The Adventures of Getting To Work

So did anyone mention lately how crazy the weather has been around here? We have had an early onslaught of winter that is one big adventure for some of us and a, er, pain in the butt for others. Winter weather here in Idaho always has its ups and downs--the ups being cancelled school (especially nice when you're a teacher or student, but I'm not sure how some working parents feel about it!), awesomely great times playing in the snow (skiing, snowboarding, tubing, night-tubing--that's a whole other story there!), the beauty of the snow-covered fields and trees...The downs, of course, being wind, wind, and...more wind. The thing about southern Idaho is, we can sometimes have amazingly wonderful snow storms that dump lots of the beautiful white stuff all around, making for a glisteny, sparkly winter wonderland. Unfortunately, the other thing about southern Idaho is the aforementioned WIND that is always close behind the peaceful snowstorms. This wind is the type of driving, cold, icy wind that creates drifts several feet high out of mere inches of snow. This wind causes the beautiful, glisteny, sparkly winter wonderland to become a deceptively beautiful land of snow that is much the same texture and hardness of concrete.

So with all that in mind, Jake now has a job that is up in the mountains. So far he has really enjoyed this job and knows it will be really rewarding. However,the icy, concrete-like hardness of a southern Idaho wind-produced snowdrift can be somewhat deterring for those trying to travel the roads that are buried somewhere beneath. So now I give you the adentures of the past couple of days.

Sunday Jake received a call from his boss telling him he may have to come up to work that night (usually he doesn't go up until Monday). Later I received a call from my cousin, Derek, whose dad (Uncle Carl) actually is the contracted plow person for Daybreak Canyon (where Jake works). They usually only call in Uncle Carl to plow when it's really bad (the owner's brother, who works there also, usually does it with his pickup because it's a lot cheaper). Well, it was really bad so Uncle Carl was plowing the road on Sunday with the grader and a huge v-plow on front. We are talking huge equipment here. Well, as I mentioned, Derek called me and told me Ben had been plowing and gotten his pickup stuck in a huge drift so Carl went up to plow and he ended up not being able to get back through because the wind was drifting the road shut quicker than they could plow. So Derek said to tell Jake not to try to get up there there was no way anyone could get through all those drifts. Then Jake's boss called and said the same thing. So my uncle Carl got lucky and got to stay the night up at a lodge full of troubled teenagers. Apparently he just missed an episode where one of the boys got upset over something and picked up a wrench and proceeded to throw it through one of the lodge windows, then grabbed another one and through it through the windshield of one of the employee's cars, then broke out the back window of the camp's Excursion (I'm guessing Uncle Carl is glad he missed all that, he probably wouldn't have wanted to stay there after witnessing it!). So Carl spent Sunday night at Daybreak Canyon and told his son, Derek, to bring the Cat with the plow on it up the next day (the Cat is much slower, but more powerful since it has tracks in stead of tires). I'm not exactly sure what all happened there, but Monday morning my Dad got a call asking if he could bring his four-wheelers up to the point where all the heavy drifting was and haul people in and out over the drifts with the four-wheelers. (Carl needed to get home, as well as the weekend staff and Jake needed to get up there.) What's so funny about all this is that we didn't know when Jake got the job that they had contracted with my Uncle Carl and they didn't know, of course, that Jake was related to Carl. Then, my parents didn't know any of these people at Jake's work, but they found out Jake's in-laws had four-wheelers and so that got my parents involved. So yesterday Derek came with his pickup and one of the four-wheelers to pick up Jake and all his things and my parents followed with their pickup and the other four-wheeler. Once they got up in the mountains, they had to shuttle people in and out of Daybreak Canyon with the four-wheelers because they were light enough to go on top of the snow drifts (well, supposedly--Jake sunk his like three or four times, but was able to make it eventually). Each trip took like 45 minutes one way (the spot they were going from is usually only 15 minutes from the lodge), but they managed to get Uncle Carl and Janelle out of there and get Jake in there. And needless to say, Jake most likely won't be commuting back and forth this week, he's just staying up there all week.

Yeah, so while some consider their morning commutes to be a pain, they should think about riding 45 minutes on a four-wheeler across a frozen tundra of snow drifts just to get to work! It's a good thing Jake is loving his job and that he loves the outdoors and adventure! (I guess it's also a good thing he's related to so many people with so much equipment--it's coming in very handy for his job!). I'm just glad everyone got safely where they were going--especially since nearly all of them were my family!

Christmas Tree Time 2010

Well, it's Christmas tree time in the Webb family. There were threats of Rick (my father-in-law) not going with us all to get trees and so several of us had to guilt him into going. There was some discussion of having to celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas, how this was going to be Lilly's first time ever going, how Brady and Kylie came down to Twin ONLY to get a tree, how crushed Hannah was...yeah, needless to say, by the end of the day Rick had agreed to go and so the tradition continued. Yayyyy!!! I think it was the coldest it's ever been when I've gone to get a tree, so Jackson didn't play outside much and he and Lilly ended up spending a lot of the time just sitting in the car to keep warm. Jake waded through feet of snow to find the perfect tree and Rick and Donnelly carted home five trees (only one for themselves, though). It was a great kick-off to the Christmas season (even though the dang tree didn't get decorated until tonight--4 days later!).

Definitely our smallest tree ever but the perfect shape!

Lilly is buried somewhere in there!

The boys

My sister-in-law Hannah and her bestie, Amy

Kylie (sis-in-law) and Brady (my brother-in-law)

Donnelly and Rick (Jake's parents)

The group

Little Miss Lilly

I thought I should do an update on our precious little daughter, Lilly. She is doing so well and bringing everyone so much joy. She's honestly the best baby I have ever been around. She's so easy (see, that's why I have no excuses for not blogging more often!). Jackson was a great baby too, but was way more "on" all the time. Lilly is just a little snuggler. She only cries when she's hungry, and usually then it's not a full-born cry. She just kind of yells out once or twice. She sleeps really well (and anywhere--the swing, the bed, her bouncy seat, snuggled up with people, and even when she's on the floor playing!). She is starting to smile a lot and almost laughs. I know that some day she will kill me for posting this, but she also kind of snorts a lot when she gets excited or hungry. It's so dang cute! (You know that childrens book Are You My Mother, with the excavator that the little bird calls a "Snort"? Well, my dad has nicknamed Lilly "Snort", which is funny on its own--then you get Jackson's version of the nickname--"Nowte", and then it's even funnier!). She's very alert now and loves to watch Jackson in all his craziness. She has such a sweet little personality. Here are a few pictures of her (I got the most adorable one of her smiling on my phone--I will have to figure out how to get it on my computer so you can all see!).


We are so thankful for our sweet little angel!

Halloween Cookies and Jack-o-Lanterns--October 2010

I really wanted to make Halloween sugar cookies (I'm not sure why, since it's such a stinking huge batch and we have to make the dang things only a short couple of months later for Christmas!). Jackson usually loves to help bake, but his attention grew short like one batch into these cookies. Oh well, it was pretty fun, and the cookies were delicious.


Then it was Jack-o-Lantern carving time! Jackson didn't want one of the big pumpkins, but just a "tiny little" one. Since it was a pie pumpkin it was pretty tough to carve, but we got it done.


Jackson said he wanted a scary pumpkin, and it turned out pretty cute. Unfortunately, about 5 minutes after setting it out on the deck, candle and all, the stupid puppy ate it! Thus, we decided not to carve anymore jack-o-lanterns this Halloween.

Halloween 2010

We kind of had a two-part Halloween this year. On Saturday, we were supposed to go with Bram, Keshia, and Zane to the Lynnwood Trick-Or-Treat, but I got really sick, so Jake just ended up taking Jackson. Then Sunday, Jake got sick, so I ended up taking Jackson and Lilly out. Our version of trick-or-treating is driving around to all the relatives' houses and showing off the costumes and visiting. It makes for a long night since everyone is so spread out, but it's way more fun than going to peoples' houses you don't know. Here are my two cute little trick-or-treaters:

Jackson, who was Sheriff Woody, and Lilly, the Ladybug (who was so hungry she was trying to eat her little hood--she was so mad!)

Note the jeans tucked into the boots--oops!

Zane the rooster--too cute!

My parents were awesome--they dressed up like Mickey and Minnie Mouse to hand out candy, and Jackson got a huge kick out of that! I got the cutest picture of them with their two grandkids, but it's on my mom's camera, so I will have to add it later. Thanks to my mom for the amazing ladybug costume and the vest for Jackson's costume! She's talented in all the areas I lack skills in.

Nana's Pumpkin Patch--October 2010

So I'm still obviously trying to play catch-up on my blog posts. At this point I don't really have any excuses so I won't even try to offer one this time. ;-)

My mom always grows this amazing pumpkin patch to help keep the weeds off some of their garden area. It has become a tradition for us to go over and pick out our own pumpkins. This year my friend, Keshia, and her son, Zane, joined us. It was also Lilly's first trip to a pumpkin patch! Here are a few photos:

I know it looks like Jackson is upset, but he was actually trying to pick up the pumpkin and was being all dramatic about it being so heavy.

Zane

Me and Jackson

Our pumpkins! (Lilly must have wanted to eat, she looks pretty unhappy!)

Introducing...Lilly SheRie Webb! October 5, 2010

Our beautiful baby girl arrived on 10-5-10 at 1:44 in the afternoon. Her name is Lilly SheRie Webb. We came up with her middle name, SheRie (pronounced like Marie, but with the Sh) because Jake really wanted to honor his Aunt Sheelagh, who passed away the first year we were married, and I really wanted to honor my sister Sarah, whose middle name was Marie, who passed away when I was little. So, we combined Sheelagh and Marie and came up with SheRie. Anyhow, I was having very irregular, but pretty painful contractions for a good two weeks and kept working just to build up days, train my class, help my student teacher, and stay busy! I worked Monday, and we ended up arriving at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 5th. All night Monday night I was having really strong contractions, but they were never regular distances apart, and even though this was my second child, it was wayyy different, so I wasn't one hundred percent sure I was really in labor. We left at 7:00 a.m. in the fog (when Jackson was born there was a blizzard, so we always have memorable weather!) and when we arrived at the hospital, the nurses didn't believe I was really in labor since all my contractions weren't that close together and I didn't "appear" to be in all that much pain (believe me, I was!). So they put me in a closet (no joke, they were out of labor rooms and this room was seriously the size of a walk-in closet with a stretcher and a folding chair in it--fun for Jake too) to check me. Well, the nurse took her sweet time hooking me up to a monitor and never actually checked me for quite awhile. When she finally did, guess what? I was already dilated to an 8! Yeah. No one could believe it. So we quickly ordered the epidural and I begged for a different room (well, an actual room, not a closet). Luckily, within a half hour, one emptied and they cleaned it up for me so I could proceed with my labor and delivery in as much comfort as possible. The anesthesiologist arrived pretty quickly, I got my epidural in time, then....nothing...for a long time. My contractions never did become regular or close together, so they finally gave me a dose of pitosin and by 1:44, little miss Lilly had arrived! She was 21 inches long and weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces (and believe me, the extra five ounces she had on Jackson made her seem a lot bigger!). Here she is:

And here's Jackson anxiously waiting to meet her! (Thanks Nana and Papa, for keeping me a couple of days!)

The newly expanded Webb Family

Miss Lilly

Jackson showing off his present (we wanted him to have some special attention when Lilly was born too--he was super excited!)

Jackson checking out Lilly's "tiny little" feet

Getting ready to head home

We are so thankful for a healthy, beautiful little girl! And we are so blessed to have a handsome, healthy big brother for her too!

Twin Falls County Fair & Rodeo, Sept. 2010

For anyone from out of town, the Twin Falls County Fair and Rodeo is seriously the best one I've been to (I've only been to a few others, but still...). We always love going and Jackson actually remembered specifically which rides he had ridden the year before, so we were excited to take him as well. Here are a few memories from the fair this year:

Jackson and Zane checking out the huge loader bucket!

They loved driving the Bobcat

Typical of Jackson, he ended up with a fire truck full of girls!

Daddy and Jackson at the rodeo

I remember seeing a picture of Jake when he was little that looked almost just like this, I need to get it from Jake's grandma and scan it and put it by this one!

Hmmm....

Now that's a serious cowboy!

Camping at our favorite spot...Redfish! (August 2010)

Well, as you can tell, I'm extremely behind on updating my blog and my facebook. I think it's called "I was nine months pregnant, going back to work for a whole three weeks, and have had a newborn to take care of ". So where I left off was about the time my friend, Keshia and I decided to take our boys camping. We also thought my mom deserved a nice getaway, so we invited her as well. We really wanted to go to Redfish Lake (Keshia had never been there), but since it was kind of a last minute decision, we didn't think we could get a camping spot there (the campground near the beach fills up like a year in advance usually). Luckily, though, we got a prime spot in the exact campground we wanted!

Jackson couldn't even wait to get all his clothes off before heading into the water--and he drug poor Nana along!

Jackson and Zane had a great time playing in the sand and water. The three of us ladies had an amazingly relaxing time (I know, it's hard to believe considering the fact that we had a two-and-a-half-year-old and an eighteen month old with us, but it's true!). It was a great retreat before I had to drag my hugely pregnant self back to work for a few weeks. Here are a few of our favorite memories from the trip:

Zane

Jackson had quite a project going

Keshia and Zane

Keshia, Zane, and Jackson (along with the most beautiful view!)

Swimming area near our campsite
Zane chillin in Jackson's camp chair

Jackson chillin on the camper steps

Jackson thought this rock was a pirate ship and he found a stick that was his gun--this game lasted an entire morning!


We all decided to walk around to the lodge for some ice cream!

Paddle Boat ride with Captain Jackson

So cute!

Fireside baths (I'm not sure why this won't rotate...)

Pretending to be cowboys and ride a horsey!

Thanks Keshia, Mom, Zane and Jackson for such a great and relaxing end-of-summer vacation!

(And tomorrow I will try to sneak away and continue catching up on my blogging so everyone can finally see pics of Lilly!!!)