A snowy day!

Friday was another beautiful day. We all woke up and just hung out, the kids playing one of their on-going imaginary games while Scott and I enjoyed a cup of instant coffee (it grows on you). The kids all wanted to snowmobile and I just wanted a break from that, so Scott chauffeured them around, each taking their turn and waiting while he circled around the big field out front blazing the trail. I decided to have a nice quiet morning to myself and set out snow shoeing, something I had been looking forward to for quite some time.

There is something to be said about "Nature" and how breathtaking it can be, beautiful and peaceful in its own unique way but also a bit scary. There is something about being out here that makes us so removed from everything else, but that is also a scary thing as well. For example, trying to walk through the snow without snow shoes on, you could just snap your leg right in half because the snow is so deep that you take one step and float over the top but the next step you cave in up to your upper thigh! You could just snap your leg and just be in the middle of nowhere, well, not nowhere, but not a quick to the ER.

Now, snow shoeing alone and just enjoying the quiet, was what I had in mind and those kind of thoughts were really not part of my thinking (having anything bad happen). Yet. The kids and Scott would periodically show up from behind all waving, yes, all four of them can fit on Big Blue. And then they would zoom off leaving me to huff and puff my way over the ridge, down into the wash, over a ravine, and then back up the ridge to return to the open field and head back up towards the cabin. I thought for sure I would see some deer, but did not. What I did see were some mystery tracks and I just could not tell exactly what they were because the snow was so deep. Like a total idiot, I followed them. After a bit, I started thinking to myself, what if those tracks are mountain lion tracks and here I come sweating my ass off, huffing and puffing behaving like some naive city girl. So, I began to steer clear and head AWAY from the tracks.

Heading back up the side of the ridge posed to be rather challenging, it could have been that by now I was convinced I was being stalked by a mountain lion or that I just could not find the small little road to take me back up the easy way. So, this ended up to be quite the workout as I pretty much headed straight up doing my best to traverse across, step over the exposed sage brush and not lose my balance and go rolling down the hill and land deep down in the snow for no one to see me. So, I was thinking about how stupid it is to venture out on your own out here (and normally I am much smarter about this, but was just so excited about exploring.)

OK, so I walking towards the direction I know the cabin is in and am ever so grateful to see the snow mobile tracks from when the crew was tracking me. So I am just going to aim to follow those back. And suddenly, there before me, going across the track of the snow mobile are what I believe to be cat tracks!!! Let me just say, I really got a great workout that morning! I was snow shoeing like you would not believe and whistling, singing, waving my poles around ( you know you are suppose to make yourself look as big as you can if ever you come upon a cat in the wild) because, of course, I am convinced I am totally being followed. Anyway, I obviously made it back home safely and all is well.

As I came up over the hill, I could see Scott and Hunter pulling Katie and Ben around on the hood. Scott had strapped it to the back of the sled and he and Hunter just drove slowly around and around while the snow piled onto their face shields. Of course, they were wearing helmets. I was sure happy to see them and laughed at the sight of them all!

We did head back down later that day and discovered that they were coyote tracks instead. Ironically, that morning Scott was calling them with his fancy little coyote caller, which I have to say, Hunter can imitate perfectly. So, he must have called one in because the tracks were fresh. So now, I just plan to snow shoe around the "yard" ~ at least where my imagination will not get the best of me.

I am proud to say...(drum roll, please)...that I went up to 38 mph on the snowmobile! I will most likely say this more than once on this trip, but Scott was right, you do get used to it. He did pull up along side me yesterday as we were headed to the farm and "request" that we aim to go about 20-25. I looked at him apprehensively but agreed. So, began the need for speed!

Anyway, yesterday was a wonderfully fun farm day. We spent some time at the shop with the new kitties and then headed over to the farm to see all the new cattle babies. Buckwheat, the dog, is doing well and was ever so happy to see us. I was impressed that the last time Scott was out here in December, he built the dog a little hay doghouse, which he loves. See, I always knew Scotty was a softy at heart. I even chuckled to myself when he unlocked the shed door when he realized the cats were still out and the temperature was going to drop.

We stayed at the farm for quite awhile. We walked up the side of the fencing to see all the babies, the kids and I even got pretty close to one. I was just about to reach my hand out to it and let it suck on my finger when the mom let out a low bellow and I decided that was not such a good idea. There was one little guy just laying out there in the pasture and not moving. I thought to myself that here comes a teachable moment about life on the farm, one which I was not really wanting to have. I had this image of Scott scooping it up and carrying it over all limp and having to answer a whole lotta questions about that. But when Scott walked out into the pasture and no mom came over, I did think this was bad news. But then Scott squatted down and started giving the little guy, well, girl, a scratch on the forehead and we all knew things were ok. He said she was just totally sound asleep! I kept waiting to rescue Scott if he was going to get charged!

We headed back home thinking the snow might start as was forecast but we traveled back to the cabin and all was well.

This morning (Saturday) we were up and out the door by 745am because there was such a snow storm coming that we thought it best we head to town and get any last minute supplies so we would be prepared to be snowed in. It really was coming down and the trees were all just covered in this heavy blanket of snow. The snow flakes were enormous and snow was already accumulating by 8am. We got back to the cabin, completely drenched, at about noon. Going to town is never a quick trip. We had lunch and Scott was back to giving rides again.

Later, Scott and Katie went over to the farm to help the other Scott (the man who runs the farm) with the cattle. They went around and counted calves, a total of 11 now! We even had our first bull today. So, Katie was pretty excited about getting the chance to round up the cattle into the corral for the night. There is one new mommy not taking too well to it and her little one is not taking milk yet, so Katie might even get her wish to give the baby a bottle.

The boys and I did some sledding, built a snow jump for the sled and gathered things for the snowman we made yesterday. Hunter will just go down and up and down and up and down and up until he is just exhausted. He looked up at me after he had flung himself into the deep snow and said he wished he was wearing just a tank top because he was so hot. "Mom, feel my head," he said. Each day, he pretends he has snowmobiling class, his green sled is his snow mobile. He even was at "tree school" today while we were searching under each evergreen for the pine cone eyes for the snowman. He, of course, can just walk right over the snow and stay afloat. I, on the other hand, have to crawl or I just take about 2 steps and am stuck. Actually several times the kids have lost a boot in the deep snow because it literally was just stuck down there. So, we do a lot of digging! We probably got 8-10 inches of snow and more is coming tomorrow. It's funny, all the while we were in town, it was raining.

Katie and I just began "By the Shores of Silver Lake" the 4Th book from the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. There was one section that really resonated with me.

"There was something else here that was not anywhere else. It was an enormous stillness that made you feel still. And when you were still, you could feel great stillness coming closer."

That is what we find here...stillness. And it continues to amaze me what comes forth from that stillness - either just within myself, what I see coming through our children, a deeper connection to Scott, a growing love of all things. It seems we are all our best selves here. And I cannot really place my finger on exactly why. I find myself amazed at the quiet and the only sounds today were of each other, but also of the sounds of nature as the heavy snow could no longer hang on to the branch of the trees, or the dripping of the melting snow over the red rock canyon, or the way the clouds move through the valley, the way the snow blows so silently off the tip of the Mount Nebo just blowing until invisible. And within all that wonder, I see my family and know we are just where we should be, in every way.