Soaring to new Heights

Last night, Tyler planned on us taking one of his employees out for a nice Christmas dinner before he moves back to Africa on the 28th to become a preacher. He has worked with Tyler for a number of years as a programmer, but has decided that he needs to go back home and preach, and so he has sold all of his earthly possessions - except for the clothes he will need when he gets there - packed up his home, and made all the arrangements necessary to close off this part of his life and begin a new one. We decided to take him to the Sky 360 restaurant at the top of the Calgary Tower. He has lived here for a number of years and has never been, so we thought it was an appropriate Calgarian send-off. The kids ended up coming with us, and they loved going up-up-up in the elevator and the idea of being so high off the ground. The rotating restaurant was also fascinating to them. They spent a lot of time looking out the window at the changing landscape below them. It was a weird sensation for me, as I was sitting backwards to the rotation. I wouldn't really call it motion sickness, but it was an 'off' feeling for most of the night that created a bit of a headache. I wondered if it would have been different if I had been sitting the right way. We visited for a while and ordered our food. Let's just say that for the price, it wasn't that great. They had a kids menu, so Max ordered a cheeseburger and Lucy ordered Mac and Cheese. Unfortunately it was a home-made mac and cheese made with some really sharp type of cheese that definitely was not kid friendly, so she ended up eating most of my chicken entree instead. Max's burger was fine enough, except for the fact that it was huge and he was unable to get his mouth around it without a lot of squishing. Despite the below-average meal, the atmosphere and experience was fun and the kids were really well behaved. We took the opportunity to go to the observation deck so they could stand on the glass floor and look down. Again, another weird sensation. You get moments of dizziness and a sensation of leaning, which is really weird, but kind of thrilling. The kids were timid at first, but then totally enjoyed it and wanted to stay there all night. (A view of the ground below us with each of our feet on the glass floor)

Then it was a trip back down in the long elevator, which seemed much faster than the trip up - makes me nervous that they allow gravity to do part of the work...what if gravity gets it's nose in a joint and decides it wants to do the whole job itself...525 floors!
They had a statue of the Albertasaurus from the Tyrrell Museum on display in the lobby, so while Tyler said good-bye to his friend and co-worker, the kids and I took a look around at that, and the big Black Bear Mounty. Because the kids were so well behaved, we decided to stop and get them a treat of cheesies on the way home. Max ended up with cheesy dust everywhere, so it was a quick wipe down and off to bed when we got home. Tyler and I both commented that we probably would never eat there again, but because we ordered entrees, the lift ticket was covered, so we got a cool experience out of it anyway.

The Marathon

I have heard many people describe the training and lead-up to running a marathon, and how much discipline and exercise and dedication it takes. Then, when you get to the marathon, although all that planning and time invested is put to good use, you still come away from it feeling like you've been hit by a truck. But it's probably the only time you'll be hit by a truck and still smile and laugh about it later. Well, I have never run a marathon...but I liken preparing for Christmas and all that is involved to running a marathon, and this weekend leg 1 of our many days journey began.
On Friday, we had the opportunity to FINALLY sign lease papers with a new tenant who wanted to move into our house ASAP. The notice was very short, and so I spent most (I'm talking 6 hours) of Friday getting everything ready. Doing reference checks, credit reports, creating the lease document and inspection reports..yadda, yadda, so that we could meet him at 6pm to sign the documents. It was a lot of work, and Lucy commented to me many times that I 'wasn't playing with them' but we feel very blessed to have a new tenant. It helps ease the stress a bit and allows us to enjoy the holiday season a bit more without that looming over our heads. We had a late dinner at Grandma and Papa's and helped them to set up their Christmas tree and decorate it with yellow ribbons in anticipate of Sarah's return home from Mexico the next day. She wanted us to wait to actually decorate the tree, but we thought the 'welcome home' yellow ribbons would be a nice gesture - and Lucy was very excited to do it. Papa also found his inflatable Santa and decided to test it out that night in the living room. It now has a more permanent home on the front porch, but the kids enjoyed watching him grow to life in the middle of the room.
On Saturday morning, we all headed to the church for our Ward Christmas Party which was themed "Christmas Morning", which I thought was brilliant. We had a pancake/french toast breakfast with every possible breakfast fixing you could think of. There was Christmas movies playing in the Relief Society Room, FHE kits in the primary room, Santa was visiting in one of the classrooms and every family got the chance to get their picture taken with him. We got our family photo done and then had the three Williamson grandkids sit with Santa as well. The kids also enjoyed decorating Rice Krispie Square Trees with icing a candies. The party finished off with some caroling and a beautiful program where many of the primary children were able to act out the Nativity while musical numbers and a narrative were performed. Lucy was the angel in the nativity and took her role very seriously. The actual performance was much longer than the rehearsal the night before, but she stuck it out. She had to hold her arms up in the air, and they would slowly lower down to her side until she remembered, and then the arms would come back up again. At one point we saw her yawning from her perch, but she never said a word and tried very hard. Many people told me she was the cutest angel they'd ever seen...and I'd have to agree. Janeen had an opportunity to participate in a few of the musical numbers being presented, as well as myself and my posse of lady friends. It was a very beautiful and fun party.
After the party, we headed home for Max to have a nap and to get fueled and ready for the next portion of our marathon...the Bourne Family Christmas party. All descendants of Kathleen Bourne or Ruth Quist and many other 'adopted' relatives joined together at the East Stake Center yesterday for dinner, games, a few jokes and just an all around good time. One of the highlights of the night was the 'ugly sweater contest'. Tyler had the idea of using a picture of my brother Mike to create his ugly sweater, and it nearly won him the prize (chocolate fondue I believe - maybe not his favorite, but I'm quite certain his wife would have loved it). Instead the prize went to my sister Alison for her creative and home-made Christmas shawl. In all fairness to the title 'ugly sweater', Dude clearly should have been the winner, because someone actually manufactured that sweater and it was intended to be worn, not just as a gag, but as part of some mustached-karaoke singing-1970s ladies man. We also enjoyed the usual 'pie plate game', which doesn't involve pie plates at all...? We all sit in a circle around the loot of present brought by each participant and pass baskets with dice around. If you get doubles, you get to choose a present until all the presents are gone, then you can steal presents from other people. This continues on until the buzzer goes. This time we decided to play for a mere 15 minutes, instead of the usual 25. Max was brave enough to steal a present from his 'scary auntie' and didn't seem to think twice about it. They ended up with a pretty great stash. I think the kids always make out the best as a few of the items in the pile looked rather familiar...like I may have seen it at a previous Christmas party or in someone's house in years past. We also enjoyed the usual whack at the pinata. Each kid got to take a turn taking their Christmas angst out on the innocent pinata before it was busted open to reveal lots of tasty treats and fun dollar store finds. Lucy particularly like the stick-on earrings and sported some yellow hearts for the remainder of the evening. It was a pretty awesome party and we were glad for the opportunity to share some time with family in the midst of this Christmas marathon.We stuck around at the stake center for another hour or so with Mike and Tammy and their wee ones, as we were waiting in the city for the arrival of Sarah's plane from Mexico. The kids enjoyed playing in the nursery for a bit with Emma and Ashley, while Tyler, Mike, Tammy and I had doctrinal discussions. Then it was a quick change into jammies and a drive to the airport to meet Sarah's plane...and Sarah. The countdown for this has been...let's say...LONG. But finally, she arrived! The kids had flowers and hugs and giggles to share with their auntie, and then spent a few minutes racing around the airport terminal with her. It was a late night, but well worth it. The kids fell asleep on the way home (as we hoped they would) and we carried them into the house. As I lay Max in his bed, he woke up for a minute and said, "But we have to say prayers!" I told him we could say it in the morning, and he smiled and fell asleep. Sweet boy.
Sunday is always a busy day, but this one in particular was filled, yet fun. We had the usual 3-hour block of church where we (Tyler and I) sung in the choir in sacrament meeting and enjoyed the Christmas messages shared there. Tyler was teaching in Young Men's and I was doing sharing time for Primary, so it was a bit of a rush in the morning to make sure we both had everything we needed. The kids both got treats and presents from their teachers for Christmas and a CTR ring from the Primary. After church, we had Sarah and her friend Tyson come and take a family photo of us in our nice 'Christmas Sunday clothes.' We had dressed pretty much the same the week before, but forgot to take the picture before everyone got changed after church. We got a number of really great shots and are looking forward to developing them. The best is always trying to coordinate everyone's smiles into one picture, so we got a bunch of these:We thought Max should have a nap, as it was such a late night at the airport the night before, but with the excitement of Sarah being at our house, having a quick bite to eat, potty training (why do children always have to go to the bathroom at the worst possible time?), he didn't settle down, so he just had a 'rest' in his bed for a bit, and then we headed up to Grandma and Papa's to visit and have a family dinner. Sarah was missing some home cooking, so she requested lasagna and garlic toast, which we all agreed to whole-heartedly. During dinner we went around the table and all shared why we were happy Sarah was home. Some of it was in joking, some cheesy, and some very sweet. Lucy got a bit emotional and said she was glad Sarah was home because she's been a gone a REALLY long time and she's fun to play with. Everyone agreed.
After dinner we sat in the living room and watched Great-Grandma open her Christmas presents because she was leaving the following morning at 6am to go out to BC for Christmas with her oldest daughter and their family. Sarah also had lots of souveniers and presents to hand out to everyone from Mexico. We all felt pretty spoiled. Lucy got a cool backpack and a silver bracelet that matched Sarah's perfectly, which she thought was awesome. Max got a jaguar call, which you blow into and it's supposed to sound like a jaguar, but it doesn't. But he loves it anyway. He also got a soccer jersey and shorts which he absolutely loves. Tyler also got a soccer jersey, and I got some cool stones for jewelry making and a scarf. We had loads of ice-cream, visited with the Home Teachers and then headed home to get our T.I.R.E.D. children off to bed. We were exhausted as well, but that never stops us from inviting Sarah and Janeen over for a movie. We watched late into the night and I fell asleep halfway through, but we always enjoy spending some time hanging out after the kids have gone to bed.
We spent most of Monday doing some last minute shopping for Christmas. We received the unfortunate news that Janie's sister had had a heart-attack on Sunday evening and that changed a lot of people's plans pretty quickly. Our shopping took us all over the city, but the kids were in good spirits, and I think we're finally done! Now the stockings can finally be hung by the chimney with care...because there will be something to fill them with.
It's been exhausting, and fun...this marathon weekend. It's even taken me 3 days to get this post finished - a marathon in itself, but I think I've finally got it. There's more to be done this week, but I think for a few days the craze has settled and we can enjoy looking at our beautiful snowy trees and spending time together. Merry Christmas!

An Anniversary of sorts

Last night, Tyler and I had an opportunity to attend his CHS work Christmas party. This is the 5th year in a row that we've attended, and we were surprised to find out last night that they've had them for 6 years now, so we've pretty much been there to see it all...and we have seen it all. We were commenting on the changes that had taken place over the 5 years. We now have almost 3 children whereas we started with just one (an obvious statement, I know. Most people start with just one). The funny part was seeing the difference in other people. Marriages, divorces, new boyfriends, new girlfriends, new identities...there's history there, and in a place we probably didn't think we'd witness much history in when we attended the first year. We had a great time last night at Gasoline Alley at Heritage Park. I chose to not bring a camera, so we have no evidence of our attendance, but there were a lot of pictures taken of us, by people I don't really know, so I'm not sure if I'll ever see them. We sat at what we thought was the best table, #25, until we realized that there were only 26 tables and the DJs were going to call people up to the buffet line by table number...in order. We got our meal just as they were announcing that the dance was going to begin in a few minutes. Fortunately, our table was right beside the dessert table, so when everyone else was in line for turkey dinner, we sneaked (or is it snuck? we debated that question a bit over our dinner) over and got some goodies. You only live once, right?
The best part of the evening was our tablemates. We had great conversation and A LOT of laughs. I told Tyler on the way home that this was the first year that time really flew at the party for me, and I was surprised to look at my watch and see that it was 11:30pm. At one point, we were saving seats for some friends that hadn't arrived yet. Another couple, who only bore a resemblance to our friends in the fact that they were male and female, came in and we waved them over, thinking it was our friends. When they got closer, everyone realized we didn't know they, and they awkwardly realized they didn't know any of us either. We did our best to pretend that we were actually waving at someone else behind them and they shuffled past. We ate our meal pretty quickly, as they service staff was trying to clear plates only moments after lonely table 25 had gotten their meal, and got ready for the dance. Ah, the dance. The music was a hodge-podge of awkward and cliche-filled songs that didn't do much for the crowd, except clear it out of the room pretty quickly. Maybe that's what they were hoping for. The number that really cleared the floor was, "Baby Got Back", but we still stuck it out, until the DJ played "The Rose" by Bette Midler to cap off his repertoire and then packed up his speakers. We decided to pack it up too, and head home. It was a pretty awesome night and very easy to attend a function when you have great babysitters at home. Thanks Sam and Matt. I know my kids loves playing swords all night. Today we're tired (who has a Christmas party on a Wednesday night?), but we had a great time. Also, a big thanks to the support staff and UofC department that has been very good to Tyler and our family over the past 5 years. It's been a pleasure to be associated with them.

Chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf!

Last night we all headed up to Grandma and Papa's for a special 'Christmas Baking FHE'. Everyone got to choose an item of Christmas Baking they wanted this year, and Janie picked up the ingredients to make it. We had quite a process going, with projects happening on every surface in the kitchen and dining room. Vicki got straight to work on her delicious whipped shortbread (the hit of the night in my opinion); Ali was working on peanut brittle; Lucy and I rolled cookie dough for gingersnaps and oatmeal raisin cookies; and Janie and Maurine floated around the kitchen making sure everyone had what they needed. Lucy was particularly excited for all the baking that was going on. She sang her made-up Christmas Cookies song at the top of her lungs to ensure she was heard over the mixer. Tyler, Jason, Max and Jacob wrestled downstairs in the basement for a while until there were things ready to be tasted. Once our cookie dough was rolled, Lucy, Max and I got to work on making Christmas Popcorn. They loved watching the popcorn pop in the air-popper. I don't think they've ever had airpopped popcorn before. We melted white chocolate over the top of it all, and finished it up with crushed candy cane. mmm-mmm. Everyone got to take home samples of each item, and most of us sat around into the evening sampling our goodies. It was a really great night. Exhausting, but really great. Lucy tells me that she knows why Santa is so fat: "Because he eats a lot of cookies! Maybe we should leave him a pear instead." Tyler objected and said, "But Santa really likes cookies!" good one Dad.

Until the New Year

Today was Lucy's last day of school until the New Year. Apparently in pre-school you get a major Christmas vacation, which is nice and not so nice. It'll be good to have some downtime for a few weeks before Christmas that the kids and I can just spend together, rather than racing around getting stuff done in the few hours before and after school. But, at the same time, Lucy is a creature of habit, and a new habit will form over the next 3 weeks that will be hard to break in January when it's time to go back to school. I hope we don't have dramatics...who knows, maybe she'll be so bored she'll be happy to be back at school...right?
Today all the kids from all morning and afternoon sessions and their parents AND their siblings got to go to the school and have a Christmas party and basically tear the ranchehouse down. It was CHAOS! We arrived about 10:10 (which I was frantic about being late, but apparently nobody would have noticed who was coming and who was going in that crowd). The kids had a quick snack, because there were tables of delicious treaties right in front of their noses...even though we'd just finished breakfast a few minutes before. Then it was off to the playroom, where they spent the next hour and a half playing, while I sat nervously close to them, trying to shield and protect them from the 100 other kids that were running wild. Most parents stood around talking to each other while their children tore at the place, and each other, but am I a nervous Nelly of a mother? I sat within 3 feet of my children the entire time...just in case. I mean for one, I want to be there if my kids hauls off and smacks someone else's kid, or steals a toy...it's called responsible parenting...but mostly, I knew my kids would be good and I wanted to be there in case some other kid tried to haul off and smack mine. We came away unscathed. No bruises, no fights, not even a single tear. phew! Max busied himself at the train table for almost the entire time; connecting cars, making track and driving them around. He just stared with wide eyes when he picked up a Bob-the-Builder truck and some other kid snatched it out of his hands immediately claiming he was playing with it. What can you do? Lucy enjoyed playing with the kitchen set and making me course after course of delicious plastic meals. Then they spent a few minutes in the little play house, making more food and 'fixing things' with the screwdriver and hammer. I was hesitant to pull my camera out at first, because I didn't want to be one of THOSE moms, but then I thought, 'who cares!? I AM one of those moms." So I snapped a few pictures, and then quickly saw a number of other parents pull out their own cameras...so apparently we were all just waiting for someone to get it started. We had a few more snacks and gave our presents to the teachers - Lucy chose some pretty picture frames and then colored a picture for each of them...so cute and totally her idea. I said a few Merry Christmas' to the other moms that I know, who were probably surprised by my lack of socialization, but survival mode had kicked in. At one point I saw one kid using another kid about half his size as a step stool, and I figured I had made the right choice. Plus, my kids feel like they have a totally awesome mother today, because I actually got down on my hands and knees and played with them, while the other moms all stood and talked...gold star me! Don't worry, they'll forget in a few minutes and I'll hear the usual "you never play with us!" at some point later today. But for now, we're happy, and I'm proud of my kids for being able to stay calm in chaos and maintain their dignity and manners whilst (yes, I'm using the word whilst) everyone else around them was acting like savage gorillas. (too harsh?)
Lucy also got to bring home her Christmas loot bag that was full of all the crafts they had been working on this month. She sweetly gave two of them to her brother right away, because they are just the best of friends. Now they are in Lucy's room, still playing nicely together, and I've created a list of all the things I want to get done this afternoon before Tyler's work Christmas party...and yet all I've managed to do is blog. Oh well, that's fun too. And I have thrown a load of laundry in and made my bed...so we've started, right?
Merry Christmas!

Baby Doctor

Today we had an appointment with the Baby Doctor, so the kids and I loaded into the van early this morning and made the drive into the city. It only took about 30 minutes, but Lucy said it took FOREVER! She's always so rational. They sat and played with the toys for a few minutes until Max got a puzzled look on his face and walked over to me. "Mom? Are we getting the baby OUT today?" No, not today son...and trust me, I won't be bringing you to the doctor on THAT particular day. They have both been very curious about this baby brother and what exactly he's DOING in my belly and how is he going to get out. I gave them a very G-rated summary of how baby's are born...some get pushed out (I left it at that) and other times the doctor cuts open the mom to take the baby out and then sews the mom back up again. Max asked me if they use scissors. One day we were at the zoo in the hippo house and Lucy watched the birth video of the baby giraffe with her dad that they have playing there. She turned to me wide-eyed and said, "MOM! That giraffe just came out of the mommy giraffe's butt!" I saw her quick glance to my belly and realized that the g-rated version was now replaced by a much more graphic one. We haven't talked about it much since then. But they do ask me a lot about the umbilical cord and how the baby gets his food. Lucy has felt him kick a few times and really enjoys that. One time, Max yelled at my belly, "HI LOGAN!" and the baby gave a huge kick in response. It was pretty sweet. We are now 29 weeks...not much time to go and I still don't feel ready for three...when do you think I will? a few years from is my guess...probably about the time we start talking about #4.

In spite of the cold

We had a pretty great weekend, in spite of the blowing arctic winds that caused us to stay mainly indoors. On Thursday evening, before the wind really hit, we headed out to Cochrane High School for their annual Dinner Theatre - starring Miss Janeen Williamson...and some other people. This year they put on the production "Nunsense" which is a Christmas production with a bunch of crazy nuns. Janeen played Sister Amnesia. She was named such because she had a head injury a few years ago and forgets most everything...this of course, made her part particularly funny as she is able to get away with A LOT. The kids enjoyed watching her and having a night out. We made her some Tissue Paper flowers before leaving so they'd last longer, and it's more exciting for the kids to help making a gift, then just buying one. Lucy was excited to see her teacher at the production too. Her daughter was the director for this year's play. We're all looking forward to the Spring production of Les Miserables.
The wind settled in over night and on Friday we woke to a chilly howling day. There wasn't much to be done, so we settled in for a day at home and got to cleaning. Tyler and I nearly spent the entire day cleaning our room...sounds disgusting doesn't it? Let me explain, so you don't think so badly of us. Our room doubles as a bedroom and office, so most of our cleaning consisted of filing and sorting through stacks of papers that had accumulated. My mother would be happy to know that I do not allow ANY clothes to sit on bedroom floors anymore...that teenage tendency is gone. The kids busied themselves playing, and unfortunately, without much supervision, the rest of the house ended up looking like much of a disaster...but our room feels glorious! They cuddled up together a few times with some books in Max's favorite cuddling spot - behind the rocking chair in his room where we've stored a bunch of linens. It makes a comfy pile for two little people, and they were quite content there. We finished the evening with dinner and a movie - Night at the Museum 2, which we all really enjoyed. They had a warm-up tubbie and used Tyler's old glasses (which he took the lenses out of) to play "Dr. Rob." Then it was off to bed a little late as the wind made it difficult for our kiddies to fall asleep, but sleep they did. Max always gets the worst of it, as his room has 3 outside walls, so the wind really whips around him. But he managed to sleep through the night, a fact I was worried about.
Grandma and Papa were supposed to fly home from Mexico Friday evening, but they were grounded in Houston due to bad weather...Houston's, not Calgary's. Yes, we had arctic winds and blowing snow; poor visibility and icy roads, but Houston got about half an inch of soft flaky snow, and they shut down the airport. It was a blessing though, since Tyler no longer had to venture out on Friday evening to pick them up from the airport. Instead, we all headed out Saturday morning (my primary party was canceled due to weather too) and picked them up together around 11:30am. The kids made paper flowers again, and had fun waiting at the airport and looking at the fountains and horse statues. We brought extra coats for them, as they had only worn sweaters on their way out and were coming home to -15 weather. We decided to stop in Airdrie on the way home and do some Christmas shopping at the Walmart out there, hoping it would be less busy than the city. That Walmart is HUGE! But we were successful at completing a lot of shopping in a short amount of time, and Papa was great at distracting the kids so we could get that accomplished. We all piled into our van to head home. And I mean piled! We had 6 passengers, 3 suitcases, a shopping cart full of Christmas gifts (minus the shopping cart) and a small load of groceries that Janie picked up to sustain them for the weekend. One of the toys Grandma got for Max was a Megatron Powerbot that has buttons all over it that cause it to speak or make exploding noises...well, somehow that ended up underneath a number of other items, and if we hit a bump the wrong way you'd hear "I'M MEGATRON!" or something similar. Papa was coy enough to cough or make loud noises every time it happened until we could locate the thing and hide it in a less conspicuous spot. I'm not sure if Max clued in, but Lucy sure did...even if he did, he'll forget soon enough, and we all had a good laugh over it.
We spent the afternoon with Grandma and Papa until they had to leave to go and see Janeen's play themselves, and we headed home for some thrown together dinner and to watch a movie - Little Mermaid 2...which Lucy loved and Tyler and I rolled our eyes over a number of times.
Sunday was a special day as Lucy gave her first talk in Primary. We practiced a number of times during the week and she did a great job. She didn't even look nervous. (BTW, I took this picture when primary was over and everyone else had left the room...I'm not one of THOSE moms). I was so proud of her, and although I wrote the bulk of the actual talk, she came up with all the ideas of the things she wanted to say. I'm going to record it here, for our own posterity/memories sake. Feel free to read or not.

"My family is blessed when we remember Jesus. I like to think about Jesus."
"When we say prayers, it makes me feel happy and safe to know Heavenly Father and Jesus are there."
"When I take the sacrament, the bread and water remind me how Jesus died so we could be with Him again."
"At Christmastime, I remember how Jesus was born and think about how He was so good and did good things and that helps me to know what to do. When I am good, I feel good and I feel happy."
"I like to think about the resurrection and how one day our bodies and spirits will be together again and our bodies will be perfect. Mom and Dad won't have to wear glasses anymore (everyone laughed at this comment), my Auntie Kari will have two arms instead of just one, and all our bodies will be strong and healthy."
"I love Jesus and thinking about Him and how he blesses my family. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Lucy is such a great girl. I'm so proud of her. Her understanding of the gospel amazes me sometimes. I'd like to take credit, but some of the things she says I think must come from a memory she is able to access from before we were here.
We had a family dinner at Scott and Janie's after church to give us a chance to catch up. Unfortunately, the guys were all outside most of the day dealing with sheep, so there wasn't much catch-up happening. A coyote got to one of our sheep, so they spent the afternoon chasing 6 coyotes away, and trying to get the big truck started so they could ship the sheep off to a friend's farm so they could be a bit safer. Lucy looked outside at one point and asked, "What are they doing?" We explained, and she said, "Oh, that's boys work." and went back to her coloring.
We enjoyed watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional as the 'boys' took a break from their work and then they were back outside to finish up. Not exactly the nicest day to spend outside, but they managed to stay warm carrying 150lbs sheep from the coral to the truck about 50 feet away.
It was a great weekend and now as the cold has settled in, I'm beginning to eat my words I grumbled earlier in the week: "I would much rather deal with -20 degrees than -5 and wind!" Well, it's about -20 and not too windy, so I guess I got my wish. But I still say it's better than wind!