Life, with Grandchildren, Part 2

It was a Sunday morning when the next carload of grandchildren arrived...oops there were three children and a dog. Ben was a little beagle who was thrilled to have two weeks of very few restrictions. He was not well favored by several of the residents but he was tolerated.
He loved following the trail of a bunny rabbit, especially at 3am. Poor Alex had to roll out of bed and shut him up.

Andre was always hungry for some "homemade bread"! His first question when he arrived was, "Do you have any homemade bread??" We heard it so often we were afraid he would turn into the Pillsbury dough boy!!

One afternoon we decided to go looking for a hot springs that we had heard about. We read on the internet it was a 2 mile hike under a canopy of douglas fire trees. Sounded like my kind of hike, all shaded. Alex didn't want to go so he stayed home with Great Grandma.  We had about a 35 minute drive to the trailhead. At first we all stuck together but as the trail got steeper, Martin and Rob walked on ahead. The canopy of douglas fir trees never materialized, a fire had burned the whole mountainside.

The trail was about like a cow path. I walked slower and slower till soon I was walking alone. Andre came running back to me, he decided I needed a body guard in case a bear came after me. He had a stick, (gun) he was going to shoot the bear with.

Well, maybe he would just hit him on the head and the bear would run. Thankfully we never met up with a bear, my escort was making way too much noise to see any kind of wildlife.  After walking for several miles we finally came upon the hot springs. It was worth every bit of the walk, we just wished we would have started earlier so we could stay in the water longer.  The warm water felt so good on our tired feet

Walking back was a lot easier, it seemed like it was all downhill. We also had a little boy singing, "The Ants go Marching"...all 10 to 12?  verses, we didn't have to worry about bear on the way back either.

Andre wanted something that he wasn't allowed to have. He got quite upset and declared he was leaving! "And I'm not coming back till cwollege" He stomped up the stairs, he was gone so long that we forgot about his threat. Sometime later he was looking in the refrigerator.
 Leah said "Hey, what are you doing? Get out of there!"
"I'm looking for food to take with me"
Then we noticed his duffle bag sitting by the door, two water bottles in the side pockets.
"Oh no, nobody takes food when they run away", Leah told him.
But I'm just a little boy, I will get hungry and die if I don't have food."
"You have to hunt for your food. You catch a rabbit and find a sharp stone and skin it, then..." she remembered the burn ban was in effect because of all the forest fires so.."you lay it out in the sun to dry, then when it is hard you can eat it." Andre did not look impressed with her story but he shrugged his shoulders, picked up his duffle and struggled out the door. It looked like he had all his earthly possessions in there, as hard as it was to carry.
A little while later he was back, heading for the steps.
"I thought you left" his mother commented
"I need more underwear"was the mumbled reply
I just about lost it, but his mother raised her eyebrows and said, "I'm impressed!!"
While he was still looking for extra underwear, Caroline, a cousin,  came to play with Allie for the afternoon. Andre decided to put his plans on hold for a bit!!

Allison and Caroline played dress up all afternoon. They even snagged a handsome prince.

Alex is becoming quite the young man. We didn't dare take his picture until he combed his hair. Sometimes it took him so long to comb his hair I forgot I was supposed to get a picture.

We took the family to Hell's Canyon. It was so smoky we didnt get any good scenery pictures.

Sometimes you just have to work with what you can get.

One Sunday we went out to Washington to church. On the way home we stopped at a rest area. Everyone got out except Alex and I. He sat up and looked around then reclined back on the seat. "Grandma," he said, "if you see any pretty girls walking past, wake me up."   "I surely will" I said. Just then I saw a very pretty girl walking out of the restroom, heading our way. "Here comes one," I whispered. He shot up, looked around, , "where, where" "Right there", I said and pointed to his sister Allison. "Awww, Grandma!! he moaned as he flopped back on the seat.

Our neighbor has a small pony the children like to ride. Alex and Allison rode him but when Andre got on the pony, it took off running. Andre was holding on tight till he eventually got bounced loose and hit the dust. He wouldn't get back on unless somebody would lead the pony.

            A real western outfit!!

Life, with Grandchildren. Part 1

I know winter is upon us, but I didn't have much time to write over the summer months. So I'm  going to sneak a few summer blogs in here.

As the summer flew by on wings, we had many visitors pass through our doors. Among our visitors were several families of grandchildren. We had one batch of grandchildren running in and out for almost a month.

We picked up Jaci and Karen in Iowa the 10th of June. They got a ride from PA with Rob's cousin. We also met up with our youngest daughter, Amanda and her husband Nate. We brought the four of them and their luggage, back to Idaho with us, in our 5 passenger car. What didn't fit on the roof, fit in the car, miraculously!! We were sardined in the car for 25 hours and still loved each other when we got home. There were several times we wanted to throw Mr. Bop-it out the window and once we threatened Karen if she didn't stop giggling we would exchange her for a suitcase on the roof. Amanda and Nate stayed with us for about 2 weeks, then they flew back to PA. Jaci and Karen stayed until their parents came out the last day of June.

We spent the next several weeks filling each hour with memories! Jaci made us her famous soft pretzels, (which we devoured immediately!) swept floors and was grandpas right hand man. Karen was my girl Friday! She washed the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, even scrubbing the dreaded outhouse!! We even got a chance to go rock hunting with a professional rock hound. He told us to fill our pockets with marbles and every time we found a rock we were supposed to put a marble in its place. When we lost all our marbles we were rock hounds. Jaci is now a confirmed rock hound!!

I thought life couldn't get any sweeter and then their parents and younger siblings arrived. The two little girls had never been to "I-de-ho" before so they were super excited to see where we lived. They reminded me of twins even though they are 15 months apart. They did everything together, even getting in trouble together.

The parents said they were only here 5 minutes when the first catastrophic event happened but I think they were here a little longer than that. We have a french door with a sliding screen that opens onto the deck. One little girl was inside and wanted to go out, she didn't see the screen was shut and tried to walk right through it. Her dad and grandpa were both in the room and both had some things to say that brought on the tears. It took the two men a few minutes to smooth out the wrinkles in the door and get it sliding again. They both sat down on the couch and continued their conversation while the mom comforted the little girl. Suddenly there was another clatter at the screen door. The other little girl, completely oblivious to what had just happened, was outside and wanted to come in, only she didn't walk through the door, she ran through it. I don't think I ever saw two men get off a couch so fast. I thought their words were a little harsh but I was just the grandmother, who knew nothing about fixing screen doors!! Now we had another little girl in tears. The mother was ready to pack her children up and head back to PA. The grandmother was also in tears because the very day she had been looking forward to for weeks, was falling apart before her eyes!! Meanwhile the men took the screen door off the track and worked for about a half hour to get all the wrinkles smoothed out. The little girls remembered to open the screen door after that and we have a memory that, even now, we can look back on and laugh!! And the screen door?? It works better now than it did before the little girls ran through it!

One highlight they got to experience was the July 4th parade and porcupine race. It was a fun day!!

Our time together went fast, way too fast! It was their last evening, July 14th, we had eaten supper and the family was carrying their suitcases to the car when the older girls came running in, "Grandma, there's something wrong with Joseph." I went out to look at the cat, he would disappear for 3 or 4 days at a time since his pal, the dog, died. Now that I think of it Joseph and Judge were never apart. Where the one was, the other wasn't far away. There was definitely something wrong with Joseph, he already looked like he was on his way out. Jesse walked over and said, "He looks dehydrated to me!" Which triggered Jaci's memory, when she mowed the lawn she dumped out his water dish and never refilled it. So now we had another girl in tears...thanks Jess!! There was no way that caused his so called dehydration, we have water troughs for the cattle and the cat can reach them, he has lived here all his life so he knows where the best waterholes are!  After telling all this to Jaci, I went back in the house. This wasn't the send off I was hoping to give these girls, we have enough tears at our partings without crying over a cat yet!!  Jaci continued to work with Joseph, making him a bed in the old doghouse,  she also got him up to eat and drink before the family headed east for PA. The girls were all in tears as their van drove away, but I still wasn't sure if it was for me or the cat. Jaci texted me several times to see how Joseph was doing. The next morning I dreaded telling her that Joseph didn't make it. She took the news pretty well and that made me feel a whole lot better too!!

I had about 3 weeks to get ready for the next family's arrival....

The Sun will Shine Again

The weatherman and a host of other folks that think they know what the weather will do, have been predicting all summer that we are headed for a worse winter than 2016. What could be worse than almost 80 inches of snow?

Well, I will tell you!!

For the past week the temperatures have plummeted to the mid teens at night and haven't even reached 32 during the day. The sun?? I don't remember when we saw the sun last.  Fog has also blanketed the valley, it is quite dismal to say the least. Day after day of fog is not a cheery sight.

We still have cows out on pastureland. We had planned to vaccinate the cows we have here at home, that haven't been worked yet, then bring another batch home tomorrow. Our final group of cows will have to wait till next week to be brought home. The weatherman said today was supposed to be very sunny. By 9:30 we knew we weren't going to see any sun, so we bundled up and went out to face the elements. The cows behaved surprisingly well. We only had two that thought they needed to jump over the moon, they only made it over the pasture fence. They will have to wait out there till tomorrow and hopefully we can get them in with the next batch of cows. 

We took the vaccines out in a cooler to stay cool, then had to put them in the pickup to keep them from freezing. Rob had to get the digging iron to chip the frozen ground away from the chute so we could get the headlock open. There were a few other inconveniences that were caused by the frigid temps. It was starting to look like a day full of irritations. My toes were starting to feel like they would break if I bent them. We still had to break ice on water troughs and feed some hay to the cows we had just vaccinated. 

Cold and crabby I headed for the house. I find it hard to be thankful for cold weather, especially when I saw the temperature was 24 degrees at 2:30 in the afternoon. We weren't even close to the first day of winter yet. 

When Rob came in sometime later we were discussing the day. He said, "Do you realize we didn't have any wind today?" The wind!! I had completely forgotten what the wind can do in conditions like this. Wind would have escalated our problems. Since he reminded me that our day could have been a lot worse, I am grateful we made it through as easy as we did.  Nobody knows exactly how our winter will unfold but I hope the sun shines again...soon!!

The Hazards of Calving Season

As we were feeding the cows, we noticed a tiny calf walking amonst the cows. Our first live calf of the season. I tried to keep my eye on her but I soon lost track of her.
We finished feeding hay then went back to the barn.

Rob needed to clean several feet of snow out of the corral, and spread several bales of straw around before we could go out and bring mama and baby in.

We got the mule and headed out to the herd.

Rob was planning to grab the calf, jump on the back of the mule and I would drive the mule back to the barn...fast....but not too fast that I lose the mama cow.

Sounds perfect...right?? Wrong!!

First, we couldn't find the calf.

After scanning each hay pile, we saw a bump in the hay that was twitching a little. With  my heart in my throat, Rob ran to the bump and uncovered it.

The calf was still alive!! He grabbed the calf and stood it up. As soon as mama cow saw the calf she started trotting toward it. Rob picked up the calf and ran for the mule.

Rob, the cow, and the dog got to the mule at the same time. When the cow saw the dog, she went into "mad bull mama" mode. The cowardly dog ran for Rob, so did the cow. She got her head against Rob and started to push. He dropped the calf, the cow started pawing the ground and bellered. She was kicking at the calf, I was terrified she was going to kill it. The dog ran to the front of the mule so I yanked him in with me, holding on to him. Rob was still trying to get the calf but the cow kept coming at him. Finally he realized it was futile and the cow was mad enough to charge him.

 We went back to the barn for the tractor and loader. This time we shut the dog out of the barn yard.

Now Rob's  strategy was...drive the tractor right up to the calf, he would pull the calf into the bucket and I would raise the bucket so the cow couldn't climb in with him. Then drive slowly back to the barn.

I saw holes in that theory right off. I am not experienced at raising and lowering the bucket for one thing. But...I will try!!

We drove right up to the calf, Mama cow watching our every move. Rob grabs the calf and pulls her onto the bucket. I slowly raise the bucket and start driving slowly back to the corral. Mama cow is following close behind. Everything is going well till we get within sight of the corral. Then the stupid cow turns tails and runs wide open back to the herd.

Rob carried the calf into the corral and laid it on the straw, all the while he is bellering like a calf trying to get mama's attention. She is watching from afar, she knows what the corral is, and she wants no part of it.

"Ok, lets get the mule, I'll get on the back with the calf and you make a circle out through the cows, when she starts to follow us, drive back to the corral. Not don't drive too fast, but don't drive too slow either, I don't want her on here with me", he says!

Great!! I love those kind of instuctions.

 I drive out through the cows with the calf, the cow actually starts to follow us. Rob is on the back telling me, "slow down your going too fast. Speed up a little she's breathing on me." We hippity hop our way back to the corral with the cow breathing down our necks. She follows us right up to the gate of the corral. She watches as Rob carries the calf back to the bed of straw. I'm still sitting in the mule afraid to look at her for fear she will see red and charge me. I needn't have worried, she once more turned and ran back to the rest of the cows.

About now I was wishing we had invested in something a lot less troublesome...like.... chickens!!

I thought we were quitting so we both went in the house. I figured she would eventually want her calf so she would come in to it, she already knew where it was.

Rob was sure she was giving up on it and was losing interest in it. When he went back outside after lunch he decided to walk out to the pasture and try to drive her in on foot. That almost ended very badly when she started to chase him. He took off at a trot, and she lost interest. Thankfully!!

He was still determined to get her in the corral with the calf. He got the 4 wheeler and herded a bunch of cows with her, they all went into the corral except her, she slipped around him and ran back out to the pasture again. He drove out and got her again, with the cows in the corral she went right in.


He weeded all but one of the cows out. He figured if she was that crazy he better leave one cow in there with her for company!

Next time???
...He made himself a special calf carrier for the back of the mule.
It was a lifesaver...his and mine!!

Driving Skills I Didn't Know Existed

The whole trouble started when Rob came in the house and kindly asked me if I would help him.  A cow had a calf up on the butte, in the middle of the sage brush. We are talking snow! Deep snow!! and thick sage. Why does he even ask? He already knows this isn't going to end well!!

He said he needed me to go along in case he had to carry the calf very far through the deep snow and if the cow got raunchy.....I was supposed to start screaming to distract her. I asked him how he knows I can scream...he said he hears me everytime I think the tractor is going to roll, when we are feeding hay! Great! And I thought that thing was soundproof! 

We head out across the feed lot, up and down hills, through mud and snow. As we drive down the last hill and head out across the valley, the snow gets deeper. The tractor starts complaining. I can see the cow, he's right, she is up on the butte. He tries to take the tractor straight up the hill but the snow is possibly 2 or more feet deep. The tractor gets stuck part way up, after backing down and starting up again, as only a man knows how to do, we finally make it to the top. 

He drove right up to the calf. The calf was laying right in the middle of a sagebush. The cow was standing there prancing around, and I was ready to go into action! Rob put the calf on the bucket. The cow watching very warily. Rob quickly jumped in the tractor and started backing slowly down the butte. The calf tried to stand up and promptly fell out of the bucket. Stopping the tractor, Rob jumped out and put the calf back in. The calf was not cooperating at all so Rob came back to the tractor and said, "I'm going to sit in the bucket with the calf, you back the tractor down the hill!"

 "Awww noo, Awww noo, you aren't doing this to me again." He wasn't even listening, he was already in the bucket with the calf. 

I put the tractor in reverse, and slowly started backing down the hill. I felt like I was skiing backwards and my ski instructor was...in a bucket!! I started talking to the Lord, "I can't do this, you are on your own now. If you want me to live through this, you are going to have to take the wheel." 

I tried to follow the tracks that Rob had made earlier but I never backed a tractor down a hill before so I was weaving back and forth. I was starting to make myself seasick. I would look out the front window for affirmation, and quickly turn to look out the back window to make sure I was following the tracks. I had to lower and raise the bucket periodically so the cow could see the calf or that I didn't lose the occupants in the bucket. Slipping and sliding, the Lord got us safely to the bottom of the hill and that was when I realized Rob intended for me to back the tractor the whole way to the corral. I was going to cross the feedlot!

 

I backed out of the snow onto the area we feed the cows everyday and sunk right there. I tried going forward and backward but I was tight. Rob got the calf out of the bucket and tried his hand at moving the tractor. It was not going anywhere!!

 

 When I stepped out, the bottom step was level with the ground, the hitch was at ground level too. I had the bucket too close to the ground when I was driving down the last slope so I was dragging mud, which didn't help the situation at all.  That's when I also noticed I never took the emergency brake off when I got in the drivers seat. The tears started flowing, he was never going to ask me for help again!!

 

Rob called the neighbor, Jimmy. Till Jimmy got here, Rob carried the calf back to the corral, thankfully the mother didnt give us any trouble and followed him.

 

Jimmy came while we were still working with the calf so we got the ATV and Jimmy followed us back out to the tractor. He had his Kubota, but he couldn't budge the tractor. He called another neighbor, Travis, to bring his tractor. While they waited for Travis, they got fence posts and wiggled them under the front tractor tires. They used the bucket to lift the front end, which was also a challenge, the bucket kept sinking in the mud too!! 

 

Travis arrived with his McCormick, he hooked up to Jimmy and they pulled the tractor out of the mire. Travis was real encouraging, he said, "This is only the first time, this happens at least three times every spring."

 

Well we broke a record...Travis has had to come pull us out at least five or six times.

 

Now I know there are worse things than driving in the snow!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

New Driving Skills

There wasnt anything I dreaded more than driving a car. When it came time to get my drivers license, I was the biggest fraidy cat east of the Mississippi. I don't even remember how many of those little paper permits I went through. Finally mom said she wasn't renewing my permit anymore, and I was going to be a toothless little old lady waiting for a ride everywhere I wanted to go. I think the "toothless little old lady" scared me more than "waiting for a ride".  So I bit the bullet and took my test.

My first lesson riding with dad cured him of ever riding with me again. We had two cars, they were both station wagons. The one had power steering and power brakes, the other one did not. There was nothing 'power' about that old Dodge Dart wagon. When Dad announced that I was driving him to Harrisburg in the Dart, every one of my grey hair roots withered and died!
 I didn't hear too many groans from the passenger seat till we got to the Harrisburg exit. Driving on the interstate I had forgotten what car I was driving.  As we sped toward the stop sign, Dad kind of rose up out of his seat, he was pushing on the dashboard and the floorboard. I got stopped, just barely!! When I had to make a right turn, I might as well have been driving a semi, I took up every available lane. I got one of his famous frowns and a few choice words that I don't remember. I can almost guarantee he was wishing he had never suggested this little outing.

My first and only car was a 67 Volkswagon bug. I loved that little car. He was definitely not a Herbie, though he did have a terrible attitude. I had to push him to get him started more than I used the key.
When Rob and I got married, I gave the little car to my brother. Rob hated that car. I could never figure out why!!  :)

As the years passed, I actually got to the place where I enjoyed driving. As long as it was just the car.  Rob wanted to teach me to drive his tractors but that was not happening, I would milk the cows before I would learn to drive a tractor.

One day the hired man was busy, Rob needed somebody to haul water to the fields he was spraying. My first reaction was "I can't!!" I could drive his pickup, but a trailer load of water hooked on the back? forget it!
He got the truck and trailer pointed in the right direction, I drove it to the sprayer, he turned it around and I drove it back to the farm.
Then came the day he needed another load of water!! I had to back the trailer beside the milkhouse and fill the tanks with water. I don't know how I did it without knocking down the milkhouse, but I did get the second load back to him.

Fast forward several years, I have changed my position. I am now the biggest fraidy cat west of the Mississippi. Since moving to Idaho, I have driven every vehicle on the place. Several occasions it has been with tears running down my face, hands gripping the steering wheel, praying I survive so I can tell my rancher husband that I quit!! ....but I  never do. I continue to be a gluton for punishment.

I must confess, there are times I have him praying he survives so he can tell me I'm fired...but he never does!

He taught me to drive the tractor, a vehicle I have been deathly afraid of for more years than I can count. He stands on the wagon and throws off hay for the cows as I drive the tractor through the pasture. There are times I have him hanging on for dear life when I go a little too fast, or else he is back there doing the two-step trying not to fall off because I have either stopped too suddenly or else taken off too quickly.

My most harrowing experience was several weeks ago. Rob had bought a F350 diesel pickup and was trying to sell his F250. The man coming to look at it had a two hour drive. When he was about 20 miles from our place he called Rob, he had a set back and wondered if Rob would bring the truck out to him.

The day before we had a lot of drifting. The snowplows had gone past several times so he figured the roads would be open.

Rob gave me a choice of trucks I wanted to drive, I don't remember agreeing to this rendezvous but I wanted the truck that handled the easiest. I found myself in the 350, following him out the driveway. About a mile out the road I started to wonder what possessed me to think that I could even do this. The road was only one lane and our neighbor Travis's 4-wheeler was sitting smack dab in the middle. I didnt even look to see what Travis was up to, I kept my eye on the truck in front of me. Rob dug into the snowdrift and made it around the 4wheeler. I followed his tracks into the snowdrift and around the 4wheeler. If it doesn't get any worse than this  I think I can handle it. We went another mile, around the corner and I realized this part of the road wasn't plowed. There was a path through the snowdrifts, the drifts were rubbing both sides of the truck, and were as high as the windows. Rob was still going, so I kept following him. I was gripping the steering wheel so hard my fingers went to sleep, the tears were running again. I started talking, pretty loud, " Lord, I don't know what your plan is, I'm not even sure what you are trying to teach me. This is not my idea of fun. I did not move to Idaho to drive through four feet of snow, I don't even like snow!!" As I kept talking, I gradually became calmer. We have 4 neighbors in a seven mile stretch, all but one had a vehicle on the road that I had to go around. At one point something hit the side of the truck with a terrible bang, I thought I had lost Rob's shovel. It was still on the back when we got to the meeting place, so I must have just got a little too close to a snowbank.

The fellow bought the pickup so I was all too happy to let Rob back in the drivers seat.

I don't know what God.... (and Rob) have planned for me the next several months but I hope it has nothing to do with "learning new driving skills!!"

A Sunday Afternoon Adventure!

On Sunday January 22, 2017 the sun started to rise, something that doesn't happen very often these days. The temperature was a little cooler than predicted but it was supposed to get up to 33-35 degrees by the afternoon. There was also a threat of snow in the forecast. 3 - 5 inches.

We went out to feed the cows early. Rob hooked the float up to the water trough, hoping the weatherman was right. He wasn't crazy about coming home to frozen water and a broken float, but this would be the 6th Sunday we missed church. We all needed some church fellowship!! If we left Payette right away, we might even get home before the snow got too bad. It was supposed to start here at noon.

We got the cows fed in record time. The sky still gave the look of a beautiful day. We got ready and left for church. We had to use 4WD till we got to the highway (about 20 miles) but that is normal. You don't realize how much a worship service means to you till you don't have it for awhile. "Leaving right after church" didn't happen. It was about 12:30 till we were heading north again. It had been snowing off and on all through the service but I tried not to worry. When we left the house I noticed Rob had his boots, coat, and gloves in the back seat. I sure hoped we wouldn't need them. 

We left the highway and turned onto the snow covered roads. It was snowing harder, it was also getting harder to follow the tracks of the previous vehicles. We went about 6 miles when we came upon a truck stuck in the snowbank. Another truck was hooking up to him to pull him out.

That didn't work!! Another bigger pickup came along, he put chains on, and pulled him out. It was still a struggle. By the time they got him out there were 5 pick ups setting there. Thankfully, only one was stuck.

We were the only ones heading in the same direction as the man that was stuck. We continued about 200 feet when we came upon the same truck stuck again. We didn't have chains so Rob knew he couldn't pull him out.

When he walked up to us he said, "I don't know what I am doing wrong but I'm not 

doing too good!!" He was an elderly gentleman. You could see he was really frustrated. The guys that had pulled him out the first time were taking the chains off their truck. Rob went back to ask them if they could pull him out again.  They put their chains back on, and pulled him out. After talking with him, they decided to drive his truck home for him. He was having trouble seeing the road. Rob told us he was going to offer to drive the man's truck for him since we were going the same direction but he wasn't sure I could drive his truck in the conditions we were now facing. It was starting to get downright scary!!

We continued on our merry way. 

The sky, the snow and the road were the same color. I thought fences were to keep cattle in but now I know they help to keep you focused on where the road should be in a snowstorm. 😊

When we passed our neighbor Jimmy's ranch, I started to breathe a little easier. We only had two miles to go yet. 

We were within site of our neighbor Travis's driveway, and had 1 mile to go when Rob exclaimed, "Hey, where did the road go!!" I didn't even have time to process his question, when he jerked the wheel to the right. The truck took one diving leap and we were in the biggest snowdrift I have ever seen. There was no doubt about it, we were in and we were tight!! He had already made use of the boots, coat, gloves and shovel, so now he was in business again. 

He had tried to call both Travis and Jimmy but his service wasn't working properly. He connected with Jimmy but before he could finish telling Jimmy his dilemma his phone went dead.

As he was busy shoveling, Travis came out his lane to feed his cows, and saw us. 

He brought his tractor over, the first pull didnt budge the truck. He had to change his postion a little, then the second pull got us out. 

As Travis was pulling us out, Jimmy was coming down the road in his pickup. He wasn't sure where we were but as he came out his driveway he saw our tracks so he told his wife he was going to follow Rob's tracks. She told him that probably wasn't a good idea, especially after they saw where we had been!! 

That last mile home, Rob and I, both had our heads sticking out the window making sure the snow drifts stayed a safe distance from the truck. 

When we walked into the house it was 3:00. A trip that took about 1 1/2 hours longer than normal. Tell me again, what is normal???

Even though the sun didn't shine all day, we had a little bit of a sunset. 

A reminder that God knows just what we need and makes provision for us before we ask or think!
A beautiful ending to another wintery Idaho day!!