How we are surviving the Big Storm!

It started out small.
Just a little snow on Sunday, enough to make a little snowman, with a snow bunny.

The snow continued to dump and our kids were thrilled when school was cancelled again and again and again. Really, everything we had scheduled for this entire week has all been cancelled.

It seemed like Christmas. We don't get much snow in the Pacific Northwest which means when it does snow, everything shuts down and you stay home... and if you have kids, you play! They amaze me with their ability to stay out in the cold all day. Even little Austin would stay out for hours.

Here are some pictures to document some of the fun they had.
Jared went out with the kids one evening and helped them make a big fort.
They worked until dark, but it was all worth it, look how cool it turned out!
Then came the ice. It started Wednesday, but by Thursday morning everything was covered in a thick layer of ice. Each individual branch was well over an inch thick. I've never seen anything quite like it.
It really was pretty, but unfortunately many of the trees couldn't quite handle the weight of the ice and trees began to fall right and left.

Look at this poor little tree drooped all the way over.

We feel fortunate that our trees have all survived the ice storm. This evergreen is struggling, but thankfully none of it's branches have snapped.

Many of our neighbors were not so fortunate.

While this week has been sort of exciting and in many ways we have enjoyed being snowed in, we are grateful for our safety, and especially for our warm home. With all of the fallen trees, all around us hundreds of thousands are without power and we are warned that it may take several days before the power lines are fixed. It really is a mess.

Thankfully, it's been raining today and things are starting to thaw.

It's been quite the week!