Who's the Best Weatherman?

We have learned now which Weatherman to listen to. I invited my parents to come over for Easter weekend and to watch General Conference with us. The weather over the mountain passes had been fine for a long time. But, wouldn't you know it, a big storm came in when they were supposed to come over, on the Friday before Easter. I really wanted them to come--they are such a lift to me--but I also wanted them to be safe, so I told them to watch the pass conditions and play it by ear. They had heard about the incoming storm on Thursday and wondered if they should cancel their Thursday night blessing appointment and head over right away. They prayed about it and each of them independently got the impression to wait and come over on Friday afternoon (instead of Friday morning as planned). Friday morning, the forecasters implied things would get worse throughout the day (two feet of snow was forecast), so Mom and Dad threw their things together and decided to leave in the morning to try to get through before the worst of it. As they were driving, they called the 511 and found out the pass had been closed to clear out too many wrecks. They called me, and I told them to go home and monitor the situation. In the afternoon, I went online and looked at the webcams for the passes, and they didn't look too bad. The passes were open and had no restrictions. I called Mom and Dad to tell them it looked good, and they were already on the way. They got here in time for dinner. I guess the Lord knew what He was talking about in the first place!

We had a wonderful visit, exchanging Easter baskets, watching the terrific conference, and eating great food. I'm so glad they listened to the Lord and He helped them come and return in safety!

Mom

A Nice Day

One of the latest "tender mercies" was on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We didn't have any special plans for a fun way to spend the day off, but Thad needed to open ballot boxes all over the county, so we decided to go with him. Emily invited her friend Lucy to come with her. It had been overcast for days here in the valley, but soon after we headed up river, the clouds parted, and the sun shone brightly in a blue sky. We stopped at the Cider Works, which I hadn't been to, and got their made to order ice cream, their hot, fresh donuts (amazing!), some apples and some of their awesome cider. That was yummy! Then we drove on up to the plateau. It was so beautiful to see the sunshine on the snow-covered fields. We went to several different towns. We ended up at Grand Coulee Dam, which I had never been to. It was pretty cool! It was almost warm enough to eat our picnic lunch outside--we did, at the visitor's center park. The wind picked up as the sun started to go down, so we had dessert in the car. We went through the visitor's center, took pictures of the dam, and headed toward home. We stopped at Dry Falls on the way, too. It was a really fun, relaxing day--a nice break!

Winter Mercies

I think the Lord has given us great tender mercies by tempering the weather for our holiday travel this year. We've had to go over the mountain passes a total of 4 times in December--more for Thad--and they've been bare each time, with no heavy snow or anything. It made the holiday so much more relaxing to not have that worry. And Rachel and Annie had no problems with their flights, which is another tender mercy in itself. We were able to have a perfect Christmas!
Love,
Mom