Some have complained...

...ahem...notified me (MJ and JL - you're not the only ones! :)...that they couldn't properly load our blog. Blah. So I've made a few changes. Please let me know if this helps!
-Author B.

What do YOU do??

What do you do when you're snowed in in Southeast Wyoming? Maybe some of the same things that we do? Eat, play Farkel, play Farkel again, lose at Farkel, win at Farkel, play a Farkel tie-breaker, play Scrabble, watch the snow blow by, eat, make cards, make picture frames, eat, study, read, watch the snow pile up, eat, play the piano, forge out into the blizzard to take pictures, deeply regret going outside but continue to get bombed into drifts and hit in the face with ice balls just for the benefit and dramatic effect of pictures, come in and drink hot cocoa, warm hands by the fire- oh wait, no fire- ask for a fire, find out the the stove vents are frozen shut and full of snow, turn up the heat in lieu of fire, eat, talk about the snow, make up competitions about snow drift height, call friends to discuss the blizzard, check to see how many roads are closed, take a mental inventory of the refrigerator and freezer, wonder if we'll have enough food, make cookies to freeze just incase, watch the lights flicker, exhale with relief when they stay on, see if there's anything new on www.bored.com....... the list goes on and on.
Anyway, maybe this weather instigated lockdown will cause me to catch up on my blogging. Sorry about the serious lack lately.
Here's some pictures and a video clip of the storm. What's that? The phone? ABC News just called- they offered me a job as a storm reporter. I explained that I'm quite content here, besides, one near death experience per winter is plenty for me...








Tim and Myrna are rad - we're stuck at their place, and they're taking great care of us. (Also, they wanted me to say something nice about them online.)

National Pie Day!

Friday January 23rd, 2009 marked the best celebration of the year. National Pie Day! We had some people over on friday night to celebrate. Lichen, Gail, Andrea and I baked up a storm- Chocolate grasshopper pie, 3 apple pies, and a key lime pie.

Bakin' pies, bakin' pies...

What better way to spend a winter day than exercising one's heritage? You know the one...the heritage that brings out our innermost red, white and blue. Red lips, a white smile, and sparkling blues eyes as we seriously maow some pie. mmmmm.....

Lisa and I serve the masterpiece - the classic "apple delux".... a la mode, of course. National Pie Day has now spread its wings to Cheyenne - in full glory. yummm...


Pie is definately the Holy Grail of dessert, but when you don't have the fixin's, a humble apple crisp pulls in a tight second. Check out Hana and Jocelyn honing their expertise under the watchful eye of a Veteran Crisper - (self appointed title).

Nora just might be my next prodege'. She loves pie, and I mean, really, you can't start too young.

Can't wait for a very excited visit from Sue and Hooles - wahoo!!! Countdown to 2 weeks!!!

Bend

A couple of weeks ago a group of kids from the Seattle/Portland/ Vancouver area all headed over to Bend for the weekend. Saturday a group went skiing/snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor while the other 15 of us headed up a smaller mountain to go snowshoeing. We all met up later that evening for dinner and tea afterwards. It was fun to see Kendall Crouch he used to live in Great Falls but moved to Bend, OR a year or so before I moved away. We ended the weekend with a wonderful day of Special Meetings and then headed home to a very windswept Gresham. After living in Great Falls it appears I have gotten used to the wind because I like it but it has been a little cold.

Sarah Thatcher is from Texas and had never made a snowman..despite the fact the snow was very icy we decided we would fix the problem.

Lichen and Sarah with Charlie the snowman

On top of the mountain is was 57 degrees and sunny. Down in Bend it was 25 all day with a crazy frost.

Ode to the Breeze

Winter wind in Wyoming... there's really nothing quite like it. I suppose the best way to describe is that it's an adventure in itself.
Don't forget to turn your volume up as you enjoy this little blip!

Ringing in The New Year 2009

Well our annual New Years Get-to-Gether was a little quieter than usual but still a ton of fun. Mouse and I made the long trek from Mom and Dad's a little longer due to an avalanche on Snoqualmie. We made it all the way to Buckingham's and then had to put the chains on halfway up the driveway. I have been adamantly opposed to using chains but they actually worked wonders and might have made a beliver out of me. I guess it helps that Brian and Shawn were so kind as to leave the warm house to come out and put the chains on for me so I didn't even have to crawl around in the snow in my skirt! Beth also had quite the time on her trip back from Great Falls. It took 3 tries to get over Rogers pass resulting in a seven hour trip instead of the normal four and a half. UGH! We all had a rousing good time of games,knee wars, snowboarding, sled races,basketball and the works. The jump ball...Uncle Bert vs. Mera

John's stylin new outfit

Uncle Bert and Aunt Jay fixing Leah up after smashing her toe into a snow bank while running to the mailbox on New Years

Snowball fight

Beth and I had to stop for our trademark XENERGY'S

Those who braved the early morning to go snowboarding at Lookout Pass

A very wet little mousie

I love this view

Beth, Shyla and Mandy with there game faces on

Uncle Bert headed up to the sledding hill to cut down some trees so we could get a better run