THREE BLIZZARDS IN a 2 week period is a lot...but to make it even worse it was in March-April...you know when it is supposed to be Spring...with trees blossoming, birds singing, flowers popping out of the ground, sunshine, 60s, running, bike-rides, and playing at the park....??!! Well, not in South Dakota this year. I know it's been pretty bad everywhere, so I don't want to complain too much...but are we done yet? I AM SO READY FOR SPRING AND SUMMER!

When these blizzards hit Rapid City the town literally shuts down. No travel advisories are issued, and pretty much nothing is open. Hardly anybody leaves their house, all schools and everything are cancelled...the poor public school kids have to go through June 15 to make up for all the snow-days! Luckily we aren't part of that group of people yet. Sam's school will be having finals just as they were scheduled and he will be done with his semester the first week of May. Hallelujah! So, while we were trapped in our house several times for a couple of days, we tried to make the most of it...we did get bored though, as you can see:

And once the snow actually stops and it's sunny outside, schools and everything else are still cancelled for another day to give everybody a chance to dig themselves out...it can be a pretty serious chore around these parts! Here's a little of what Sam had to deal with, and how we enjoyed the sun!

This is our driveway...pretty deep eh? and it is long too!

A sure-fire way to make LucyMae giggle

Isn't she such a little model?

LucyMae's first snow-angel!

Then we helped LucyMae warm up by taking a nice warm bath....and then something unexpected happened. Sorry...I know it is kind of gross...but I just wanted to say: I AM A PATIENT MOTHER! My sister, Brittani, always made fun of me when I would laugh at the annoying, gross, unwanted things her kids would do. I mean, seriously, kids make huge messes sometimes. And sometimes they cause permanent damage to things that we care about. So, my sister always said that I could laugh because I was the aunt, but just wait until I was the mother....and I always hoped that my ability to laugh at these situations would carry into motherhood (with a little fear that it would NOT). BUT, lo and behold, I have proven myself on a couple of occasions so far (but I am not ignorant to the fact that I might not find it as cute with a 2-year-old or older as I do with a baby...I am sure things will change in the future...but I am going to hold on to laughter as the best medicine for as long as I can).

First - LucyMae broke one of our nice serving dishes we got for our wedding...accidentally of course...and I was disappointed that we only used it once or twice so far, but had to laught at the commotion it caused while I was teaching.

Second - Sam had just brought me home a beautiful pot of lilies that I had set on a table in the living room (one that I thought she could not reach to the top of), and LucyMae had her eyes on that thing...I was getting dinner ready in the kitchen with Sam's help, and when it got suddenly very quiet in the other room, Sam checks on her and finds the whole plant on the floor with dirt everywhere, and broken flowers. I thought that one was hilarious as LucyMae frantically stuffed as much dirt in her mouth as she could before Dad took it all away...And when Sam wouldn't let her touch it anymore she SCREAMED like I have never heard before. She was MAD!!! And I was laughing pretty dang hard.

Third - I was giving her a bath to warm up after playing in the snow....and I saw that face...and I knew it was coming and I wouldn't have time to do anything about it, so I just grabbed the camera, called for Sam from outside, and we both had a good laugh at her first time pooping in the tub. Nuisance? YES! Funny? YES! But the instant LucyMae could tell that I was annoyed or grossed out at all, she started crying...so I just had to laugh and pretend it was no big deal.

Moments before the explosion...

Sorry...gross picture...but every kid does

it at some point right?

Other than the endless snow and cold we've been enduring out here, life has been pretty normal. Just the usual schedule of school for Sam, substitute teaching as much as possible for Sam, teaching violin lessons for me, YM and YW activities, etc. I got to play again with the Black Hills Symphony for their last concert of the season, so no more Monday night rehearsals until September!

And of course....GENERAL CONFERENCE! We just watched all the sessions on the internet at home and thoroughly enjoyed every word that was spoken. What a blessing it is to hear such words of wisdom from our prophet and leaders every six months. Can't wait for the May Ensign to come out!!!

So, that's life from Rapid City in a nut-shell! Here are few more pics...

she figured out that she could still wave with her gloves on

how did the snow get inside our garage you ask? we think
it's just because of how hard the wind can blow...any little
crack and the wind will find it!

LucyMae's idea of helping me with the laundry

very helpful huh?

she loves those strawberries!