Nemo!

Nemo, the "blizzard of 2013" found us!  When we started hearing reports of 1-2 feet of snow we were skeptical- they do, after all, tend to hype these things up a bit.  But this snow loving family was indeed excited that Nemo lived up to all of its hype!  I would say we got somewhere between 18' and 2 feet of snow! It was a true blizzard with wind and lots of drifting and tall snow banks and we loved it.  It was a pretty great snow day!

 

Joe made blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  

It snowed pretty much the entire day and the kids had fun watching the storm. Which turned into dancing and singing about how we were getting "100 inches" of snow!:)  

We kept warm and cozy inside most of the day.  

We had a fire and played plenty of games...including animal yatzee (which has become one of my favorites).  

But the kids were getting antsy and we just knew that it was time for them to go outside! Yes...outside IN the snowstorm! The wind was whipping and the snow was flying and I figured they would stay out for a couple of minutes at most. 

 

But not our kids...I bet they were out there for almost 20 minutes!:) I am constantly impressed by their ability to tolerate the cold (did I mention that in addition to the snow and the wind that it was only 14 degrees?)!! And when they couldn't stand the cold anymore they came in for some hot cocoa with extra marshmallows! And after warming up with cocoa Joe and the kids snuggled in to watch some rather entertaining videos of squirrels trying to attack bird feeders (and being spun around and flung off in the process)!  

And then there was lunch and more games and "quiet time" and we watched the snow pile up.  

It was so high on our deck that it covered the kid's teeter totter and was making it's way over the grill! And snow days have to include some baking so we made our favorite chocolate chip coconut cookies! And while the cookies baked the kids watched a Tinkerbell movie and ate cookies. And before we knew it it grew dark and it was still snowing (though more lightly)! And near the end of dinner Joe got called out to go with the fire department on a search for a missing man. So while I spent the rest of the evening bathing the little ones and snuggling them in for bed Joe was out on a snowmobile in the wind and snow being the incredible guy and servant I know him to be. And that ended our snow day...until yesterday when we really got to play in the snow! Joe had the kids out for probably an hour before church and then after church, lunch, and quiet time we all headed back out again for a little sledding! Most of the time Joe had to drag them up the hill and got quite the workout.  

Every now and then we convinced them (or made them) walk up at least part of the way on their own! I will admit that it wasn't easy going (for them or this pregnant mama)because the snow was so deep!

But it was worth it for the ride!  

And when the sledding was done Lily showed me how earlier Joe had made a big snow pile for her to jump off of the deck into!

   

And this family couldn't be happier that we finally have a good amount of snow to play in!