think it's because I'm looking for and needing a connection of a new "family". Maybe it's because everyone is new to me and I don't have any expectations of what I expect from them. Maybe it's because the prelude to church is uncomplicated and relaxing. Whatever the reason, I am feeling a sense of peace and contentment.

A Satisfying Saturday

I really love days like today. I got to sleep in since I had NO obligations anywhere although I still woke up around 4:00 a.m. But, I did go back to sleep. Then when I finally decided it was time to get busy, I laid on the bed and made lots of phone calls to family and friends back in the deep south. It's so hard to make them during the week because of the two hour time change.

Now that the house is pretty well organized, it only takes a few minutes to put things to right and then I'm done housecleaning!!! I'm beginning to enjoy my little home more and more every day. I've even gotten so organized I plan my meals out for the week. Life is good people!!!

I was waiting for the weather to heat up a little, so when the temperature finally made it to 10 degrees, I took my shower so I could run a couple of errands. We had snow yesterday, but it really began snowing today. The most snow I've seen come down since our move. I went to Big Lots to check out some storage shelves and when I came back out, my car windows were covered in snow. So, I reached into the back seat and got my handy-dandy snow broom and cleaned them off. I decided I'd better not press my luck by running another errand and better get home. So I did. Besides the sister missionaries were coming for dinner and I knew I'd better get busy on something for dinner.

It was a very pleasant time with them and then Joe and I spent the evening watching the new episode of "Lost". So, I've had sheer contentment for the day. No muss, no fuss.

BTW, when turning off the lights in the living room, I went to the front door and opened it up. Still snowing outside, in fact, when the storm door opens, there is so much snow piled up outside the door that it pushes a path. And we're supposed to get several more inches in the next couple of days. Going to church will be an experience tomorrow afternoon as long as I avoid the hills!

Yes, it was a satisfying Saturday.

A View From My Office

These are pictures, on a clear day and after snow day, taken from the windown in my office at the oilfield. The others are of my spacious office before I put anything up on the wall or in the window. I work in the Upper Office and if you look closely, you can see the Lower Office in the left hand corner of the third and seventh pictures.

The mountains in the background are not really mountains, but are called ridges. If you look to the left, on a clear day you can see the Big Horn Mountains which are about 150 miles away, but look much, much closer.

As you can see, it's really pretty desolate out in the area or at least it looks so in the middle of winter. Spring will be very interesting to see if it changes much. Also notice the flags flying in picture three. That's the way the flags look most of the time - straight out!

Oh, When The Saints Go Marching In...

Joe has been a very lucky and busy man this week. I need not have worried about going off and leaving him at home with his green cast hand and blue splinted foot. Everyday he's had visitors. Leonard Landlord has been by every day tinkering on something around the house and had it timed to even eat lunch with Joe. Leonard brings his lunch each day and I've had Joe's fixed and in the refrigerator.

He's also had some sister bring him some type of lunch and had a couple of the men from the ward come and visit him each afternoon.

Then this evening a couple of other men came by to visit and see how Joe's doing. My Relief Society president even emailed me from out of town from Colorado to check on us. As you can see, we are being blessed by the kindness of strangers.

"Captain Crash" and Derek

These were taken last weekend. Notice Joe's colorful hand cast.

From Wyoming to Utah

This is some of the scenery we see when we make the trip from Casper to the kids home...

Pictures from my solo visit to Utah

These are some pictures I took the weekend I went to visit the kids in Springville. It was during the time that I was in Wyoming for the two weeks by myself.

Our First Weekend In Casper

These pictures were taken the night that Corey and Ryan arrived in Casper. Ryan had come in about 10 minutes before Corey and he hide in the closet with Blaze to surprise Corey. So, it was B.J. that greeted Corey at the door of our hotel room.
I asked Corey to get something out of the closet for me and when he did, Blaze came bounding out and then came Ryan with a big grin.

This is a happy B.J. taking one of his many rides on the elevator. What he didn't know was when he stepped outside he'd be seeing and experiencing his first snowfall ever.

And here he is testing out the snow...

The following two pictures were taken the next day when all the unloading had been completed. The monument is one that is located at a state interpretive site. It is not meant as a human ride, but the "boys" didn't seem to care. Afterall, there wasn't a person around and the horse was there with an empty saddle. While up there, the boys discovered a herd of pronghorn antelope they would not have seen otherwise. Yee Haw, cowboy!!!

And, this is what it looked like after the guys had left for home and we were alone. Look at the expression on Joe's face!

Derek's First Halloween

These are some other pictures I took while visiting of Derek's first Halloween. You should have seen his bunny tail!

Our First Visit to Orem Over New Year's Weekend

Earlier this month, Joe and I went to spend a long weekend with the kids over New Year's Eve. This was our first visit with them since they've moved to Orem and into their new home. Some of the pictures were made while Joe and I got to watch Derek one day while the kids went to work. Lucky us!!!

Like father, like son. This is Derek pretending to be a beaver and knaw on his crib...the same crib his father slept in and knawed on also.

In Our Backyard

This is what it looked like in part of our backyard during a recent snowfall. See how high the snow is on the table and the bench! And look at the dog prints too.

Joe's Latest Opportunity to Flirt With Nurses

This is what Joe looked like last Wednesday morning during a trip to the ER. His blood sugar had dropped to an unknown low and he passed out in the hallway on his way back to the bedroom. He was conscious enough to call me for help. Unfortunately, when he passed out he hit his head, broke his nose, skinned up the left side of his face from his eye down to his chin. After I couldn't regulate his blood sugar, I dressed him and took him to the ER at about 3:00 a.m. and we were there for six hours.

During a head scan and x-rays, it was discovered that he'd broken his left hand and his right ankle. He presently is hobbling around on crutches until he goes into surgery this coming week to repair his ankle.



These are pictures of what it looked from Joe's hospital room. Beautiful, huh?