Lately

It's been a while.  Frankly, I just didn't feel like blogging even though I had plenty to write about.  Now I don't feel like putting forth much effort to catch up, but here goes:

We delivered some bulls around Wyoming a few weekends ago. It was a long day, even though some people told us we'd be able to make a day trip out of it.  It's always hard to get the kids to sleep in a hotel room.  They're always so glad to be out of the truck that they need to burn off some major energy.  The night we stayed in Wyoming we got both kids asleep at a somewhat decent hour and I thought to myself, "ah, the kids are sound asleep and it's only 10:30.  We'll all get some good sleep, eat a good breakfast, and feel refreshed for the long drive tomorrow."  Jonathan even splurged on a room with a King bed so we'd have some room if we had to share it with Maggie.  It was heaven...  

Until 2 am when we were ALL wide awake.  I'm not sure what it was, but none of us were going to be falling asleep any time soon, so at 4:00 we decided we'd just hit the road again.  I was really looking forward to the hotel breakfast too.  I don't know what it is about hotel waffle irons, but I really love them.  The kids slept most of the way home, which was expected and nice.  We were told it would be easier to go home through Dubois and Togwotee Pass rather than through Pinedale.  It wasn't.  The majority of the drive was completely covered with snow and really slow going. The only comforting thought through the pass was that the snow banks on each side of the road were so high that if we were to slide we'd be more like a bowling ball within bumpers than a truck tumbling down a mountainside.  We were the only vehicle on the road so we didn't have to worry about hitting someone.  I'm sure it's a beautiful drive under normal circumstances, but it was still very dark so we couldn't tell and didn't care at that point.  We just wanted to get home.

On a side note, I expected Big Piney to be a little more, well, to be a little more piney.  It wasn't how I pictured it at all.  It's neither big, or piney.  Where do towns like that get their names when it's not the reality?  We had to drop some bulls off there, but we never got directions to the guys place and we couldn't get a hold of him.  So while Jonathan was fueling the truck up at the gas station there he asked another guy pumping if he knew the guy and/or where he lived.

"I just saw him at The Watering Hole.  Let me pay for this and then you can follow me.  I'll take you right to him." replied the man.

Long story short...Jonathan went into the local bar to track the guy down.  It looked like the whole town was there.  Hey, maybe that's how they came up with the name; after a few drinks the place appeared a lot more coniferous than it actually was.  I tried to get a picture of Jonathan at the bar, but as soon as I got the camera ready they were walking out of the bar together and I didn't want the guy to notice.  Luckily, the guy didn't seem too drunk.    

  

Red Canyon, Wyoming

That concludes this year's bull delivery adventures. The South Dakota trip didn't work out because the guy picked them up in Wyoming, so we didn't have to go all the way.  The kids did a lot better than I expected with all of our trips.  Maggie was more impatient on our Wyoming trip, but she was still good.

Our neighbors had to bring their little two month old down to Primary Children's Medical Center.  She had jaundice that wasn't clearing up and their doctor sent them to PCMC.  A biopsy of her liver diagnosed her with Biliary Atresia. I have been thinking about them a lot. It has been neat to see how quickly the ward pulled together to organize a ward fast for them. Thankfully her surgery went well.  It breaks my heart to see such innocent children have to go through so much.

The other day was absolutely beautiful!  While Lane napped, Maggie and I worked in the yard for a good three hours! Well, I worked and she played.  It was rejuvenating.  We still have way too much snow where the drifts were, but we can at least see bare ground now; it does still exist :)  Come to think of it, this was on April Fool's Day, which was mother nature's joke on us since it's been cold and super windy since and is going to be for a while. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Maggie had the most fun being pushed around in the wheel barrow. I got my vitamin d and my exercise.