Maddie's First Snowfall!

What a day we had in Princeton, yesterday! To cut right to the chase, and to fill you in on my post title, it snowed! The day started cold, very wet and rainy. The weatherman was predicting the snow and it certainly came. It was early afternoon when the rain switched over to big, wet snowflakes. Brant was desperately trying to focus on writing a paper, as I brought Maddie out in her little reindeer suit, camera in hand. I quietly put my hat and scarf on, secretly hoping he would take notice, but fully intending on going out on my own if I had to. He sighed with a smile, as he looked outside and put the puzzle pieces together to what we were up to. He proceeded to ask, "Whatcha doing?" I said, "It's Maddie's first snowfall, and I'm going to get pictures of her in it, no matter what it takes." He seemed to take note that it would be pretty difficult for me to get pictures of her outside without someones help. He also realized he would feel like a chump of a dad if he didn't partake in her first-snow-picture-taking-event. :) Success. He put on his shoes and hat and we headed outside. It was very, very wet snow, but it was still worth it to see the look on Maddie's face. She has been outside so many times, obviously, but this was the first time I actually watched her take a real interest in what was going on. Her face lit up as she watched the fat flakes come down around her. It was priceless. The pictures we took do not show the snow too well, as it was in its first stages. I wanted to get outside ASAP, just in case it stopped real soon. It ended up lasting for a good 3 hours, but didn't stick to the roads. It covered the grass and cars, and this morning, there is still a great deal around. Here are the pictures from yesterday.
Last night, we had four of our friends come over for a traditional party I like to host each year. I had made my Aunt Marcia's amazingly-awesome sugar cookies, frosted them with green, red and white frosting, made "Christmas Tree Bark" candy, and had homemade hot chocolate that had been on the stove for 6 hours. All of these goodies were to accompany the main event: we watched "A Christmas Story" (my favorite!), and had a great time. Our tree was lit, the lights in the window on, the candles glowing throughout the house, yummy treats, good friends, great laughs...yeah. It really was a special time. There are so many wonderful blessings in our life. We are celebrating the birth of our Savior throughout this glorious season; we have a beautiful daughter who we fall deeper in love with each day; we are making good friends out here, who we look forward to hanging out with; we have a beautiful home, full of Christmas goodness; we are going home to Oregon in less than 2 weeks...so many things. So, keep on enjoying the season - don't let a moment pass you by, even if you have papers to write, books to read, Christmas letters to send, gifts to buy, phone calls to make. There is way too much goodness going on this season not to stop and enjoy it.