Churches

When I was a girl, growing up in Richmond, Kentucky... I lived on Tates Creek Ave, maybe a quarter mile from Main Street. We could walk to Main street and from there, we could walk anywhere. Tates Creek Market... Westover... Sunset... Downtown to JC Penney's, the Glyndon Hotel, Jett's (Men's shop), even the Town Cinema, with it's one movie screen. On the way to "town", you passed many many churches. St. Mark's Catholic church, a Lutheran Church, the First Presbyterean church, The First Methodist Church, the First Baptist Church ... It seem like there were at least 6, if not 8 beautiful church buildings. Every Sunday, the church bells rang, the parking lots were full. Many of these church buildings were older, but with beautiful stained glass and ornamental trim and of course, the church bells. When we went to church, we drove past all these beautiful buildings to 2nd Street or Water Street, I can't even remember now, but some dingy side street, across from the Richmond Register building to an old Pizza joint, where we held church every Sunday morning. The building was old, smelled bad, had raggedy carpet, but it had been loved into being a Mormon church building.

One day, I asked my mom, why don't we go to one of these other churches, with their pretty buildings and bells and windows? She replied, "Because our Church is called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church we go to has Jesus' name in the title because it is His church. None of these other churches bears the name of Jesus Christ."

That made sense, I guess, to a seven year old. But one day, wonder of wonders, a new building was started right across from the end of Tates Creek on Main Street. A sign was placed in front of the building. My friend Sabena and I had walked up to the Tates Creek Market and could read the sign. It said, "Future home of The Church of Christ". We were so excited! Sabena wasn't Mormon, but she knew I could only go to a church with the name of Christ in it. "You can go to church right here, now," she said.

We raced all the way home to tell my mom that a church with Jesus Christ's name in was being built at the end of our street. That's when I learned that there was more to our church than just the name (no offense to my Church of Christ friends). The church I belonged to was literally the gospel of Jesus Christ, restored to the earth in these latter-days by the boy prophet Joseph Smith. It was organized the same way Jesus Christ organized the Church when he was on the earth, with prophets, apostles, teachers, evangelists. My church taught charity and love, service and kindness, just as Jesus Christ had taught in the New Testament. My church taught that there was an additional record of scripture, called the Book of Mormon, that was another testament of Jesus Christ and his dealings with the people here in the America's. Of course, much of this I didn't really understand as a child. I had to take my Mother's word for it.

But as I grew, my testimony grew. I learned more about the gospel, which in turn increased by knowledge of the truthfulness of the things my mother taught. I have had my own witness that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Jesus Christ's church restored, through fervent prayer and study of these things.

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Yesterday I was grumbly. Mostly because I had to take the LAST of our money and deposit it into another bank to pay our October bills... And then there is no more. How could this happen? Why couldn't that client pay us the large sum of money he owes. Now we have no money left in the account and can only pay ourselves half of the regular salary we typically pay ourselves. I was gripey... Didn't Heavenly Father know that we needed some help here? Couldn't he see that we could use a placement or two?
As I drove to the bank downtown, I realized I would need money for a parking meter. We had used the last of the car change to buy Dallin a water after practice last week. I have no money, I thought grumpily. Kind of out of habit, I said a quick, half-felt prayer. "Heavenly Father, bless that I can find a space where the meter is already paid, cuz I can't afford a parking ticket." Then I went back to thinking grumbling, griping thoughts of how we might lose the house (OK, so I was looking down the road...), what we could sell, etc. I pulled in front of the bank and started digging around the car for any loose change. Eventually I came up with a dime and a nickel and hoped they would be enough to get me in the bank and back.
Without looking at the meter, I deposited the dime, then glanced up to see how much time that would allot me. The meter read 19:00. Heavenly Father had heard my grumbly prayer.
I can't believe how much He loves me, I thought as I crossed the street and started up the ramp to the bank. As that thought went through my head, I felt His love come over me. The spirit was so strong. The next thought that went through my head (and it was not my own thought) was "And He is aware of your financial situation." Again, I felt washed by the Spirit and His love. Such a blessing that was for me that day. A strong and overwhelming witness that I am a child of Heavenly Father, who loves me individually and knows what is going on in my life. He is aware... so I don't need to spend useless time worrying about it. He knows... He will help when the time is right.
I love the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Lessons for parents from the Trek

I have always wanted to be a pioneer. As a child I was Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. I wore my bonnet, not on my head, but hanging off my back. My bike was my horse and my dad built me a little cabin out by the garden. I loved pioneer stories. I was awed by their strength and endurance and their amazing faith in Heavenly Father. Pioneers became my heros, my role models. As I grew up, I gained physical strength, endurance, long suffering and until I knew that I would have made a great pioneer. Then, several years ago, Bishop Jamison burst my bubble. “How do you think you would like being a pioneer,” he asked. “You don’t even like to camp.” OK, OK. That is true. I don’t like to sleep on the ground, outside. I don’t like to be dirty and have bugs crawling around me. I don’t like my bedding to be wet with dew and I don’t really even care to cook outside. But, really… who does? I bet that a lot of the pioneers didn’t like to camp either.
When Bishop Squires called and asked Troy if we could go on the trek, my sweet husband told him that he would prefer not to, but that if his wife (that’s me) heard that we’d been asked and he had turned it down, he would be in big trouble! I was so excited. To push a handcart, to try my strength and see if I was as strong as a pioneer! As we were making preparations to go, someone asked if I had tarps that we could take. “Sure,” I said. “What are they for?” “Well, your sleeping on the ground, under the stars.” What? Outside? Not even a tent? Wait a minute…
I have to tell you that the thing I gained the most appreciation for on the trek was my husband. It was amazing to watch him with our “family” of 7 kids, bringing them together, getting to know them and loving them. It was fun to work together with him, talking about the needs of the kids, the spiritual concepts and experiences that he shared. He is truly an amazing guy.
The theme of this years trek was “Walk with me”, taken from Moses 6:34. The scripture reads, “Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.” Our purpose was to live worthy of his spirit and to walk with Him daily.
The second thing that impressed me about being a “Ma and Pa” couple on the trek was how my family of seven kids that barely knew each other came together in unity so quickly. In Mosiah 18, Alma has established the Church. He then teaches his priests in verse 21 “…there should be no contention… and hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.”
So I thought that for the remainder of my talk, I would share with you some of the direction we received as Ma’s and Pa’s to help pave the way for that unity in our families. My thought is that because some of these things helped me as a parent, they may also apply to you and your families to help develop more unity.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 gives a pattern for developing family togetherness in our homes. It teaches us to “establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of order, a house of God.”
In establishing a house of prayer, we were asked to have family prayer with our trekkers at least every morning and evening. We began the trek with a family prayer. Prayer brings unity because you are gathered together, asking help and blessings to extend to all family members. You are pleading for the spirit to guide you and abide in you. Along with family prayer, we had family hugs. After demonstrating the “Cinnamon Roll” hug, Morgan, who was our “big brother” of our group said, “It was a little awkward, I’m not going to lie to you.” But by the end of the trek, we had kids coming from all over, asking about the Cinnamon Roll. The thing about family hugs is that it’s an opportunity for children to express love to each other and to feel love from parents and brothers and sisters. The other thing we were asked to do was to gather in a tight circle so that eye contact could be made with everyone and that no one would be left out.
In establishing a house of faith, we were asked to hold morning and evening family time. During that time, we again would be in a close circle. Troy asked different kids to share favorite scriptures and why they liked them, the kids shared their feeling of why they were on the trek and each kid shared a story of a pioneer ancestor. Now, we don’t all have Mormon pioneer ancestors, but regardless, we gain a lot from our ancestors. We learn of their hardships, their joys, and their day to day lives and we gain understanding of knowledge and appreciation for how we should live our lives. We also threw in “trials” for our kids. For instance, Morgan, who was the strongest in our family, got a snake bite and wasn’t able to pull the handcart for 15 minutes. The other kids had to believe that they could pull the handcart without him. After a very short time, Morgan said, “I think I should be done with this snake bit now.”
In our own lives, we face trials as a family and as individuals. We can establish faith by not grumbling, by understanding that these things make us stronger and by praying for individuals who are struggling.
For a house of learning, we were asked as Ma & Pa to do something they called processing. That is to look at experiences that have happened throughout the day, ponder what is going on both spiritually and physically and how those experiences affect every day life. In other words, learn from our life experiences. For example, our company of 4 handcart families were always at the end of the line of 25 handcarts. Whenever we climbed a very steep hill, the first handcart would stop a short distance from the top of the hill to rest. Which left our company in the middle of the hill, having to start our momentum all over again to make it to the top. What can we learn from this experience? How can we apply it to our everyday lives?
As your own family has experiences, learn to talk about them and find life lessons in those experiences. (This process also helps in sharing experiences when you give talks.) We were also asked to have personal study for about 20-30 minutes per day. Again, we developed a house of learning.
To develop a house of order, I found these things interesting. First was the dress code. We were to all be in pioneer clothes, no exceptions. This put us all in a position of equality with all external barriers, images, cliques and popularity removed. What remained were equal and potentially humble families ready to be taught. The kids were asked not to bring any electronics. I did bring my cell phone and every time I brought it out, I couldn’t believe how fast I was drawn back into the world. One of the girls in our family said of all the things she missed, she missed her cell phone the most. Sister Bischoff told me that Bishop Squires had told her that he had attended a multi-stake priest-laurel dance. He noticed that as the kids were dancing with each other, 75% of them were also texting. One of his purposes in removing the electronics was to get the kids to socialize, play and talk with each other. We had huge fun in the games we played and Ninja rolled through the entire group very quickly.
In our own home, we apply this rule on Sunday. No TV, no computer, no I-pods. It is one of my favorite days of the week because we are all truly together. We talk, play and interact for a whole day. It’s also one of the things I enjoy about camping as a family. We have minimal distractions and we are together.
Two other trek rules that apply to a house of order were that Ma’s and Pa’s don’t pull the handcart, rather we were to support and encourage the kids in their pulling. Sometimes it is best to leave the children to figure out problems and situations together without interference from Mom and Dad. This lets them come together in unity. Secondly, Ma and Pa should never do any work by themselves. This rule pierced my heart. It is definitely something I should work on at home. I prefer to assign chores and then do my own work in solitude. But I see the benefit of having children work beside you. Besides learning the correct way to load a dishwasher or weed a garden or can peaches, you are building unity with your child and building memories.
“Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of order, a house of God.” By following this pattern of unity in building our homes, our homes become a house of God.
President Howard W. Hunter, in the April, 1990 General Conference said, “a child has the right to feel that in his home he is safe, that there he has a place of protection from the dangers and evils of the outside world. Family unity and integrity are necessary to supply this need. A child needs parents who are happy in their relationship to each other, who are working happily toward the fulfillment of ideal family living, who love their children with a sincere and unselfish love and who are committed to the family’s success.”
I know that as we work to build family unity, we strengthen testimonies, draw closer to Heavenly Father and learn to depend more on Him for our happiness and our eternal life. I know that Jesus Christ is our big brother and that he lives. He gives us a perfect example to follow and teaches us how to have our “hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.” In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Oh Where, Oh Where did summertime go?

We hosted a family reunion in July, with all my brothers, sister and their spouses and kids, along with Mom. It went much too quickly, but we had a wonderful time, riding the Hiawatha Trail, watching the talent of the kids, eating really good food and visiting.





We re-sided our 1935 home and added larger windows this summer. We discovered that we had absolutely no insulation in the 6 inches between the outer wall and the lathe and plaster. Troy had Dennis double the size of our bedroom window, which greatly suprised me! The home looks amazing now!






My son Robbie has a band,called 3 Years Later. In his band are Merril, Jackson and Mark. Rob sings and plays guitar, Jackson is lead guitar and Merril is the bassist. Mark plays drums. They have been playing together since 7th grade and now are seniors in High School. They have been working to record an album (all original songs) before they finish H.S.

Troy and I also served as Ma & Pa of our Stake Youth pioneer trek. It was so much fun and so rewarding. I've always wanted to be a pioneer; stems from my childhood-- I think I was Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie from age 7 to 10. The kids pushed and pulled handcarts over sand dunes and hills for 3 days. We slept under the stars and worked together to build family unity. Dallin was in our company (of four handcarts -- with a different Ma & Pa) Robbie was in another company toward the front of the line (about 25 handcarts, 6 companies) Rob chose to wear a sombrero (along with a few friends) because it made him happy!




Next up: The Kootenai County fair. Jordon, Charli and Cadie are showing lambs and then selling them. School will start September 2. What a great summer!

The Amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ

Today in our Gospel Essentials Sunday School class, our lesson was on the temple and the work that we do in the temple. One of the blessings of the temple is the sealing power. When most people marry, they marry "til death do we part". In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, those who marry in the temple are married for time and all eternity. Through the Priesthood power held by those with authority from Jesus Christ, we are sealed and bound to our families for eternity if we live righteously.

As we discussed this in our class, an older man who had never heard this doctine before was very quiet. We then began to talk about Baptism for the dead and why we as members of the Church baptize those who have passed on. Heavenly Father loves all his children and wants all of us to return to him. Those who never had a chance to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ in this life are taught in the Spirit World. Because baptism is the first important ordinance in returning to live with Heavenly Father (we sometimes refer to it as the gate to eternal life), we do baptisms by proxy for the dead so that they too may have the opportunity to live with Heavenly Father.

This older gentleman's eyes began to light up as we discussed this. Finally, with great amazement, he said, "Do you mean that if I got baptized in this Church, I could have my mother, who passed 15 years ago, baptized and we could be together forever?" Yes, oh yes. That is what this means. The gospel is so simple and so amazing. I love how the Spirit opens our eyes to understanding!

Getting on with life

So it is May. Where did the past two months go? My brother wanted to know the answer to the mystery of the gate (previouse post) so I will attempt to explain it. WE DON'T KNOW! But here are some of our hypothesis: A cougar (chasing the deer full speed down the hill, catches it as they both hit the gate at the same time, causing the gate to bow... but that doesn't explain why it happened three times in a row--or does it?) The next door neighbor has two wolf hybrid dogs who's electric fence was not working, and there were dog tracks leading back to the neighbors house, maybe they chased the deer. A moose, but why would a moose knock over a gate when it could jump?

At any rate, spring has arrived more than 3 weeks late here. On Mother's day, I got my traditional breakfast in bed, which in theory sounds delightful, until you try to balance a cutting board full of food with a glass of OJ and a glass of milk on your knees, sitting up in bed with a 3 year old bouncing around every where. The point however, is that there were no lilacs to pick for my boquet on my tray. In fact, there were no flowers blooming. It is a really late spring. The lilacs still haven't bloomed, although the bushes have finally budded.

Both Robbie and Dallin have been running on the High School track team. Dallin's fastest mile time is 5:10, Robbie is about 5:20. Both boys have got summer jobs. Robbie is working at Subway and then installing sprinklers with our neighbor again this year. Dallin got a job at the U-Pick farm down the road, where he will be picking rocks (yes, the "grow"), moving sprinkler pipes and planting Christmas Trees. Jordon will be taking over Dallin's mowing jobs to the tune of about $40 a week.

Jordon is playing 6th grade football (which is flag) and is really enjoying it. Next fall he will have to decide whether to run X-C or play football. I think his heart is more into football! He gave up playing banjo and has taken up the guitar, which he also really loves.

Robbie's band, 3 Years Later, is nearing signing a record deal with a small company in Spokane. They have 10 original songs they plan to record and then hopefully will play at several gigs this summer.

Dallin and his friends are playing Hoopfest again this summer. It is the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world (so they say). Last year, his team won all their games, but forfeited to Sunday games, because playing on Sunday is not a way to keep the Sabbath day holy :)

Cadie is attending a volleyball camp this month and is learning more skills toward her dream of playing volleyball in High School. Cadie also won 4th place in her school poetry contest. I will be coaching both Charli and Cadie in fast-pitch softball this summer so that I can be a good "Collier" and pass the tradition on to my children. The girls are also putting together a talent show skit involving very boring poetry reading and aliens. It should be funny.

The girls and Jordon are taking lambs to the fair this summer. We will pick up our babies in the next week or so and see if we can get them fat enough to show!. Charli and Cadie are also enjoying learning to ride the horses and both seem pretty much at ease on them.

Cami is loving her school. In fact, this morning, she came to me and said, "I ready a-go to schoo now". Unfortunately, there is no school on Fridays. She is learning lots and knows her colors, shapes and is learning letters. She still needs intense speech therapy and physical therapy for her stiffness. They want to integrate her in to a regular preschool next year, where she would still receive her therapy, but would be mixed with other children without developmental delays. Her eating is improving. She is still afraid of most fruit, unless it is pureed and any new texture in her mouth she will spit out. But she is eating most things I cook, if they are soft (noodles, chicken pieces, mashed potatoes...)

Troy is at a Livestock Judging training this week, learning to judge livestock at fairs. One more life goal checked off his list! He is also enjoying having his own business and farming on the side. He is putting in an acre garden (oh how that dredges up memories) at the farm and is planting potatoes and onions mostly.

I just hang on for the ride, where ever it may take me, trying to keep everyone's schedules under control, do the laundry and make dinners. A guy did call and ask if I would be interested in writing for his website, LDS Spokane, which he'll be launching the first of next month. Life is beautiful!

Oh Deer... the mystery

So, the deer in our town have never seen so much misery. In the half mile walk from my house to the horses, nearly every morning produces a dead deer, usually hit by a car. This morning, there were three on my walk. Yuck. In all the time I've lived at Newman Lake, I've never hit a deer. In fact, in all my life, I've never hit a deer (or had a deer hit me). Until this winter... My poor car has never seen so much front end damage. This year, I've hit 2 deer, my husband one. When we moved to Newman Lake, the "old timers" told me I wouldn't be a true Newman Laker until I hit a deer. Eight years later, I guess I belong. So this brings me to the mystery:

Out where the horses are, there is a gate at the far end of the pasture. We don't use the gate and the horses don't go down there because there is still two feet of snow on the ground. Saturday morning, when I went to feed the horses I saw that the gate was flat on the ground. What? How could that be? Because I was in my running shoes and didn't want to wade through the snow, I sent Robbie out to set it back up. He said the metal post was bent flat on the ground, but he was able to set it back up. This morning, I walked out there again, and the gate was again flat on the ground. I walked out to investigate. (Turns out, the snow is a frozen crust, so I could walk on it in my running shoes!) There was fur all over the ground, the chain link portion of the gates was bowed in and the post laid flat on the ground. Next to the gate was blood and further down, under the trees a partially eaten dead deer. Sad.

So, why was my gate pushed over two nights in a row? And what is pushing my gate over? Will it happen tomorrow? I don't know the answers. By the way, I checked for tracks, but the snow is too deep and melting to quickly. There were deer droppings and moose droppings... and lots of gray fur...

Just a Thought... or two...

Today, in church, a young man named Jordan spoke. He is leaving on a mission to Mexico and his assignment was to talk about the Christ-like attributes necessary for a missionary. He spoke about the ability to love all people and how that was an attribute he wanted to work on. He began praying for help to develop the ability to love all people. He described how the answer to his prayer came one morning as he was waiting in the dentist office for a root canal. He said he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and so found a chair in a corner away from other patients. He noticed a mentally handicapped man in a wheel chair, being very loud and boisterous and talking to other patients. Jordan tried to ignore him and read. Soon he realized the man was wheeling his chair toward him. "No", he thought, "Go away, I don't want to be bothered." But the man came anyway. He pulled his chair right up to Jordan and began asking him questions. "Why are you here?" "For a root canal." "Do you go to school?" "No." "Do you work?" "No" "Why not" "I'm leaving on a mission for my church." "Do you have a girlfriend?" "No" "Why?" "Because I'm going to be a missionary." And so it went. Then the man lifted himself out of his wheelchair and sat in the chair next to Jordan. He lay his head on Jordan's shoulder and said, "I love you." As Jordan shared this experience, I too learned the lesson that Jordan learned about loving our fellowman. We all need hearts as pure and gentle as the handicapped man. We all need to feel that love for those around us.

Currently, my job (calling) in the Church is as a Ward Missionary. That means I help the full-time missionaries (those guys in dark suits) in teaching the gospel. A man we are teaching was telling us how his uncles were very concerned that he was studying with the Mormons. This man has really enjoyed learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ and is making changes in his life that are more in harmony with the gospel. Nonetheless, his Uncles are concerned and have been spending great amounts of time with him,trying to convince him that he is headed down the wrong path. As the man told us about this, he paused. Then he wondered out loud: "Why are they so concerned now, when I am making changes for good in my life. Why weren't they concerned like this when I was blowing coke up my nose? Why weren't they there trying to lead me away from bad friends and drugs when my life was a mess? Where were they then?"

The gospel of Jesus Christ is so simple and so easy. The more we learn about Him, the more we learn about ourselves and our potential. Who are we? We are literal sons and daughters of a Heavenly King. This life is but an instant in our eternal progression. We lived with Heavenly Father before we were born and if we live Christ-like lives, we will live with Him again. When you truly know and understand that, it's not as hard to give up the worldly ways and live as Jesus has taught us too... With compassion, love, charity for all, peace, forgiveness.

I Wonder When He Comes Again...

Cadie took this picture at the Portland Temple last weekend. It is the angel Moroni. A statue of him is on every L.D.S. temple and the statue always faces east. Why? Because when the Savior comes again, He will come from the east. I always think about that when I see the sun rise.. I actually see the sun rise quite a bit, because I go for those early morning runs when it is still dark when I leave. I love to watch the sunrise, because first there is a glimmer of light and then it grows brighter and brighter. Sometimes I imagine that this will be how it is when the Savior comes again too. We will be looking towards the east and first there will be a glimmer, which will grow brighter and brighter until there is no mistaking His coming. Will the world be ready? Will I be ready? All He asks is that we strive to become like Him as we live in this world. Sometimes it is hard. We get angry over petty things. We are selfish. We want "Me" time. But in the scriptures we learn, "I give men weaknesses that they may become strengths unto them." Who gave us our weaknesses? God, Himself. Why? So that we could master those weaknesses and become like our Savior Jesus Christ, who mastered the temptations of the devil and who showed us how to return to our Heavenly Father. I wonder when He comes again?

Thing One, Thing Two and Thing Three

Thing One is Cadie, my gentle sweet first born girl, also know as Twin A. She loves to cook, is very smart and likes to play jokes on people. She plays the fiddle very well and keeps her room very messy. Thing Two is Charli, aka Twin B. She is a little miracle, as the doctors said she would not make it. She is tiny for her age, but very big in spunk and spirit. She loves to play basketball and likes to write stories. She is not much neater than her sister, thus the Thing One and Two labels! Thing Three is Cami, our amazing caboose who has decided her job in life is to entertain us, boss us around and make sure we all know what is going on. She will want to show us a trick she has learned and will go around the room with her bent little finger pointing into each face, saying "Watch me" to each person there. If someone says, "Bye Mom, I'm leaving," she comes to me to "tell me", "Robbie's going to school Mom." "Daddy's going outside Mom." When she wants you to play with her, she won't let up til you sit down. "Cami, I'll play with you in a minute." "No, you play with me now. Sit down, right here. You play with this doll." "Cami," I say, "I can't play with you yet. I'll be there in just a minute." "No," she answers back calmly, "You play with me now." Thing Three, the terrorist!

Cami started Primary!

Sunday, January 4th was Cami's first day in Primary. (By the way, it is also to anniversary of my baptism, oh about 34 years ago.) Troy and Cadie took her to Primary. Cadie sat with her during opening exercises. Then Cadie had to leave... and Cami cried. But things must have gotten better, because she said she had a good time and she liked her teacher and she liked the songs, but she didn't sing (she told us this.)

Hope smiling brightly before us...

My computer caught a virus and has been in the hospital for the past 2 weeks. I can't wait to get it back so that I can post pictures of the terrific snow that has bombarded us for the past 2 1/2 weeks. It began snowing on Wednesday the 17th and hasn't really ever stopped, although today there was not a single flake. Never fear, it begins again tomorrow--a "MONSTER" storm, they're saying. Over 80" of snow has fallen since it all began. Currently there is about 3 feet on the ground. Every morning, I wake up, attempt to run my 3 miles (thank heaven for Yak Traks!), wade out to the property to feed the horses, shovel a new path to the snow field where the horse hang out by day, then home to shovel all the other paths... out the front door, to the barn, etc. Then I finally come inside about 2 pm and feed kids and wish we didn't have so much snow. Our Christmas was interesting because the kids got out of school 2 days early due to snow, the family computer didn't work, snow slid off the roof and repositioned the satellite, leaving us no TV, the temps hovered around 15 degrees or less and we had sooo much snow. We kept the kids busy shoveling, plowing and feeding the neighbors horse, so cabin fever wouldn't over take us. Troy called it "Going on snow patrol". Today, as the sun shone brightly (although it was only 10 degrees), the words to the song "There is hope smiling brightly before us and we know that deliverance is nigh..." ran through my head and I knew that it would eventually all go away!