An eventful beginning and end...

When we travel, we normally like an "uneventful" trip. You know, nice and boring. I have learned that an adventure or excitement isn't normally a good thing. You may remember my trip to Wyoming earlier this year, if not, check it out.

Well, our wonderful Christmas trip to Colorado started and ended crummy. Wyoming, of course, would be the reason we started off so bad. I am not exaggerating when I say that we had a combined total of maybe 30 minutes of good, sunny weather and clear roads. The drive took us over two hours longer than it should have. But, we made it safe. We passed Evanston just before they closed the gates. Here are some familiar pictures for any of you who have ever braved the state of Wyoming in any non-summer months...

Luckily, the drive home was clear and quick. We got home, started unloading the car, and discovered a water leak, no, a geyser, in the basement! There is a water softener that all the water runs through. It burst open and was shooting out water faster than the drain could handle. My guess is that this had been going on for a couple of days. The main room was soaking wet all the way through, halfway into the guest room, and part way into the storage room. Carpet had to be ripped up and pad thrown out right then and there, water sucked up through a wet-vac, and just about everything taken to the garage - bed taken down, bookshelves full of toys, train table, and lots of (thank goodness) rubbermaid totes. Those totes saved our stuff. We did have one tragedy though, and it was a big deal. The bin that had all of Brandon's mission stuff had a crack in it and half the stuff was ruined. Luckily, his journal and letters home were dry, but he had to throw out some pictures and other memorbillia. Sorry B! Thanks to my dad and a good neighbor for the help. And mom for taking the kids while we cleaned up the place!