What do you get when you have frigid temperatures in the teens and a lot of moisture?

9 and a half inches of SNOW!!!! YIKES!

and this is a measurement from the back of our house on the deck! The front yard has at least a foot on the ground. Boy, it's been a LONG time since I've seen THIS much snow!

The snow storm started Sunday night. We went to an orchestra concert at the visitor's center by the temple. The weather was ok, with just a bit of snow. By the time we drove home around 8:30pm, the snow started coming down the closer we got to our house. By the time we entered Calvert county, the roads were covered with snow. We never felt unsafe as we took our time and followed tracks made by other cars. At one point we were actually laughing because a two lane road turned into a one lane, since you couldn't see the road at all and people were just driving in the middle of both lanes...we think. We finally got home safe and sound and started getting Lillie ready for bed. As Keola was rocking with Lillie in her room, the all too familiar (from the Hawaii blackout) flicker of lights, occured once, twice, then nothing but blackness. The only light for a moment came from the computer that I had been working on. Keola quickly got a couple of flashlights for us and we moved Lillie's mattress into our bedroom. Living in this new house proved to be a challenge for the first time, as we lost not only electricity, but water flow, t.v., internet access, and HEAT!!! We pretty much had no contact with the outside and what was going on. Luckily, the house was still pretty warm, we snuggled up and went to bed.

The next morning proved to be a little more difficult. The electricity had not come on yet, and the house was a chilly 58 degrees. We brought Lillie in our bed and snuggled up until about 10am. There was no way Keola was getting the car to go anywhere, so it was nice to have daddy home. We went downstairs, turned on our gas fireplace that gave a little heat, and found some fruit and sandwiches to eat. We didn't worry about the fridge being opened and closed since it was probably colder OUTSIDE of the fridge, then inside. Keola attempted to shovel some snow, but it was so thick, it was pretty pointless. We found games to play and kept ourselves busy. Finally, a little after 1pm or so, the power came back on and so did the HEAT!! In the end, Southern Maryland had the worst snow storm since 2006, with an average of 12 inches of snow.

Here's our deck, decked out in the white stuff. About a month ago, we got an inch or so of snow and I took Lillie out to make some footprints on the deck. It was so cold, but she was excited to get her feet in the snow. Can you imagine how she felt when she woke up Monday morning and saw this!?!?

Aside from the fun, we did have a moment that we're thankful didn't end in disaster. During the night, we had heard a noise that sounded like a crack. But since it was pitch black outside and in, we couldn't see anything. The next morning, as Keola went out to shovel some snow, this is what he found.

As you can see, this tree fell during the night and hit our deck. We found a piece of the tree branch on the top of the deck. Luckily, it just missed doing any kind of damage to the house.

Here's Lillie trying to see if she can get in on the snow ball fight the neighbor boys were having.

Here's Lillie, so happy to be in the snow with her Daddy

Lillie was so excited to get her hands in that snow

Yipee!!!! Snow!!

AAHHHHHH!!!! It doesn't get better than this!!!!!

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Watch me make a snowball...or a snowman...or a snow boy!