Snowpocalypse 2013 & 2014

So back in mid December we had a week of snow here. It snowed several inches and wouldn't get warm enough for it to melt! Schools were closed for a week! It was crazy. 

Fast forward 9-ish weeks and boom, we get hit with snow again, this time 14+ inches!!! It has been insane! It snowed pretty much non-stop for 2 days. I'm not sure where we live! This is so unusual for us! Ok once a year maybe, is normal, with one or two days of the schools shut down and not much happening in town, but not going on eight, yes, EIGHT snow days {not in a row, but total}! Oh and on top of the 14 inches of snow we also got freezing rain! Thankfully we didn't loose power.

Watching the snow come down.

Our house day 1

Our house day 2

Our street

Its hard to read, but that tape measure says 14.5 inches and that's in our backyard!

Lily wasn't into it.

She liked it a bit more after a nice neighbor shoveled some of the sidewalk.

Sliding!

Crazy icicles hanging from the roof

Freezing rain pounding on the window

And that leads us to today. It was finally starting to warm up and the layer of ice was starting to melt so we ventured out to play in it for a bit.

I'm starting to wonder if this snow was just a once-in-a-life-time type thing, or if this could be more of a common occurrence every winter. If it's going to happen more often, we need to invest in some good winter clothes {and perhaps a second vehicle that can drive in it}!

If you have/had snow where you are, hope you had fun playing in it and aren't suffering from cabin fever!

A Weekend Away

This year for Christmas Russ surprised me with a weekend away! He had booked two nights at FivePine Lodge in Sisters, Oregon and arranged for his parents to come stay with the kids. This was the first time I have been away from the kids overnight {except for Blake; when Lily was born and when we were in the hospital with Lily, when she had pneumonia}. I was looking forward to the refreshing time away, but also a little nervous about how Blake was going to do {Blake has been going through some major separation anxiety lately}. We wait till right before we left to tell him we were leaving. It broke my heart to see him process what we were telling him. I felt like it was best to wait to tell him so that he wouldn't dwell on it and get too worked up. He cried when we left and then a couple times while we were gone but overall did pretty good!

The little cabin in the woods we stayed in.

The first night we enjoyed at glass of wine by the fire in the lodge and then headed to dinner at Three Creeks Brewing which is right next to FivePine. After dinner we headed across the parking lot to the movie theater. We saw Saving Mr. Banks {I think it was maybe the third movie I've seen in a theater since Blake has been born! That's 3.5 years ha!}

The next day we got up {amazing how fast you can get ready without kids!} and headed to Sisters Coffee {one of our favorites} and then into Bend for the day. Again, amazing what you can do without kiddos! I forgot what it was like to not have to worry about nap/meal times ha! We did some shopping and had a nice lunch at 10 Barrel {another favorite} and watched some snow fall. It was a great relaxing time!

Sunday we headed home through the snow. We had to put chains on to get over the pass but it really wasn't too bad. It was great to get away with Russ and have sometime without the kids to reconnect. Thank you, Papa Don and Nana Pam for watching the kids! We really appreciate it and are thankful!

I'm already looking forward to the next getaway, hopefully not in another 3.5 years!

Christmas 2013

We headed to Medford again for Christmas this year. 

Someone need some hot chocolate for the ride down.

Christmas Eve we spent the day with Russ's parents. We sported our Beaver gear during the day since the bowl game was that evening.

We went to church and after church had pizza for dinner and watched the game (Beavs won!)

The cousins in their somewhat matching new Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve

The boys left cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

 All the presents are ready for the morning chaos!

Seeing what Santa brought in their stockings!

Blake wanted a helicopter for Christmas. The kind that is meant for an 8-year-old, not a 3-year-old. As the days went by and Christmas got closer, we kept asking him what he wanted, and he without fail, would say a helicopter every time we asked. So we got him a helicopter. We opted with the cheaper one, since we knew it was something he wouldn't do on his own and Russ would have to help we didn't want to spend a ton of money. Well, Christmas Eve as Russ was charging it and giving it a test run, it broke! Thankfully Russ was able to fix it enough to use it just once Christmas morning and then the day after Christmas we went and exchanged it for a better one. Lesson Learned: buy two, or have a back up. 

Lil checking out what Santa brought her

Cousins on Christmas!

After the presents were opened we didn't do a whole lot on Christmas Day, the kids played with their new toys and take much needed naps. That afternoon/evening everyone came over for dinner and a white elephant-ish gift exchange.

Cousins

{photo bombed by Michelle}

 Of course dessert was the best!

Logan clearly enjoyed his dessert!

Trying to get a nice picture of them was nearly impossible. This is the best I got.

The next morning {Thursday} we did Christmas with the Bartlett's. 

 Lily checking out her Ballapalooza

Blake trying out his new Dusty sleeping bag

Flying the new, better helicopter. I've been surprised at how much he has wanted to play with the helicopter especially since he can't do it himself. 

On Friday morning before we headed home Grandpa Lowell {who turned 81 on the 29th} brought over doughnuts. Which has pretty much become a tradition every time we go to Medford.

We had a great Christmas! And are blessed to have so much loving family!

Hope you had a blessed Christmas!

Lily's first steps!

Finally, Lily is almost walking! This morning she held just Blake's hand and walked down the hallway and then tonight she took about three steps on her own! I think it'll still be a while before she is off and running but she's getting closer and closer!

Thanksgiving Weekend 2013

It was a busy Thanksgiving weekend!

Thursday was Thanksgiving.

We stayed home this year for Thanksgiving and my side of the family came to our house for the day. It was the first time for us to host Thanksgiving and the first time in {at least the last} 7 years that my whole immediate family was together. We ate, watched some football, kids played and we ate some more. 

Amazing that everyone is looking at the camera! I think that might be a first!

 Auntie Sha, the photo boomer 

 Kids Table!

Us

Thursday night my mom, sister and I went out and did some shopping {yes, you can call us crazy}. However we decide shopping on Thanksgiving is not worth it. At all. You can get the same sales on Friday {DURING the day, NOT in the middle of the night!} So we went home and slept and then went back out the next morning. People are crazy though when it comes to Black Friday.

Friday was the Civil War.

Russ went to the Civil War game. Our brother-in-law is a UofO alum and has season tickets and invited Russ to go with him. 

The kids and I headed up to my Aunt and Uncles in Portland to watch the game. It was a great game! The Beavers actually put up a fight and we lost by only one point. It was sad, we were so close to winning. But it was a way better game then we thought it would be so it was a lot of fun to watch!

Friday night we stayed at my sisters and Russ stayed at his sisters. 

Saturday we went to Zoo Lights.

Saturday Russ helped his sister and brother-in-law move and we hung out with my sister. And then went to Zoo Lights! 

{click here to see the first zoo light experience, we've only gained a couple kids :)}

 Sibling love

 Lily checking out Lily 

{the baby elephant at the zoo is named Lily}

She loved touching the lights!

The Bartlett family!

Sunday we got our Christmas Tree.

Searching for the perfect tree (the only picture I took).

Well, that was a busy four day weekend! 

Hope you had a fun Thanksgiving weekend!