Snowed In

We have had a snow storm yesterday and today.  Yesterday our neighbour cleared some snow from our driveway with his quad ATV with a snow blade on it.   But we had more snow and high winds gusting 50 - 70 km/hr overnight and this morning.  To get ready for church this morning Elaine had gone out and cleared off the van and shoveled around it on the driveway.   So we headed out and promptly got stuck on the street in front of our house.    The city had dug up the street on Friday from a water main break and there are a lot of ruts in ice and hard snow from all the trucks and diggers and machinery driving up and down our block.  Then with the wind and snow yesterday and today the ruts caught the snow and built up snow drifts.  

With us stuck on the street,  Elaine did some more shoveling around the van and Janice went back in the house and changed into snow pants and boots to help.  Elaine called the church and let them know we were stuck in the snow and probably couldn't make it.  Our neighbour came out to help and with the 3 of them pushing and me driving we got back up into our driveway.   So we just went back into the house and  stayed home.  We may be here for a while since the storm is continuing until tomorrow.  

Starting In the Beginning

This year Elaine and I have started reading through the Bible starting with Genesis.  Elaine has a New International Version (NIV) Bible  that has a reading plan to go through the Bible in a year.  We did that before a number of years ago.   She thought it would be good to do it again this year so I decided to do the same.   I have been reading in a New Living Translation (NLT) Bible that my Mother had.   The King James Version is the main Bible I use for other reading and at church, but I am finding the NLT very good for reading the stories in the Old Testament.   So far we are on schedule just finishing the book of Genesis. 

Winter Wedding

Elaine and I went to Wes and Wendy's wedding yesterday.   It was a beautiful wedding with a happy couple.  There were very big smiles and tears of joy, including the couple, the family and the guests.   

Now Our Tickets are Booked

Last night we booked our tickets to visit Mary and Chris in Victoria March 6 to 13.  We were last out there in February 2006.  After I was in hospital in 2007 it took a while until I felt like I wanted to travel again.   Mary and Chris said that the first week of Chris's school break in March would be a good time for us to come.   So Chris will miss out on sleeping in on his first day off to come get us from the airport.  Mary has a lot of ideas for things to do while we are there.  If possible we may try to go see my Mom's cousin in Comox one day.  We are pretty excited for this trip but it is still two months away.      

Mom and Mary

Mary posted the picture on the left on her blog for her Mom's birthday yesterday.  She said this is the only picture she has with just her and her Mom.  I like the picture on the right with her expression after the food is in her mouth.  

2010 Starts With A Wintery Blast

We started off  2010 with the temperature at -37C but then a winter snow storm has moved in with winds gusting 50 to 70 km/hr.  It is not an official blizzard which has a criteria  of wind chill below -25C, wind over 40 km/hr and visibility below 1 km for 4 hours.   We have the wind and windchill but  the visibility has not been too bad at 2-3 km. That's fairly moderate for a winter storm.  We have a trip planned to Saskatoon next weekend but it looks like the weather should be better by then.