Winter Is Here

Well, winter actually came.  We thought maybe since we are in 'western' Pennsylvania that we wouldn't get as much severe weather.  December was really nice with some days actually in the 50's and 60's.  We went walking a lot and kept thinking winter here wasn't really too bad......Then January came and before we knew it, we were at minus 1 degrees with a wind chill of minus 17 degrees.
We are still REALLY enjoying our warm garage!....  and our warm apartment!  Our apartment is heated with old fashioned radiators and we love them.  They keep things really evenly heated and we've felt less drafts than we usually do at home.  So...instead of exploring Pittsburgh on our P-days we think we'll spend a few P-days hibernating in our apartment and enjoying the time to unwind and relax.

Today there was a forecast of 'freezing rain' so it was a good excuse to stay home.  We look out the window and the roads don't look too bad, but we've heard that it can be really deceiving.  Anyway it is a good chance to catch up on the blog, make appointments for the coming week, get caught up on paperwork, do laundry, finances, clean, and do food preparation.  Doesn't sound so relaxing after all --- but it's all good!

During the past week we have spent some time at the

Pittsburgh Children's Hospital.  It is a huge hospital. We're not so sure how it compares in size to Primary Children's in Salt Lake, but it seems like a REALLY good hospital.  We have become acquainted with three families there with children currently as patients.  One is a family who has been here for 6 months waiting for a heart transplant for their child.  Can't imagine how hard it would be to wait for 6 months!  Another is a family from West Virginia who have a 6 year old and a 10 year old daughter who are both here for gluteric acid imbalance (something we have never heard of before). The 10 year old is in intensive care, has been there for at least a couple of weeks, and she is VERY sick.

The latest happens to be a family from West Jordan who live on 90th South in the Welby Stake.  They drove from West Jordan to New Hampshire at the death of the husband's father to clean out the home.  They were driving back and their 3 year old daughter came down with RSV and bacterial pneumonia.  The dad had to leave to go back with the other four kids and the mom stayed here with the little girl.  She is in intensive care too, but she seems to be slowly progressing.

We hope that we can offer some help to some of these families.  The spiritual support of priesthood blessings seems to be especially appreciated.

We also went for a quick lunch this past week with "our" set of elders.  They said we had to go to "Primanti Brothers" for a sandwich to be true Pittsburghers!  We went, we ate, and we enjoyed the casual atmosphere,

but we must not be true Pittsburgers yet, because we didn't really enjoy the sandwiches that much.  The fries are actually part of the sandwich! --with a type of cole slaw to boot!  Very messy and tons and tons and tons of carbs---but thought our grandkids would like the sports decor of the place. Notice Terry Bradshaw's head on the wall above Jim.  He is still a hero here.  A new cultural experience!