White Christmas

Yes, we had a white Christmas this year.  We joke that it always snows for Natalie when she comes to Snowflake because she wants it to so badly.  It's funny because it doesn't snow all that much there.  But, in recent years there have been many occasions where it has snowed right at the time we had a trip planned.  This time was a little different.  We got caught in the storm while driving.  We had planned on leaving for Snowflake on Thursday night after Nate got home from work.  After a call from my mother-in-law around lunchtime, informing us that it was starting to snow, we moved up our travel plans and were able to leave by about 2:30 so we could hopefully get there before it got dark and roads got icy.  We started hitting snow in Globe and pretty much had it on the roads the whole way after that.  It was a bit scary, but it wasn't too bad because we ended up driving behind two different snowplows in the worst spots, and our Durango has 4 wheel drive.  Our slightly over four hour drive ended up being closer to six, but we arrived safely.

The next morning we bundled up our kids in their finest Tucson winter wear, which consisted of jeans, an additional long sleeve shirt, normal shoes, and--in the case of my boys--two lightweight jackets and socks for gloves.  However, they didn't care.  They had to be freezing, but they all stayed outside and played for quite a long time.  I might add that my shoes were...flip flops.  I forgot to change my shoes before we left.  It was awesome walking around in snow and slush.  Enough talk, cue the pictures...

This was Damon's first time playing in the snow.  He absolutely loved it.  He wanted to be able to make snowballs like everyone else.   He was excited about the idea of throwing something at his siblings and not getting in trouble.  It was cute to see him try.

All at once that painful cold seemed to hit Damon and he started just crying.  I went to get him to bring him inside.  That made him cry more.  It was funny that the very thing he wanted was what was making him so cold and miserable.

One by one, they all came back inside, completely frozen.  After they came in, I stripped them down and wrapped them in their blankets, which I had put in the dryer.

On to Christmas.  We had a fun Christmas morning opening and playing with gifts.  Natalie and Kelton have enjoyed their "new" DS's (thank you Craigslist for providing them for about $30 each) probably more than anything else. 

This one is from Christmas Eve.  I walked back in after I had put them in bed and found them like this.

I was able to somewhat surprise Nate with a new TV.  I left the TV at home and put an HDMI cable in his stocking.  So... we are no longer the only people on earth with a giant tube TV.  We have finally joined the flat screen revolution.  :)  Nate surprised me with some nice sunglasses.  I've lived in AZ all my life and have never owned a pair.  He also got us tickets to see Wicked when it comes to Phoenix in a few months.  We've never seen it so it should be fun.

So, I know it's January now, but Merry (belated) Christmas to everyone!