Snowy Weekend

The program and ticket for Sarah's annual Christmas concert.

One of the things I really looked forward to about retirement was being able to stay home and enjoy the snow from inside my warm house. However, this weekend was not one of those times!

As we left Thanksgiving behind and plunged into the Christmas season, this was a busy weekend for our family. And, as it happened, it was also a weekend wherein a couple of snowstorms passed through.

Our third snowfall of the season, on November 30, 2018.

We woke up to a few inches of snow on Friday morning, the last day of November, and it continued to fall throughout most of the day. A nice, steady, gentle snowfall accompanied by fair visibility and streets kept clear by industrious snowplow drivers. Best of both worlds. I did have to drive Mark to work and pick him up, but mostly I stayed indoors and watched the magic from the cozy comfort of my kitchen window.

The annual Christmas concert by White Mountain Symphony Orchestra

on December 1, 2018.

Saturday got busy, though. Sarah's annual Christmas concert was in Snowflake, a 25-minute drive away, at 3:00, and then our church Christmas dinner and program was back here in Lakeside at 6:00 that same evening. It was a happy coincidence that a lull in the storm occurred on Saturday, with a clear highway and little snow until later in the day. 

Add to that the fact that no snow had fallen in the town of Snowflake, a mere 26 miles from my house, and we had a nice little break from the snow. However, there was quite a chilly wind in Snowflake that day. Despite the town's name and its proximity to Pinetop-Lakeside and Show Low, it gets little snow but a lot of wind, being located in the high desert (altitude about 1,100 feet lower than our hometown). It was actually named for the town's two founding families, the Snows and--you guessed it--the Flakes.

Sarah performing live on stage!

The concert was great, as always. I love hearing Christmas music performed live, but one of the best things about this particular concert was being able to watch Sarah herself perform. We are rarely able to see her well on the stage, since she plays second violin, and the first violinists are always seated closer to the audience. I was able to get some great footage of her actually playing her violin during a couple of numbers.

The concert ended just after 4:30, so we headed toward home, then turned around and drove back to Snowflake High School when I discovered I'd left my camera hanging from the armrest of my chair in the auditorium! Thank goodness I realized I'd left it behind before we got out of Snowflake. And the only reason I realized I didn't have my camera was a picturesque view of storm clouds in the distance that made me think, "I need to take a picture of that...oh, wait!"

Storm clouds hang low over our home community in the not-too-far distance.

The skies over Snowflake had been bright blue and filled with fluffy white clouds. As we drove back toward our mountain communities, though, we could see thick, gray snow clouds hanging low over the place where our home awaited. I loved it. I know it's a little weird of me, but I've always found storms of all kinds to be rather thrilling.

Welcome to the annual Rainbow Lake Ward Christmas dinner and

program, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It was about 5:15 when we got back home, and then I had to quickly finish up the potatoes I'd been assigned to bring to our ward Christmas party. I hadn't realized, when I'd agreed to prepare and bake the ten pounds of potatoes, how the back-to-back timing of the concert and party would affect my ability to squeeze in this assignment. 

A great turnout for our ward Christmas dinner and program.

Thankfully, my son-in-law Chris came over before the concert to help me out by scrubbing the potatoes (ten pounds is a lot of potatoes!). Then all I had to do was dice them, mix them with the prescribed onion soup mixture and olive oil, and put them in the oven. However, I was afraid that if I cooked them too early, they'd be mushy by the time of the dinner. What I ended up doing was partially baking the potatoes before the concert, and then re-baking them during the quick thirty minutes between getting home from the concert and then leaving for the church. Luckily, the potatoes turned out okay, thoroughly cooked and slightly crispy on the outside.

Such great fun to spend time with our ward and church family.

The ward party was great. It was very well attended, by about 200 people! Mark and I shared a table with Chris and Sarah and our friends Steve and Michelle, who love to laugh as much as we do. A couple of people commented that they wished they'd sat at our table, too, because that seemed to be where all the fun was happening, from the sound of all our laughter. We also had ample opportunity to visit with other friends throughout the two and a half hours that the party lasted.

The table decorations: "Give as He gave."

Besides the delicious dinner of ham, potatoes, green beans, and rolls served in large bowls family-style at each table, there were plates filled with holiday cookies, Christmas carols to sing, musical numbers to be performed, and a Nativity reenacted by the Primary children while the scriptures of the first Christmas were read aloud. And, at the end of it all, a surprise visit by Santa Claus himself.

Primary children perform the Nativity while Bro. Stewart reads scripture.

Festive decorations for the piano and a chair for Santa.

Our bishop, Grant Berges, addressed us briefly to remind us that Christmas is a wonderful time to increase our faith, renew our efforts to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ, and strive to serve others as He served throughout His ministry. To this end was the "Light the World" program created, to help us find more ways to "light the world," "light your community," "light your family," and "light your faith" through greater service to others.

Scrolls filled with ideas for ways to #Light the World.

By the time we left the church around 8:30 after last night's party, the second part of the storm had arrived and snow had begun to fall again. Then this morning, when I drove Mark to work at 5:45, it was snowing heavily and visibility was near zero. The snowplows hadn't been out yet, so the road was blanketed in slushy whiteness from edge to edge. Very frightening, not knowing exactly how close you may be to a ditch or curb on the right or passing cars on the left. Nonetheless, I made it home safely.

Taken while sitting in my car at Walmart, at 2:45 today (after church), 

waiting for Mark to go in and pick up his prescription after work.

Then it was time for my church meetings, which started at 11:00, and by that time the car was covered with snow again. For the first time in my life, I wore tennis shoes to church, because I couldn't see the point in scraping windows while standing in three inches of snow, wearing heels! (I need new snow boots...)

The snow had slowed by the time we pulled into the driveway after Walmart.

December 2, 2018

The snow has come to a stop now, with cold, clear days expected until Thursday and Friday, when the next storm is supposed to roll in. Thursday and Friday, when Sarah, Mark, and I will be traveling to and from the Valley for David Archuleta's Christmas concert in Mesa. Meanwhile, we'll be keeping an eye on the weather reports...