Snowed In

There has been a lot of snow around here. Good thing our kids are so willing to help with the shoveling

They also like to climb on the big piles of snow

 With the new track Nixon got for Christmas and the one we already had we can make some fun tracks for the car and train

 Mason has 2 teeth!

 He loves playing with these blocks he got for Christmas

 It is hard to show just how much snow there is with pictures, but we will try

 We have had to knock this pile along the driveway down/back just so we can get more snow off of the driveway

 Intense icicles 

 You can see how high the snow is compared to the cedar we replaced that is about 6' tall

 Despite all the snow Nixon still mows the lawn

 Mason loves to sit and play

 The kids were proud of themselves after laying out these shells on the turtle

 Mason tried baby cereal for the first time and did a good job 

 Kim and i went on our first date of 2017 yesterday. We went ice skating

It was a little embarrassing struggling just to stay standing while there were little kids zipping around. Especially because most Canadians learn to skate before they can walk

 

 But we had lots of fun together

 I had some fun time with this little guy yesterday

 This video of Nixon is funny because you can see that he is actually aware that he is on the screen

So with all of the snow we have gotten, and lots of it being very wet and heavy, there has been a lot of talk about shoveling off roofs to get rid of all of the heavy snow. Surprisingly, that is not something I am familiar with, even having grown up in the great white North.

So I decided that I would give it a try. I was able to get lots from the top of our undersized ladder.

 Then I climbed up on the roof. That was a mistake! Underneath all of the snow is a layer of ice that is REALLY slippery! I was sure I was going to accidentally slide off like a seal to my death. It was so slippery I didn't have any confidence that I could maneuver myself back to the ladder safely. So Kim and I devised a plan where I would keep shoveling snow into a pile tall enough that I could jump safely off the roof. The problem for me was that I couldn't see the snow from my vantage point and I was the one jumping off the roof. Kim reassured me that the pile was tall enough and we have good life insurance. Thanks!

 By the time the pile got this big I was exhausted and could't comfortably reach any more snow on the roof without leaving the spot where I felt I had the most traction

So at that point I trusted in my wife and jumped off the roof

It doesn't look like much on video, but it was nerve wracking and kind of fun. I have done much more dangerous things (like when I jumped off of a bridge and hit the ice below), but this had taught me that if there truly is a need to shovel the roof, I am going to pay someone to do it, AND prepare a liability waiver for them to sign before they do it

Speaking of doing dumb things, here is a throwback to one of them

This was 11 days before I reported to the MTC for my mission...the rope was a little too long!

The kids liked climbing on the big pile of snow that I made (I didn't like shoveling it off the patio afterward)

Lyza got her first haircut yesterday

Beautiful

That's all for now. Take care!