Snow, More Snow

Sledding fun!

Santa Snowman

Our outside tree with lights looked gorgeous under the blanket of snow!

The police cruiser went undercover.

We are finally thawing out here in the Tundra of the PNW, and I thought I'd give a glimpse into what it was like for the past 2 weeks of snow:

It all started the day Matt was in Utah on a business trip with my car at the airport. It had snowed all day and when his 5 hour delayed flight finally made it back to town, he had to navigate some hairy roads and hills to make it home. The interstate hadn't been plowed and it was a mess! Fortunately most people were already home by then and he managed to eek my car into the neighborhood just behind our house, as there was no way he could make it up the hill to our house.

The coming days were a mix of snow off and on, followed by my mom's flight arrival on Monday. On Tuesday, Matt and Colin took the ladies of the house in to Seattle to the Nutcracker. This was our first time to the the PNW Ballet's Nutcracker, and it was great! Seattle roads, especially in Belltown, were just a mess. Seattle refuses to use salt (environmental reasons) or any kind of chemical de-icer, and they use rubber-tipped snow plows. They just considered these past 2 weeks of snow a nuisance that must be tolerated; commuters and drivers considered it a hazard and a nightmare!

It rained Christmas eve over the snow, making the packed snow into a mucky road slush that was even harder to drive through. Rain over snow is a weird phenomenon. and then....

....It snowed here Christmas morning, adding to the white beauty and slush. We were happy to have the snow plow arrive in our cul-de-sac the following morning. It's a rare occasion to have roads groomed even into our neighborhood. It was so helpful, though, as roads were getting difficult and scary to drive before the arrival of the glorious snow plow!

I will always have a lasting memory of the UPS man who deserves kudos for his service to deliver on Christmas eve. He parked half a mile away and trekked through the slush and snow with his hand truck to deliver Christmas packages to us and to others. He traversed up and down hills to get to us and our neighbors on foot. That's more than we can say for USPS, who didn't deliver for the 3 days before Christmas. The next time we see our UPS man he's getting a great big thanks!

Christmas 2008

My mom's flight made it into town on time (can you believe it with all the weather problems?) and we enjoyed having her in town the week of Christmas. The snow was around all week and just kept coming every few days, making for some crazy road conditions. We were so glad to have Matt's 4x4 truck to navigate getting out of our neighborhood and around in un-groomed parking lots.

Colin is a little camera shy; actually, he hates the camera, so this is the best we could do for the Christmas Eve picture after church. He did pretty well sitting in "big boy" church and really enjoyed clapping with the rockin' tunes from the Three Wisemen.

Take a picture quick before I dig into presents, mom! Notice Elliot in the background sneaking behind the tree to get at the curly ribbon, which he just loves, and which makes him so sick!

This was a year of Cars. he just loves everything Cars related, especially McQueen, which he is holding here. He also really likes pirates and has a pirate ship fleet that will have many fun pirate battles. He also enjoyed reading the "Pirates Night Before Christmas" this Christmas season.

After enjoying presents, Dad and Colin headed down the hill to go sledding. Colin enjoyed riding backwards, which is what he and his dad called, "Mater style," since Mater drives backwards in the movie Cars. Remember...all things Cars!

Snow Play

This afternoon I pulled Colin around our cul-de-sac on his sled. Talk about a good cardio workout! Needless to say, we didn't make too many rounds! Remind me of this in August when it's roasty and 90 degrees (smile!) It's actually fun out there because it is super powdery and somewhere in the mid 20's. Good thing I bought snow boots at Target a few days ago because we sure did need them today!

Colin greets the neighbor's snowman. He kept telling me the snowman needed a hat.

Yep, the snow is up past Colin's knees. He tried his best to follow in my tracks to make for an easier path.

Update on Elliot

Thanks for those of you who have asked how Elliot is doing. As I reported last month, a cancerous skin mast re-appeared on his head and he had surgery the first week of December.

He did well in surgery and once again sported a gorgeous e-collar for a few weeks, which he is happy we have now removed. The surgery successfully removed the mast, and we will hope yet again that this is the last of it.

Non Snow Day Cookie Baking

Yesterday on our non-snow, snow day, we baked cookies.

As is the tradition at our house, we use non-traditional shapes, such as ducks and fish (both salmon and angel fish.) Salmon are actually very Christmas-y if you paint them in their spawning green and red (see above.) And for some reason Colin liked the stars and dictated they must all be blue. Then he proceeded to eat them all, so we have no more stars.

To Snow, Or Not to Snow....

Colin's Police Cruiser is Snowed In

...That was the question...

Yesterday was Colin's last day of preschool and was to be his Christmas Party. I was so disappointed when they cancelled school (we follow the local school district closures.) They were cancelling not because it was snowing but because forecasters said it would snow later in the day.

So, erring on the conservative side, we sat at home and baked cookies all day. And it warmed to a balmy 38 degrees during the day and the last traces of snow from over the weekend were completely gone. The roads were bone dry. No snow. Nada. Zero. Zilch! Even when I went to bed at 11 pm last night there was still no snow.

But "funny" thing happened in the middle of the night. The snow started falling in buckets, and it hasn't stopped yet. No school today, of course, and stranded motorists are everywhere! It's kind of pretty to watch from home, but the only problem is that Matt has my 2 wheel drive car at the airport and his flight returns in a few hours. Hmmmm. I took the truck in case I needed it in getting Colin from school yesterday and it looks like he's the one in need of his 4x4 truck to get home from the airport. Murphy's Law, you know.

It's hard to explain to outsiders how just 2-4 inches of snow can shut a city down. I grew up in parts of Texas that could easily have 2 feet of snow in a bad storm. Four inches of snow would have never closed school. Let me explain. In Texas, we had NO HILLS to navigate. Add to the cold weather a layer of ice under the snow and put your vehicle on a steep incline and see if you can even make it down the street (I live at the top of a hill in my subdivision...) Then, add to that a lack of snow removal equipment, as well as people who rarely drive in the snow, and you get one big mess. Really, it's the ice that makes it so scarey around here. Once you get going, the only thing to stop you going down the hill is your neighbors car or house. Doesn't sound like much fun to me, right?!

Best Mashed Potatoes You'll Ever Eat!

The first week of December was our "busy" week for the holiday season, as we then had Matt's company party on that Saturday, Dec. 6. The party was held in the Pampas Room of El Gaucho, a locally renowned steak eatery. If you don't like steak, this isn't the place for you. Fortunately I am the offspring of a whole family of cattle ranchers, so I was right in my grove.

I won't bore you with another picture of us in tux and formal...it was the same "get-up" as the Group Health Gala back in October. And besides, I was having so much fun visiting with all of my former co-workers that I forgot to whip out the camera.

Our dinner was divine! I had a steak topped with some very caloric tasting lobster and creamy sauce...and then the sides came around. And this is where is gets super yummy. The mashed potatoes are the best mashed potatoes I had ever eaten -- they were filled with lobster! How yummy, clever, and oh so tastey!

As is also the tradition at these parties, each employee gets 10 tickets to put into various gift bag drawings...Matt stuffed all of his into the bag for Purple Cafe, and won! While others were competing over the flashy Gene Juarez Spa, Nordstrom, REI, etc, Matt went for one of the "quieter" contenders and his strategy worked...so guess where our next date night will be?

Women's Christmas Friendship Dinner

Nadene, the mentor mom for our table, designed and created this gorgeous centerpiece.

These were the guests at our table.

The day after the big Providence Gala, my MOPS group hosted a table at the annual Women's Christmas Friendship Dinner. For the past 2 years I have hosted a table on my own, and having to provide and set-up all the items myself is always a challenge -- it takes over 2 hours alone just to set-up and decorate a table for 8. This year, three other women from my MOPS group provided various components for the table and set-up was a breeze!

We used my Christmas tree dishes (gotta love Christopher Radko for Target) and had a gorgeous star centerpiece (designed by Nadene), as the theme of the night was "Star of Wonder." The entertainment for our evening was Taproot Theatre's "The Foolish Wiseman," and they did a great job. It was indeed a fun evening among friends!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

ps -- Our evening at the Providence Gala wasn't complete without a visit with Santa. This guy was the real McCoy! None of this fake cotton beard stuff! He reminded me of the late George Roberts.

Providence O'Trees

This was a mid-course palate cleansing sorbet served in an ice sculpture - wow!! What a magnificant display.

And this was the version of the ice sculpture at my plate.

The aviation-themed tree was super fun, and the Fisher-Price Little People, in particular, caught my eye. I'm with a 2 year old all day long...what can I say?!

This was the Dr. Seuss tree and display.

Last week we attended the Providence O'Trees Gala as a part of Matt's work, and I was so excited to go as I have seen video footage of the auctioned trees on TV for the past many years....

This delightful evening, a fun "excuse" to get dressed up in our formal attire, was a great way to start our Christmas Holidays. The evening included both silent and live auctions, and the live auctions were conducted while we ate dinner and were "entertained" by Evening Magazine's John Curley.

Designers decorate themed trees that are auctioned at a premium, and part of the exciting part of the evening includes milling about, looking at the trees and meeting the tree designers. I liked the one with the aviation theme, which had aviation toys on it (Little People's blue and pink planes - see the pink plane above), and well as other toys Colin would have loved. The Dr. Seuss themed tree was fun, as well!

And no, we didn't go home with one of those gorgeous trees, but we had a ton of fun!

Happiness Comes in Small Packages

16 oz pkgs of Candy Cane Joe-Joe's to be exact. Mmmmmmm!

OK, so I do have more to blog about than Joe-Joe's right now, as last week was a busy holiday week. I'm taking a breather and will post more throughout this week to update you on our adventures of the week. Until then, sit back with a glass of cold milk and Joe-Joes and listen to some Christmas tunes....

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day -- yes, Colin is not fond of the camera!

Colin was happy to chase these free roaming geese at the Denver Zoo. Forget the animals in their cages!

Colin and Grandma "go fishing" at the Denver Children's museum.

Colin adored the dog at his Grandma and Grandpa's office. She played endless amounts of fetch and then waited for her treat from Colin.

We spent last week in Colorado for Thanksgiving and enjoyed the week with Matt's family. Colin had fun exploring the Denver Children's Museum, as well as the zoo. Thanks for the special treat, Grandma and Grandpa!

Colin was a good travel buddy this trip and only screamed briefly out of protest when we he figured out he had to sit in his car seat on the plane and couldn't sit like Mom and Dad in the plane seat. He is definitely exerting his opinion on certain things he never cared about until the past few weeks. On the way home we skipped the battle and just gate checked the car seat, which also let him sit in the middle seat between us.

We enjoyed seeing all of the home updates Grandma and Grandpa have done to their home - they have been hard at work over the past few years and it looks great! Thanks for having us out to Colorado!