Let it snow ...

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful ..."

In the last two days, over 6 inches of snow blanketed our world, and temperatures plummeted.   Elsewhere, this might be greeted with trepidation, but hearty Montanans welcome it.  (Almost) everything is better with snow - skiing of all kinds, snowmobiling, building snowmen, sitting by the fire watching the flakes flutter to the ground.  So I dedicate this post to SNOW!

I am linking up to I Like Thursday with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.  If you need some positives in your life, you will find it among the bloggers who join this party!

"It's a marshmallow world in the winter, when the snow comes to cover the ground

It's time for play, it's a whipped cream day  I wait for it the whole year ' round"

We've had our first ski/ride day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.  

"Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go;  The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, through the white and drifted snow!"

Well, it's my best friend's house, and it's a Toyota 4Runner, but I can pretend, right?  

Snow and cold is not all fun and games, especially for animals, domesticated or not.  And for the humans that take care of them.  Something as simple as keeping them watered is challenging in such frigid weather ...  It doesn't come through in this video, but the parade of turkeys was punching through the snow with many of their steps ...

"You could've come like a mighty storm  With all the strength of a hurricane

You could've come like a forest fire  With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow  Quiet and soft and slow

Falling from the sky in the night  To the earth below"  Chris Tomlin

LeeAnna's prompt for this week asked about Christmas traditions.  The first thing we do on Christmas morning is sing happy birthday to Jesus.  I was pleased to see this Nativity scene in our neighborhood this year - I learned that a father/son team made it by hand! (We usually go to Mass on Christmas Eve.)

Armed with coffee and Christmas cake (see this post for more details), we move on to our stockings - did Santa pop coal or other goodies in there overnight?  Just a few days ago, I finished a new stocking for #1 Daughter.  I started this project in March, as you can see in this post.  She will use this stocking at her home; her "kid" stocking will remain here.

#1 Son will drive here on Friday, and we are thrilled beyond measure that he can join us for Christmas.  For many years, I have teamed up with him to bake gingerbread cookies.  I can almost taste the ginger as I imagine biting into the soft cushion of cookie, shaped as trains, gingerbread people, stars, moose, angels and more.

While all of this goes on (before and on Christmas Day), we are listening to Christmas music ON VINYL.  We have at least 10 records, and many of them I inherited from my parents.  It gives me great joy that #1 Son adores them as much as I do, especially the Andy Williams album.  In the last couple of weeks, I relished a choral concert from Valley Voices and a quirky, delightful hour of fun called Tubachristmas - tuba, euphonium and baritone instruments playing carols.  Check out this audio (sorry, picture is the carpet in the hotel!)

After the stockings, we open gifts, taking turns.  When we still had furbabies, we could find the cats under the tree, or nibbling the ribbons.  #1 Son is leaving his two cats at home - sad face.  They don't normally cuddle with each other; do you think they know he will be gone for a week?

At some point, we will pause opening gifts, to Skype with family in the UK and with #1 Daughter in the Midwest.  On a timeline known only to Head Chef, we begin dinner preparations - he has decided to smoke the turkey this year.  #1 Son is on dressing duty, and I lend a hand wherever I am trusted.  When our bellies are full and the sun has disappeared (early this time of year), we will retire to the movie room - I vote for Klaus even though we have watched it before!  And so, another Christmas will become memory.   Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

Linking to Mosaic Monday