Snowy Get Away.

A fresh blanket of snow has the effect of erasing all the hard edges in life and making the morning's sun feel like the dawn of man on earth. And so it was fitting that on our night away celebrating seven years of marriage, the heavens opened up with a coat of snow that fell in flurries and in fits. We planned this last minute, winter weather warning be damned, and though it may fall under the 'That Could Have Gone Horribly Wrong' column of life choices we acted in our typical fashion and ignored the 'what ifs' in favor of the 'why nots'.

The sky above us was nothing but those big white clouds with gray moats, less threatening and more beautiful.

The nearer we drew to the high country, the more menacing the cloud cover became, hefting itself up over distant hills and dumping rain and sleet into the basins below.

We 'oooh'ed and 'ahhhh'ed and I snapped pictures like a mad woman while Darrick pointed from one snow-dressed peak to the next saying, "Oh get that one! THAT needs to be a picture. They NEVER get snow! I bet those people are going NUTS over this!". And the kids? Well, for once Rohan fell asleep early in the road trip instead of crying his fool (adorable) head off all the way there and Luca was less than amused. Before we left the house she'd smalled the same finger in the same door twice, resulting in an ugly bump and a pretty impressive bruise. Lucky for me, it was just the right finger:

I mean, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't photograph that one and post it on my brother's Facebook wall?

As we drove, Luca entertained us with the next chapter in the novella that is "What Luca Will Be When She Grows Up". For reference, it's gone from a mommy to a mommy and a wrestler to a mommy and a cheerleader (ah, too easy a joke there! I'll pass.) to a cheerleader and a ballerina to just a ballerina. In this incarnation, broken down via photographic dramatic interpretation, she tells us how she will be 'Only good and nice things and no bad or mean things' when she grows up:

The first snow fell on us at Sunset Point and pretty much stayed falling all the way into Prescott. This is Darrick, attempting not to shit himself as he was forced to drive through it, in a Honda Civic:

Our stay in Prescott was at the Prescott Inn, a Bed and Breakfast I do not recommend at all, because if I recommend it here it might be hard to get a room next time, and we SO want to stay there again. The couple who owns it is British, which is enough to garner my love, and Darrrick jumped right into the B&B experience by helping shovel the drive like a good midwestern boy should (he was born in Ohio). We rented a two bedroom place in hopes of the kids sleeping peacefully in one room while we drank wine and watched movies in the other, which didn't work out quite that way. Instead, we drank and watched movies and battled Rohan and Luca over sleeplessness issues. But, alas, there was this to make it all worth the hassle:

I swear, they loved the snow.

Eating snow in a cup. And yes, those are socks serving as gloves, which means that is photographic evidence that what we have in enthusiasm and love, we sometimes lack in packing skills.

Traveling with kids means bringing in the doll's pack n play full of toys.

It was an amazing way to prepare for ringing in a new year and celebrating 7 years and 2 kids. We're lucky and we're in love and even though I would have preferred sitting by the heater in jammies watching movies to playing outside in that cold, we did it. And I am glad we did. There are times I wish we'd spaced out our wedding into another, less insane and busy time of year. From Halloween through Valentine's Day, it's a whirlwind of events and celebrations and money spent. But then I think of what my husband said to me as we drove home with two sleeping babies this afternoon. I leaned over and rested my cheek on his shoulder, holding his hand, and he put it into perspective like only he can when he reminded me, "This time of year is about the holidays, but it's also about our time together to reconnect. We are so damn lucky, babe."

He's right, as usual.

That's Prescott Brewing Company, which is fabulous, locally owned, and makes outstanding hot chocolate that tastes like a slice of heaven after walking through a flurry of snow on icy streets while carrying and 33 pound baby boy.

To 2010 closing and 2011 blooming like a flower full of promise. Happy New Year!!