Wrapping, Decorating, Smiling....

How sad... Do you remember that BEAUTIFUL 23 pound pumpkin that we hand-picked from the farm? Yeah... It became a Thanksgiving decoration. I just ran out of time to carve it before Halloween. Oh, and then it snowed. Oh well!


We've been busy! We're going home to Oregon for Christmas this year and we leave a week from today... Couldn't be more excited if I TRIED. But we'll see. :) So we've been wrapping presents, sending Christmas cards, and getting everything ready, packaged, and sent before we take off next weekend. For those of you who really know me, you know that I'm usually done with my Christmas shopping by August and I take care of all the "last minute" things on Black Friday. Yes, it sounds crazy. But my birthday, Abbie's birthday, Christmas, New Year's, and my wedding anniversary are all in December. So the last thing THIS girl wants is to be stressed about gifts and wrapping paper all month long! I've learned to get it done and enjoy the last month of the year. Okay, okay... I will ask my doctor about medication for this next time. :)


Noah helped me wrap our presents this year. He's learning to use his little red scissors and it doing pretty well. So grown up!

BTW - NOAH took this picture of me... He's become quite the photographer lately. But that's another blog... coming very soon!


Even though we're leaving, we still decorated our little home for Christmas. Of course!!! Here's us tackling the tree:

Abbie supervised... This is her saying, "Yeah, those little lights aren't twinkling, Clark..."

Oh, the stockings!!!


Noah and Daddy trimming the tree:





Yes, Christmas is definitely in the air!!! Can't wait to be in Oregon this year. It's been awhile. :) Hope you're all staying warm wherever you are. Reports from various family members tell me that it's unusually COLD everywhere... Except Florida. Sorry, Boo!!! Still looking for a way to send you snow! I mean, I've got plenty.

Trying to find a place for Abbie to go potty,

Nicole

Noah in the Snow-ah

I tried to add this video to my last post but Blogger was having some "issues."

My parents have a picture of me in the snow when I was little. My Dad just threw me in there up to my waist. We tried the same thing with Noah but he kept bending his knees and wouldn't sink in. You can see I'm up to my knees and he's just walking along the top.

~Kevin

Let it snow, let it ... wait that's too much!

According to the National Weather Service, in order to have a BLIZZARD you need:

1. Snow and/or blowing snow
   
2. Sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35+ mph
   
3. Visibility of less than 1/4 mile
   
4. Duration of at least 3 hours

Now as far as I can recall, I have never been anywhere near an actual blizzard before so this has been a new adventure this winter in Nebraska. Here we were cruising along with our unseasonably warm October and November temperatures and BOOM (or should that be a "poof" or a "whoosh"? What sound does a snow storm make?).

It began on Sunday afternoon and has pretty much just kept going. It hasn't been buckets of snow; just a consistent accumulation since then. Then the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped even more. We had a blizzard warning that just expired sometime this morning I think.

This was Tuesday at around 5 p.m.



In the following photo you can see the "racetrack" that Nicole cleared for Abbie around the tree. That way she can "walk it out" if you know what I'm sayin' - and I think you do.


This was about 3 hours later (compare with the 1st photo).


That's about 13 inches deep.


And here we are on Wednesday morning...





Outside Noah's room:


And the view from inside Noah's room:


Pics from around the yard area. The drifts were 3-4 feet deep in some areas.





And after "the shoveling." The guys who are paid to do it still haven't shown up - I think they owe us.



Nicole hasn't been feeling very well, but I just couldn't keep her from helping :)



~Kevin

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sweetness

And I thought I loved him back then... It's AMAZING how much love grows with them.