Snow - Long over due

Since I have lived in Texas, it has snowed more here then in the town I grow up in Hollister, CA. Almost every year since I moved to Texas, so about 11 years. But it doe not stay for very long and there is never a lot of it. But on February 23rd, we received about 6 inches of snow for one day. It was a fun day.

I had to take my mom to the airport and I was a little nervous about driving on the highway with the snow and the cold weather. I made it and just drove slow to be safe. But when I got home, I was greeted by my husband and brother who were out taking pictures and enjoying the day. I had taken Jeremy and Zachary with me to the airport and left Samuel so he could take his nap. The kids were so excited to get out and play.

Once that Samuel woke up, I dressed him for going outside. I myself put on 2 pants, 2 shirts, 2 pair of socks, a wool coat and mismatched gloves. I put Samuel in the new jogging stroller and out we went.


Chad had hooked up Jeremy's four-wheeler with a sled of some type. I think it was a plastic box top in a plastic garbage bag. You use what you have. But Jeremy had so much fun being pulled around the property.

My Parents Visit

My parents live in California and do not visit a lot. My dad comes 2 times per year and my mom a little more then that. Before their visit, we had to prepare. Not only getting the house nice and clean, but we were also planning a very special dinner with homegrown lamb.

Chad and Stephen slaughtered the lamb on Thursday before their visit and we butchered stored the meat on Sunday the 14th. I seasoned the meat on Sunday with herbs and olive oil and let it marinate for 5 days. The rest of the lamb was froze for another time.

My parents flew in on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. After weeks of cold, it was so nice. We had such a nice visit and for my dad it was the first time meeting Samuel.


On Friday night the whole family was together for dinner. I had been cooking all day. We had 2 legs of lamb, 1 chicken, lots of veggies and salad. My mom, dad, Stephen, Belinda, Ed, Bonnie (Belinda's mom), Andy, Elizabeth and our family all sat down to dinner. The food tasted so wonderful and the conversation was great. Belinda fixed a wonderful blackberry cobbler and we had that for dessert.


After we were done eating we had a special blessing for Samuel Graysen Alexander. He had a rough time when he first entered the world but he has been health every since (with a few exceptions of how he does not like it when I eat sugar or diary). It was so nice to have the family all gathered around for this special time.

On the Sabbath, Chad and his parents went to a funeral for Joe Alexander. Chad was a pallbearer at the funeral. The pallbearers all wore white button up shirts and blue jeans. I was sad that Chad could not make it to the Sabbath with me but Joe lived a good life and it was important for him and his family to be there instead of at church.

I decided to take all the boys with me to make it easier on Chad. The first sermon they all did pretty good. We had a nice meal in-between and then a second sermon. Zachary slept the whole time and Samuel slept for about 1hour. Jeremy played very quietly with his friends.


My dad left for Houston that afternoon and my mom and the boys all headed home.

On Sunday, Jeremy wanted grandma to take him to get tie shoes. He was very excited because grandma had promised she would get him the shoes. We ended up with a pair for him and Zachary. Little kids and new shoes are a great combo. Zachary's had the little lights on them and Jeremy thought his shoes were just the best ever.

On Tuesday the morning my mom was to leave for home, it started snowing. I took her to the airport and made sure the plane was scheduled to fly out. While a couple inches of snow in some areas of the country are no big deal, at the Waco Airport it could stop the plane from leaving. So we visited for about 20 minutes and I headed out with the kids. Turns out the airplane had trouble and she did not actually leave for about 4 hours. Poor mom. It was a long day.