Who needs a white Christmas....

...when you can have a white Thanksgiving!

This year we were slated to go to NH for Thanksgiving, for the first time in possibly 6 years.  I typically chose to be on call during residency in lieu of getting Christmas off.  On top of it we had a double dinner planned, with a lunch meal at Mom's and a dinner meal at Dad's.

So why wouldn't there be a big snow/wintry mix storm scheduled to hit exactly our entire driving route during the exact time we were going to be driving up the day before Thanksgiving?  Murphy?  Is this your law?

Of course I was also operating in the morning.  Mike and I were already at odds about what time we were leaving before the storm prediction, because he didn't want to be in horrendous traffic.  I had laid it out that it was going to be what it was going to be but hadn't planned for this.  I essentially had told him that it would be a game time plan, but it was unlikely that we were going to leave on Wednesday, which made me very unhappy.

And then everything sort of fell into place and we made a probably horrible decision to leave.  When I got home Mike was waiting by the door in his jacket.  Which I interpreted to mean that he was ready to go!  He had completed all of the things on my list and the car was loaded and the kids had eaten and we were leaving!  Except he was really just waiting for Ellie to get off the bus but by then I had taken the momentum and rolled with it and so we left anyways.

A little over 6 hrs later (it is usually takes 3.5) we landed.  And it was pretty much that since NH had over 10 inches of snow at this point.  The kids were amazingly good during the trip (not so for the way home.  Ellie was literally almost ejected from the car in that ride) and we got there just in time for dinner.  And Ellie couldn't wait to get outside and play in the snow.  It still absolutely floors me how much this child loves snow.   She would've spent the entire weekend outside if other people would have sucked it up.

And what a white Thanksgiving it was!  The power went out after dinner in typical NH style.  And this time Mike understood why you can't use the toilet or water when the power is out.  I managed to get out for a run around the lake on Thanksgiving morning which was beyond words.  So quiet, so bright and so beautiful.  The snow crunching below my feet and passing not more than a few people outside shoveling or snowplowing.  The most interesting thing to me too was that the lake wasn't actually frozen yet either.  I can't actually remember so much snow on the ground without the lake being frozen.

Marcea somehow managed to buy a 32 lb turkey that looked something like a small animal on the counter.  As you will see, it took a lot of elbow grease to get the thing in the oven.  We had two great dinners that were continued on for the next couple of days.  Lots of great family/cousin time and we even managed to make a quick pit stop by The Walshs house on the way home.  As indicated earlier, the drive home left a lot to be desired, but at least it wasn't 6 hrs in a snowstorm!

The view from the living room.  Breathtaking.

The crazy bird

It wasn't a fair fight...

No, she wasn't trying to bring it back to life.

Success!  And yes, that is only the leg and thigh

Gap and Addie hanging out

The mixmaster on the drinks

Family time in the kitchen

Mr. D having a photo shoot

Showing off her coloring

The Zackster in his first real foray in the snow

Making snow angels

The only angel on that day...

Mr. D not loving the snow so much

I love this picture so much.  First of all, Charlotte is out there without a hat or glove or snow pants and isn't phased at all.  Second of all, she is clearly determined to get this stick in the snowman which is now frozen solid.  But she has a "little Lisa" determined face on there!

Sam and Zoe