Wednesday, January 07, 2009

a christmas miracle

i am in a state of total depression. christmas is over and i just can't accept it. this happens to me every year. it has been harder this year because with the christmas season came something so very marvelous. the worst snowstorm oregon has seen in 40 years! my prayers had been answered. we even had snow on christmas day!

you have to understand something about snow and oregonians. we get snow so seldom that when it does snow everything shuts down. no one knows what to do with themselves. when i think about oregonions in the snow, i picture a bunch of chickens running around with their heads chopped off :o)

school was canceled for the whole week before christmas! our church was canceled 2 weeks in a row!

well the few days before christmas we were an hour away from home at travis's parents house. the road back home was so bad we were stuck! i was so worried we wouldn't make it back to our house in time for christmas! would santa know where we were?

everything was frozen solid. trees had so much ice on them they were dropping like flies! thousands of people were without power. we were thinking we were so lucky the power didn't go out at travis's parents place.

when suddenly we too were left in the dark!!!!!

noooooo! i started to panic. they have their own well, so when the power goes out they don't have water either! there were so many people without power that it took days to get the power back on. could we live this long with kids and no power!!???

it was getting cold very fast! here are the kids snuggling up with aunt marg under some warm blankets. we hadn't had dinner yet. but what can you make without a stove or water?

tuna fish sandwiches baby! if you wear a headlamp it makes it a little easier in the dark. thanks bill for lending it to me! travis later used it to change lucy's stinky diaper.

a few minutes later i started noticing travis gathering up some of our things. i knew exactly what was going on. he had decided we were going to forge the roads. "we've got to get back home," he said. i was very nervous about driving, but worried about the kids freezing all night. we packed some blankets, food, and water just in case and headed back.

the only cars that were really on the road were semi's.

here is a picture of the road. a couple of inches of slush that had frozen solid into ice! it was so bumpy we could barley talk to each other.

after 3 long hours we finally made it home. our subdivision had been just slammed with snow! look at these cars. this is how oregonians roll. it snows and they don't go anywhere.

i was so happy to be in a warm house. christmas was beautiful and magical. here trey is looking at our snow covered backyard.

christmas night we forged the roads back to the grandparents house.
my dad had gotten a little crazy and bought some snowmobiles! we had way too much fun in the field next to my parents house on these babies.

oh no don't worry that is not lucy's scared face. i would never make my kid so something that made them nervous :o)

my dad pulled us on tubes tied to the back of the snowmobile!

then we got this crazy idea. yes that is travis laying on a foam sled, holding a ski rope tied to the back of the snowmobile, with trey holding on his back for dear life!

here is a picture of me, taken by travis while riding on the back of the snowmobile. i can't believe i let him do that with my camera.

here is one of my sister emily just to make her mad. you have to zoom in on this one.


the snow lasted a couple of weeks. to many the snow was an inconvenience and they were sick of it after a couple of days.


it was a christmas miracle as far as i'm concerned.

13 comments:

Kelly Munns said...

oh my gosh, what a classic tanya picture at the end there! hahahahaha. ok, there are so many things i want to say about this post...first of all, the snow was crazy! i can't believe you guys traveled in it! second, i feel the same way about christmas. i haven't taken any of my decorations down and our tree is so fragrant (because it's dying)...i just can't bring myself to turn off the beautiful lights. third, what the heck, church was canceled again!? lucky! ok now moving along, marge is gorgeous, lucy is hilarious...when you zoom in you can tell she loves it, i love the photo of your dad, travis' sister, and lucy on the snowmobile. classic combination. i love how trey is on travis' back on the sled...he's totally squeezing his butt cheeks together! hahahahaha! and lastly, i love that you told us to blow up the picture of emily. hahahaha! she's gonna be so mad. and not only because she looks like a dork, but...ok well maybe ONLY because she looks like a dork. and i love how she insisted on wearing jeans with holes in the knees in the snow. it hurts to be cool, i know, i know...

Unknown said...

Loved this post & all the pictures. Especially the one of you jumping!:) I'm so glad you made it home safely!! It was a Christmas miracle.

Tasha said...

SOunds like you had quite the Christmas Adventure. I hope you get the snow every year, but I don't know about no power. Oh, thanks so much for putting your craft "tutorials" on the side. They such good ideas and easier to find.

DJ said...

I don't know where I even found your blog (you don't know me but my name is Dawna Jensen from Lethbridge Canada area). I just had to tell you I think your craftiness is amazing and I love how you so simply state how to do them. I'm definitely going to be doing at least a couple of the projects with my young women girls sometime this year--the scrabble necklace and magnets especially. Thanks for sharing your talents. Including the way you write...it's an easy entertaining read. Your kids are darling and your pictures are great as well. I love all the wintry pics you posted and I'm glad you and your family had fun with it instead of freaking out or complaining about it. I love snowy days especially at Christmas time! Well Happy New Year and keep the tutorials coming--I think I'll be checking back to see what other awesome ideas you have....

Stephanie said...

Wellllllllll. I think (and I'm sure Jana would agree) if you moved to Southern Alberta you could have a Christmas miracle almost EVERY year!!
Something to think about.
Looks like you enjoyed your miracle to the fullest. How lucky your kids are to have a mom so full of fun!!

Ashley said...

I hear you about the whole town shutting down when it snows. That is exactly how it was here in Walla Walla. I couldn't believe it, but they just weren't prepared for so much, and the snow plows couldn't keep up. Growing up in MOntana and then going to school in Logan I didn't realize there were places in the north that didn't experience the same kind of winters I was use too. I will always hate driving in it though. So scary

Unknown said...

hahaha I LOVED your pic at the end! hahaha, ahh, that is how I remember you! AND it Emily's face is hilarious. GREAT post tanya, I loved every second of it. what a fun Christmas adventure!!

RaeAnn said...

sounds like a real true christmas! I just took our tree down this morning :(. So I was intrigued to hear that you don't make your kids do scary stuff. That is totally how I feel, but our friends feel very differently. Do you think our sissy kids will ever be adventurous? I hate having them cry before they are forced to do something, you know?

RaeAnn said...

tee hee, your comment on my blog made me laugh. Nope, I officially took off all ornmaents, lights, ribbon, star, had paul drag that baby out the front door and saw it in half. Instead of being sad Christmas is over, I get mad. HA Christmas, you don't say you're over, I say you're over! muhahaha. Oh, and I was so glad you are a follower of my blog, because my and ashley are in a competition for followers...and then you go and follow her too. Nice.

Michelle said...

Yay! Looks like fuN!

Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Blandon's said...

I am glad you had such a great Christmas! Looks like you fully enjoyed the snow.

Janas Bananas said...

Nothing like a white Christmas. I was worried we would not get one this year since we were still pretty warm and brown on the 12th of december...Buy it came and didn't stop coming...Now its just snow cold and winter out now that Christmas is over. And you cancel church!!! Soooo crazy!!! we could be -50 and 30 inchs of snow and still have church and school!!! We need some Oregoners down our way to shut everything down when it snows, although we would be shut down for 6 months. BUt looks like you had fun. I will give you a peice of advice to the oregoners though, if people drove on the highways they would be a bit better cause tracks would be made on them and the snow melted down from the tires, So still bad but not as icy and bumpy....lol.....I know, I will stop being smart. Anway, it always is sad when christmas ends..I hate it too. But a year goes fast and it will soon be here again....I am sick of snow too. Its fun for awhile but it gets old fast!