More and MORE Christmas Snow

This year we celebrated Christmas Hoffer-style. It snowed the entire week before giving us the first "White Christmas" we've ever had.

We slept at my sister's house on Christmas Eve with most of the grandchildren. Amazingly, they all went to sleep quickly and didn't wake up too early with the exception of Maddie who, like me, was so excited that she couldn't help but wake up a couple of times during the night. Sheesh, you'd think that after all these years I'd grow up and be able to sleep through the night, but no. I'm as bad as when I was seven!

Christmas morning we put on our coats and got ready to go to Nanna and Papa's house two blocks away (Maddie made her mom promise ahead of time to go before showering to save time). As we opened the garage door, this is what we found:

We knew it had snowed, but we didn't realize how much! Sarah carried the kids to the car while Will scraped off the car and got it warmed up. (Those are Maddie's feet swinging in the picture below!) We decided to cram into one car instead of taking two out in that treacherous snow. It was crazy getting to Nanna's house. We kept reminding the girls not to scream. That Sarah sure has a strong set of lungs. J/K Good thing it wasn't more than two blocks and that our gallant William got us there safely. He's so courageous!

It snowed all day. Papa couldn't help but get out and play in it even if it was still snowing! (That must be who I get it from.)

We went back to Sarah's house when it finally stopped snowing just before sunset to get a little sledding in before dark. It was Liam's first sledding experience and he LOVED it. "Again, again," was his mantra. My thighs protested and were burning after pulling, pushing, and carrying him back up the hill over and over. That was the only part of me that was burning though; everything else was frozen. We soon had to make the trek back to Sarah's house through snowdrifts up to the girls' waists. This is half of our sledding party in front of the pile of snow shoveled off Sarah's driveway:

Merry Christmas!

Merry VERY White Christmas!

Christmas Snow

We have had so much snow this week! I haven't seen snow like this for years! We have about a foot of snow right outside our door. Will is finally beginning to appreciate it now that he doesn't have to drive to work in it. On the other hand, Liam and I have been giddy about it all week. We just had to get out and play in it so we bundled Liam up in his new SIZE 4T coat and his "monster pants" (snow pants). The monster pants were a big hit, and allowed Liam to enjoy the snow without getting wet or cold. He had so much fun. A big improvement from last year when he wouldn't even touch the stuff. (Here he is the first day it snowed being amazed by his footprints.)

We made a snowman and began an igloo (with the help of a couple of neighborhood friends). The snowman became the first casualty of the year when he was knocked down the next day by a five-year-old in the neighborhood. His big brother, who coincidentally helped build the igloo, made him apologize. They apologized to Sam downstairs. I think Sam was a little confused. I asked the five-year-old about it on Sunday at church and he denied the act of vandalism...but I don't think he realized it was my house. He later came with his brothers to deliver a Christmas treat from his mother so I consider the debt repayed.

The snow doesn't come without its treachery unfortunately, and I've seen four or five cars get stuck in the insanely deep gutter across the street already. The snow deceives a number of cars each year by hiding its depth. Our friend Greg and even our mailman got stuck. (That's our mailman and our half-done igloo which is how it remained for a few days while we waited for some nice wet snow so we (I) could finish it. Every child that stopped by on the way home from school asked when and how I was going to put the top on.)

Finally, it snowed six inches of great igloo snow yesterday, and I was able to finish! (I have to admit, I worked on it during Liam's precious nap time even though I had about a million other things I should have been working on. It was just so fun, and I knew the snow wouldn't last forever.) Here's a shot showing the scale of the igloo. Not the biggest, but pretty cute. The mailbox was Will's contribution to the project. Nice touch. Liam refers to the igloo as the "turtle sculpture." He must have picked up the word sculpture from his artist mother.

I was so excited to have it finished!

So were Liam and Will!

Happy Tanksgiving!

Although my other posts might lead you to believe otherwise, the misspelled title of this one is purposeful. The Pettit family has a Thanksgiving banner that missed receiving an "H" during production. (Manufacturer's fault, not the Pettits' doing.) So now, every year at least one of the Pettits will wish us a "Happy Tanksgiving" in consequence.

This year Will, Liam, and I spent a lively "Tanksgiving" weekend in Vegas with Nate, Aubrey, and Aria. It was so much fun!

I finally got to see the sites in Vegas. I've only ever driven through before. The fountains at the Bellagio were amazingly beautiful. The Bellagio keeps their part of Vegas surprisingly clean, morally and physically! I was pleasantly surprised.

Here's our little stroller brigade.

Liam LOVED running around and dancing to the music playing. (How do you like our compromise on shirts? I always said I would never let my children wear character shirts. They just seemed tacky. Ha...that was before I had children. You know how that goes. Now I realize just how much Liam loves them, and I confess, I bought the Wall-E shirt for him personally! I still try to dress it up a bit though, hence the compromise with the collared shirt!)

Most of all it was so much fun spending time with Nate, Aubrey, and Aria. We really miss having them next door.