Rachel and the Silver Bullet

Rachel got her driver's license this last November. Of all our children she has been the most cautious when it comes to driving. We have two Ford Ranger's we use here on the farm. When it's not in use, we have been letting Rachel drive the silver one which the kids have named "The Silver Bullet" to school. Adam is driving the white Ranger which the kids have named "Danger Ranger".

The first snowfall of winter last December Rachel was worried about the roads being too slick to drive to school. We told her to go ahead and drive but to test how slick it was by tapping the brakes to see if the pickup slid. We watched her out the window as she headed down the road. We saw her brake lights go on and the pickup did a little fishtail. She went around the corner tried it again with the same results. We then saw her turn around at the neighbors, come back home and asked her dad to take her to school. We laugh about the fact that she's the only one of the five who would have ever come back whether the roads were slick or not.

Tuesday morning we had two inches of fresh snow on the ground. Even with the snow the roads weren't slick and it had melted off by the afternoon. Wednesday morning the roads were dry as Rachel headed off for school in the Silver Bullet at about twenty after eight. Her friend Katie usually rides with her but that morning she didn't. At 8:36 Roger got a phone call from Rachel saying she had slid off the road. She said she was OK and that people were stopping to help and someone had called 911. It seems that the road was dry except for the spot where Rachel slid off. It was a big patch where the snow had drifted across the road then had turned to ice. When she hit it she spun around 90 degrees just missing another car and went off the other side of the road into a snowy field. The pickup then rolled clear over a fence and ended back on its wheels facing the direction she had just come from. Of course she had her seat belt on. She wasn't quite sure if she had even rolled. We think she probably closed her eyes. We turned down an ambulance ride and I drove her to the doctor to have her checked out. The doctor said she might be a little stiff and sore but she is fine. Roger had one of his friends who lives near by pull the pickup out of the field with his tractor and Roger was able to drive it home. As you can tell by the pictures there's a pretty good dent in the roof. The windshield is also cracked, the side view mirror shattered and it has a few new scratches.



Thank heaven for miracles.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Laura and Adam were home this weekend so I decided we would have a little Valentine's dinner for them, Roger, Rachel and I. The table looked so pretty with all the reds that I thought I'd take a picture. Adam was in a hurry to eat before he went snowboarding so he was my model.
Steak, lobster tail, baked potato and asparagus. Mmm, Mmmm! It tasted as good as it looks!

In Search of Sunshine!

One of the benefits of having grown children who can feed the cattle is that Roger and I finally got to take a long road trip. Knowing the cattle and Rachel were in good hands we set off in search of sunshine. Sunshine has been very absent here lately. This is what it looked like out our side door the day we left on January 29th.

We left with no plans of where we were going or staying other than we were headed for Phoenix whenever we got there and for ever how long Roger felt like staying. I told him I was just along for the ride. The kids were taking bets on how long Roger could stay away. Personally, I didn't think he would last a week.

We drove to Cedar City, Utah before we ever got out of the snow. I thought we would never find sun. We spent the first night in St. George. It was fun to get up and not see snow and yes the sun was shining! I threw my winter coat in the trunk and never wore it the rest of the trip.

The next day we drove past Las Vegas and went and played tourists at Hoover Dam. It was nice to be able to walk around without a jacket in the sun. The dam itself is awesome.




The last two pictures are of the Colorado River Bridge. They are constructing a 1,060 foot twin-rib concrete arch. Construction on the nearly 2,000 foot long bridge began in January 2005 and the completion of the entire Hoover Dam Bypass Project is expected in June 2010. When completed, the bridge will span the Black Canyon (about 1,600 feet south of the Hoover Dam), connecting the Arizona and Nevada Approach highways nearly 900-feet above the Colorado River. This is so they can get the traffic off the dam for security reasons. The road over the dam is the main road. There is so much traffic besides the tourists on the dam. It will be neat to see it finished.

We made it to Phoenix that night. We checked out the town and surrounding areas over the next few days. We walked around Old Town Scottsdale which is a lot like Jackson Hole, Wyoming; drove out and found a few dairy farms on the outskirts; checked out the Peterbilt dealer (this is how farmers vacation)even stopped and walked through a swap meet and went by the Mesa Temple. I really liked the orange and grapefruit trees all over the area. I had always wondered what people went south for and where they stayed. We saw a trailer resort in Mesa and they were having an open house on some of their trailers so we went to take a look. Some trailers were pretty fancy and some were plain. One gentleman saw us looking around and gave us an unofficial tour of the trailer park and the rec center. He was so nice. It was amazing what there was available to do there. I don't know if that is what I would like to do every winter but it was fun to see how people live. Super bowl Sunday was also our 29th wedding anniversary. That night we stayed at a hotel in Mesa, had dinner and watched the Superbowl. It was a nice anniversary. The three days we were in Arizona the temperature was 65 to 79. It was perfect!

Mesa Temple
Orange tree
Arizona ditch and head gate into hay field.

Searching for Sunshine Part II

Monday, February 2nd we headed for Las Vegas. Along the way we passed some big Saguaro cactus and went through the Joshua Tree Forest. It didn't look like any forest I've ever seen and I was never really sure what a Joshua tree was now I know.

(Note the very blue sky and lack of snow!!! This is definitely not Idaho!)
Monday evening we got into Las Vegas. The traffic on the strip made me very nervous. We were probably rubber necking looking at everything and the taxi drivers kept honking and there was so much traffic. I was ready to go home then. After looking at the hotels, Roger decided on Mandalay Bay. He was tired of driving up and down the crazy strip and the price was fair. I couldn't believe how swanky everything in Vegas is and how large! I bet we walked a half a mile from the parking garage on one side of our hotel to the elevators then to our room on 34th floor on the other side of the hotel. I was tired before we ever decided to walk down the strip.
Our Hotel
View from our hotel room on the 34th floor. All their pools or as they called it "The Beach". They have a large wave pool, a lazy river and a few other pools with real sand around them but only one of the outdoor pools was opened. The rest open at the end of February.
The casino at our hotel
Here Roger is standing in front of the pond across from the Bellagio Hotel & Casino while we were waiting to see the dancing waters. That was neat to see.
Dancing waters.
Las Vegas' Eiffel Tower replica
Gondola Ride at the Venetian. This canal was inside with little shops lining the water. Pirate Show at Treasure Island
When we started walking down the strip headed for the Treasure Island Pirate show we didn't realize how far it was. Over two and a half miles and several hours later of looking around we were tired. We found a seafood buffet that Roger wanted to try out and ate and rested for awhile then we headed back for the hotel. It was still quite a ways away and our feet were sore and we were really tired. After a block or so Roger said he'd had had it and waved down a taxi. It was the best ten dollars we spent in Vegas. The taxi driver told us it was really slow for February, not many people. We thought there were a lot of people! I'd hate to be there when it was busy.

Tuesday Morning we headed back to St. George. On our way out of Vegas we stop at a restaurant for breakfast. There were a group of motorcycle cops there having breakfast. They had parked in formation. We parked next to them. I had to take a picture because it looked so neat. Our little green Camry was parked safely next to them.
We arrived in St. George in the afternoon. Our friends, Mark and Paula Boam had invited us to spend a couple of days with them at their time share. I didn't take any pictures but there were two pools and the condos themselves were very nice. We spent three days there with them hanging out, visiting, shopping and seeing the sites of St. George. Basically, just having a great time. The weather was perfect...mostly 65-70. Roger was able to go golfing every day. Paula and I joined Roger and Mark on the course one day. I had never golfed before but I really enjoyed it. They didn't seem to mind I was really bad and didn't know the rules and the golf carts were really fun. The golf course was beautiful and had a lot of hills we drove up and down on. That was a great day in the sun! Ah ha! We had found the elusive sunshine!

Its a good thing it was raining the next morning when we headed home or it wouldn't have been so easy to leave. We came home through Zions National Park. I had never gone that way before. It was beautiful The rocks and mountains in that area are so unique.
We didn't hurry to fast to get home. One the way home we stopped and looked around Cabela's for Roger and Hobby Lobby for me. We got home about 9 p.m Friday February 6th. Roger says I went into convulsions when we turned off the freeway at Osgood and saw all the snow again. It was more like a strong shiver and sigh. Hopefully our trip will carry me through until Spring.
Oh, and Roger proved us all wrong. We were gone nine days and he enjoyed every minute of it

January Update

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since Adam came home and since Christmas. The month has gone by fast with so much happening. I will give you a quick update. It was wonderful having everyone home for Christmas. We ate a lot and had tons of fun visiting and catching up with each other.



Adam has transitioned well back into the real world. He moved to Rexburg and started school at BYU-I on January 7th, two weeks after he came home from Florida. He comes home two days a week to work with Roger and Alan. We enjoy having him around again.


This is a picture of him showing off his new snowboard. He has been able to hit the slopes a few times since he's been home.

Laura didn't have to be back at school in Moscow until January 14th. She still stayed busy with some FFA meetings in Boise and local FFA Chapter visits.


Here she is modeling her fancy FFA suspenders for me before she put on her jacket and headed off to a Chapter visit at Ririe High School.

Rachel was not thrilled about having to go back to school after several weeks off, but has since adjusted. She's getting into the High School life attending the home basketball games when she can. She is also taking tennis lesson twice a week. It's fun watching all of our children growing up, moving on and having new experiences. As for now, life is good!

He's Home!

Waiting for Adam to arrive at the airport was a fun event. Besides his brother and all his sisters, his Grandparents and most of his Aunts, Uncles and cousins who live locally were there to welcome him home with signs and balloons. Even some friends from the ward were there to greet him. We are so thankful for such supportive family and friends.


Adam was one of the last ones to get off the plane and come through the doors. Here's our first glimpse of him.
Mom got the first hug.
Dad was next. He then made the rounds hugging the rest of the family.

High five to Tanner who was only six days old when Adam left.
We are so glad to have Adam home. I think he likes being here too even if he's cold all the time.
For those who were wondering if I got my rooms together before he came home, yes I did. I thought they turned out quite nicely even though the walls are bare. I didn't rehang any of my outdated wall decorations because my friend Sheree said friends don't let friends put ugly back on the wall:) So I guess that's another project for another day.


I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Ours was very nice.

Call Me Crazy!!!

Wow! Only five more days until Adam is home. You would think I'd have my Christmas shopping all done and the house cleaned just waiting for him. Think again. That's not how I roll. We decided the downstairs family room needed new carpet and paint. Of course I had to wait until the farming was done and the cattle were all situated before Roger could help me. Which was only recently. So last week we started painting. It took painting the room four times and a near meltdown (me) before I found the right color. Have I ever told you how sweet and patient my husband is? We still have some trim to replace. The carpet layer comes tomorrow and we need to pack out all the furniture and rip up the old carpet. This is how it looks now.

As for Adam's bedroom, I have been using it for my sewing/DI room and for things I don't know what to do with. This is what it looked like yesterday morning. Notice his bed is propped up against the wall and we gave Alan the dresser that went in that room.

We did clean his room out last night so the carpet cleaner could clean the carpet, but we put everything in Laura's room. Well, about seven o'clock last night Laura called to say that she was headed home from college a day early because of a big storm headed for Moscow. She and some friends drove all night and she arrived home at seven this morning. It's a good thing Rachel was up getting ready for school so Laura could use her bed since there is no way Laura could even get to hers. So as for now we are in chaos. Wish me luck in pulling it all together. If I don't get it all together. It really doesn't matter because Adam will be home. Yay!!