February 17, 2008

It’s President’s weekend and as we honor our past presidents, we are wondering what the future holds with a new president. We sure are getting tired of hearing all the campaign promises and rah, rah speeches. I think we should put all the candidates in a boxing ring, let them fight it out and last one standing is the new President of the United States! Hillary might have a chance that way!...hee, hee! I guess I need to have a little more respect for the election process…I’m trying.

To celebrate this great weekend Connie and her kids came along with us for a sledding/tubing adventure at Jolley’s Ranch. The tubing hill there has been groomed and has a great mound of snow at the end to stop runaway sledders. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the trip because just last week we heard that one of our good friends front teeth were knocked out from her sledding adventures. I counseled with the group before we hit the slopes that it would be a good idea to not try anything dumb. Well as the day progressed we all tried dumb things like tube trains, tummy slides, double decker slides and other extreme tubing fun. Nate, Mik and Bianca had a couple good wipe outs but all their teeth were securely intact when we left. Thank goodness! The entire time we had moose, deer and elk watching our antics…I wonder what they thought...wildlife!

Tomorrow we plan to have a nice calm day at the theater with all the other people in Utah County.

Late breaking news…
A little before 10:00 PM (Sunday) we heard a loud boom and our house shook…really! I thought the mountain was coming down on top of us, that the fault that we were living on had finally produced an earthquake. Jake was the first to respond with a “Mom, what just happened!” Kate asked if everything was ok, once reassured she then turned over and went back to sleep. Bianca ran up from downstairs and in her excited voice wondered if we were going to have more rumbles. I looked out our windows and saw half the neighborhood turning on lights, coming outside and lots of confused faces wondering what had just happened. The other half of the neighborhood slept through it, along with Kels!

This is the official report of what happened:
“An explosion at a Utah County pipe-casting plant rocked homes several miles away injuring 10 workers and sending at least five to the hospital Sunday night.
The blast happened at Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co., a plant just outside Provo's southeastern limits (Springville limits), around 10 p.m.
Three people with minor injuries were taken by ambulance to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office. At least one person was released before midnight. Two people were flown to University Hospital in Salt Lake City with more serious injuries, possibly burns, Cannon said.
As medical responders treated five other workers at the scene, officials said they worried about the possibility of internal injuries that might not be immediately detectable.
"Good news. Everyone has been accounted for," said deputy Dan Thomas of the Utah County Sheriff's Office. "There was a small explosion in the plant."
The comment evoked a wry chuckle from the 20 or so family members who said the blast shook their homes as far away as Payson and they now waited nervously for news of their loved ones.
Investigators were not immediately sure what caused the explosion, though Cannon said the blast was likely caused by work involving a calcium carbide material. Some workers were being decontaminated before being released from the plant, Cannon said.”
Monday, President’s Day—We are happy to report that all is well at our house and we hope the people injured in the “blast” are being well taken care of.

We hope all of you are safe, healthy and happy.