Snow day

Jack is sitting in a sled his grandpa rigged up. He doesn't seem too excited about it.

The dogs attacked Nik and I as we were making snow angels.

Notice Jack's white-trash boots. We didn't have anything else and I guess they worked just fine.

Just in case you were wondering, last week was the best week ever, educationally speaking. Because of the snow, we had a two-hour delay on Monday, a one-hour delay on Tuesday, and no school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Does it get any better than that??

Today, we finally got with the program and went outside to play in the snow. After running all over town, we met Nate's sister and brother-in-law, Nikolai and Brad, and their daughter, Cherith, at Beau and Beth's house. All of us, minus Beau due to some major issues at the church (I'll just tell you that the front doors were frozen shut and you can use your imagination with the rest), walked up to the golf course to do a little sledding.

We didn't actually sled much because the kiddos were cold and Beth had some work to do, but the walk was beautiful and well worth it. If the snow sticks around, I'd like to go back up next week too. It looks like I'll get the chance since we've got over a foot of snow on the ground and currently it's blowing about a million miles an hour and snowing like crazy. I feel like I live at the north pole.

Here are some pictures of our day.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

It's snowing like crazy out there today. 

Which means both Nate and I got a snow day. Yea! I just love those. It's still snowing at our house, although it's raining in Mount Vernon. Weird. 

But the forecast is for more snow and freezing temperatures so that should make the roads nice and slick for tomorrow.

 Maybe no school again?

Doesn't hurt my feelings. 

Christmas Carols

We sang "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" today at church. Love that song. They lyrics are so worshipful and I just get lost in the gorgeous music and beautiful tradition. 

Isn't it amazing the the Lord of creation chose to come to earth to save us from the muckiness that we've made? And that he chose to come as a baby in such a dumpy place? I mean really, a stable??

Since I've had Jack it makes me think about all of these things with a fresh mind. How must have Mary felt? Can you imagine watching the Savior of the world learn to crawl? And putting him to sleep each night? It's so humbling. He chose to become helpless to help me.

Wow. There really are no words. I hope you all have time to reflect on this incredible season. Joy to all!

Thankful

I've got so much to be thankful for. Really. Here are just a few:

• Husband: He's truly the best. He works hard everyday, comes home and loves on us, and even puts up with my weenie-whining. He's my rock and my BFF. (He'd hate it if he knew I said it like that!)
  
• Baby boy: This kid brings me so much joy. He's so happy, and lovey. When Nate and I walk into the room, his face just lights up. It's nice to be so loved.
• Home: I love our little dump. It's not perfect, but it's got personality and it's ours.
• Family: If you don't know our families, you should. They're great.
• Jobs: With so many people out of work these days, I'm more and more thankful that we have good jobs. And we even enjoy them!
• Third graders: They completely drive me crazy sometimes but I love them. One of them thanked me for "being the best teacher in the whole school" the other day. Can you say, "Aaaawwwww"?
• Friends: I don't get to see most of them very often but they are some of my best blessings. 
• Sleeping baby: Did I mention he put himself to sleep tonight? Love that!
• Me-time: I actually had time to paint my toenails!
• Savior: None of the above would be possible without His grace and love. He gives me so much more than I deserve and loves me as no one else can.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you're looking forward to a blessing-filled Christmas. I know I am!

Growing up

Here are some recent pictures of the darling boy. I was telling my friend Beth today that he's becoming more and more fun. Not that I didn't like him before, but you know. He's learned how to give kisses and is very insistent when he wants to give them. Hmm...not going to take rejection well? He also has developed quite the sense of humor. He thinks Nate is hysterical. I just love this kid.

His first bath with toys. So fun!

Rocking the faux-hawk.

He's learned how to stand up in his crib. Luckily he still can't pull himself up very well.

At the pumpkin patch. He was so tired and wouldn't give us a good smile, but I just love this picture anyway.

Be impressed

I'll admit it; I'm kind of a dork. (and all God's people said "Amen!") I really like the show Jeopardy and would gladly watch it for hours. Unfortunately, it's only on for half an hour each night and that half an hour happens to be the same time Jack likes to go to bed. Since I'm a good mama I choose the kid over the silly trivia game show.

But the other night, the little darling had gone to bed early and I got to watch it. Remember how I said I was a dork? Well, it gets worse here. Right before final Jeopardy (you know, the part with the song) they show the final Jeopardy category. For funsies my family likes to guess what the answer will be just based on the category; the question hasn't been shown yet. They showed the category and it was "Award Namesakes." I could really only think of a few off the top of my head: Nobel, Pulitzer, Caldecott, Newberry, etc. So I guessed Newberry and Nate guessed Pulitzer.

Y'know what? I was right! The question was something like "the author of such and such book published in 17-something or other, this award is given to the best children's book every year." I got it. I won. Be impressed

Hiking Dangers

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, but things have been crazy. And I wanted to be able to give you the end of the story. So here it is: the family hiking drama.

A few weeks ago Nate's dad, Rocky, went hiking on Three Fingers mountain with three of his friends. He'd been on this hike many, many times, as had his friend Larry. His two other friends, Gary and John had never been. They left on Friday morning, with plans to hike to the top on Saturday and return home on Sunday. That didn't happen.

They did, indeed, leave on Friday and start hiking up to the top on Saturday. Three Fingers has several ice fields that you have to cross in order to get to the top. (Ice fields are exactly what they sound like: fields of ice and snow). Obviously, they are very slippery and you have be very careful crossing them. Just in case someone does slip, it's wise to carry an ice-pick type tool that you can stick into the ice to stop yourself from sliding down the ice field into the rocks.

Now, this always seemed a little strange to me. If you're sliding down the side of the mountain, are you really going to be able to stop yourself safely with a pick? I had asked this question before and everyone always assured me that it works well. Hmmm...

So, on Saturday about noon, the four of them were hiking across an ice field and John started to slip. For some reason, Rocky started to catch him. Not a good idea. He ended up slipping himself and started sliding down the mountain toward the rocks. He tried to get his pick in the ice but couldn't. He slid down feet first about 200 feet and when he hit the rocks, he did a somersault and landed on his back between some rocks. Luckily, he had on an old-school backpack with the metal frame and that saved him from hitting as hard as he could  have.

Needless to say, he couldn't hike out. He knew he injured his leg somehow. He thought it was his knee but it turns out it was a severe break right below his knee. His friends eventually got down to him. Gary and John were sent to get help at the ranger's station and Larry stayed with Rocky. Because Gary and John weren't as experienced and it was already late in the day, they didn't get off the mountain before dark. So they had to stop and sleep on the trail in the cold and wet. Rocky and Larry thought they'd be able to make it off the mountain before dark and so were very worried the next morning when no one came to rescue them. They thought something had happened to the other two. It turns out that they were fine and they made it to the ranger's station.

For some reason, it took forever for the rescue team to get organized and get up on the mountain. They finally got up there Sunday afternoon and were considering a helicopter rescue. But of course since this is western Washington, it was cloudy and rainy so they couldn't do that. The other plan was to carry him off the mountain. They sent about 50 guys up there and they were going to carry him on a stretcher, taking turns. By the time they decided to do that, it was too late in the day so they were going to do it on Monday.

So, he'd already been stuck in the rocks since Saturday without being able to move. Luckily, he was dry due to a tent they'd set up and he had food and water. Monday turned out to be a better day weather-wise so they attempted another helicopter rescue. First, they had to haul him out of the rocks and up the mountain a ways to a place where the helicopter could land. When it dropped down, they had to quickly shove him on board and send him away on his own.

They took him to the hospital in Everett where he was inspected and given a room. He had to have surgery to repair the break and he won't be able to put any weight on it for 12 weeks. That's three months! Anyone who knows him knows that his may be harder for him than landing on the rocks.

He's back home now recovering. He's pretty tired and I'm sure he'll be getting bored pretty quickly. But honestly, we're just lucky he's still here. He could have easily landed a different way and seriously, or fatally, hurt himself. We truly have a God who watches out for us and protects us.

As for the rest of us, we're doing alright. Due to poor communication, we didn't get much information until he was off the mountain. Because of that, we thought that it was just a minor injury. Maybe a broken ankle that prevented him from walking. Wrong. I'm actually kind of glad we didn't know. I think it made it easier. 

So if you think about it, shoot up a little prayer for Rocky. Pray his healing...and his sanity.