Thursday, December 20, 2012

It's A Winter WONDERLAND!!!

BBBRRRRRRRR!!!!
The Family B meets our first Mid-West winter storm.
And it is very impressive!
Here's Olivia under our deck, coming in from the five minutes romping in the snow like a puppy she was allowed. It's so cold I was a little too nervous to let her play much longer, plus the screen door doesn't block out quite enough of those arctic temperatures! She said she "wasn't freezing at all!!!" She could've stayed out there all day -- in fact, there were many tears shed this morning that it just wouldn't stop blowing horizontal sheets of snow so she could go out there. It was with great relief that we saw it was more regular snow flakes about ten o'clock and she could hurry and bundle up for her adventure.
Yesterday it was very gray and foggy through out the day, which I've decided must be the new Marie winter, since it seems to be every day. But by afternoon we were getting some rain and things were starting to look serious. At five o'clock it was dark like the middle of the night and the rain was really starting to come down -- they were forecasting 2-3 inches of snow over night, and if that was the case -- school would be cancelled. It was pouring rain by the time the kids were in bed, and by about ten it was giving us a very impressive display of thunder and lightning. I was in the front room working on a Christmas project for K.J. and the Double B was in bed, so I kept having to sneak in to reassure myself, since I am a lightning sissy and he knows this (and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Come on, a gazillion bolts of electricity, hurtling towards puny Marie here on the surface of the earth? What's warm and cozy about that?). By the wee hours of the morning, snow was coming in horizontally, and it stayed that way for several hours. And... school was cancelled! Hallelujah! The only trouble is that now the kids want to do something fun, and the clear instruction on the radio is if you don't have to leave... stay inside. Or, in the words of Michael Scott from The Office... "K.I.S.S. -- keep it simple, stupid." Poor Double B is slaving away at a Costco bakery not anywhere close to you. He might just have to move in, I guess! He left this morning at a little after five, and he said it was verrrry exciting.
We are doing well. The people in our ward are so incredibly kind and the ladies have really reached out to me. That has helped so much! If I think too hard about being out here in the middle of very far away from everyone we know and love it could get pretty tricky, and I can't even imagine if I didn't have that built in support system. Really, I can't WAIT for a calling. But I'm afraid that might take awhile... everyone here is pretty willing to work, it looks like. But having a calling at church gives you such a feeling of belonging, it helps you feel like you are contributing. Looking forward to that! What is interesting about our ward family is there are about a million families around our age or a little older that are here by themselves -- no family for states away. That contributes to a real feeling of cooperation and support in the ward that seems really awesome. We got invited to a Christmas activity this Sunday at the home of a family from England! And we thought ending up here from Utah seemed random... nope. England beats that hands down.
Well, I'll let you go. There is a full day of no school to attend to, but I thought I'd say hi.
Hi.

1 comment:

Ducksoup said...

so awesome. great update! always a breath of fresh air. oh the midwest and winter. if it snows an inch the town shuts down - - always thought it was funny i would be the only person at work because no one else dared brave the snow :). i can't wait until christmas is here or maybe january so you can so your husband. thank goodness for costco. we are having costco cheesecake for christmas dinner - - that's what i am in charge of bringing. so rie, keep up the good work. maybe santa can bring the kiddos some winter gear, looks like you are going to need it!