Cold, Cold, and Cold (and some snow and ice too!)

The last couple of weeks have brought some interesting weather to Amarillo. I think the temperatures have been the coldest since we moved here -- several mornings when we got up it was below zero outside and there was a wind chill of probably about -20 degrees. Yikes! Plus we really struggle to keep our house warm (several factors contribute to this), so we were going around wrapped in jackets and blankets. Our hot water heater kept freezing in the garage and we kept a fire going as much as possible.

In addition to all the cold, we had a big snow storm come through the city. I think the official report was 6.5" of snow but there was a lot of drifting, so some spots didn't have a lot and others had more. Here's a drift on our driveway:

School got cancelled for a day and the kids were very excited! The girls spent the day playing and creating.

I walked past the table and spotted this which made me smile:

McKay spent a good part of his day off listening to Harry Potter audiobooks. He recently decided to re-read/re-listen to all the books in a row and then go through and watch the movies.

A couple of days after the storm, the roads were starting to clear up but there was still some ice. The kid's school bus slid off the road coming home from school in the neighborhood just below our house. There were only a few kids left on the bus at the time (ours included).

McKay called us using the driver's phone to see if Brian could bring down a chain to help tow the bus out. Another bus in the area stopped to help but they didn't have any tow chains. So Brian and I drove down to see what we could do. The other bus was able to pull the bus back onto the road using our chain.

When the bus slid off the road, it hit a tree and broke some limbs off.

In addition, the tree limbs broke out one of the back windows of the bus (on the far side of the picture).

The girls standing by the tree:

We're glad everyone was safe!

The snow was just right for playing in when we made it back home -- better hurry before it all melts!

Sliding down our own hill:

Hannah and Hayley's mini snowman:

The only problem with melting snow is that it turns our road into mud! But fortunately this time around the weather warmed up pretty quickly (and we have worked on improving our road) so the road has dried out for the most part. At least until the next storm comes through!