22 Inches!?!

22 inches people! Unbelievable. 22 inches of snow, and it's -11 outside right now, without windchill. Craziness.

How do you eat an elephant?

Today, the answer to that question would be one shovel full (of snow) at a time. Sorry to post a 3rd time about this snow storm, but now I just want to chronicle a little of it so I can remember it. I was just amazed at how much snow there was. I can't remember a time when I've experienced a place that's gotten so much! The standing record for the largest one-day snowfall is 14 inches set in March of 1965. They still haven't gotten the official recorded total, but I think we definitely surpassed that. We were totally snowed in. We couldn't have gotten down our street. Most churches were cancelled this morning.

The plow went by at about 12:30 this afternoon. So we went out to take a few pictures of the huge drift it left at the end of our driveway along with what it looked like outside.

Here's Liv in our driveway next to the big piles we shoveled yesterday (and by "we" I mean me a little and Aaron a lot!). They were probably about 4 1/2 - 5 feet high. Then overnight it drifted a bunch so we had to re-shovel quite a bit.

Here's Liv and I at the end of our driveway in front of the ginormous drift the plow left. It was about as tall as Liv who's 3 feet tall. The pictures don't do it justice cause it was A BEAR to shovel.
Here' the view from our back porch - the snow was about even with the window line.

We took this shot accross the street from us cause there's a guy in that open garage door literally digging himself out. You can see the snow is about as high as the garbage can there in between the 2 garage doors. He eventually finished his side.
Aaron went out to shovel after the Packer game, and I followed about a half hour later. Shoveling the sidewalk again (it had drifted over pretty bad) and then that HUGE drift at the end of our driveway was a daunting task. The drifts on either side of our driveway are over 5 feet now. It took another couple hours. If we get another snow soon, I have no idea where we'll shovel the snow! I'm going to put Liv to bed shortly and sit with the trusty heating pad again :). So there's my "reporting" of the big snow of 12-11-10! But I will say, with the HUGE amount of snow and the temperatures and wind chill tonight, I'm so very grateful for our snug home and warm bed. The Lord has so graciously provided for us!

Big Snow!

We did indeed get pounded with snow today! The forecast was 12-18 inches. At 11 this morning we'd gotten 8, and on the 5 'o clock new we had gotten 14. I'm not sure if it's completely stopped yet to know the final total. The wind has picked up considerably and is blowing and drifting all over the place. It's hard to tell what's coming down and what's getting blown all over. The picture below was taken a little after 4. It was starting to get a little dark, and though it's hard to tell, it was blowing like crazy!



So we're snowed in and definitely enjoyed our snow day! We did a bunch of shoveling this morning. Liv played outside a bit. We had lunch and naps. Some finger painting and supper. Washed dishes and scrubbed Liv in the tub. A snack, Frosty the Snowman on tv, and bedtime! Now Aaron and I are watching the new Karate Kid. Aaron is icing his back (he shoveled 3x today - the last time to dig our car out). I've got a heating pad on my back, and we're both laughing at ourselves. Now time to sign some Christmas cards!

Jones Family Snow Day

As we were eating supper last night, I told Aaron if we really did end up getting pounded with snow, I was calling a Jones Family Snow Day for Saturday. And according to the forecast, we ARE going to get pounded with snow - as I know many of you who are reading this will be as well. We aren't even in the band of weather that'll be getting blizzard conditions! The forecast here is for 12 plus inches of snow and then dropping to nasty wind chills with high winds early Sunday morning. So I've got Christmas cookies to decorate, our Christmas cards just arrived in the mail ready to be signed and sent, we're going to rent a few movies, I'm going to put ham and beans in the crock pot in the morning, and we're going to make a day of it! I hope you all weather the weather with some fun too! I'll keep you posted :).

Happenings

I don't have a specific purpose for this post, just ramblings... I'd post a few pictures, but they're on Aaron's computer (since it's now the newer computer). The dossier for our adoption got sent out the weekend before Thanksgiving. I sent it off with a prayer and primo postage knowing if it got lost I would - literally - cry. So it feels awesome to have that done. Still no new news. We're just on the waiting list. We could get a call for a referral tomorrow or 3 months from now. We have no idea. And even then we pray to see if he's the one God has for us before we say yes.

Liv is just about the greatest. I continue to be so grateful for her presence in our lives and our family. She's definitely growing but still a tiny thing. I still get a kick out of her wee buns as we call them. Everytime we give her a bath or shower, we lotion her after and she becomes a bundle of naked energy singing and dancing in front of the mirror. It's been so much fun to engage with her and hear her thoughts and watch her learn. She loves to color or do crafts - takes after her mom. She loves to play with balls and run around in the basement - takes after her dad. She's showing more interest in cooking with me and likes to stir whatever I put in front of her. It's just been a blessing.

We're winding down the semester, and we're always ready when it comes. It's been a good one, it's nice to not be quite so busy during the weeks for a bit. We have a great group of students, and I so love spending time with them. So that's about all for now!