Nighttime Visitor

Last night as we were putting the kids to bed, Kristen just happened to glance out the window and notice a deer laying in the middle of the snow in our backyard. So we got the boys, turned off the lights, and spent the next 30 minutes spying on her. The bright moon and the 2 feet of snow that covered everything made for a fairly bright night. After a few minutes of resting in the snow, we watched the doe as she meandered around the yard, eating any leaves or branches that she could find. We moved from room to room as she moved around the house. Since we were looking from the second floor, we had a great view of her (especially when she was up eating the rose leaves along the house), without being spotted. The boys were concerned about her being cold and alone, and not able to make it back to the mountains. So it was a great opportunity for us to talk about Heavenly Father's creations, and how they/we are all created to survive different types of situations. It was a simple but beautiful moment together with our boys, spying out the window into the cold night.
Fortunately, Katelyn was asleep before this happened. Normally we would feel bad she didn't get to be there with us, but for some unknown reason she has this terrible fear of deer. When we see them while we're driving, she is sure they are going to open up her door and get her. Trying to explain to her that deer can't open doors doesn't help either. Christmas time and reindeer have helped to calm the fear a little, but I don't think we'll be having any pet deer for a while.