Snowy New Year!

We woke up New Year's morning to snow! A rare occurrence here in the desert, the kids were in heaven. Unfortunately our sprinklers came on for maybe a minute before I got them turned off so it was extra wet snow.

Annie decided the best snowman to make in this case would be a Calvin and Hobbes inspired snowman:

 Megan didn't realize that snow was wet. She got bundled up and lasted ok for a while. Once we got good gloves on her.

 Annie eagerly ran upstairs for her "Arizona sled" aka laundry basket.

 Jacob became the pack animal and gave all the kids a sled ride.

 Inside looking out at the snow while they thaw out.

 After some fun in the backyard, Jacob hurried out to the desert near our house to snap some pictures of the snowy desert. It was really wet snow (even without sprinklers to help) and made for some really neat pictures:

Our neighbor across the street texted me a picture of our house dusted so prettily in snow.

 After the kids had recovered and dried some of their gloves and shoes we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Knight's to play in their snow.

 The kids made a decent snowman but they didn't like my idea of using the Olaf hat we have for the actual face.

 We got some rocks and a carrot and sticks and they had their snowman.

 Then Rachel made one more mini snowman:

 When I went inside to get them ready to head home they were all huddled in front of the space heater soaking up the heat.

 The next morning we woke up to even more snow than the day before. You can see my huge tomato plants covered in the background. They have survived the freezes and I wouldn't be surprised if we have no more freezes this winter. There are so many green tomatoes slowly ripening. We'll be rolling in the fresh tomatoes in a month or so, unless we do end up with a harder freeze.

 The kids jumped right in, except Ryan, who woke up with his fever going up. A little ibuprofen and he couldn't be kept inside a half hour later. Rachel made a super tall snowman which collapsed. She managed to rebuild it, but not quite as tall. It lasted 3 days in the back yard.

 Annie's snowman:

 We went over to Grandma's again to make sure her snow didn't go to waste.

 Megan enjoyed jumping on the trampoline with the snow.

 On the way to take Ryan to the doctor, the desert was too beautiful to not snap a picture.

 A mile down the road the snow was almost nonexistent. Much of Tucson didn't see any or much snow at all. We were lucky to get a decent amount two days in a row.

Back at home yesterday the kids pulled out the new paints and canvases they got from Grandma for Christmas.

I forgot to get a picture of their finished products. Maybe we'll remember soon...