Good-bye to 2012

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas. Once again, we didn't send out holiday greetings. I wanted to. Unfortunately, we are in a similar situation as last year...unemployment is here again for the Chief, and every dime is very closely accounted for. So, sending cards just didn't make it on the budget this year.

I'll include the pics of my darling boys that I would have sent, had cards gone out...




Seth, our baby. He turned 7 this month! He is loving first grade. He is also getting skinny. He is a picky eater, but in a desperate attempt to get him to eat, we let him eat whatever he wants: marshmallows and wheat thins are probably his two favorite things! He love Jr. Jazz Basketball and flying his R/C Helicopter.



 

Noah will turn 11 next month. He is still our all american athlete. He played football this fall, and he is currently playing Jr. Jazz Basketball. He is a really good student. He had a traumatic experience this summer, getting attacked by a neighbor's dog. He endured many stitches after getting bit and scratched in 5 different areas of his body. He fortunately still loves dogs, but is weary of big, unknown dogs, especially rottweilers.

 

 My McKay is 13...a teenager. He got a phone for his birthday, which he pays for each month. He is way into Minecraft. He is working on his Scouts, though his mom wishes he would be a bit more dedicated with it. He is kind to his brothers, and very responsible. He surprised himself with how much he is enjoying choir in the 7th grade, though he refuses to think about singing in the Ward choir at church. He is never without his I-pod.

 

 

I'm working both jobs. It is a challenge at times, trying to juggle work, kids, chores, grocery shopping, friendships, and my newest church calling. I was asked in the October to be the President of the Relief Society in my ward, which is the local women's organization at church. It means that I've been able to get to know a lot of my neighbors a lot better, and been able to serve others, which has helped me to now focus on stressful things we are dealing with here at home.

 

The Chief has been unemployed since November 9th. He has had a few interviews, and has another coming this week. I appreciate how diligent he is in looking for work.

 

Despite the situation, we still went through with going to Arizona for Thanksgiving. We had reserved our condo down in Tucson the year prior, and we were able to go and spend the week with my sister, Heidi, and her family. It was a really fun, relaxing time for our family. Tucson is really a neat place.

 

Since September, the Chief's brother, Tom, has been living with us. The Chief loves having his brother here. I'm really outnumbered now by testosterone! Its a good thing I enjoy sports too!

 

We are hopeful that this coming year will see new employment in the near future. We also hope that we will be able to travel to NY as a family. It has been too long since the boys have spent time at their grandparents' home with my siblings there at home. I miss visiting home too!

 

If I don't write very often, it is because I'm going, going, going. I figure that like learning to play the piano, writing a blog regularly will happen sometime!

 

In the meantime, from our family to yours...

Happy New Year!

May 2013 be a year filled with love, joy, and good health!

 

Love,

Gretchen and the Skelly family

 

Happy Fall!

Somehow, I allowed the summer to pass by without taking the time to finish telling our Alaskan story. After a wonderful June, the Chief and I both struggled in July, me saying good-bye to my 94 year old Grandma Boscher on July 9th, and the Chief losing his older sister, Tamara, unexpectedly, in Oklahoma on July 8th. While, I was flying to NY with Seth in attempt to arrive before she passed away, Scott received the news that his sister had passed away alone in a hospital. He and the two older boys got in the car and drove the long drive there, where he met up with his niece, Kandace, and his older sister, Kim. They took care of things there, and then they made the long drive home. Meanwhile, I arrived in NY in time to go to the hospice and see many of my aunts and uncles, cousins, and my sweet Grandmother. She opened her eyes, and acknowledged that I was there, letting me know that she loves me. And I was able to let her know that I love her too. It was a bittersweet trip home. I was reminded again how much family means to me, and so grateful that I was able to be with my parents and a number of my siblings. Once home, August arrived, and our family enjoyed being together again, enjoying the last days of summer. We started football again with Noah, with the Chief signing on as one of the assistant coaches. Our lives revolved around football practice. It was a happy time. Now, my favorite season has arrived. Autumn...crisp air, cooling temperatures, changing leaves, pumpkins, apples, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! They are upon us, and I am so happy!

Visiting the 49th State, Part 1

Alaska was everything that we had hoped it would be. Here is my travel log.

Let the adventure begin

The Chief and I left SLC at 9 a.m. and flew to Seattle. At the airport, our luggage was the first to come down the ramp! When does that ever happen? We took it as a positive omen for the trip! We then walked over to the Central Link Light Rail, where we bought our tickets for $2.25 each and rode to Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. It was so easy, and so much cheaper than a taxi. On the light rail, we met Megan, who is a teacher from South Carolina. She was also going on a cruise, except she was going to work on a Holland America ship for 4 weeks, and work with the their kids' program. She was alone, meeting friends later in the day, so we invited her to hang with us as we went to lunch and to the Underground Seattle tour, which she had planned to do too. We got off the light rail, walked to our hotel (the Best Western at Pioneer Square) and checked in and dropped off our bags, and then grabbed lunch. I had a panina and it was so yummy! We then enjoyed the Underground Seattle Tour, which we both found really fun and interesting. We then said good-bye to Megan, and the Chief and I went back to the hotel to get a sweater as it was getting chilly, but no raindrops! The Chief was hungry again, and wanted to get a hot dog from a street vendor. There in Seattle, they serve them with cream cheese, and the Chief wanted the whole Seattle experience, so he was game! I took a bite too and it was actually really tasty! We then hopped on a city free bus and headed down to Pike's Market. It is such a fun place to visit! We loved watching the fish tasting, and couldn't refrain from buying a juicy pear from a vendor. We also bought a bouquet of flowers, which we gave to our friends, Doug and Mark. We decided to walk back to the hotel (about a 20 minute walk).

Then, we rested briefly and then Doug and Mark came and picked us up. They gave us a short tour of Seattle by car, and then we went to a nice dinner on the water. I can't remember the name because I was so happy to be visiting with Doug and Mark again. Doug is one of my oldest friends from BYU, and we don't get to see one another very often, but when we do, we are able to pick up just where we left off. After a yummy dinner of fish of course, the evening came to an end all too soon, and we were back at the hotel! We had an early wake up call!





Doug, Gretch, and Scott

Seattle, 2012

We caught a cab at 6:15 a.m. in order to get to the Amtrak station. From there, we boarded our train and rode to Vancouver, Canada. It was a 4 hour ride, and it was beautiful. We saw beautiful scenery, and even glimpsed some bald eagles. We arrived there, and were able to go through customs in about 2 minutes! We then got another cab, who took us the 10 minutes to Canada Place, where we met our Celebrity Cruise ship.

Everyone was so nice, and helpful! We were just soaking it all in! We felt like we were on a honeymoon, except with left our three kiddos at home!



We were on the ship within 30 minutes of arriving at Canada Place. We were overwhelmed with how big it was, despite it being a somewhat moderate size cruise ship. We found our stateroom, on the 2nd deck, and we were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. Then we set off to explore the ship. We joined a ship tour, but about 20 minutes into it, we decided to ditch it as there were so many people trying to go on the tour, we couldn't hear the guide. We figured we would be able to disclover the place on our own, which we were able to do through the week on the ship. We decided to go up to the buffet on the 10th deck and have our first meal on the ship. I wasn't super impressed, but decided to forego judgment.



That first day was so exciting! The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed being together. We laughed, we were silly, and we fell in love all over again!  That night, we ate in the dining room. We had chosen the Select Dining, which meant we could eat whenever we wished, and we would rotate our table each night. The Chief and I love to meet new people, and figured we would be able to meet lots of new people each night. It was something that we both enjoyed very much as we were successful 5/6 nights of meeting interesting and kind people. One night we struck out, but it wasn't terrible.

The dining room food was generally really good. I had fish almost every night, and I loved it! I attempted to eat new food, although I could not go so far as to order the fried frog legs, like the Chief did. I had a nibble, and it wasn't bad. Just couldn't get over the idea of it!



Frog Legs

We went to the show almost every night and really enjoyed them! The staff were so helpful and polite. The crowd was generally older...maybe 70 years old on average. But we didn't mind...they were kind and interesting to talk with.



The second day was the only day that it was rainy. It was also the day we went through the Inside Passage. It was so beautiful and green! We spent a lot of time up on the deck, enjoying the scenery. The next day, we arrived in Ketchikan. We had not planned any excursions there. It was still rainy...more drizzly really. That morning was the only day we ate in the Main Dining room for breakfast. Then I went and had a massage, that I had won on the first day on the ship. It was a nice way to start the day. It was also the only hour of the whole 9 days we were gone that the Chief and I spent apart. We loved being together and finding things to do. After the massage, we got off the ship, and wandered around Ketchikan. We went in and out of shops, and just enjoyed this little town.

The next day, we arrived in Icy Point Strait. Here, we had planned to go fishing with Captain Eric. It was a beautiful morning, with the sun shining. Captain Eric told us it had rained for a whole week, and this was the first beautiful day. We met up with another couple, who had also reserved the fishing trip, and off the 5 of us went. It was amazing to be on the water. I didn't even need my jacket. It was about 70 degrees that morning. As we approached our fishing spot, Captain Eric pointed out a bear on the shore. It was far enough away that we couldn't make out the details, but could see him moving about! Then we put the anchor down, and Captain Eric got us set to fish for Halibut. Within minutes of the Chief getting his line down, he had a bite. He slowly pulled him in and he had a 28 lb. Halibut! It was so exhilerating! We were all so excited! The other couple were also able to catch a few fish, but none very big, so they kept throwing them back. Finally, near the end, she caught a smaller halibut that she kept! I didn't get any, but still had a great day!



We could move to Alaska in a heartbeat!



Getting that fish!



Back on the ship, we enjoyed a formal night in the Dining Room. It was interesting to see what different people thought of for "formal night". There were some women in their 60s, who wore what looked like prom dresses that teens would wear to their prom. Thankfully, there were only two of these women that we saw dressed this way! It was fun to dress up and be on a "fancy date."

Formal Night

So, after Icy Point Strait, we then headed to Juneau. This was definitely my favorite place we visited. Look for Part 2 for more on our cruise to Alaska!

Alaska...here we come!

The Chief is finally taking me to Alaska, to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary this fall!

We are so excited to go, but I admit, I am nervous to leave my boys. I keep telling myself they will be just fine and 9 days won't be too long to be apart!

I'll post all about it when we get home!!!

I wanted to write a piece for mother's day, in honor of my mother, but somehow all my time got taken with other things. So it is as a mother. I am a mother, so different from my own, yet so much of what I do, I take from her.

My mom became a mother at 19 years of age. I became a mother at 29 years old. She gave birth to eleven children, and adopted 14 more. I have three children.

My mom was the sort who was there when I came home from school. There is only one occasion when she wasn't there that I recall. I needed her that day. It was the day, I had broken my arm in gym class. But I stayed at school, in shock, with no adults noticing, until I rode my bike home, and the crossing guard saw my tears streaming down my face as the wind hit my arm, causing so much pain. It was before the days of cell phones. All she could do was tell me to hurry home and show my mom, as she gave me a small pat on the shoulder. But it was my 17 year old brother there that day. Mom arrived about a half hour later, and I remember the relief I felt when my mom got there. Then I knew everything would be alright.

My mom made dinner almost every night. Every dinner was accompanied by a salad. And most nights, there was also an appetizer too. Most commonly, a half peach or pear that she had canned the previous summer and topped with cottage cheese and marishino cherries. I don't recall having any food from a box. Most of it was fresh and created by my mom. Some meals were things us kids despised, like her goulash, but we ate it anyhow!

My mom sewed our bathing suits one year, and often she would sew our nightgowns. She also did the laundry without any help. We would bring our baskets down, and they would magically appear folded and ready to go.

My mom was like a super mom! She did it all. And I didn't hear complain, at least not very often!

What will my boys say about me someday? I'm a working mom, gone 5-6 days/week. I juggle things so I can take my kids to school most mornings, and I pick them up a few afternoons too. Tuesdays, I drop them at school, and then don't see them again until Wednesday morning, as I work a 14 hour day. I rarely bake for my children. I do manage to cook most nights, but I'm sure their plates don't have all the food groups represented! I have never sewed for my children. If they need something fixed, then they ask their dad for help with that!

But my favorite thing as a mom is to spend time with my boys. To play and have fun. I love being a mom!

We appreciate our teachers

I wanted to share what my friend Shauna and I did as part of Teacher Appreciation Week at our boys' Charter School. We volunteered to decorate the door for our boys' 6th grade teacher, since they are in the same class. We copied the idea from this website http://bunchesandbits.blogspot.com/2011/05/teachers-appreciation-2011.html because we are just NOT that creative! We made it our own though!!!

I used my Cricket machine to cut out the letters and we printed out clipart for the milk and mixing bowl

We started with red butcher paper and then cut out the yellow squares. It was a lot of cutting, but it turned out great!

The recipe card was handwritten by Shauna. Her handwriting is so pretty! Then we added the details...I love the mixing spoons we picked up at the $ store.

Then, I wanted to "make" gifts for the teachers this year, so I did something super easy and hopefully really appreciated. I bought baskets at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off and then I added "school" ribbon with my glue gun. It only took me about 10 minutes to do all 4 baskets. Then I filled them with fresh fruit, and added a cute tag.

We added cute "fruit" phrases. It isn't peach or plum season here, or I would have added something about that too.


Recognizing our great teachers is fun, and I know that they would thankful! All of my boys have great teachers, who work hard to teach and nurture my kids and I'm grateful for them.

Oh how times flies...

There is a saying that a mom's days are long, and the years are short. I find that to be the case with my kidlets! My 12 year old located our old desktop, after our new laptop failed to work after 2 weeks, and we had to wait endlessly for parts to be ordered and for Sony to come install them. Being impatient, McKay hooked up our old computer all on his own! And in doing so, I found tons of old photos, that I haven't seen for awhile. I thought I would share some today!

2007 - My little boys

A family pic from 2008

McKay and Noah - 2008 at Cove Fort

Seth looking scared in Vegas 2007



At Grandma's house in 2007, My silly wee ones

 How quickly they grow! The photos remind me to enjoy each precious day, because I know soon they will be full-grown men!

If you could go

anywhere on a vacation, where would you choose?

The Chief and I made a commitment that we are definitely going on a 15 year anniversary vacation this year. It has been fun and difficult to decide where we should go. There are so many possibilities...a trip to Europe, back to Germany and to Switzerland would be heavenly. I've always wanted to go to Ireland and Romania, and Alaska, and on and on and on.

Someday, I hope we will get to see much more of the world. In the meantime, we are going on a trip sometime this year to celebrate our marriage!

technology is...

frustrating at times. I was trying to learn how to upload a post from my blog. I was not successful. I just got gobbledygook!

Spring Break

I took the whole week off of work in order to spend the time with the boys for their Spring Break! We planned some fun events to do while "staying" at home. We spent a day in Utah County, where we toured BYU campus. The boys loved going to the BYU bookstore, and each got to buy a souvenior. We also went to the Bean Museum, and then I treated the boys to ice cream at the Creamery! Yum! We visited my dear friend, Janiece too! Then we went to the Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove for some greasy spoon fare! Then we were off to Jump on It, a trampoline place, where the boys could get their energy out! Finally, we went to Cabella's and spent time browsing the fishing gear, and doing the shooting range, and checking out the aquarium there. Then went to pick up the Chief from his job, and took the long drive home in traffic! It was such a fun day together. My boys are now all old enough to enjoy these kind of outings, where we can joke and laugh, and discover new things together!

I discovered that I really love being a SAHM for that week!

Easter fun

The Chief took the boys to an Easter Egg Hunt, while I went off to work. It was a beautiful day! On Sunday, the boys woke up early in search of their easter baskets. It took the older ones a little while, but they found them and discovered that the Easter bunny had brought them fishing poles! They are over the moon about the chance to go fishing!

Our family then went to church. The Chief sang in the choir, which was beautiful. Then the afternoon was a family time. The boys were calm and relaxed. We enjoyed a ham dinner and then just had family time and enjoyed our last day of Spring Break.

Brighton Called my Guys

For Christmas, we told the boys that the Chief would take them skiing at least once this season, but we needed to wait a little while and get on our feet, with the Chief having spent most of 2011 sitting out of the workforce, along with 9.2% of all Americans! Noah has not let us forget this promise. So, today was the day we picked for them to head up to the Mountains. Seth decided he wanted to go too, and try it for the first time. So, today, while I am home on the couch with my stuffed up head, the Chief is with the three boys up at Brighton Ski Resort. I even got a fun video of Seth skiing in my inbox! Yeah, for daddy taking photos to share with mommy at home! I'll add some more later if he sends me some!

Noah is our snowboarder

Noah getting ready to go down the Mountain!

Seth with his instructor riding the lift

McKay on a beautiful Spring Day!

I hope they are having the day of their lives. They already called me and told me they want to get season passes for next year! We shall see! We shall see!

What I did yesterday

Yesterday, I stayed in bed later than usual.
I asked the Chief to drive carpool for me, so I could stay in my jammies a little longer.
I made Seth and myself a strawberry protein smoothie.
I took a longish shower, letting the water soothe my achy body.
I folded 3 loads of laundry. There were 5 to fold, but I was content to get three tackled. Then I put them all away.
I picked up the boys from school.
I laid on the couch.
I played a game on the computer with Noah.
I watched a lot of HGTV.
I slept on the couch.
I dozed on the couch.
I prayed that the Chief would come home sooner than later.
I went out and sat in the front so Seth could ride his motor scooter. It was a gorgeous day, despite being a little windy.
I got a splinter in my foot, as I went out without shoes.
I asked the Chief to please take the boys out to dinner. I didn't even care if he took them to McD's (which is a place that I do NOT eat, ever.) He did take them and let them play for 2 hours there.
I laid on the couch the whole time they were gone.
I read my book, The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. I have never read a book by a Gretchen, so guess why I picked it up? I even bought it. It is really good.
I went to bed and the Chief and I talked a lot.
And through the whole day, I also blew my nose a lot and went through a box of kleenex!

And what will I do today?
I will call in sick to work, something I haven't done since Seth was born 6 weeks early 6 years ago.
I will lay on the couch.
I will blow my nose.
I will pray a lot.

And tomorrow?
Well, I am planning to wake up and be on the other side of this sinus infection or whatever it is.
I will be happy and energetic.
I will be attentive to my children.
I will be loving with my family.
I will be off the couch!

Stuffy and snotty

Those are the words of the day!

Ughh! Started with a sore throat on Tuesday, but I ignored it and hoped it would just go away! Wednesday came, and felt a bit worse. I swollowed some ibuprofen and went about my day. There was a long day of work ahead of me. I unfortunately felt progressively worse as the day went by. By the time I left work at 4:30, I was feeling awful. The night did not go well as my nose was runny and my head was stuffed up. I allowed myself to sleep in a little this morning and take it easy, but I stll needed to go into work for a few hours at least. So, I went in and finished up so I could leave and come home to veg.

So, now I've had a couple of hours where I've dosed on the couch. But now, I need to get moving and pick up kids at school. Also, tonight, the missionaries are coming for dinner. I am going to hang out in the bedroom to keep the germs from them. Plus, feeling cruddy, I haven't really felt like eating so it isn't a big deal.

I'm cancelling my plans for the evening, and just going to go to bed early and hope that my stuffy head and snotty nose will not be shared with my boys, and I will recover so I can enjoy my day off tomorrow!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm not Irish, but the Chief's family has some roots there! I still love St. Patrick's Day! We wll be having the traditional Corned Beef and cabbage tonight, with the untraditional pistachio jello salad!

Hope you all enjoy your days and don't forget to wear a little green!

Weekend Arrives

I like Fridays. For the first 15 years of my career, I didn't work on Fridays. Pretty sweet deal! However, last year when the Chief got laid off, I started working on Friday mornings. When he went back to work in January, I cut back to every other Friday, so I could be home with Seth on his day off from Kindergarten. Today was a day I was scheduled to work, but the first client called and cancelled so I dropped the boys at school, and came home for an hour and finished folding all the laundry and put it away. Then I headed in to see two clients. Except the second one didn't show up, so after an hour, I was done. I ran an errand, and then went to pick up the boys.

Homework is done, now they are playing with friends, and I am relaxing...taking it in...everyone is happy, and calm. The Chief is "working" late tonight as he is in charge of a 3 on 3 basketball tourni there at work. I'm sure he is in heaven this afternoon.

It's nice to be in this nice place in our lives...things are calm, and we are all happy. We have great friends, a comfy home, and stable jobs. We are planning an anniversary vacay for just the Chief and me. Life is good...life is happy! I just wanted to take a moment to put it down in writing...so if I need reminding in the future, I can recall that we have a good life, with much to be grateful for!

Funny nighttime happenings

The funniest thing happened last night. The boys were asleep and dh and I were watching a show, folding laundry. We hear Seth crying out. So, I run down there, and he is all caught up in his comforter (its a full comforter) so I unwrap him and he gets up and he's still moaning, crying, and I think he has growing pains. He goes up the stairs ahead of me, and goes through the family room, through the kitchen, to the laundry room, where the light was on, since I was doing laundy, and he pulls down his pants and pees right in the washer, which thankfully did not have clothes in it!) The Chief had followed him to try to offer comfort, but  was left dumbfounded. Seth was totally sleepwalking...eyes open, but not aware at all of what happened. He had no recollection of it at all this morning!

The Chief, totally grossed out by this, insisted on running the washer again empty to get it clean...before we put more dirty clothes in!!!

Happy President's Day!

Mt. Rushmore, Our Trip in 2010

Woo-hoo! A day off in the middle of winter! Sounds like a wonderful idea! The plan was to sleep in...that worked great til 7:15, when my 6 year old woke me up. Guess he didn't get the memo. Realized that the Chief was still in bed too, when he should have been on the road to work. His company doesn't honor its employees with a day off! Thankful for my company!

The boys and I are considering plans for the day. Up first, is to continue the massive amounts of laundry that need my attention. We're washing all the bedding this morning. My boys need to do their reading as they have book reports due in just a couple weeks, and many pages of their books to read.

After that, plans are open. I offered the boys an opportunity to go bowling or to go to the rec center and swim. Seeing that it snowed overnight, I'm leaning toward the bowling...don't really want to be wet and cold!

Tonight, we'll have family night, and then get the boys in bed at a reasonable hour. I have let them (and myself) stay up late all weekend, and it is time toget back on track!

Oh, I wanted to mention that my oldest bought a rose for a girl at school last week on Valentine's Day. I thought it was sweet and cute, but also worried a little since he is only 12. I asked what her response was to getting the rose. It was Nada! No thanks, no smile, no response at all. And my kid was alright with that. He didn't want her to feel embarrassed, so he expected nothing in return! Wow, that impressed my over-analytical, anxiety-driven self! He is definitely laid back and relaxed.

Well, off to play with my kids...here's to a fun filled day! 

Happy Birthday, George Washington

Edge of Glory

I just have to tell you about my crazy dream I had this week. I'm going to preface it with telling you that we watched Super Bowl 2012 on Sunday, where Madonna performed the Halftime Show...and was Awesome! Still love her almost 30 years later! After the Super Bowl, the Chief and I watched The Voice...which was the Season 2 Opener. The premise of that show is that there are 4 music judges (all famous singers), who sit in chairs with their backs to the stage. A singer will come out on stage and "blind" audition for the judges. If the judge likes the singer, they press a button, indicating they want that person to join their team, and if more than one judge presses their button, then the singer gets to choose which team they want to be on. It was our first time watching the show. So, there's the background on it.

So, in my dream...Madonna comes out on stage and sings Lady Gaga's song, "Edge of Glory". The audience goes wild, but none of the judges turn around for her. At the end of the song, the judges' chairs turn around, and Cee Lo (one of the judges) asks Madonna, "What's your name?" and she replies, "Madonna" and the judges don't believe and tell her she is a good look-a-like. It took the host, Carson Daly, coming out on stage and telling them, "None of you presses your button for Madonna!" The judges were stunned! I woke up chuckling about that one!

Crazy dreams where reality tv invades my dreams! Maybe I watched too much television on Sunday!

Letting go

My oldest is growing up too fast. So is the middle child, and my baby is too! How does this happen?

Each time, I have to go and drop McKay off to go on an overnight campout, I ask myself how he is old enough to go without me! And he does it so easily. Meanwhile, I have to hold back the tears until I'm back in the car, and around the corner. He would be too upset if he knew that I shed some tears, as I let him go.

He is going to the Klondike Campout tonight. That means the winter, frigid, cold campout. I had no problem spending lots of money to buy him warm clothes, boots, socks, and gloves. I also bought him a lined flannel shirt to contribute to his warmth. We bought him a new foam pad, to shelter him from the cold of the ground. I will bepray that avalanches won't be an issue they have to deal with, as they are up in the mountains.

But the reality is I have to trust him and God to protect him, and bring him home to me. How'd my first baby get so big???

 Come home safely, McKay!