Snow, Birthday, & More

Here is a picture of the kids in their Christmas Sunday best. It is so hard to get a good picture of them, they both just can't stand still.


Friday night we were supposed to go up to Washington DC with another young family and see the Temple lights and then take turns going through the temple Saturday. We were all looking forward to this trip. However the forecast said there was going to be a really heavy snow storm. From what I have been told, it doesn't happen much. People were going crazy. Everything was getting canceled and shutting down early. RJ's school let out two hours yearly for the storm. We went to the store Friday morning and it was packed with people. We stood in line at the register for a half an hour!!! Anyway, we canceled our trip to DC and I am glad we did. Because it did snow like crazy Friday night. This time, everyone was right to be prepared for the weekend. This area isn't used to this much snow and it is very prone to ice. The roads are BAD!! Most of all the church services in the area has been canceled today, including ours. And to make it worse, our heater isn't working today. Yikes. We are all trying to just stay bundled and warm. Sometimes I wonder if we aren't in Idaho, and I know a lot of people have wondered if we brought this with us. Either way, we were all excited to see and play in the snow yesterday when our heater did work and we could go back inside and warm up.




Friday night, we started our first fire in our fire place. We are all so excited to have a fireplace for the first time in our home. It made for a cozy night as the snow began to fall. We cuddled on the couch and watched A Christmas Story after the kids had toasted some marshmallows in the fire. Here Daddy is teaching the kids how to build a fire:

Zachery enjoying the sight:

The kids were so afraid that Zachery would get in the fire and die. Here, Savannah is trying to save him from doom:

Toasting Marshmallows:

Late Friday Afternoon when the snow finally started to fall. I really didn't believe how much snow was really coming our way. I thought people were going to panic over a little dusting.

But we were wrong when we woke up Saturday morning to a foot of snow and it was still snowing. The kids were so excited and couldn't wait to get outside and play.

However we weren't too prepared for snow play. I hadn't bought anything new for RJ. He had snow pants that fit. But his new coat wasn't water prof, so we layered him with sweatshirts. He did have gloves but no boots. I found some thick wool socks and Jared duct taped plastic bags around his feet. It worked. Savannah was able to wear most of RJ's old clothes. But her old gloves were a little too small and kept falling off, so those were duct taped on too. Front view of the house:

Street view:

First thing the kids wanted to do was make a snow angel:

There is a little boy that lives behind us who is in RJ's kindergarten class. He came over to play with us for awhile. Zachery was taking his morning nap and missed all the fun.

You can't play in snow without first tasting it:

The kids had a blast sledding. I think this was their first year sledding down hills. I don't remember them doing much sledding in Idaho, crazy huh?!

Who needs a sled?:

Trying to shovel snow for Daddy:

We didn't build a snowman. Surprisingly the snow was very dry. But we did try a few snow ball fights.

Saturday was also Jared's 29th Birthday.

We made him a Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake.

And no post is complete without Zachery!
He has enjoyed using this little walker thing to walk around with.

We thought when he started crawling at 6 months he would be walking by now. Thank goodness he has slowed downed and is not walking!!. He can stand own his own but doesn't like too without support. He is very timid about falling down. Probably because he has fallen at least four times off the bed. He has learned and won't go near the edge of things. I worried about stairs when we moved into the house, but he won't even try to go down them. He uses things to stand up but takes his time and is very cautious when he tries to get down on his knees again.
However this weekend he braved it and has started to climb up the stairs. He has been excited each time he makes it to the top and just sits there with a big grin.

Last night the kids were going up the stairs to bed and he followed them. It was so cute having all three going up in their Jammies. Two walking and one crawling behind them. I couldn't get a photo of that but I did capture this one. Once at the top of the stairs RJ and Savannah went into the bathroom to brush their teeth and Zachery followed as well. He loves following his big brother and sister around.