Snowmaggedon 2014

Tuesday morning started out like any other morning. I was up early and out the door by 7:15 for work and Greg was getting the kids ready for school. We had heard that snow was in the forecast, but was supposed to be hit further south. I went to work and was busy seeing patients when I looked out the window around 11 am and saw that it was snowing. I thought, "Look how pretty!" I went back to seeing my patients. About that same time, Greg got the call that school was getting out early so he texted Paola and she headed out to pick up Becket from the church and Jackson from Walker. Miraculously, she made it in 45 minutes. About noon, I looked out again and thought, "Wow, it is really coming down!" By 12:30, we were getting reports that the roads were very icy, so we were closing. I saw my last 2 patients and headed out to home at 1:00. At first it was smooth sailing, until I hit Barrett Parkway exit on 575. All of a sudden, traffic stopped. The roads were very icy and there had already been several accidents. I decided to get off on Barrett thinking the back roads may be better and was gridlocked. I was itermittently talking to Greg, as he was also trying to get home, but due to high volume, cell phones were not working. After 2 hours, I decided to get back on 75 and try the highway again. As i was getting on, they closed the exit ramp. I made it to the 267B exit ramp around 3. 1 1/2 hours later, I had moved 100 feet. At that point, I decided to pull over and walk the last 2 miles. Unfortunately, I had no socks, gloves, or hats but still managed to make it home. The next morning, I walked back to drive Greg's BMW back home, since I have more experience driving in the snow than my Floridian husband. It was eary to walk past 60 + abandoned cars on the road. I got the car home safe and sound and then we were able to really enjoy the snow!

Look Aunt Sarah! Real snow!!

I think we ended up getting about 2 1/2 inches.

Emma actually ran!

As soon as I got home, we headed out to try to enjoy the snow. Jackson really wanted to go sledding, but it was too powdery that first day.

The next morning, Jackson found the warmie stuff! (Sarah and Rachel)

Beckett loved to explore and eat the snow :)

We didn't have a sled, so we used a boogie board. Worked pretty well!

Lots and lots of snow angels.

Pretty good!

Beckett was quite content to explore all around the yard. It was amazing to see all the foot prints in the snow from the animals that walk around our yard at night. There were plenty of deer hooves! There also was either a small dog or cat that walked all over our yard and even up to the doggie door. We followed it's prints all around our garage and eventually to the train tracks. We lost its track at that time. Jackson was very scared that the poor puppy was cold. We tried very hard to find it but had to give up and just pray that the puppy found a warm place.

I put this picture in because it reminds me of how blessed we are that everyone made it through the snow disaster. Just 24 hours after this picture was taken, a car slid on a patch of ice and completely destroyed our gate. Luckily nobody was hurt, but I couldn't sleep that night thinking about what could have happened. I thanked God 1000 times that nobody was hurt!!

Jackson tried very hard to give Beckett a ride over the snow "bumps"

We then went inside to enjoy some snow ice cream!

I think he liked it :)

That afternoon, Jackson and Greg headed over to some friend's house who had a big hill and real sleds. Greg didn't take any pictures, but Jackson had a blast! Afterwards, they came home to warm up in the hot tub!

Ahhhhhh :)

Beckett even joined in on the fun!

And here is our gate. My sweet boy was standing in that exact spot just 24 hours earlier. The what ifs are enough to drive this momma crazy!!

All in all, we survided Snowmaggedon. We were lucky in that we all were together and slept under the same roof, which was not the same result for many people. It is a winter storm we will certainly never forget!!