Season's First Snow

Early in November our valley got its first snow fall. It made us feel better about giving in to the temptation to start listening to Christmas music much much MUCH earlier than we normally do. It was very cold and cozy and a perfect start to the holiday season. I bet when people look back on 2020 many will say that this was the year they felt just fine about getting into the holiday spirit a good month before they normally did. We need cheer! We need light and music and celebration! So although by today the snow is long gone, it was a great start to November.

The storm hit on a Sunday - the day before was weirdly warm and lent itself to a lot of yard work so we could prepare. It's not like it was a blizzard trapping us all in our houses but it did end up being quite a bit more snow than we had expected. 

Emma spent the afternoon out in the snow building a snowman. And Troy spent the afternoon alternating between going outside to build and play with Emma and coming inside to warm up his hands on my neck. Emma was thrilled with her creation, and found it hilarious that our only available nose-vegetable was a piece of celery.

 

 

Well that night, the girls climbed in bed and instantly Romney started laughing. It just so happened that the exact spot where she sat in bed to read gave her a perfect view out her window, right at the snowman's face. He was leaning over just a little which gave the impression that he was trying to peek in their window. We all had to take a turn sitting in her spot to look and it made us all laugh so much. Well, everyone except Emma, who was completely freaked out by it, letting her imagination run with the idea, much like her mother used to do herself. We got her settled down and tucked in to bed while Romney read for a while and giggled as the snowman continued to peer in at her. It's a little hard to see in this picture but you can get a glimpse of the snowman, peering in from under the drape of the hammock on the porch.

All of these shenanigans gave Troy an idea to sneak out and play a little trick on the girls. That night after lights out he left through the front door, walked around the house, crept into the back yard, and proceeded to MOVE the snowman towards the girls' window about 15 feet. The next morning Emma was getting ready for school when suddenly she looked out in the yard and froze in shock. Her reaction was better than we could have predicted and she was genuinely frightened, to the point that Troy had to confess, sooner than he wanted to and through some laughter, that yes of course he was the one who moved it. We had to reassure her that snowmen are not actually capable of mobility on their own. That did not stop her from needing more reassuring later when he did it again and the snowman ended up almost on the back porch. Oh Troy, you crack us up. Except for Emma. You seem to terrify her!