What to Our Wondering Eyes Should Appear...?

Well, over the weekend, here's what our eyes beheld

(And they did so with joy, I might add.  Well, minus the 210 miles of blizzard!):  

 Yep.  5 of the 6 hours spent trudging to Boise was devoted to fighting this view & slickerry slushy/icy road conditions from Cabbage Hill to Boise!  It was all we could do to keep our eyes open, it was absolutely EXHAUSTING to see this for that long!  Not to mention keeping the Jeep on the road. What's an interesting dynamic to add to this situation is the fact that Mr LKP's Jeep had been making a noise, so he got under it at the beginning of last week & found that the drive line's gonna need some work.  Therefore, since we were driving all the way to Boise, he figured, he didn't want to risk something REALLY going bad with it and winding up without a transmission.  So, he took the drive line off.  Now fast-forward, about 3 days, to the blizzard again and you may be asking "why does that matter?"  Without the drive line in place, there was NO putting the Jeep in 4 wheel drive!  The entire 6 hours on the slick freeway was in basically rear wheel drive, which was NOT fab in the least.  There were times we were certain we were going to spin cookies all the way to Boise or off the side of the road, whatever came first!  =(  Want a funny to go with this?  When we woke up the first morning, there was no sign of the 18-24 inches of snow that was on the ground when we finally nestled into bed!
Incredible, that Mother Nature.

The Brennan Clan was the entire reason there was even a Boise trip in the first place.  What a family!  They have been one of our favorite families for 5 years now.  Ben & Laurel were the first friends we made when we moved to Rexburg.  The Brennans were our next-door neighbors, and despite having a newborn (the oldest girl on the right, who was not quite 4 wks old at that point) & a sweet wife that Ben could've stayed inside and snuggled with that day, he helped us unpack the entire U-Haul (AND he'd never met us before that point!).  Great people.  The absolute best.  When you hear "salt of the earth"....yeah, that's them.  I swear there's a picture of them in the dictionary when you look up that term!  So, life happens and med school whisked them away to SLC, and extended family whisked us back to Eastern WA.  So, when Ben needed to be in Boise for several weeks for his schooling, then it was only natural that we would meet them the other half of the way this weekend!

That's right!  Top that tasty, Boise cake off with THIS icing:
Forget the bomb.  She's WAAAAAY cooler than that!  =)
Cherie is thephenom.com!!!!  

She & I were able to meet in person finally this weekend!  She is soooo funny.  I adore that she loves to laugh.  She has the best laugh!  It's golden.  No, not golden as in, golden=good (I mean it IS good), but more like golden=warm, friendly, sincere, & fills the room with home.  Does that make sense?  What was equally cool was that her husband's laugh compliments her's perfectly.  What a great couple!  She brought two of her boys with her, and a "spare" (her son's friend).  They were neat kids.  I've got to say that I totally dig & appreciate kids with good manners.  Their parents have taught them well & it shows.  

Not only was this the first time Cherie & I saw each other, face to face (and obviously us meeting one another's families), it was also the first time our family has ever been to a Cheesecake Factory!!! 

Let me just say, for living on a restricted diet, this place was divine even with my limitations!!!!  Lucky for me they offer fresh strawberries.  When I ordered I was thinking, "yeah a bowl of vanilla ice cream with some sliced strawberries, ok that works."  CHECK THAT BOWL OF BERRIES OUT!!!!  Mini-Me was all about her strawberry shortcake (and for posterity: the shortcake part looked like the most rich & wonderfully scrumptious belgian waffle....both of which I can't have.  Stinkin' lucky girl!)  Also noteworthy was Mr LKP's Red Velvet Cheesecake,
which knocked his socks off!!!

The weekend was full of sun...and wind.  But sun, nonetheless.
Church, in the ward our friends are attending while they're there, was AWESOME!
For RS, our lesson was from the Gospel Essentials manual (lesson #5) on The Creation.  Our teacher did an amazing job of keeping it moving, AND she brought in various fossils her husband & his paleontologist dad have discovered over the years together.  Talk about riveting!!!  I loved every second of it all.  Each person we met in that ward was so friendly & welcoming.  It was refreshing.  I'm used to visiting wards where you automatically pick up on vibes & weirdness.  Absolutely no awkwardness in that ward!  Even Daisy was elated by the experience & has put her vote in to attend there AGAIN if & when possible!!!  So it was nice that not only was the Gospel the same & true in this ward too, but the members made it REALLY feel like home.

The drive back was uneventful, and a textbook 4-hour jaunt.  That is how we like it.  When we got home, we found our animals to be safe, as well as soooo happy to see us.  What a great feeling!  When someone/something that loves you unconditionally, has missed you tremendously.  Kind of like the way parents are with their kids (I'm like that anytime Mini-Me's away for more than an afternoon).  Can you imagine what Heavenly Father's going through?!

Have a great Monday!

By the time you read this I'll probably finally be asleep, Mini-Me will be attending her classes at school, and Mr LKP will be starting his first day of his new excavating job!  Life is good, and this week's looking GREAT!  When I finally wake, I'll be pouring myself into gearing up for this week's Dinner & a Show Spaghetti Potluck at church.
So I apologize in advance if I seem scarce.  

Night-night!