Blizzard '09

All last week we kept hearing about a big snow storm that was headed our way. It was expected to hit Thursday into Friday and they were predicting big snow fall. By the middle of the week we were hearing of possible blizzard conditions. Well, if you live around here you know that the weather guys are almost always wrong. When they predict large amounts of snow, you can usually count on about an inch. When they say no snow, you can bet on several inches. We never trust the weather people until we actually see the snow falling and the wind blowing.

Well, Thursday morning started out sunny and calm.

This does not bode well for the big storm that is supposedly coming our way. The kids and I went about our normal business. I popped a bag of popcorn and sat them on the couch to watch Aladdin.

This all went very well until Gabe started eating out of Isabel's bowl and a fight ensued. I had to separate them until the popcorn was gone.




With snack done and lunch on it's way, I decided to look outside to check on the weather. It was about noon at this point and this is what I found.


I called Joel to tell him that it had started snowing here (he works about 30 minutes east of town) and that I'd keep my eye on the weather and let him know if it was getting bad enough that he needed to head home early. Shortly after this phone call, I received a call from Joel's brother telling me that they were heading to Joel's parents house with the kids and we should come too so we could all be snowed in together. Joel and I thought this sounded like fun, and the weather was getting worse so he came home to get me and the kids and we headed out. This is what it looked like outside when we left .... an hour after the last picture was taken.



By this time, people started to realize that the weather man was right and there was a big storm coming. Businesses were starting to close down all over town. We thought we'd be just enough ahead of the storm that we'd have no trouble driving. We were wrong.

The usually 30 minute drive took us an hour and by the time we arrived we literally could not see the road in front of our car. At one point there was even some concern that we had missed Joel's parents' street. Thankfully, we did make it safe and sound!! We had a great time being with family and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins.

Spaghetti for dinner.

Reading before bed.

Isabel and Eli ready for bed.

The kids (minus Gabe) had a sleep over in front of the big screen. And the rest of us had a great night of cards and chick flicks.

The next morning we woke up to see what the storm had done overnight. We didn't get as much snow as we thought we would, but due to the strong winds, we had HUGE drifts. Some more than 8 feet tall. In fact, Joel's dad had to plow the driveway with a tractor just so we could get out. The drifts were actually bigger than we thought and the temperatures were so cold that the tractor was having trouble working. Thank goodness the neighbors have a John Deere. They saved the day in 3 quick swipes!

The little engine that could.

Joel and Paul even went out to see what they could do with shovels. It wasn't much.

They finally broke through to the other side!

The John Deere!

With the drive way clear, we headed home. The roads were pretty clear, but we did have a couple of trouble spots and some of the drifts were GIGANTIC!!!

This is a picture of the snow piled up on the side of the road. I took this out my passenger window as we drove past it.

In some spots we even had to share the road because they had only plowed one side.

Well, anyway, we made it home safe and sound and by later that afternoon, many of the roads were completely dry. I love a good blizzard. It always makes for an adventure!!!

Bookworm

Gabe loves books! He can often be found sitting with a book and reading it to himself. Most of our books are in Isabel's room and he has learned how to climb up onto her bed to sit in comfort among her pillows.

First, he chooses a few books.

Then he uses Isabel's dollhouse as a step ladder.

Pulls himself up ...

Then settles in for a nice long read.

Anniversary Weekend

This last Monday was Joel's and my 6 year anniversary. It sure doesn't seem like it's been that long. Seems like just yesterday we were looking forward to our wedding and our honeymoon and all that life would bring us. And now, 6 years, two houses, two kids and one dog later ... here we are!!!

The kids spent the weekend with my parents and Joel and I spent the weekend in Denver doing some of the things we don't usually get to do with two kids in tow. We had originally planned to go and see Phantom of the Opera. We've been wanting to see that for years and were so excited when we found out it was coming to Denver over our anniversary weekend!! Unfortunately, Isabel got sick last week and we weren't sure we were even going to be able to have our weekend so we waiting until the last minute to buy tickets and they were sold out for the entire weekend. :( We had a few other things planned so we decided to go to Denver anyway and see where the wind blew us.

Our first stop was the Molly Brown House Museum in downtown Denver. Many of you might be familiar with this name if you've ever seen the movie Titanic. She was known as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and she was from our own little town of Denver!! It was very interesting to hear about her life and her voyage on the Titanic and to see where and how she lived. The house was beautiful!! I brought my camera with me to document our weekend, but as I was looking back at the pictures I realized I did a very bad job. This is due in part to the fact that many of the places we went to prohibited photography of any kind. The rest is completely my fault. So, here are a few of the pictures we took at The Molly Brown House Museum.

The view from the front porch of the house. Back in the day, these other buildings were not there and there was a breathtaking view of the capitol building. Very hoity toity at the time!

Waiting for the tour to begin. It was a beautiful day!!

After lunch at a quaint little pizza parlor down the street, we headed towards the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Again, we were not allowed to take pictures in the Museum so I have nothing to show you. They had a new display about natural disasters which was pretty neat. They had several pictures and artifacts from the Northridge Earthquake which I actually experienced before we moved to Colorado. That was kind of cool. They also had a mummie exhibit and actually had two real mummies on display. Very gross and yet very cool!!! We also took in an IMAX on volcanoes. After the museum and a drive through the Denver ghetto (thanks to our GPS) we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

Sunday, we slept in!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a big deal! We usually get woken up against our will before 7 am so to be able to sleep until our bodies woke us up naturally is HUGE!!!! After breakfast and coffee in bed we headed out to the movie theater. We saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was very cute and very clean. A great family movie!!! Then we capped the weekend off with a little bit of shopping! I got two new dresses!!!!!!! and Joel got nothing ... guys don't need new clothes, right??? By the time we picked the kids up everyone was exhausted! It was a great weekend! Happy Anniversary, Honey!!! Looking forward to the next 6!!!!

Daddy's Little Girl

A couple of weeks ago, Joel brought home a rose for me. Isabel loved the idea of getting a flower from Daddy, so one day last week Joel brought her her own bouquet.