SNOWED IN

After finding myself unemployed for more than a full week, we decided to take an impromptu trip to see our friends in NW Georgia for what was supposed to be the weekend. I thought it would be neat if we saw some snow before we left on Monday morning. Looking at the weather channel, we soon realized there was a "winter storm" headed right toward us. We almost left Sunday morning, in fear that we would get stuck in Georgia. We knew this was a big storm and could leave some significant snow on the ground (at least compared to what this area is used to). This would not only make for some great fun making memories with our kids, but it would also make driving dangerous. Eventually after having a family meeting, we decided not to run.  This was our first decision to live intentionally, even in the midst of fear and the unknown, in 2011.

Our kids had never seen snow and I had never seen snow fall. It was beautiful!! We all sat around bundled up, waiting for the snow to fall. The forecast said it would be 9pm but it was more like 10:30pm. It was amazing. I marveled at my children as they were busy taking it all in. They were running around and playing in it; catching it on their faces and in their mouths. We wrote our names in the snow, made snow angels and used a snow board to slide down a hill into the road and down the street. The snow was so fine and powdery. It was our own little winter wonderland. This was Sunday night.

Monday & Tuesday, we spent most of the day getting dressed and undressed to go out and play in the snow. We walked through our friend's neighborhood to the main road to check it out, but other than that never actually left the house. The fireplace burned day and night and the kids entertained themselves with the boogie boards and four-wheelers.

 

 
So, here we are in the early morning hours of WEDNESDAY and guess what...we are still SNOWED IN. We are planning to leaving in the morning to head home, but we had the time of our lifes these past 5 days with our kids and our extended family, the Kimbroughs. Since we didn't get to spend our annual couple of days together in December (2010) because we were in the hospital, we are calling this our 2010 visit. We've done a lot of nothing and it was great!. We sat around the house, made meals together, had conversations and lots of laughs. Our kids played in the snow and in the house non-stop. With 12 people, there was always something going on.

This was one of the most memorable family vacations we've taken. I'm thankful God gave me this time with my family and friends. He made me slow down and just be. That's something I hadn't been doing, so I grateful to have been snowed in. 

 **UPDATE - We made it home safe and sound Wednesday night.