Winter Snow and Winter Travel

We had a pretty solid winter, and the girls had a number of snow days in January and February.  Luckily, they were able to find ways to pass the time.  The New York Times was kind enough to supply a kids only section in their Sunday newspaper that Callie enjoyed looking through.  It didn't take up the whole day, but it's a good way to get the day started.

On one of the snow days, Reese's friend Evelyn Grace invited her over for a playdate.  This was great in part because Evelyn Grace lives only a block away and we could walk there.  We were pretty impressed when we got this picture texted back to us and saw that Reese and Evelyn Grace had decided to pop up a hot cocoa stand.  We were told that they got a total of two customers, but the enjoyment and creativity was pretty priceless.

One of the snow days was a classic Kentucky version - enough snow to bring Lexington to a standstill but an amount that would make New Englanders laugh.  Nevertheless, there was no school and we had the opportunity to have the girls' friends Harper and Kennedy over for a few hours.  They had a good time on the very small hill John made from the snow shoveled from the driveway.  Sometimes it doesn't take much to entertain.

Then you have a snowfall like this - and this one was different for a number of reasons.  First of all, this picture was taken at 4:30am.  Why?  Because that is when Sarah was driving to the airport to fly out to Sacramento.  She was scheduled to be out in California for a week to help her mom recover from lung surgery, and although this sight was a little scary, nothing was going to stop her from getting to the airport on time.

Sarah's brother Zac had the hard part of the task - getting Gayle to the hospital, waiting through the surgery, and getting her settled in her room afterwards.  Fortunately, Grammy did amazingly well and her recovery, although difficult, didn't seem to faze her.  As you can see from this photograph, she was looking strong within the first 24 hours following the surgery.  This picture allowed Sarah to travel with a little less anxiety, that's for sure.

And it wasn't long before Grammy was outside of her house taking walks with Sarah and Cheyenne.  It was great to be able to support her through this time, but there is no doubt that she is a survivor and has amazing strength.