Meet Our New Niece

Meet our new niece, Hooch (please note we were not consulted on the name thing).

She's Michael's new dog and she's adorable!

I met her for the first time on Sunday. I convinced Michael to bring her to mom and dad's (they needed another dog in the house even if it was only for a few hours).

We gave her a bath as she was one stinky dog. She lives at Mike's shop and gets petted by lots of greasy hands. She was filthy!

We also let her have several of Rolo's old toys.

She wasted no time shredding them.

If you get a chance, stop by Mike's shop and meet her. Watch out for her tail though. When it gets moving, it'll knock you over!

Winter 2010 and The Pool's

In case you haven't heard, it's a little cold and snowy out. We are receiving wind chills of -35 degrees and temperatures of anywhere from -5 to 5 degrees. Right now it's 0 degrees outside. We received a few more inches of snow yesterday but the real problem has been the winds. They are creating massive drifts everywhere.

In light of this, Dave and I both brought work home with us yesterday. We weren't sure if we would be able to make it to work this morning. Well, we didn't. Here's how our morning went...

6:20 am:

Dave: I'm heading out to scoop the drive. It's blowing pretty crazy out, so I think you should stay home today. I'm going to try and get to work. (Here's the translation - My car still doesn't have new tires and I don't want to drive across town to take you to work. You work from home and I'm heading in to my office.)

Sarah: Whatever.

7:30 am:

Dave: I'm leaving for work. See you tonight.

Sarah: Whatever.

8:02 am:

Text message from Dave: I'm a dumbass. Stuck on Garden.

Text message from Sarah: Still?

This was followed by a phone call to Dave because I wasn't sure if he was still stuck (remember, he had left half an hour ago). Turns out he was still stuck right outside of our development.

I bundled up and headed his way (laughing of course).

This is what I saw (taken from 150th and Garden)...

Keep in mind that it was not snowing at this point but the winds were blowing so hard that you could barely see where Dave had driven through.

Luckily Bryan from Anderson Ford was on his way to pick up Mike Anderson and happened across Dave. Unfortunately for Bryan, he couldn't get to Mike until our vehicle was moved.

Bryan plowed and plowed and Dave scooped. Finally, they got to a point where we could drive the car out of the snowbank (with a little help pushing).

After our car was out of the way, Bryan drove through. He barely made it but had to get going. He didn't have time to clear up the rest of the road. By this time it was 9 am. Dave had been stuck for almost 2 hours!

As a result, my car is now sitting in Bennet waiting for the snow plows to clear up Garden.

Dave and I had to walk home. Did I mention it's 0 degrees out with windchill up to -35 degrees? It was a nice 1/2 mile walk.

I asked Dave what he was thinking when he saw the drift. This was his response: "I thought, Oh, I can do it. So, I backed up and gunned it. I was thinking I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then I couldn't move. This was followed by lots of cursing. Then I had to crawl out of the window dukes of hazard style."

So far, our first winter out here has been incredibly memorable. Hopefully the rest of it will be much more uneventful.

Chinchillas

The boys got a treat tonight. We let them out of their room while Dave cleaned their cage. The shop vac scares them and since they are in temporary lodging, they have no where to hide from it. We forced them into their play balls which they haven't been in in ages and threw them in the hall. No worries, I blocked the opening to the stairs.

Dusty enjoyed exploring the balcony. Rocky did not.

Enjoy ... we certainly did.

I think Dusty was eyeing all of the wood work. He would love to be free in the house, though he'd probably fall off of the catwalk.

Christmas 2009 - Part 4

You've been stuck in the house for a couple of days.

You're getting beat by a 4 and 7 year old at Mario Kart.

What else is there to do?

Head outside of course. I had to check out the drift in back.

It was taller than me. Crazy.

While checking out the drift, I noticed that the railings were nice and slick. I headed up the stairs...

so I could slide down. It worked quite well.

And while I was playing? Michael was still plowing.

I think he deserved a rest.

So did we.

It was about this time that Dave ventured over to check out the drift. It was also about this time he noticed something in the snow. That's the heel to my boot in my hand. Let's just say, I'm getting new snow boots.

Michael discovered that our steps make the perfect diving board.

Then Dave remembered his knee board.

Maybe we'll invest in a proper sled.

I think it's safe to say we enjoyed being snowed in at our new house! We certainly won't be forgetting our first winter here any time soon.

Christmas 2009 - Part 3

So, what does one do when you are snowed in? Well, first you admire the snow drifts (and trust me, there were lots to admire!).

Then you try to dig out...

Or, in Dave's case, you send your brother-in-law out to dig out and you hang out in the warm house with the family.

But then you join your brother-in-law outside. After all, it is your driveway.

Don't forget to take lots of breaks. Those snow angels aren't going to create themselves.

And if you aren't planning on heading outside? You play Mario Kart and lots of it. I think Dave's nieces played the Wii for days! We joined them of course but when a 7 and 4 year old start beating you, you tend to give up.

New Years Eve

Party starts around 6:30 p.m. All are invited. Email us if you need directions.


Photo Credit: Matt Knobbe

Christmas 2009 - Part 2

Friday arrived. So did lots of snow.

Dave's family arrived. His folks drove up Thursday and stayed in Waverly with his brother. His other brother drove up Friday morning.

Dave's folks brought us our snowblower! Yeah!!! It's only been in Grand Island for the last year.

The plan was for them to arrive with the snowblower; we'd plow them a path and everything would be hunky-dory.


It was snowing too much to even bother with plowing the whole drive. Andy tried to drive through but that didn't work too well.

The guys carried the kids in...

The men and women transported gifts and food...

Everyone made it in. We ate lots; opened lots of gifts and enjoyed the company.

It was a quick Christmas as the snow was not letting up.

Those staying in Waverly dug their way back to their vehicles and took off.

Those not traveling to Waverly remained at our house (where they still remain).

Christmas 2009, Part 3 to come....