Stir Crazy.

Yesterday was the third day in a row with the snow. Today is the fourth day and tomorrow will be the fifth. This snow is going nowhere fast. We haven't had this much snow in the longest time! We were kind of going crazy yesterday feeling like we were trapped. . .oh wait. . .we WERE trapped! We couldn't get down our driveway without slipping everywhere!

Luckily cute Brother and Sister Ottley offered to take us to the grocery store with them. They have a 4 wheel drive Suburban that didn't have too much of a problem driving on the slippery snow. (Although Roy did keep saying, "I'm not having too much of a problem driving except I can't see where the ditch is!" Or he'd say, "Okay, now where is the curb?") It was so funny!

They took us to Office Depot so we could ship the boxes to Philip and then we went to the grocery store to get our list of things for the next few dinners. They needed to run to Target so we got a few extra things for Christmas and then we went home. It felt sooooo good to get out of the house!

When we got home we started a fire. . .my favorite thing on a cold day.

We bought the best clam chowder ever at Safeway (thanks to the Ottley's for the recommendation.) That was our lovely lunch.

It was soon interrupted by Philip calling. Mom always puts Philip on speaker phone because he's so funny to listen to.

We were talking to Philip and looking out the front window when we saw a car slide off the road and into our front yard!!!!! We couldn't believe our eyes! We were all laughing hysterically and the passenger jumped out of the car and saw us laughing so it kind of lightened things up. If I drove into some one's yard, I would be scared out of my pants!

The driver was putting his foot on the gas but the wheels were just spinning and the passenger couldn't push the car. Finally, some random person was walking down the street and helped push the car into the street. I have never seen such a funny sight! The only thing that wasn't funny was the fact that he had just ruined our snow! It hadn't been touched until he decided to turn the corner too fast and slide into OUR SNOW! :) (And yes, I was lucky enough to have the camera in my hand at the time of the accident so I can document this event for all my posterity to see. Like they'd even care!)

Emily and I then took a few things to our neighbors and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I can't believe how gorgeous it is!

Snow.

I can't believe it! There's no school for the third day in a row this week! I think we're going to have a three week Christmas Break! Woo Hoo!

I looked out the window and what did I see?

A whole bunch of snow fell Sunday morning. . .okay maybe not a whole bunch. . .but it was about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch before we left for church. By the time we got home from church it must have been a couple of inches! We get so excited when it snows! Every year the weather usually teases us with falling snowflakes that never stick, but it's a real treat when we actually get accumulation! The snow isn't going anywhere fast. Our overnight low is supposed to be 13 degrees! They just canceled school for tomorrow and there is another huge snow storm scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday! I don't think Emily will have school the rest of the week! And guess what. . .next week is Christmas Break! She will have a three week break if that happens!

After church Emily and I put on our snow gear and walked around the front yard. We were hoping for freezing rain after the snow so everything would freeze over and we could slide down the driveway on trashcan lids. But no such luck.

Emily did have fun making a snow angel on the hood of my car, though!

We would never make a snow angel in the grass because we hate when our snow gets all messed up. Ha ha. . .do you like how I say "OUR snow". We're so possessive of the snow in our yard. I hate when other kids walk all over it!

Here's a picture of Emily eating the snow off my car.

And another picture of Emily eating the snow. . .

And yet another. . .

And another. . .

And yet another. . .

Can you tell she likes eating snow?

And here's a picture of Emily after saying, "Snow, what snow? I didn't eat any snow!"

I LOVE the snow!!!! Can you tell how much I love it by the look on my face?

I guess there is one downside to all this snow. We need to do get to the mall for a couple of last minute things for Philip before we can ship him a box. How are we going to do this with all the ice on the roads?

And my favorite picture of Emily. Could she be any more beautiful?

How to decorate a tree. . .Rayner style.

Step 1 - Place gold eucalyptus branches in tree.

Step 2 - Place Christmas crackers throughout the tree.

Step 3 - Put really cool ornaments of all shapes and sizes. And of course, they have to all match.

Step 4 - Put up any adorable tree topper. . .but it has to match! Duh!

We decorated for Christmas last night. We have a fake tree that is pre-lit (but it looks completely real!) so it's really easy to set it up and make it balanced.

We filled these cool jars last year and I was sort of dreading putting them together again. I found a bin in the shed that was really heavy. I opened it up and I realized we stored all three jars with all the contents still in them. How easy was that?

I found this cute nativity set at the farm store where I work.

I made these a couple of years ago out of Styrofoam cones. I glued anything silver or gold I could find. (Even pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. I could sell these for a lot with all that change!)

And of course we have to make one new thing every year. I love natural looking things and we decided to try and keep with the "natural" theme the best we could.

And what post would be complete without a picture of the silly kitty. Every time we bring out the decorations she goes crazy! Her back starts twitching and she thinks she has to sniff anything and everything!

Thanksgiving.

We had such a nice Thanksgiving. The Cameron's invited us, along with the Tingey's, to Thanksgiving at their house. Laurie made the best turkey ever! Her rolls were also amazing! The Tingey's brought a Honey Baked Ham -- my FAVORITE!

I had no clue there was such a thing as an electric turkey carver! Brad whipped it out and just carved away! It was so quick and easy! We'll have to get one for next year!

Laurie informed us the second we walked in that they have no particular family traditions, but Kyle and Kevin had made one up just for the guests! They put a single feather in each napkin and whoever had the purple feather got to eat first! Emily got the purple feather! How lucky was she?!?!!?

After the food we played the coolest game. It was so fun to play with the Cameron's and the Tingey's. We were all busting at the seams with laughter.

The best part was at the end of the evening. . .the pie. Rochelle brought a pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, Laurie made another pie and we brought one also! So many pies to choose from!

And at the end of the evening we finally came home to this cute baby.

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving.

. . .and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. . .especially Mom, who doesn't have to worry about cooking anything other than a "Cherry-O" pie. We're going to the Cameron's for Thanksgiving dinner and all we have to bring is a dessert. . .which really doesn't entail any cooking. We went to Safeway to get a graham cracker pie crust and we got a little side-tracked. Safeway has the best bakery. We couldn't resist the yummy treats!

England here we come!!!!!

I told Mom earlier this year that her Christmas present was going to be a plane ticket to England. Well, my hopes were soon crushed when I looked at the price of tickets! They went up nearly 500 dollars from the last time we went two years ago! It's pretty ridiculous! I was visiting teaching the other day and we were having a conversation about the scary economy. Cute Tari mentioned the airlines weren't going to have a gas surcharge anymore! I got online and did some checking but United airlines and Air Canada (the airline we took two years ago) still had their gas tax! Mom reminded me to check Scandinavian Airlines (the airline we took our very first trip to England--they're totally awesome and even more amazing than Air Canada.) I couldn't believe my eyes. . .they had no gas tax and they were even cheaper than the tickets we bought two years ago! We couldn't resist the cheap price! They were apparently having a deal. So, Mom's Christmas present this year really will be a trip to England. (And yes, Emily weaseled her way into a ticket. She'll be coming along for the ride. . .we couldn't leave her here alone while we're having fun in England!)

I get so excited when I look at our old pictures!

This is Gloucester Cathedral where they filmed the outside of the Harry Potter movies. This was one of the corridors that we found very familiar when we recently watched one of the movies.

This is the outside courtyard in the Harry Potter movies. This trip, we're going to find Lacock Abbey where they filmed most of the indoor scenes.

England is the one place on earth (other than our home) where I feel the best and most complete as a person. There is so much history. . .I could spend three months and not be able to see all of England. One of my favorite things is planning our itinerary for these fun trips we take. It's so fun picking out the cute Bed and Breakfasts.