Last week my life was on hold because we didn’t have a car. But that turned out fine. All the Windstar needed was to have some hose reconnected, and maybe a gaket replaced. Something simple. It was a cheap repair. The mechanic said the car itself is in good shape to go many more miles. Yay! And just as I was driving it home, coming down 40th West, there was a flock of little kids crossing the street at the next intersection. It looked like Miss Nora’s preschool. It was! I remembered that they were doing their annual fieldtrip to Arctic Circle, and they had just gotten off the bus. So I joined them. I held Paige (that sober child!) and watched the kids have fun in the playland. So everything turned out fine that day.
      But now my life is on hold because of our so Dad bought a new motherboard and installed it and figured out how to get everything running again. We used it for maybe a week, and it died again. So now it’s in a repair shop. It will probably be cheaper to buy a whole new system. That’s what we should have done 14 months ago, but instead, we had one of Dad’s friends “build” us a custom system, using what we already had. Big mistake. And meanwhile, without a computer, what can I do? Right now I’m at Grandma and Grandpa’s, typing this. (They seem to be doing great, by the way.)
      Tom stayed at our house for a couple of days while he went to a conference up by the U. He says that he and Kim and the kids are on the cover of the little booklet put out by the fitness center in Kamas. Tom remembers, they were swimming in the pool, and a guy took their picture. I want to see it!
      Donna got Blizzac tires for her car, and now it chugs right up the hill to the cabin, no matter how icy it is. And with her weekly commute from the cabin to Logan and back again, it’s only a matter of time before she’s driving through a canyon in a blizzard. The tires will pay for themselves from the accident she doesn’t have.
      Vanessa has joined a quilting club, going all out with the most obsessive of hobbies. But what do you do in the winter? With a houseful of kids? She’s still running, too, of course. She’s going to be in a triathalon next summer. The Spudman. Debbie Berg was going to do it with her, but she didn’t apply in time.
      Friday night Dad and I went snowboarding with a young couple in our ward, the Davises, both of them first-timers. I guess the guy thought he was going to hop on the board and zip down the hill, and it wasn’t that easy for him. He couldn’t even get up. So I sat in the snow with him, trying to coach him. I felt terrible for him. Meanwhile, Dad came zipping by us, smirking at the poor guy. And his wife came zipping by, too. Later they took us to dinner at Applebees. The next Sunday in Church, he said it wasn’t as bad as all that. Maybe he’ll try it again. I gave him a map of Wolf Mountain, in Ogden Valley. Maybe we’ll go there.
      Yesterday I made my first trip to the cabin in 2 weeks. Everything looked fine, thanks to Donna, Bevan, and Tom. I did little odd jobs, and then I started working on the inside of the front entryway. Bevan came home while I was still working, and started fixing himself a dinner of onions, chili, and hot dogs–totally “guy” food. He hauls lots of firewood, too.
      Well, that’s it for this week. I love you all! Mom