Wacky Winter Storm!!

Last week, you may have heard about the crazy weather that hit western Washington. Normally we'll get a day or two of a dusting to a couple inches of snow that usually melts within a day or two. Last week we got a few inches in about two days then overnight we were hit with at least 12" of snow. Some places got 18"!!! After all the snow hit it got cold. Then the freezing rain started and clung to all the trees. The next thing we know branches are falling off trees and entire trees are toppling over! Nearly everyone in our county lost their power on Thursday. Thankfully, we are right in the middle of town and right next to a school. We got our power on within 28 hours.

Those 28 hours were a little crazy though. We didn't have any source of heat in our place. I assumed we'd get through the night (power went out at 7:30pm) and figure out what to do next in the morning. Well around 1:30am, Katie woke up from a nightmare. It was cold in the house. We snuggled in the recliner with a blanket and tried to sleep. Around 3am, we were still up, I went to check on Natalie and cover her up and she woke up. Hubby was awake since Natalie was crying. The four of us tried to snuggle in our bed...but the girls thought it was time to play. The thermostat was at 58* and the girls hands were cold. I didn't think we were going to get back to sleep any time soon and I couldn't put the girls back in their room. Hubby stayed in the house with the girls and I went outside to dig our car out of the driveway. With all my adrenaline pumping it didn't take too long to do. After multiple attempts at backing up and pulling forward I got the car out of the driveway. We loaded up the girls and I was headed to my parent's place. They didn't have power either, but they have a generator and a wood stove. I realized just after I left that I might not be able to make it to their house in my van. It was now 4am and I called their house. My dad finally answered and by 5:30am he and my mom got through mess and met us in a parking lot. It was a treacherous drive, swerving to miss downed branches and trees. Their road that comes off the main road to their driveway hadn't been plowed. My van dragged the whole way. Their driveway was even worse. I got about halfway down and had to stop. We unloaded the sleepy girls, jumped in my dad's 4x4 SUV and got up to the house.

We stayed there that whole day, overnight, and until about 11am the next day. We got our power back and were so happy to get home. My parents were out of power for 4 days, my MIL and BIL were out for 5 days. Some people still are out of power. Crazy stuff. My girls were troopers. I'm glad they adjusted well to the change.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the girls playing in the snow (when we only had a couple inches) and some pics of our house with the "big" snow.

Happy (belated) New Year!

Hi all! I feel like I say this each time I post, but man, it's been a while! Where to begin...

Christmas was nice. The girls actually liked opening gifts this year. Kaitlyn especially liked tearing the paper. We had a Christmas party at my cousins house with my dad's side of the family (minus the hubby). It was so good to see everyone. We all lived semi close, it's too bad we only get together once a year. The girls did fabulous! They were dressed in their cute holiday dresses and played so well. My cousin has a nice big house complete with a rec-room. They played in there mostly. For a lot of the family, this was the first time they'd seen them since the Christmas party the year before.  Here they are in their dresses before we left the house:

We spent Christmas eve at my parent's house (minus the hubby, again). We were there all day. We had fun watching the girls open their gifts and play with their new toys. Among the favorites is a tea set and some maracas. Natalie loved the noise makers and Katie loved the tea set.

My brother wrestling with the toy packaging...

My mom helping Natalie open her stocking...

Maracas!

Natalie chillin' with her noise makers...

 
Christmas day we spent at home. Hubby and I just got the girls a few things since they are still oblivious to the holiday, and we knew the rest of the family would spoil them. The morning we spent by ourselves, then in the afternoon Hubby's family came over for a couple of hours. It was sure nice not to have to go anywhere that day. That's the first year in a long, long time we haven't had to leave the house.

Here's the girls with Hubby's fam...

The girls loved their new blocks, because they make a big mess...

The crayons were a big hit as well. There were big tantrums thrown when it was time to put them away...

Their first masterpiece...

I don't have any pictures of New Year's particularly because the girls went to bed like any other night, Hubby stayed home, and I went to hang out with some friends. It was a real treat to get away for a while.

So far this year our "luck" seems to be improving. With the last couple of years being so challenging, it's nice to not be stressed out ALL the time.

I hope you all had happy holidays and the new year is treating you well!!