melted and we were determined to make snowmen. It was a day off school for 
conferences. Yes, it does often seem we have too many days off school. But we didn't complain today. It was very pretty outside and the snow stuck together really well for snowmen and snowballs! Will this be our last snow this year?
When we heard from Sarah's school that she would have a snow day, we weren't surprised. We had more than 8 inches of snow on Sunday over a thick layer of ice from the night before. The roads were a mess! When we told Sarah, she asked, "What's a snow day?" Guess she missed out on snow days as a homeschool kid for years! Ben's homeschool classes were delayed in the morning, but we did brave the roads for him. Sarah tried to make a snowman, but he didn't stick together well and turned out fairly sm
all.
for you. Can you find the boy in this picture? During our story time tonight, Ben seemed to disappear behind some of his snuggly friends.
w falling right after breakfast. It was just one week since our last snow. The flakes were so large we were excited to catch the flakes, and watch it pile up outside. Before we knew it, Ben's feet had disappeared somewhere in the front yard. The ice in the road under the snow made it fun to "ice skate" with our neighbor friend. 
Everyone was happy, wet and cold. 
Soon we headed inside for hot chocolate!
Hurrah! We have the new bread machine ordered for Christmas. It has been about 2 years since we have had nice homemade bread, so this is a treat. Our first loaf was a Honey Whole Wheat and we set it to be ready at breakfast. It was wonderful, and even better with a bit of strawberry jam. Becky wanted to know if it tasted like "real" bread, and everyone gave a thumbs-up. Tonight Ben and Becky branched out and made raisin bread, and pizza dough is next on the list. If you need some yummy, homemade bread, just let us know. 
with their "pet snow." Ben's is named Snower, and Sarah's is Snowball. They are living in our freezer now. Imagination is good, right? We are the proud owners of some fish, but had been considering a dog for a family pet. Now I'm thinking this pet snow might be a better idea! Easy to feed, no vet bills, quiet... The problem is it isn't very friendly or cuddly. In any case, the new pets make us smile.
The kids were home from classes for the holiday, and we were excited to wake up to some snow! It wasn't a lot, but the kids had a blast playing anyway. Ben made a snow angel in our front yard, and they started a fort using snow they shoveled off the sidewalk. Later we met friends at a sledding hill and managed to have big fun in the little snow. It was nice
to come home and warm up by
the fire!
Today was full of church activities all morning. Clint & Becky were leading out in Sarah's class, and later we were blessed with outstanding music during the main service. After church, we headed home and thought we should take a couple of family photos while we had the chance. We managed to take one nice photo with everyone all posed and smiling. Then we just lost control and the second photo showed what we were really 
feeling! Ben thought he was the most important part of the silly photo, but we reminded him the people holding on to him were pretty important too. Once our photo session was complete, we enjoyed haystacks with Clint's marvelous guacamole. Yummy...
For those of you without young children, you're missing out if you haven't played with Model Magic. Sarah was working on a school project, and we had the Model Magic out. She finished her project, and then the kids just had fun with the leftovers. The little white bowls on the fringed mats are for Sarah's stuffed kitty. Ben made a face which we've been instructed to make into a magnet. If you roll it into a ball, it will bounce well and delight the kids too. 
"Grown up Daddies are always good to talk to because they have the best advice. Grown up Mommies like to talk, talk, talk which is good because the kids get to play, play, play."
Ice skating was on the schedule for tonight. Becky had been busy planning an ice skating night and included all of the children's classes at our church. We had 76 skaters attend! What a great surprise to have a big turnout. We had all ages - babies strapped to their parents, preschoolers, elementary kids, older kids and parents too.
Clint thought they were good except he had to work on stopping in a different way. It was a fun time for everyone. 
might have been an ordinary Friday to most people, Ben woke up with a mission. He came to Mom asking if he could get his Dad some flowers and a card to thank him for being such a great Dad. Well, how can you say "no" to that? We found some flowers and Ben wrote a card, and Clint was definitely surprised. The boys were both smiling the rest of the evening.
In case there was any doubt, the boxes of Christmas gifts are really more exciting than the gifts! I was personally excited about some new pots for Christmas, but Ben wasted no time trying to find uses for the box. Today he was walking around like this - with no holes for eyes. It was a lot of fun to watch him bumping into everything. Later he took a black marker and drew a giant smiley face on the box so it would be happy. Anyway, my new pots are working great and maybe the family will enjoy better homecooking this year!
Here are a few photos from "the day after." They are both near our street. The one with the large pine blocking the road, was just down the block in front of a home of some friends from church. The family has three small children and didn't have power for several days. A neighbor ran an extension cord from their generator to the home so they could at least have heat. Their tree took out power for the street too. The second photo is several blocks over, but very close to some other friends. My neighbor shared these photos since we didn't venture out with our camera today. We did go to church earlier and went walking in the afternoon to see the nearby damage. It is upsetting, yet we have so much to be thankful for as we listen to everyone's stories.
Today we survived a terrible wind storm in our valley. We were lucky at our house, because although power flickered periodically, we did not lose power or water. Our neighbors just a block or two away, were not so lucky. Many were without power for a day or more. The wind blew down trees, ripped off roof shingles, and sent anything outside for a ride. The trees took out power lines, smashed homes and blocked roads. The shingles were flying around the streets, and one friend even had car damage from the shingles scraping her van. One neighbor was wandering the streets looking for their missing trash can. Schools, stores and businesses were closed early, but Clint had to stay at work since he is so essential. :)
My neighbor came to help me evaluate the roof shingles in my front yard, and he discovered they were off of the very top of our roof. He helped me gather them, and when Clint came home he discovered I had all of them and they weren't damaged. He climbed up although it was nearly dark, and put them back on before night. Reports had rain in the forecast which would not be good.
Earlier in the day, some friends were out of power but had already started a crockpot in the morning. 
They brought it over, dodging powerlines and trees, and later came back for supper at our place. Their power did come back on which is great. Ethan is a good friend we don't get to see enough, and the kids were up to their usual silliness.
Since we've lived in various parts of the country, we couldn't help feel like we were in a hurricane. Becky and kids decided not to venture outside. The winds were sustained at over 50 mph, with gusts at hurricane force at over 80 mph. We're thankful we had a warm house and with lights.
We said goodbye to 2007 with some blowers and some loud celebrating in our living room. Our tradition the last couple of years has been to celebrate the New Year on Boston's timezone. That way we don't have to keep the kids up to midnight, although it turns out to be a late night anyway. We played Dutch Blitz which was a gift to Becky for Christmas. Loads of fun! We have been enjoying it and several other new games while the kids have been on Christmas vacation.
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