What a Surprise

This morning as I was backing out of the driveway, guess what Nate spotted? A MOOSE in our yard. We had just put Copper out and he must have spooked the moose so she headed across the street toward downtown.
After further investigation, it almost looks like she had been bedded down in our side yard.
As you can see from the pictures, we have plenty of snow. It does look pretty, but there is alot of the white stuff.
Here are the tracks the moose left as she walked through our yard.

More pictures from the Weekend

Here are some more pictures of the cute bunch in Albuquerque. Dave and Summer look as much in love as ever, Allyson is becoming quite the lovely lady, Ryan spent the time reading Calvin and Hobbes to Grandpa, Isaac has more energy that ever imagined, and Evan is a cute little thing and hopefully by the time he is 3, he like Isaac will be my friend.
A couple of fun stories from our trip. Ryan really did read alot of Calvin and Hobbes to Grandpa. Everytime Grandpa would sit down, Ryan would climb up on his lap and begin to read.
Sunday after dinner, just before we left for the airport, Dave put in a video. We all sat down to watch, except Ryan who was reading to Grandpa. Then Dave began to look for Isaac who had disappeared. He looked everywhere--the bedrooms, bathroom, etc. Now of course, Dave's house isn't huge and doesn't have as many hiding places as the farm house, so where could Isaac be. Finally Summer suggested the garage and sure enough Isaac was in there riding a bike. What a character.
Dave and Summer: have fun with this bunch. They will give you a lot of joy. Thanks for inviting us down.

Exciting Weekend

Nate and I flew to Albuqueque on Saturday to meet up with Dad and spent a whirlwind weekend with Dave and his family. Dad flew in Friday night and had the honor of being Grandpa babysitter on Sat. He was surprised at the energy the three older Turner grandchildren exhibited.
Nate and I arrived in ALB about 1 o'clock on Sat. and was met by Dad and Isaac. We proceeded to the NMU vs. BYU "Women's" b-ball game. (The men were playing in Provo, where UNM was trounced by BYU 82-65 or something like that.) Now, the boys weren't that excited about watching the women, but me, having spent much of my younger year dreaming of such an experience, enjoyed the game.
Dave then gave Nate a tour of UNM.
We enjoyed an evening of pizza and games at Dave's and then headed to our hotel room for some shut-eye.
On Sunday we traveled to the Los Lunus Stake Center for stake conference where Dave was sustained as a High Priest and a High Councilor. Yes, Dave, you are really old when your son is a high councilor.
After the afternoon of eating, (Thanks Summer for the delicious dinner--it was just right for traveling), napping (Mom), and hiking, the boys, Nate and I began our interesting journey home.
We boarded our plane to Phoenix where we would change plane and travel on to SLC. They came through the cabin and took our drink orders, but then the cockpit announced that because of turbulence there would be no service. It was a very bouncy ride. We landed in Phoenix and looked for our flight info to SLC. Everything was delayed especially if it was coming from the west coast, which our plane was.
To make a long story short, we finally took off from Phoenix at 2 AM. (We were hoping to be in Evanston by 1:30 AM.) We landed in SLC at 3 and the temp was 40. The roads were wet until we got to the top of Parleys, where everything became snow packed.
We arrived in Evanston at 5:30 with Nate saying "good I can get an hour of sleep before I head to school." I tried to get him up at 7:30, but he said he would make up strength building at a later date.
It was a great weekend and we won't have missed it for the world. Next time we will stay longer and go on some of those wonderful hikes you are always talking about.

Little Bro

I just checked Nate's final grades for this semester. Welding 90% A-; Gym 88 B+; Algebra, 91% A-; English, 93, A-. Way to go Nathan. His grade point average is 3.6429. He has worked extremely hard this semester and he has a pretty difficult second semester. Also, having Jeff living with us this semester, I think, has been a distraction, as well.
Just for your info, too. We are planning on having Nathan ordained a priest on the weekend of March 23.

It is winter in Evanston. While Dad has been enjoying unusually warm weather, Nate and I are "enjoying" winter here. It seems we have been stuck in a deep freeze for a long time.
I finally got my skis out this past week and tried the snow at the State Park. It was great. The first day I went out, I didn't ski very far, but at the end I spotted 2 bald eagles sitting in a tree by the river. On Sat. I skied from one parking lot to the far parking lot. It was so much fun. I will try to get out every day, when the temp is 20 degrees or warmer.
I have been busy doing lots of different things. Just before Thanksgiving I started helping out at the County Museum. There was an exhibit from the Smithsonian coming to town, and they wanted retired school teachers to help guide school groups through. I did that about 4 times from the first part of December until this past week. As I was saying my goodbyes to the museum director, she told me that the museum was going to get more exhibits and would I like to volunteer to do those as well. I told her I was very excited to do that. It will most likely start in the spring--whenever that is here.
The new principal at UME, where I taught before, called me just before Christmas and asked if I would be interested in teaching an after school math class for kids who needed extra help. I started doing that right after Nate and I got back from DC. I go in one hour after school Monday-Thurs. I also go in for about 45 min. on Tues and Thurs before school, too. I love the hours, I can do 6 hours a week, and i love working with kids who are struggling.
Of course, I have plenty to do in the house, so I am keeping real busy.
The first semester has ended and we think Nate DID pull all "A"'s like he wanted too. He worked real hard and we are proud of him.

Winter in Wyoming

No doubt about it, winter has come and by the looks of things, it will stay for a while. The snow has quit falling--for a day or two, so I took the opportunity to test the snow with my skis. I ventured out Friday morning and skied to the red bridge over the river and took a couple of photos.
As I was skiing back to the car, I noticed a couple of birds hopping along the ground, but as I looked to the trees along the river, I noticed 2 bald eagles sitting in one of the trees. They both took off and soared around the park for a few minutes before heading to the nearby hills. I'll try to get pictures next time.
After doing some painting in the spare room on Saturday, I headed out to the State Park again. I skied a little farther and I am surprised at how good I feel. Maybe I'm not as old as I thought. Ha Ha.
Enjoy the pictures.