There's Snow Place Like Home!

We spent part of the weekend with Jonathan's family so that we could attend the sealing of our little nephew to his parents. It was a lovely day and I'm glad we were able to make it down for it. I couldn't help but feel thankful for my little family and the blessing of the gospel in our lives.

We hated to cut the weekend short, but the forecast was calling for one ugly storm to hit and we wanted to try to beat it home. Plus Jonathan needed to be at church for Sunday school duties, so we left on Saturday afternoon. We got on the road a little later than we wanted to, which put us driving in the dark for part of the way. The roads had quite a bit of black ice on them at that point. Lane woke up about 45 minutes from home and was ready to eat. We decided that a few exits North would be the easiest place to stop. We were stopped within view of the highway over-pass and within a few minutes of stopping we noticed a bunch of cars stop and turn on their hazards. People were running across the highway back to another car that was stopped. The headlights on the car were not as bright and I assumed they had slid down into the median.

We watched as the emergency vehicles showed up, but we still couldn't tell exactly what had happened.

When Lane finished eating we were on our way again, which granted us a better view of the accident. It was then that I realized the reason the headlights were so dim was because the vehicle was rolled onto its side. It made me sick to think that we were just minutes ahead of that car. Had we continued going instead of getting off to feed Lane, it could have been us that hit the black ice. I like to think that there's a reason we got off the highway where we did. Remarkably, we found out later that the man walked away from the accident with no injuries. The black ice forced him into the guard rail, causing his vehicle to flip. We passed two or three more bad accidents before we finally made it home. Making it home safe from a trip like that sure makes

you count your blessings!

The ugly storm hasn't died down any. I had errands I needed to run today, but you couldn't pay me enough to go outside right now. Not to mention that I'm snowed in and couldn't leave even if I wanted to. The wind blew through the night (and is still blowing) creating some daunting drifts. I was too lazy to correct the lighting in the pictures, so you can't really tell just how tall the drifts are. I'd be willing to bet we have at least a few six foot drifts in out yard right now. School was canceled today and I think businesses should have closed too. If the weather keeps this up we might be having Thanksgiving dinner with just our little family. Luckily I have most of the ingredients on hand in case I can't ever make it to the store.

On a warmer note, Lane giggled for the first time this morning. It melted my heart. We were standing by the window watching Jonathan shovel snow when it happened. Jonathan thinks Lane must have been laughing about Daddy being outside in the cold weather while he was warm and toasty inside watching.

Anyway, as a result of the weather, I have no motivation to do anything today. I have cleaned a little, but I am still in my pajamas. They seem so much warmer than regular clothes, that's why I've never changed. Plus I know I'm not going anywhere and I didn't plan on anyone seeing me. (A Rocky Mountain Power employee just knocked on the door telling me they needed to trim our fir tree away from the power line, so he saw me in my pajamas. That always seems to happen...not that I make it a habit of not getting ready for the day.)

I've just been listening to Christmas music, which is about the only thing that is keeping me from totally cursing the weather. I'm contemplating starting a fire in the wood stove and nestling up by it to read a good book...but going to the library was one of the errands I needed to run today so I don't have anything new to read. Bummer.