Christmas Blizzard 2009

This about sums up how our Christmas picture taking session went. If you didn't receive a Christmas card from us, don't feel bad neither did anyone else. I had great plans, just ran out of time. There's always next year, right?!

All smiles as they eagerly await opening an early gift.

The boys went out to play in the snow. This is Theron and Luke "skating" on a patch of ice in the pasture.

It's always nice to warm up with some hot chocolate.

This will be a year we will remember. I'm not sure if Luke and Nia will be excited about Christmas next year. We left home around 7am, headed to OK City. There was a little mist but we were making good time. About an hour from our destination it started sleeting. About 30 minutes away it started snowing and traffic went from 70mph to about 30mph. We finally got to visit with Papa about 12:30. We didn't stay long because of the weather and we were supposed to be at Frank's brothers house for lunch at 12. It was a good thing we left when we did because shortly after, all the major highways in OKC were shut down after so many accidents, including a 50 car pile up.

We made it to the turnpike (after sliding through one red light) and traveled from 25 to 35mph in mostly one lane. The wind was blowing the snow sideways and it was very difficult to see. Also, every 10-15 minutes we had to get out and knock all the ice off the windshield wipers. Others were doing this also and would stop in the middle of the road to do it! We finally got to Frank's brothers around 3:15. The turnpike was later closed too.

We ate, visited for a bit, and headed off to my parents. We decided to spend the night. Of course, we hadn't packed anything for that. We got up Christmas morning and headed for home. The news was saying the turnpike was closed, be we headed off anyway. The roads were not cleared very well and cars were off in the ditch everywhere. We plugged along slowly and finally got to the far side of Tulsa. We got off the highway for gas, and we couldn't get back on. The on ramp had two cars and a semi stuck on it. We headed back towards Tulsa and the first off ramp had two trucks, a plow/sand truck, and a semi blocking it. Finally, the next exit we were able to turn around. Still slow going all the way to Missouri. Once we hit Missouri, the highway was 90 percent clear, both lanes! After making sure all the animals were fed and watered, the kids got to open the rest of their presents and stockings. Don't think we'll be forgetting this one any time soon!