Super Bowl Snow Storm

We have not had a decent snow storm since January of 2012 when I was 36 weeks pregnant with Logan.  I have yearned and yearned for another snow storm every winter since then, but it has never happened!  I remember having a big snow storm at least once every other winter my entire childhood and it has made me sad that my kids are not growing up with the same experience.  So, you can imagine my delight when it finally happened yesterday!
Although we have had several little snow flurries this winter, they have never panned out to be more than an inch or so on the ground.  When it started snowing before church yesterday, I thought that it was going to be more of the same.  But the snow kept on coming.  It snowed all during church and by the time we got home a little after four o'clock there was already two inches on the ground.  While Ron and I were getting our Super Bowl snacks warmed up and ready to eat, the kids went outside to play in it.  Then everyone came back inside when Ron and I were ready to start watching the football game.  We set the kids up with a movie upstairs and retired down to the basement to watch the game on the big TV.  Every once and awhile, I would venture upstairs to check on the children and I was always shocked when I would look out the window to see the snow still falling.  Lia and I ran out at one point to measure it with a ruler (which I told her was something that Uncle Eric and I always did as children) and were shocked to find 3.5 inches on the deck.  After we finished watching the game after nine o'clock, I went back outside and was even more shocked to find 5 inches on the deck!  So, you can imagine my surprise when we woke up this morning to find 8.5 inches of the most glorious and beautiful snow in our yard!  School was cancelled and the fun began!  We bundled up and went outside to play all morning long.  We had so much fun running all over the backyard, throwing snowballs, building a snowman, and sledding down our hill for the first time since we moved here.  Sadly, Ron had to go into work even though his school was cancelled, but he was able to come home early and take the kids back out for a second round of play before it got dark this evening.  It was such a fun day and I am so glad that the kids finally have a made a memory of what it is like to really play in snow in their own yard!

Logan and Lia playing with the sleds in our backyard yesterday after church when just a few inches of snow had fallen on the ground.

Lia and Logan posing for me.

All three kiddos eating snow!

The amount of snow we found on our deck this morning!

Our beautiful and pristine backyard before we went out to play in it.

Another shot of our yard.

The kids all bundled up and ready to play!

Let the fun begin!  The kids immediately ran out to the play set after I snapped the previous picture.  Please notice how high the snow is on Ella's legs as she slowly tried to walk through it.

Logan pushing down the huge pile of snow that had fallen on our slide.

Ella stuck in the snow.

Ella eating a gigantic snowball!

My boy playing in the snow.

Lia getting ready to try out the monkey bars in the snow.

Logan making a snow angel on the sport's court.

Lia joining him.

We ventured out to the front of our house after playing in the backyard for quite some time.  Here are the kids heading out to the street.

Lia trying out sledding down our hill for the first time.

Logan and Ella actually sledded down the hill a few times while I ran down the hill behind them.  Here they are before I pushed them off.

Our neighbors from school came down and joined us on the sledding hill for a few minutes.  Here are Lia and Mollie going down together.

Ella and me taking a turn.

After we finished sledding, we found our next door neighbor completing a giant snowman.  We couldn't resist taking a picture with his two daughters.