memories made in the snow

The Pacific Northwest got a random blast of cold weather last week, which turned into snow!! Our last snow (if you can even call it that) was on November 23, 2010. It was a light dusting...but they still canceled school. Gotta love Oregon!

We were prepared for this "Winter Blast" and decided to pack an overnight bag and head out to Grammy & Papa's where my sister and her family are currently staying with my parents. We spent the day there on Wednesday and we thought it would hit by Wednesday night, but by 8:00 when it was time to head home...nothing. However, I figured that since we already had our bags packed, we might as well stay. And I'm so glad we did!!

Thursday morning we woke up to a world of white...it was so peaceful and serene! My parents live "in the woods", so it was fun to see so much snow covering the wooded area around us. After pancakes for breakfast, we bundled up all of the kids to head outside. My brother had brought over his 2 kids to play, as well. He has a pretty heavy duty truck, so he had no problem coming up the snow-covered, steep driveway. After at least 15 minutes of fiddling with zippers, and putting on hats, mittens, coats, and boots...the cousins were finally out the door!

All the cousins (minus baby Hannah, 11 months old, who was taking a nap)!
Mikayla (5 years), Hailey (2 1/2 years), Jacob (10 1/2 years), Noah (5 years), Austin (3 1/2 years), Hunter (3 1/2 years)

First...check out the snow!

Then...time for sledding!!
Getting ready at the top of the hill...

Noah & Hailey

Jacob & Hailey

Doesn't this look like they're bobsledding?

Trying to steer...
What a blast!!

After playing in the snow for at least an hour, the snow started melting away. Yep, that's Oregon for you!! The kids decided to come in for some hot cocoa...sipped through a straw, of course!


Hunter, Jacob, & Noah
And, then two hours later, it started to snow again...huge, white flakes. Another two hours later? Melting. It was fun while it lasted.

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Speaking of memories...I've been doing a lot of thinking about where I want this blog to go. I realize that I can only get out of this blog what I put into it. So, how much time do I have to put into it? Not as much as I would hope to! But...after looking through some older posts from when the kids were younger, I am SO VERY THANKFUL for the memories I was able to document, so why would I give that up? For now, I'll keep doing what I can do and documenting the memories. It's not about the number of comments I get or the number of people who visit my site, but it's about sharing the memories and helping to inspire when I can.