"Arctic Blast" in Portland

The first Sunday the snow started.

The kids were so excited! Jake decided to wear my slippers outside and got them soaking wet.

We do not think Diesel have ever been in the snow, he could not get enough. When the kids were having snowball fights he thought they were throwing real balls and was going crazy.

The backyard

I think Travis loved sledding just as much or even more as the kids.

Sydney and Chelsea

The Dads made a big jump for the "kids" to go off of, I think they really made it for themselves.

The big sheets of ice that froze over the snow.

The real icicles hanging on our icicle lights .

On Sunday, the 14th of December, we woke up to snow in Portland. It might snow a couple of times a year here in Portland but it pretty much just dusts the ground and melts within a few hours. This particular Sunday it kept snowing all day long. We got a call that morning to let us know that church was cancelled because it was unsafe to drive, even though there were only a couple of inches on the ground. Since I have lived in Colorado, North Dakota, Utah and Montana, I was shocked that church would be cancelled. We had a great day as a family hanging out, playing in the snow and getting warm again with hot chocolate. We thought it would be a one day thing, not 2 weeks of snow. The last week of school before Winter Break was cancelled, which meant no holiday parties or giving their teachers their gifts. Travis could not go to work for a couple of days because they were not allowing cars out in the Portland Metro Area without chains and majority of the offices he called on were closed anyway. The local news stations had 24 hour cover of the "Arctic Blast". We spent that week sledding everyday, playing with friends, playing games and watching a lot of movies. Church was cancelled again the next Sunday because it had snowed about 10 inches the day before and then had freezing rain on top of that which left about an inch of ice on top of the snow. Any other state that usually has snow could handle the snow but the town we live in does not own a snow plough, well at least we never saw them out. We are grateful to have a car with all wheel drive to get around and buy last minute Christmas items, there were many people just stuck in their houses for a couple of weeks. We had a great time as a family and it was nice to take a break from the fast pace of the world, and really focus on spending time together. They say this is the most snow that Portland has received since the 1930s, I think it snowed about 18+ inches. We will never forget this white Christmas.