Winter Wonderland Part 1

Due to snow in the forecast, the kids got out of school at noon on the 12th.  By 1:30 pm it had started to snow.  It snowed for about 4-5 hours, giving us about 3 inches.

 The snow is starting to cover the ground.  You can still see the grass though.

 A couple hours later there was a pretty good layer of snow.  The boys were super excited to play in the snow and couldn't wait any longer!

 Since it was Marek's birthday we colored some decorations and hung them on his front door.  We decided that they needed to be laminated first because of the snow.

 This is looking back at our house from Marek and Margaret's house.

Daniel wanted to sled down their driveway.  Unfortunately the boogie boards really wouldn't work in the snow.

 Eliza quickly got too cold.  I couldn't get her to smile for even one picture.

I told her to smile for the picture and then we would go inside.  This is the best I got!

 Since we don't own a snow shovel we used our big push broom to try and clear some of the snow.  It didn't work as well as I would have liked.

 Daniel giving the broom a try.

 Bradley thought his last snowball picture was so cool that he needed to try again.  This one wasn't quite on center, but I did manage to get it in the shot.

 Daniel checking the van for ice sickles.

 The snow starting to pile up on the bush out front.

Daniel got the boogie board one last try...it was very anticlimactic.

 Daniel with his large "snowball" just before coming in. He and Bradley played until they were frozen before coming in.

Andy drove home around 10:30 pm.  He had to try a couple different ways to make it home since there are a couple of steep hills near us.  He almost made it onto Kilbreth Ave, but his car started to slide.  He decided to park on the street leading up to ours and walk up and around the corner.  He wasn't the only one who parked along the hill and walked up.  Several of our neighbors did the same thing.  We got freezing rain during the night that left a layer of ice on everything.

 The next morning you could see Andy's footprints leading to and from the door.

There was ice one everything.  This little bush is next to the front door.

 Ice up close and personal.

 The little ice sickles were about 3/4 in. long.

 This is the bush next to the van.

 Even the van was coated with ice.

 Before the rain all the branches were flocked with snow...now the snow is gone and ice has replaced it.  Both were beautiful sights in their own way.

 Looking down the road leading out of the cul-de-sac.

 This is where Andy's car slid the night before and he decided to park.

 Eliza with our neighbor Yu.  He and his wife Hailee were out checking the roads and Eliza and Bradley decided to join them.  There was a lot of ice so Eliza held on to Yu.

Daniel and Bradley crunching through the icy snow in front of our neighbor's house.

Feb. 12-13, 2014

A Little R & R

Andy is now in charge of making sure the garbage is taken out and all the doors and windows are locked after church.  It takes a while to get it all done.  We didn't leave the church until about 4:30.  Nathan didn't get a nap before church so he was pretty tired by the time we left.  He fell asleep in the van.  Andy carried Nathan in and I made him a little spot to rest on the front room floor.  I didn't want him to sleep too long.  Andy decided to lay down with him for just a minute.  

 It didn't take long before they were both out!

 I let them sleep for about 40 minutes and then I started taking pictures with the flash.  :0)

 It worked!  Nathan and Dad waking up.  Andy started to raise his arm just as I took the picture.  That is why there is a blur in the middle.

 Dad getting a good stretch in before heading in to work on dinner.

 Eliza giving Nathan a hug.  She is very sweet.

Dad, Eliza and Nathan 

Eliza just wanted to hug on everyone.

Feb. 9, 2014

Unfortunate Evens

Occasionally there are unfortunate evens that should be documented at least once.  This first one is something that has happened a couple of times.  I felt the need to document it this last time.  Nathan hasn't mastered the English language yet and gets a little grumpy sometimes.  When he gets mad at Eliza he will grab a handful of hair and pull.  If he gets a lot it just hurts...if he gets a little less it all comes out!

 He caught a small handful of hair from by her face and ripped it out.  I am not even sure why he was mad.  Poor Eliza.  This is one downside to having long hair.

Hopefully he will learn quickly how much this hurts and move on to less destructive or hurtful ways to show his frustrations.

 I went out to put a couple things in the freezer and found a small puddle of water next the corner.  That small amount of water didn't bode well.  When I opened up the freezer I found the ice cream and bread in the door was completely thawed.  It had to have been off for at least 3-4 days.  Good thing it has been so chilly recently.  It kept a few things from going bad.

 I was able to save the pumpkin bagels, the ham, some donuts and the cool whip.

The ice cream, a pot pie and the chicken nuggets had to go.

 We have had the freezer for a couple of years and have slowly gotten some build up in there, so I took this opportunity to clean it out.  This is only part of the ice from the top shelf.

This is the second shelf down.  The ice wasn't as thick on this one as it was on the top shelf.

It took me about 30 minutes to clear all the ice out.  I send Andy a text to let him know it wasn't working.  I check the breaker box and couldn't see anything wrong there.  After I got things cleaned up Andy called to see what was happening.  He suggested I try resetting the button on the outlet the freezer plugs into.  When I pressed the reset button it turned back on.  Occasionally the outlet with trip itself and turn the freezer off.  Andy said this has happened before he just caught it the same day.  :0)  We have been eating donuts and ham everyday to keep it from going bad.  I am very grateful that the freezer wasn't full of meat when this happened.  That would have been very sad!

Feb. 6, 2014

Happy Happy Birthday Mommy Dear

Since my birthday was on a Sunday this year we decided to celebrate a little on Saturday.  Andy was on call that weekend, but fortunately he didn't have to be at the hospital all day.  It got up to 65 so Andy and the kids washed his car and the van.  

 Eliza is a great helper and supervisor.

 Daniel putting a little elbow grease into it.

 Bradley stuck with Andy for both vehicles.

I made two cheese cakes.  One blueberry for the ward talent show, and a strawberry one for my birthday.  This is the one for the talent show.  It turned out super tasty!

As they were finishing the cars we had a surprise visit from Aunt Jenny.  She emailed Andy Friday night to let him know she could come.  It was one of the best birthday surprises I have ever gotten.

 Andy was obviously wiped out after all the cleaning.  :0)  He took a power nap while we got things ready in the guest room and visited with Aunt Jenny.  Then we had some dinner and headed to the ward talent show.  It turned out really well and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday morning was warm and bright and shiny.  Especially for my birthday.

We had a relaxing morning and then headed to church.

 After church we had a wonderful dinner of baked chicken and potatoes with hot rolls.

Then we broke out the cheese cake.  This time I did the cheese cake plain and drizzled the strawberry topping on the top.  It was delicious!  Marek and Margaret came over to help us celebrate.  After some visiting and a couple of phone calls we had to send Aunt Jenny on her way.

 Karrie, Jenny and Eliza

 Daniel felt the need to join us as well.

We decided to get the whole group in for the picture before Aunt Jenny left.

Bradley, Daniel, Dad, Mom, Nathan, Aunt Jenny and Eliza.

Mom and Jenny

It was so fun to see Jenny and get caught up.  I am very blessed to have such a great family and friends.  Thanks so much to everyone who helped make it such a special day for me.

Feb. 1-2, 2014