Bring on the snow.

It's a lovely winter we are having this spring...

Following lots of ice, the snow hit us.  Different areas of Sioux Falls got between 7 and 12 inches of snow.  We are thankful though.   We have had power throughout, which about 40,00+ other people cannot say. It's a little crazy...I read a portion an article today that turkey vultures are falling out of they sky.  They are literally freezing and falling out of the sky, poor little guys.

But, enough of that.  We have ourselves a little mess. 

We are not alone, it is region-wide.  Matt took most of the afternoon off today to start hacking up branches.

 

 

Uff-da!

(I should mention that he is working in the rain/snow mix with ice falling around him)

 

 

Here is our front tree.

 

 

Our little bird bath birdies got covered up.

 

Here's another look down the street.

They have cancelled school for the 3rd day in a row.  Tomorrow it is because of falling ice dangers.  It is falling down in shards...so now playing outside today!

 



 

Yesterday day I was aware of our tree smashing the neighbor's chain link fence.  Apparently the branch that fell on our fence did some damage as well...It even hit on the post.  Tree branches covered in ice are HEAVY!

This is a different section.  Broken plank, not as big of deal.

Spring Storm 2013 :: Ice, Ice, Baby!

We are having a bit of winter spring storm here in SD.  Not your typical blizzard, just lots and lots of sleet...which in turn means lots and lots of ice.

 

If it's not moving (and I'm sure maybe if it is), it's covered in about an inch of ice.

 

Here is a photo of a tree in our backyard on Tuesday afternoon.  I called Matt at work and told him we had a large branch down.  No alarm though, the kids thought it was kind of exciting and it was only one branch.

 

Then another fell down, so I took a photo of the backyard.  I didn't want to go outside, but you can kind of see the branch on the right side of the photo.

 

 

Unfortunately, this is our tree on Wednesday morning.  It had 4 main branches, all of which have now fallen.

 

 

The tree that had only lost the smaller branch also had a similar fate, though maybe not quite as bad.

 

However it is near the neighbor's chain-link fence, which did not survive.

 

 

Our privacy fence had some damage also.  It's not obvious in the photo, but I wasn't brave enough to get closer.  As I was taking these photos on Wednesday morning I could hear shovels scraping, chainsaws roaring, sirens blaring, and tree branches crashing to the ground.  Under the tree was not the place to be!

 

This is our front tree earlier on Wednesday morning.  This one cased Matt the most grief on Tuesday night because of the menacing branch hanging over the house (much to Matt's dismay, I was actually singing "Another One Bites the Dust" while listening to all the branches breaking off and fall).    Thankfully, though much of the end of the branch fell off, the main branch stayed intact.

 



 

Here is the tree Wednesday afternoon. 

 

 

A few more branches fell down, and (after a trip to ACE Hardware) Matt was able to cut down much of the branch hanging over the house.  We are thinking we will probably lose this entire tree, as well as the two in the backyard (there was a third in the backyard that looks okay).

We thought it was such a good idea to be in an established neighborhood with beautiful mature trees.

Ha!

 

Here's a quick shot down the street.  It actually looks pretty good now because the branches were cleared.  But you can see how low the trees are hanging.

 



And just in case you didn't get it...

 



 

 We got ice, baby.

 

 



Easter.

All the little things of Easter seemed kind of, well, meaningless this year.  It's been 3 weeks since Mom passed away...which like everything else seems like both yesterday and forever ago.  Despite it all we are doing okay-and fully relying on the sweet truth that Christ has defeated death and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.  He is Risen!

 

I started what I hope is a new tradition this year. On Maundy Thursday Matt and I hosted a Christian Passover Meal with our small group.  It includes many of the same elements of a Jewish Seder, but focuses on Christ as our Passover Lamb and as our Messiah who has come and will come again.  I think it went well, but blast it I forgot my camera at home (we had it at the church). 

 

Last minute Saturday night I mixed together some food coloring, water, and vinegar.  I used my Wilton coloring that is for cake decorating.  It worked pretty well, but we all had colorful hands when we were finished. :)

 

We also went to a nearby church for a carnival on Saturday(pardon my mood, but I wanted to scream at them for making Easter into a carnival...but still we went...).  The kids had fun, won some candy and small trinkets, and had their faces painted:

 



 (after taking the above photo of Nathan, he said "oh yeah, you captured it!"...He was very upset to have to wash Spidey off for church).

 

Sunday morning we went to church (which I forgot about outfits until the night before, apparently Nathan cannot wear the same Easter outfit three years in a row...everyone still looked good but I didn't get a group photo.  I'll have to get Nathan a new shirt (and pants) and stage something in the future), then we drove to my oldest sister Brenda's home in Canby, MN.  We decided to just have a small gathering with my dad and my sisters (minus Amy who was at her in-laws).

 

I managed to get a couple photos of Evelyn's First Easter!

(Her last first holiday)

 

Afternoon story time with Papa. 

Ella especially has been so sensitive to others during this time.  I half-think she snuggled up with Papa because she thought he would like it (though I know she enjoyed it too).

 

 

Though I didn't think about it much, I assumed our kids wouldn't get Easter baskets this year.  It's not something Matt and I have ever done, and usually they come from Nana (and Grammy if we are in AZ).  Sweetly though my dad went shopping at bought gifts for each of the kids, and even put them inside their own sand bucket that he put their names on (with a label maker, which is totally something my dad would do).  I didn't get any photos of them, but all the kids were excited about their gifts.  Nathan got a rocket that launches when you put it vinegar and baking soda, Ella got clothes for her Barbie, Addie and Evelyn got books, and of course everyone got candy!

 

This year we also went through our Resurrection Eggs.  It is great that even Addie now can recite the Easter story.  (I think I might switch them to a new carton so we don't have to look at "fight bac" again next year. :)

 

 

I hope you had a blessed Easter focused on Christ as your Risen Savior!