Holy Cows

For all you that live here in Northern Utah, this is no news. But wow, did we get pummeled on Christmas night. The weather service had been predicting a big storm for days … they were a bit late on timing, but when it arrived they were vindicated. The “boys” at LD’s (our local cafe and coffee counter) and I came up with our best estimate on how much snow we got out of this storm … somewhere between 8 and 36 inches. The wind blew so hard, we just can’t figure out where to measure. The weather service reported 18 inches in Smithfield, just to the south of us, so I guess we’ll go with that. 
 
I had a wonderful Christmas day, albeit without my favorite person (Jennifer was still in Denver). My brother and his wife had me down for a nice breakfast with some friends of theirs. Then, our son Nick and his wife and the cutest grandson on the planet came by and made a wonderful lunch for us. Then Ari (our nearly 19-month-old grandson) and I went out to do chores. He is very helpful, he clears the calf barn of all the cats faster than any dog. He gets very excited and just wants to pet one of them, but they are not the petting kind. He is also quite good at imitating all the cows’ noises … he needs to work on the horse’s noises though. 
 
Just after they left – heading only a few blocks to Michelle’s family home – thank goodness, the storm came rolling in. By the time I finished milking, it had laid down enough snow that the drifts were above my knees. The next morning it quickly became apparent what I’d be doing for the rest of the day. After finding the cows, and getting the milking out of the way (and of course, my mandatory trip to LD’s) I started clearing snow. I kept pushing snow right up until the evening milking and only got the minimum done. 
 
I went to pick up Jennifer in Salt Lake on Saturday, and even by then it was still a bit of a challenge on the roads. She’s home … Zoe and I couldn’t be happier. And we’re going to resume clearing some snow this afternoon. Here are a few pictures of what it looks like around here today. – PS 
 
 
Here’s the path to the milk parlor. 
 
 
This is the view from the porch of the farmstand. That’s why we shut it down in the winter. 
 
 
Greta and Chloe using four-wheel drive.

Yesterday brought the second decent snow storm of the season. And now, it is really looking like Christmas. And last week’s rush of orders sure made it feel a lot like Christmas. With the help of our good friend Deneice (the person behind all those folds in the cheese packaging) we were able to get all the orders out on time. Thanks to all you great customers who certainly made this year the best for sales, and we hope that all of you that received a gift box for the holidays are enjoying the cheese. – PS