weather and chaos

The title may be a bit extreme. However, I thought you may feel very pleased to live in Utah or Arizona right now. I would take a picture, but it could not do justice anyhow. The winds are gusting at about 50 mph. The temperature is -3 ambient, with windchills around 50 below! It is quite exciting. If you open the door, the snow blows in and covers the floor instantly. We don't get as much pretty snow as you, but it sure is dramatic. And to add to the choas of this weather. Ben is gone on alert, leaving me and all the boys sick with the flu at home. If that's not bad enough, I tried to start a fire and smoke came billowing through every crack of the chimney! Our house was filled with smoke. (I guess you can't just light a fire with a cold chimney and a backdraft blowing through. You have to heat it up slowly with paper until the draft sucks upward! Live and learn.) Anyhow, with it being so gusty and cold, there's not a great way to vent either, so we just laid around upstairs and hope the smoke will somehow vent through tiny cracks in the walls! I know it all sounds horribly sad, but can't you just picture Grandma Walker or Aunt Winnell telling this story. At the moment it was quite frustrating, but already it makes me laugh. And why does it seem that such things always happen when we are already sick, or spouse is gone, or both! We love you all and hope you are warm wherever you are!