Ice And Snow Christmas Day 2012 (And Following!)

All my life, Christmas Day has been spent with my Dad's side of the family.  We currently celebrate in Conway.  Jonathan and I went back and forth about whether or not to "chance it," but my Dad, being the all-terrain surgeon that he is, was going with his 4 wheel drive power (ha!), so I asked him if we could ride with him.  He'd be able to get us home!  We got to Conway just as it started "icing."  My kids were wild, and I hardly got to chat with family, even the ones home for Christmas from California.

Lunch was served rather swiftly, and since my kids were still fussy and wild-eyed, Mimi went ahead and had them open their gifts from her.  That was a big upper.  People ate lunch, and I chased the kids around Auntie Val's house.  Then, we all rather swiftly exchanged gifts.  There was talk of dessert being served when it became glaringly obvious that anyone "traveling" needed to get on the road.

So, we were sent with tons of dessert, hurried Christmas hugs and goodbyes, and off we went.  For an icy, stressful ride home.  My kids wanted to see what Papa Kurt was really made of, so they screamed for about 1/4th of it.  When we arrived at our house, the power was already out.  We decided to leave Jonathan there to pack and then come out to my parents' house (where there, historically, has been power because of underground lines) in our van.  Bless his heart.  He had to pack meds, clothes, food, snow clothes, toys, movies, bedding, toiletries--all asap--and he did.  And he made it down the long, treacherous hill to their neighborhood, where there was power.  And, then we just watched.

Except for Spencer, he wanted to play in the snow.  And we couldn't blame him.  So, Christmas afternoon, he got his first romp in 2012 snow.

Thanks to "Max and Ruby," he was anxious to make a "(s)'now bunny."  Jonathan helped.

He was wet, freezing, and loving it.  The rest of us were just hoping the power would hold out.

And that the kids would sleep.  That night, the kids sorta slept.  I barely slept (thanks to Spencer's sorta sleeping); but the power stayed on.  Christmas miracle just for me and my (maybe) make-believe ulcer.  And in the morning light, we just kept looking at the trees, heavy with ice and snow.   

Evie cuddled up like her Auntie Hillary under Hill's new throw.  The last time she had spent the night at Gigi's house was when I was pregnant with her, nauseated, and the power was out at our house--two years ago.  =)

It was beautiful.  If it weren't causing so many people quite a lot of trouble and discomfort, you'd just revel it!  We tried to maintain a respectfully somber awe from our heated venue.

Uncle Tony helped me with Evelyn, while Spencer was already half way to Timbuktu with Jonathan.  She loved it for a few minutes.

Spencer found a snow den.  He was a bear.  It was really neat how the branches were covered in ice and snow and bent all the way to the ground.  They made a pretty perfect snow den.

A day or two later, it still looked like this.  I never measured at my parents' house, but there was easily a foot of snow.  Jonathan worked on a snow man, while Spencer ate from the ground on which Dakota relieved herself all week.  Yum.

Sunshine on snow is gorgeous.  As is my Spencer boy--chapped little face and all.

There's Kotie's footprints.  She made everything even more fun this holiday season!  We miss her.

Dakota loved to catch snow balls in her mouth, and it just so happens that Spencer loved throwing them.

This was the first snow event for which Spencer would keep his gloves and boots on, so he was actually able to play in it for longer than five minutes without getting frost bite.  It was by far the best he's done, and he had a lot of fun.  We couldn't make the sledding work this time, but I'm sure we'll have some thin Arkansas ice before too long that will be perfect for sledding.

Proof that Evelyn Rose and I joined in on a little of the fun.  A foot of snow is a lot for a one year old to manage, though.  This particular excursion out lasted about three minutes.  Funniest part of this day was Dakota trying to dig down Jonathan's snow man.  There was much screaming and crying and not napping and not sleeping well, though.  Just like any "trip" with little ones.  I tried to remain calm, and I failed often.

After three nights and four days (I think), we headed home to a house with electricity.  The internet was not back up for another couple of weeks, a whole separate, never to be bothered with blog post.  Spencer loved exploring his backyard full of snow that evening, and Jonathan had to run to work for a bit.  Evelyn and I watched Spencer from inside, but I ran out intermittently to talk with him and take pictures.  When it wasn't sunny, it was too cold for me.  

Spencer had so much fun getting on his snow covered trampoline, and as you can see, Jonathan had plenty of fun clean up work after the thaw.  We were so very thankful to have had a warm place for us and the kids, not to mention a way to easily keep them fed and entertained; but it was good to be home in our own beds that night!