My Kids in the Paper

Every year when we get our first snow we all go out and build a snowman. Then we take pics and submit it to our local paper. Well, for 4 years in a row we have done that and 4 years in a row they have put it in the paper. Front page! This year we did not have much snow on the first snow fall, but we still took advantage of it and made a snowman...on a slightly smaller scale than last years. Here you can check out the pic from last year. Here's hoping we have a LOT more snow this year too!!!

Surprise Snowfall Changes the Day

Today my friend Steve sent me a text with a picture of snow up in Wilsonville where he works. (a stone's throw from where I work). It's only 25 minutes north of where I live. We had nothing. I was so jealous! I love the snow. Karston has been praying for snow over Christmas break. We have seen some flurries in the forecast, but it has never come to fruition. He has been very bummed to say the least. Today we were told it would rain. It has actually been a very sunny winter so far, so I am not too bummed that it would rain, but I would MUCH prefer snow.

Well Karston's prayers were answered today. We had a quick snowfall that covered the ground enough to make it mostly white, then it stopped. We ran out and made a paltry little snowman. Actually it wasn't that bad as you can see, but it was not like others we have made in the past.

Kynzi was at a birthday party so she did not get to join in with us. We always jump in the hot tub when it snows and take some pictures. We added hot cocoa to that tradition today with cool-WHIP (say it, "whip") and sprinkles. Yum! We had some really good belly laughs in there. (have I mentioned that I LOVE my family?) Then I headed out to see Sherlock Holmes with some of my buddies. (I really enjoyed it). When we came out it had snowed some more. Bigger flakes, denser snow.

By the time I got home it was dark and the kids had been sledding in our driveway and pulling each other down our street (don't worry. We are not as bad of parents as you think. We live on a private street with only 4 homes and we are the 2nd to last). So I put on my winter clothes again and we began to make another snowman. Well, there was so much snow that just a few rows in our tiny front yard and I had a really good base. It may be the largest one we have ever made. We decided we needed to make one for everyone in the family. This is what we ended up with. Not bad, eh? My kids are convinced that the paper will put it on the front page like they have the last 3 years in a row. I told them they may never post it all. They just assume the newspaper does it for us or wants ours or something. They are pretty fun I must say. We'll see. I will let you know if they do. Haha.

Why does my back hurt so much tonight? Hmmm...

Christmas Plans have Changed!!!

We were supposed to fly out of Portland to head back to the east coast for Christmas today. Paula Smith was going to go up with us to the airport, but her flight got canceled yesterday so she headed down to California yesterday. Too bad, because our flight got canceled this morning and we were told we could not get out until the 25th! Well that threw a wrench into everything.

Long story short, every flight that is going out of Portland, Seattle, Eugene, Redding, etc. is booked solid and we can't get out. So, we got a flight out of San Fransisco tomorrow night. We will be driving a rental down there. It's about a 10 hour drive without snow or traffic. Hmmm. We will have to see what happens. The plan is to try to stay at Simpson University over night (free for Alliance pastors) and then drive down in the morning. That helps to break up the trip a bit. The problem there is I can't get a hold of anyone at the university. grrrr!

So we will drive and pray. Would you pray for us too? We could really use it.

Snow in April

This morning I woke up to, "It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing!" We opened the blinds and sure enough, GIANT snowflakes falling from the sky. It was beautiful and strange all at the same time. One week ago today I was outside dying my hair for the Price is Right and I got a sunburn. Today I wake up to snow. Oregon is a strange place, yet absolutely gorgeous. With the snow falling it was hard to tell if it was sticking on the tree in our neighbors yard, because it's a cherry tree and it is in full bloom.

Well, shortly after we enjoyed watching the snow, the sun came out in full force. The forecast includes, snow, rain, sunshine and thundershowers. It's nice that the weathermen can fill in all the blanks and cover every weather possibility in one day. Then they won't be wrong.

So Karston and I went out in the back and made a snowman and had a snowball fight.

Well, today is a full one. Kynzi has a volleyball game, Karston has pictures for his team, we have to finish cleaning the house, Karston has a baseball game, I am speaking to our middle school students at church tonight and then Jeanne-Ann is leaving for Florida to go to her Grandma's funeral. It's a crazy day...here we go.

Snowbikes?!?!

A few years ago we were up on Hoodoo snowboarding and they had a showcase of snowbikes and airboards. We thought, it's free, it looks cool, let's do it. So we took a free lesson and got our licences. I haven't thought about it much since (except to pull out my "license" every once in a while when asked for ID. Yes, I am funny)

So I went up with our youth group on Monday and we decided we would try it again. We rented 4 bikes and away we went. The second half of the day we did nothing but snowbikes! It was AWEsome! We went a little crazy and decided it would be fun to race down to the bottom of the mountain. And I was right. It was fun. And a little scary. We came flyng down the last part of the mountain and it was a very steep section. I tried to apply the brakes (my feet) and could not stop it. I then spun around backwards, while fish came down past me on his butt while still holding on to his bike. Then Josh came down just like Fish. I was laughing so hard. Fish hit the bottom and got back on his bike, but I was still half way up and turned my bike around and went for it. It was pretty close, but I would say I smoked him!

We also went up on the snowpark section where they have jumps and rails and whatnot. No rails for us, but we did try the big jump. The bikes are very front heavy and we went over and the front end went down first. I thought I would bite it, but the flex in the front made it work and I landed it. Then I had to get dumber, of course, and I went on my knees and almost bought the farm. IT hurt, but I went back for more. Josh and I decided to go at the same time. That was really cool. It was a good day. Great conversations and excellent snowbiking!