October 26, 2010: The First Snowfall of the Season

First things first. I did not take this picture. I can't find a bunch of pictures we took in October, so I used one from the ksl.com site (taken by Ryan Houston). I always love the first snowfall of the season, especially when it melts quickly. But when it dumps a substantial amount, I don't love it quite as much. Especially when my best shoveler is in Argentina. Fortunately, it didn't stick around longer than a couple of days, but it still snarls traffic, aches the back, and reminds us how grateful we are for salt.

May 24, 2010: Are You Sure This Wasn't December 24?

Are you kidding me? Please note that it is the END of May, not December! This was the last week of school with the Dance Festival the next day!

Spring in Utah

When I got up at 5 this morning to let out a dog we are "sitting," I was shocked to find this outside.


I told John that I was shocked to see over a foot of snow, to which he replied, "Are you meaning literally or figuratively?" I was sad to say, "Literally, over a foot!" As I left for work, I made sure to take some pictures along the way.

Our crab apple tree

Our neighbor's tree

The trees down Orem Boulevard. Every one had snapped, looking like this:

The damage to trees was significant. This was the heaviest snow I've ever seen (prime packing snow according to Maggie). By 5:00 pm, it was 50 degrees and the snow was melting. (Glad I didn't even touch a shovel.) It's supposed to be 72 degrees on Saturday. The weather here is really nuts.

PS: Ian continues to do really well through his recovery. Still not swollen or bruised, although he did say today that it hurts to smile.

Digging Out From the Storm

After spending a good portion of the past two days shovelling, it was nice to have the sun come out and give us a bit of a reprieve. (And I don't care what you might say, Kevan. I know the beach and sunblock beat the shovel! You don't really miss this at all.)

We invested in enough shovels for all the kids and nearly 100 pounds of ice melt just trying to stay on top of things. Snowflake has been loving it, even running after Griffin to "rescue" him when he fell over in the snow. (And as you can tell, Wilbur isn't loving it so much. He's much happier snuggling up with someone.)

In grand total, we had another foot of snow fall on top of the foot-plus we had already received and didn't really go away. It just compacted into solid ice, so you can't even get down to the grass. It just provides a platform for you to stand on.

I Finished!

I finished the Book of Mormon--in 38 days! I got really worried there when I was so behind, but since the kids started school early on Friday (8 instead of 9:15, I took advantage of that quiet 90 minutes before the Christmas sing to read and read and read! (The only downside was that my relatively new camera was stepped on and broken during the event. It's kind of like the opening of the doors at Wal-Mart on Black Friday, unless you get there 90 minutes early and get your pick of any seat in the house.)

I'm amazed that every time I read it there are parts that seem brand new. I understand why we are to make it part of our daily study because as our lives and circumstances change, so do our spiritual needs.

For Family Home Evening tonight, we watched the TNT/Patrick Stewart version of "A Christmas Carol." With everyone snuggled under blankets keeping warm (we were certainly worn out from shoveling 12 inches of snow!) and two dogs sitting on our laps, it set a really good mood for our upcoming multiple holiday festivities.

God bless us, everyone!

Are You Kidding?

We woke up this morning to two inches of snow on the ground. It wasn't even close to the city of Roy where they got over a foot, but still, IT'S OCTOBER! A week ago the swamp cooler was running, and today, the furnace went on. And wouldn't you know, by this weekend it will be back in the 70s. Ah, fall in Utah. I can never get enough of those 50 and 60 degree days. It's always one extreme or the other.