Stuck in Nebraska and a week of fun!

Boy has this week been rough. We left North Dakota on Sunday the 4th and headed towards Kearney, Nebraska to stay with Jill and Steve (Leesa's sister) and also to hear back from BD in Broken Bow which is one hour away. There had been a lot of blowing and a little bit of snowing in Tuttle and it made it difficult for us to leave. In fact we tried to go to Bismarck on Friday for the viewing of Leesa's grandmother and we went off the road and into the ditch about a mile away from the farm house. The snow was so deep that I couldn't open the driver's side door. Luckily Duane (Leesa's Uncle) was around with his skidsteer and could pull us out. We went on our way to Bismarck again but got a call from Leesa's dad to come back unless we were planning on staying in Bismarck over night due to a storm coming in. We went back to the farm. When we got there we packed everyone into Papa's van and headed off to stay the night in Bismarck. The battery light came on in the van before we made it to the paved road so we turned around and went home. We did make it to the funeral in Tuttle on Saturday. It was a nice Lutheran service. Leesa sang with her mother. We set off Sunday morning for Nebraska and luckily Dennis (Leesa's other Uncle) plowed a way with his 4X4 truck. We were driving in our front wheel drive Saturn Vue which is a fairly light vehicle and didn't like the snow too much. We almost went off the road again but this time we were going slow enough that we regained control. When we got to the paved road our car sounded like a diesel truck when I pushed on the gas. I knew something was wrong but figured it was a build up of ice and snow in the wheel wells or something. We drove South on highway 83 to Pierre, South Dakota. There we stopped for a quick lunch and we smelled a burning rubber smell coming from the engine area. Well, I lifted up the car hood and didn't see anything except for some snow that probably shouldn't have been there. I forgot to mention that when we left North Dakota it was -19 degrees Farenheit. We decided to drive on. When we finally made it to Jill and Steve's house in Kearney (10 hours of driving later) the car wouldn't start when I tried to pull it into the garage. I let it rest for about 10 minutes and tried to start it up again. This time it started up but the burning rubber smell was pretty strong. I pulled into the garage and decided that we needed to get the car looked at in the morning. The next day I pulled out of the garage on my way to a dealership to get it looked at and a lot of smoke was coming out from under the engine. I drove it until it started to overheat and then had to get it towed the remainding 5 blocks. In the end it is going to cost us $1,500 and they couldn't get the parts in until next Monday. So, we are going to be here one week longer than anticipated. Luckily Jill and Steve are kind enough to let us stay. On Wednesday I got a call from the recruiter I was working with for the job in Broken Bow. I didn't get that job to our dismay. She said that none of the applicants got the job. So, on to more interviewing. I had a phone interview today with a company in Ogden called JBT AeroTech. They make the jetway bridge from airport terminals to the aircraft. I think the interview went well and I suspect that I will get a call for a face to face interview. Many of our ward members in Utah are wondering about us and have been giving us calls to find out when or if we are coming back. It has almost been 8 months of unemployment, our car broke down, we are in Nebraska, but we are happy for the most part. We have truly been blessed. I have been able to draw unemployment insurance benefits which pays all our bills. The emergency unemployment benefit just kicked in this week and should last for 20 more weeks or until I find employment. It is about 40 degrees above zero here in Nebraska! We were very blessed to have made it to Jill's house. We are very blessed that they moved in the week before. Hopefully we will be on our way next week. We just need to be patient and faithful.

Leesa and I are going out tomorrow to celebrate our.... um.... well we are just going out because we have a free babysitter.

Dan Jones