Snow Week

It happened.  After a year of waiting, it snowed in the Pacific Northwest.  Joe and I grew up in states where snow was just a winter standard.  We now live in a state where snow is the exception (at least snow in the lowlands).  Needless to say, we miss seeing snow, but we've learned to deal with our new climate.  However, when snow is forecasted for WA, we jump for joy!  We were delighted to see the arrival of the white fluffy powder early last week (as in the week of Jan. 15... I'm posting this a week late).

Evelyn caught a nasty cold two weeks ago and was still having some nose troubles when the snow arrived.  I was determined to give her outside time, afraid she was going to miss out on a rare opportunity to "play" in the snow.  So, against my better judgement as a mom, I took her outside on Sunday, January 15, just for a quick 10 minute stroll in the dusting of snow.  Our snowy adventure was short lived; Evelyn was too bothered by her runny nose and the restrictive nature of her snow clothes (several onesies, sweatshirts and jackets--- just think "A Christmas Story") to enjoy the new fallen snow.  I swear I spent more time getting her ready to go outside than the time we actually spent outside!  I was disappointed that she didn't last longer or really pay much attention to the snow, because I had such high expectations.  I was also a little sad when we came inside because I was sure the snow would be gone by morning.

I was so wrong.  Instead of being gone by morning, the snow just continued to accumulate.  By Tuesday we had a solid inch (any accumulation is a lot for us) and by Wednesday we had around 7 inches.  Joe came home from work early on Wednesday afternoon, just so we could all play in the snow as a family.  Evelyn was happy to be out in the snow by Wednesday and we enjoyed making snow angels and posing for pictures with a snowman (woman, actually) that the girls next door made!  We would have loved to have made our own snowman but time didn't allow and our little girl didn't have a proper snowsuit (footie pajamas are a great substitution for a snowsuit)!!

Evelyn sporting pj's as a snowsuit!

Thursday morning the snow stopped the fun in its tracks!  We still had about 7 or 8 inches on the ground, but now there was at least a half inch of ice on top of all the snow.  I think this was the first time we had seen icicles in WA.  Joe didn't go to work because he was fighting the same cold Evelyn had and the roads were a mess for the morning commute.  We just hunkered down for the morning and watched the freezing rain turn to sleet, then snow and then freezing rain again.  Around 11:00AM we lost our power (the power lines just couldn't handle the weight of the snow, ice and tree limbs that had fallen).  Luckily, our wonderful friends, Joe and Anna Skillman, came to our rescue.  They weren't planning to stay in their own house, for fear of falling trees, but they were headed to Anna's parents' house.  Not wanting to wait out the power outage at our house, we packed up and headed to Anna's parents' house too.

The storm dragged on well into Thursday evening.  We felt fortunate to be safe inside with friends and power.  We ended up having an impromptu sleepover party and Evelyn and Gus (Joe and Anna's son) had a great time playing together.  Our power returned around 1PM on Friday afternoon and we settled back into our condo as the snow and rain ceased.  It was certainly a memorable snow week!