Working out!

Greeting our new niece and cousin, Natilee

Finally, made it to Sparks and had a great visit with Nate and Allie and their new little daughter. What a cutie pie!

Traveling to Sparks through the Sierras

Even in good weather, here we are stuck in traffic through the Sierras. Traffic was at a standstill due to an earlier crash further up the road. We spent almost two plus hours waiting for the road to reopen.

Six Flags 2010

We bought season passes for Six Flags this year and decided to try it out. The lines were really long, but fortunately things improved when we went back during the summer.

Norcal Drill Meet -- Whitney High ROTC takes Sweepstakes!

Woohoo! Whitney ROTC takes Sweeptstakes

Way to go Aaron!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Playing in the rain

Not sure the umbrella is doing any good, but Jonathan isn't worried

Easter Sunday -- Driving home in a snowstorm

On Easter Sunday, we left Utah to head home to California. Unfortunately, we had to leave on Easter and General Conference to return home. We stopped in Sparks at Nate and Allie's house, relaxed and ate dinner. We left at about 5:30. We had no idea there was a huge winter storm in the Sierras. It took forever to reach Truckee -- almost two hours. At Truckee, I-80 was closed. Our children really wanted to get home for school the next day, so per a CA-dot worker we decided to head to South Lake Tahoe and the 50. These pictures were taken along that route. It was beautiful, but the traveling was so slow and crazy.

Jonathan became concerned that we might crash. I suggested he say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father for help. He was quiet for awhile, and then said to me, "the answer is yes." "Yes," I questioned what he was referring to. He replied, "Jesus said Yes -- Yes we will be safe, He put a force shield around our car." At that moment, I did not realize how much I would come to rely on those words.

We had almost neared South Lake Tahoe, when cars were being diverted because of an avalanche further ahead. After we turned around, a snow plow driver suggested we drive around the lake and then catch the 50. It was still snowing and it took forever to arrive at South Lake Tahoe. We stopped there around 10:30. I asked Ray if he wanted to continue and he said he was ok. Unfamiliar with the 50, I did not realize that we would continue climbing mountains before descending into Sacramento. The roads were treacherous. The snow was blinding as it came directly at our windshields. For awhile we gratefully followed a snow plow until it turned around and then we were on our own. Once our Yukon turned 90 degrees, but stayed in the same location. All our children were asleep. I couldn't not sleep. I was too nervous. I continually prayed for our safety and was comforted by the thought of the force shield around our car as Jonathan had mentioned. Finally, I thought we would never get through, the snow turned to rain and the roads improved. Only then could I breathe, only then could Ray and I communicate with each other. We didn't arrive home until 1:30 AM. It had taken us longer to go from Sparks to home, then from Utah to Sparks. Usually, it takes us 2 hours. This time it took about 8 hours. I am sure we will avoid further snowstorms in the Sierras. Once was enough. Thankfully, our family was protected and Heavenly Father watched over us and we arrived safely home. That will always be a memorable Easter.

Trip to Utah

Jonathan enjoys the snow in Utah on Grandma's birthday.

"The flying saucer" cloud

Jonathan was thrilled to fly on an airplane to Utah. He and I went early and then the rest of the family came a few days later. We had a great Spring Break in Utah.