Snow, snow and more snow!

Thanks to all the snow we've gotten, I had an
extra 2 days for Christmas vacation. It snowed
25-30 inches (depending on where you live) on
December 17th-18th. We had the 18th and 19th
as snow days (the snow was really bad but I'm
not complaining!).

We left on Saturday, the 20th to go to Utah for
Christmas. We passed several cars that had
slid off the road but we made it okay (thank
goodness!). We had a great week in Utah--
a very wonderful Christmas with our children,
family and friends. Thanks to everyone for
taking such good care of us! We love you!!

We tried to find a good day to come home but
there just wasn't one. North Idaho got another
25 inches the week we were gone and another
foot the night before we came home. Our trip
wasn't too bad until after Missoula and the closer
we got to home, the worse the road got. This
is Lookout. 4th of July was even worse but it
was dark by then so no pictures.

It's a good thing we were in the Landcruiser or
we would not have made it in our driveway. As
it was, Duane had to get out and pull the top of
a tree out of the road so we could get by. This
isn't a great picture but hopefully you can get
an idea of how bad it was. The canopy over the
boat had collapsed. Duane spent the next
2 and 1/2 hours shoveling snow so nothing else
would get damaged. I helped some--it was hard
to get around because the snow was so deep--up to
your waist in some places. While we worked, you
could hear loud cracks from the limbs breaking in
the trees.

Sunday morning the bishop canceled church.
It rained very hard which made all the snow
really sloppy. We were laying in bed when the
snow slid of the roof of the garage. It was
loud and spooky--you could feel even the bed
vibrate. Duane borrowed a tractor and spent
the day digging us out as well as moving snow
at his shop and helping others. Not exactly a
day of rest for him but necessary.

The next day we got another 6+ inches of snow.
We've had more snow in the forecast but it hasn't
been too bad. It has been windy though and there
have been several roofs that have collapsed. It has
made even the national news and Spokane county
has been declared a disaster. Many roads have been
closed. It looks like we are going to get more snow
into next week. Great!!

Hope you all have a Happy New Year! We'll be
shoveling snow and working on our house. Love you
all!!