Snowmagedon

February 9, 2018 - Rebecca's Funeral

Rebecca wished for snow on the day she died.  Monday, February 4, 2018, was that day, and the day it all started.  Saturday, the day she was buried, some called "Snowmagedon."  Friday evening, the evening of the viewing, I picked Sariah up from Merrill's Corner and went straight out to Basin City with our things to stay the night because I had a feeling we wouldn't be traveling home that night.  By Saturday, it was all out blizzard.  James made it out with the rest of the kids to Grandpa and Grandma's house in the 4 wheel drive pick-up.  He brought Talmage and Bryant to the funeral.  People with tractors had worked most of the night to keep the drifts off the road so people could make it to the chapel and then to the cemetery.  Even with the crazy storm it was standing room only.  It was a huge blessing to us that James didn't sell the 4 wheel drive pick-up that he fixed.  It was a life saver.  Rebecca's funeral was as beautiful as it was heart-breaking.  By the time we got to the cemetery, they said the wind chill was -20 degrees F.  The snow was pelting us horizontally.  It was a short graveside and difficult to hear Shad's dedicatory prayer.

The storm raged for the remainder of the day and into the night.  We watched it out the windows and Mom and Dad's where we were stuck.  Spike layed down in the backyard and Rex and Lyle were worried about him surviving.  James carried him to the only dry corner he could find in the lambing shed.  (Dad has been warming and hand feeding Spike ever since.) 

The kids were in heaven--snowed in at Grandma's.

Sunday we woke to calm but the drifts were incredible.  If it weren't for Derek Price and Chad McGary and their tractors, we would never have made it out of the driveway.  The kids dug huge snow caves in the drifts.

Out the back window on the way home on Eltopia West.

With more snow in the forecast, we knew we had to take advantage of the window of sunshine on Sunday afternoon to try and get the van, the pick-up, and us home.  We took the long route to avoid hills--through BC, to Merrill's Corner, and then Eltopia West to Birch to home.  Farmers with tractors had dug trenches through the drifts on the roads.  Miraculously, we made it to our driveway but there was no way we would make it to the house.  We parked at Ed's house and James borrowed Howard's tractor to dig us a path to the house.  It took quite awhile.

Valentine's Day at Home

Valentine's Walk

Since then, I've lost track but it has snowed and snowed.  School has been cancelled all week.  

We had to do snow removal in the attic, which was not fun.  We are going to have to figure out a permanent fix to our ridge cap problem when the snow blows.

One day, James borrowed the tractor and he and Talmage and Bryant went over to dig Kathy Hanson out of her house.  It happened to be her birthday.  

We took soup and rolls over a couple evenings to her.  

She is such a great lady.

One day, James went and dug out the seminary building.  James has spend A LOT of time shoveling this week.  We got the van stuck in the driveway going and coming from church but the other roads are finally driveable.  It's a good thing, we're getting cabin fever for sure.  Everybody usually goes out in the morning for a few hours.  It takes until the next day to dry out all the snow clothes and gloves.  In the afternoon we get through some math flashcards, piano, reading, and they play board games and watch movies and youtube clips of motorcycle races and football highlights.

Their forts for snowball fights.