Snow Day!

Last night when we got home from our trip it was snowing!

Not just little flurries, but a decent amount of snow. Before we even unloaded the van, N8 started on a snowman! Here he is in the process with the kids:




Unfortunately some unruly neighborhood teens kicked him over about 10 minutes later!!
Then this morning at 5:30am I got a call from the school district letting us know that school was canceled. N8 quickly looked outside and found it had snowed more!! He decided to take a snow day himself and he and the kids got to work checking out and playing in the snow.
This is in our backyard:



Here's the front:

The snowball fight in action!


N8 rebuilt the snowman:

Can you tell he LOVES the snow:


Tomorrow will be back school!

New Years 2011

2011 started out with a bang! We headed off to Phoenix to stay with my parents and started things out by going to dinner for my parents 47th wedding anniversary!

The next day a group headed off for a hike. It was Camelback mountain, which is in the middle of Phoenix.

On Wednesday it started out with a bit of rain and ended with even more rain! But in the middle of it all we headed over to my Aunt Julie's house. She, my Uncle Andy and cousin Courtney were gracious enough to allow us to come to their house and ride some of their horses! The kids loved it and didn't even care that it was cold and rainy.



On Thursday we went over to my brother's side of town and took the kids ice skating. Bud got the most improved award and everyone had a great time!

After ice skating we went to Joe's Farm Grill which has been featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives from Food Network. They had the best onion rings that both N8 and I had ever had!!

For New Years we headed up to my sisters house in Payson,AZ. Snow isn't totally unusual for them, but for a good amount to stay is. We lucked out and got 2 good days of sledding, playing and snowman making!



It was nice to have extra hands to hold Henry:

We came home last night to snow! Crazy, but true. This morning at 5:30am the phone rang. It was the school district letting us know school was canceled due to hazardous driving conditions. N8 decided to take a snow day himself! Now, this afternoon, the sun is shining and the snow is melting. The Christmas decorations are all still up, I'm mid-laundry and the house is a wreck! We had a great Christmas and a happy New Year. Now it time to get to work on 2011. Tonight for FHE we'll probably make our annual goals for the year. Let's see what we can accomplish!

Once there was a snowman...

It finally snowed! It's been raining on and off for the entire week here, which is very unusual. It's been a nice change, something different that warm and sunny. Today happened to be the most rainy day. As Emma, Mo and I headed outside to pick Bud up from school though, the rain looked heavy. Not, raining heavy, the raindrops were heavy. And they weren't raindrops, it was snow!! As I drove to the school, I thought that knowing Ridgecrest, it would be done by the time I got home from school pick-up! Well at school pick-up I couldn't even get out of the van. The entire right lane by the school was flooded and almost over the sidewalk. So me and the kids sat in the van and waiting for the bell to ring. While we waited the snow started sticking!! By the time we got home our grass was starting to look white!!
These are the first pictures I took. I took them thinking I better take some now before it stops!

These were taken about an hour later when the HUGE flakes started coming down.

Then N8 came home from work and the real snow fun began! Building a snowman:

We haven't been here for a good snow fall for about 5 years or so. It's fun to have every once in a while. Of course I know it will probably be gone in the morning!

Here's a shot from our last snow storm of record. Bud was pretty little!

We'll see what tomorrow bring. More snow, more rain-we'll see, as long as it includes a babysitter in the evening, it's all good!