The Record Snow Storm and a Special Visit

The first weekend in October we were told to expect a massive snow storm. I wasn't terribly worried because even if it did come down hard, it wasn't going to last. The only down side was that Ryan's parents were supposed to come in on Friday - and that's when the storm was supposed to hit.

Thursday night it started off slow and steady. But by morning...

... there was already a good 12 inches in places. Where did it all come from?! In order for Ryan to clear the driveway, he decided the best thing to do was to load it in the wheelbarrow and take it out into the street. Otherwise, we just would have built up a wall at the end of the driveway.

The last time they had a storm this size this early was over ten years ago. It's not necessarily the amount of snow that was such a big deal - but the fact that all the trees still had their leaves. The snow was super heavy so it was snapping branches left and right. And not just the small ones. BIG ones! The picture below is the tree in our backyard.

I felt really bad for our backdoor neighbors. They have several huge trees that just got trashed. These pictures don't do it justice.

Pierscen really wanted to go help daddy shovel off the deck so we bundled him up and sent him out. Last year we avoided the snow at all costs. This year I think he may actually have fun playing in it. I think it's time to find him some snow gear. Any suggestions on where to get snow boots for little guys?

I think the snow was starting to make his little bum cold in the picture below. This isn't fun any more, mom!

We monitored the roads all day. It didn't take long for the section between Casper and Rawlins to close down which meant there was no way Oma and Opa were going to make it through. That being said, they still decided to at least head this direction and see how far they could make it. They ended up stopping in Rock Springs and found a hotel with a hot tub. :)

We had a few limbs break onto our roof, but there was no damage done. Most of the branches that broke bent as far as they could before snapping so it wasn't like it was upright and suddenly came tumbling down.

The picture below is on our back porch railing. That was measuring at 13 inches, but you have to keep in mind that A. The snow had settled, and B. It's on a railing, so it was rolling off the sides.

I don't think I left the house once on Friday. In fact, Ryan's boss called and told him to stay home. I didn't mind that. By Saturday morning, the snow had stopped and things were already starting to melt. Ryan went to the bishop's house for breakfast with the young men and they watched the first session of conference. He stayed afterward to help organize a clean up crew for the ward with all the downed trees.

During the break between conference sessions, Ryan's parents made it. They said the drive was a "white-knuckle" drive with lots of black ice. Scary! So glad they made it safely! I think P was in shock for the first few minutes after they arrived - kind of a, "Are you really here?" phase, but that wore off really quick and was replaced by crazy excitement. He loves his Oma and Opa!

Oma and Opa brought out lots of canned food storage for us. I am so grateful for their help. I feel bad that I wasn't able to help with the canning during the summer, but feel extremely lucky that both sides of our family are always trying to help us out.

While they were unloading the car, Pierscen spotted a teddy bear that my mom had sent out for him. The moment he saw it he said, "My brown bear? My brown bear?" He was SO happy! We could not pry that teddy out of his hand for anything. Thank you Mom!

When Ryan got home, he and Opa walked to our backdoor neighbors and offered their help with chainsaws and loading up trucks while Oma, Pierscen and I started watching the second session of conference. Ryan's family usually does snack foods for conference so I did my best to continue the tradition by making BBQ little smokies with pretzels and bean dip. It turned out pretty tasty. 

Later that evening, I took Dodger for another walk. See how much the snow had already melted? But that's when I really noticed the damage that had been done. It looked like a hurricane had come through town! 

I felt kind of bad that Ryan's parents had decided to come over conference weekend because then we couldn't really get out and do much, but the storm kind of decided that for us anyway. It didn't matter in the end. Pierscen adores his Oma and Opa and he was just as happy as could be that they were there, even if we didn't get to "do" anything.

Sunday we watched conference and then decided to go for a walk. It had warmed up quite a bit and most of the snow had melted. The one thing we didn't account for was all the downed limbs on the trail. That made for quite an adventurous walk. ;)

On the way there and back probably 80% of the cars on the road were trucks and trailers heading to various dump sites for the limbs. We tried to take a few pictures out the window of the HUGE heap of trees, but my vantage point wasn't the best.

Ryan's parents loaded up bright and early on Monday so that they could drop Ryan off at work on their way to Colorado to go visit Ry's sister. 

It was a short visit and I still feel bad that it was made even shorter by the snow storm, but I am really grateful that they were willing to make the trip. It was SO good to see them. Thank you for coming!

Believe it or not, clean up from that storm is still taking place. The city went street by street, closing them down, gathering up limbs, and hauling them away. I think most of it is done now, but there are still individual houses that haven't cleaned up. Crazy sauce.