Does it look a bit cold?

This first picture is the view out of our front window after the first snow. The snow plow had already gone by and the roads were clear. We got 4-5 inches. We were supposed to get about 10 inches, but the big storm went around us. We didn't even loose electricity. I was explaining to my mother that the Joseph Smith Birthplace is protected. The heavy rains from Hurricane Irene moved in an unexpected direction and came down just west of us. When we went in on Monday after Irene, the flowers were just as beautiful as when we left on Friday. The same with this snow storm. Thousands were without power because heavy snow brought down trees that knocked down power lines, but we were fine. Our apartment is just south of the memorial and we have the same weather they do. Two more storms after this one went completely around us, making it possible for us to put up Christmas lights all week.
Mike caught the sunrise just right in this snowy picture of LDS Lane. We woke up Sunday morning (Oct 30th) to a beautiful blanket of snow. Brother Ronnie Johnson, in our Bishopric, keeps the roads plowed. Elder Charchenko and Elder Starley went in about 7:30 to shovel the walks at the visitor's center, and by 9:00 (when I went to Choir Practice) everything was plowed or shoveled at the church. I wore regular shoes to church.


The week after the snowstorm the weather was beautiful. The snow melted quickly and we were able to go up in the lift to put up lights. I took this picture of Mike when we were above the rooftops decorating the Birch Tree in the background. The temperatures were cold but the sun was shining 4 out of 5 days. I never realized that the temperature doesn't really make much difference in how warm (or cold) you are. What makes the difference is whether the sun is shining or not! Monday through Thursday we had sunshine and it was great. Friday morning we were told that it was supposed to be warmer that day. Well the thermometer said it was warmer, but the wind came up and the sun went behind the clouds and we were really cold.

One thing you might notice in this picture is that there is still green grass. From what I understand it stays green all winter. When the snow melts there is green grass under it. In the picture below you can see the truck and the garage roof below us. We worked on these two birch trees all week and we are still not quite finished.

One more interesting thing before I close. Above I mentioned that Friday a big wind came up (just before lunch) well that turned out to be a blessing too. I will explain. Every day when we come to work, the Elders (and sometimes Sister McGreggor because she enjoyed if) would get one of the leaf blowers and blow off the lane, then Elder McGreggor would run the big tractor with a lawn mower that picked up leaves and compacted them. Keeping the lane beautiful is a big priority here. Well the McGreggors went home to Idaho and the rest of us have been up in the trees putting up lights. I noticed that the leaves were getting bad, but there didn't seem to be much we could do about it. Well, just before lunch, and while we were eating lunch, the wind blew all of the leaves off of the roads and driveway and when we went home Friday (and when we came in for an hour on Saturday) the roads were clean and beautiful! We love you all!

To our children: Keep hugging those grandkids for us.