Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Arctic Blast 2008


Can I just say that I LOVE the snow? Have I mentioned that recently? I totally love it. Unlike the Portland area, our town is considered high desert, which means our snow is dry, fluffy and does not turn to ice. It also doesn't really make great snowmen as it's tough to get it to stick together. But you take what you can get.
Ryan has had one day off in the last 9, so we spent it having fun, finishing up our shopping, baking cookies and otherwise making merry. W
e took the kids up to the park and tried to use their pool toys from last year as innertubes. Didn't work. Every store in town was sold out of sleds of all kinds, so we had to make due. What we ended up doing was just jumping all over each other in 18" of snow. While not quite the same thrill as racing down a hill on a sled, it does inspire mass amounts of laughter and screaming, which are always fun.

(There's that open mouthed smile for ya, Jode. Notice I made sure Ryan didn't zoom in >:)






(Puzzles with Noah, who got a little frostbite on his cheeks and chin and had to stay inside :(





(Our adorable little street)

Small town Christmas's are absolutely the best. Several nights a week we see the local carriage company go by with their horse drawn sleigh, bells jingling and so forth. Summer, who is a bit horse crazy, LOVES this and wants to ride in it eventually. The shops on 2nd street are decked out with wreathes and garlands and lighted stars, which is kind of the city wide symbol of the holidays since my grandfather lit the first 40' star on his ranches highest point 25 years ago. Carolers are not unheard of, though we haven't yet done that ourselves, and now that there's this much snow, it feels like Christmas has finally arrived.
I'll be spending the next 2 days cleaning, organizing and otherwise preparing to have family in the house on Thursday for the annual prime rib Christmas dinner and trying to maintain some measure of control over children who are sick of being inside when it's too cold to go out.
So for those moms out there (especially the Portlanders) who are stuck with kids because they can't get out of their driveways...I feel for ya...and you have my word, I'll make a special trip downtown in your honor. heh heh heh. Maybe get a latte and scone from the bakery...

In all seriousness, please stay safe and may your holidays be warm and bright...which means I hope you have power and heat.

Happy day before xmas eve!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

from anj's e-report to me on all the 'snowpocalypse' portland nonsense we're missing, it seems mum and pop are indeed without power. then, just to worry me, she added that they're penned in by nasty, icy ruts on their dangerous mountain roads and that they're eating leftovers in the dark. why does she tell me this stuff?? just to worry me??!?

b.c. is also buried in snow, which is something they don't get often either it seems. the canadians have more of a community spirit about the whole thing though, which means lots more neighbors you never met stopping by to help dig and push your car out of a bad spot and less abandoned vehicles, but it is making this very very xmassy snowstorm interesting to get around in!

i also love the snow. i'll never get tired of it, BRING IT ON. though i guess home in newport, it's been mid-forties and raining. sigh. carpe flakem (seize the snow)

melissa said...

Our town has a nice sense of community also. People tend to lend a hand when necessary. But when Ryan walked in the door a few nights ago after a 14 hour work day (for both of us, he as a courier and myself as a single mother) and said excitedly, "Someone's stuck down on 10th in a little Toyota. They're up to their axles and need some help pushing." I said without a qualm, "AND???"
Seeing the error of his ways he unzips his jacket and says enthusiastically, "AND I'm going to let them freeze to death since it's obvious you need me more than they do."
"That's right!"

hm...some sense of community I have, apparently.

Jodi said...

Yay for open-mouth smiles!!! Even though I can't really see anything. :) You look gorgeous. I love the snow pics.