Christmas with the Bradleys

The weather has really made things difficult. One thing that it affected was our Christmas with Kristen, Taylor and the grandkids. They were supposed to come over tomorrow but again we are expecting more snow and freezing rain. It is not due to be above freezing so since the grandkids have been sick and the weather has been poor, we went over to their house tonight and brought pizza and we opened presents with them. I was the first time Jim had seen Victory and he is six weeks old tomorrow. (Funny thing is, Victory still hasn't reached his due date which was December 30.)

Jonathan & Dylan

Brooklyn

Preston & Erin

Victory

Gail and Preston

The Bradley Family

December 22

Jim made it home this morning about 12:45AM. He and Jermaine drove from San Jose to make it home which is good because this morning they still had not opened up the Portland airport. They would still be stuck in San Jose if they had not driven home with more snow on the way. They were also able to give a ride to two members of the military who were on their way back to the northwest, Airman Veronica is now with her uncle in Lake Oswego while Marine David is trying to make it to his parents in Seattle but we got him to family members who live in Wood Village. They had great travel and were surprised how clear it was of snow until they got close to Portland. We are glad to have them back home for the holidays. Jim was really concerned of not making it home from San Jose until after Christmas, so this is a true blessing.

Here are some more pictures. Some of them are the same and that is not to be redundant but instead to be able to compare to past days.

Out out backdoor, the piles have grown.

This is looking up at the road where there should be some guard rails. They are gone though in the drifts of snow.

Jim had to put chains on the rental car to bring it back. The neighbor offered to help which was a very big help!

Snow drifts around the car.

There should be a road here but it seems to be gone.

More snow drifts.

This is a neighbors house. The drifts on to of the box are amazing.

Pictures of the Snow

Our front door and porch.

Our front door from outside.

The snow drifts are almost up to the window.

My roses are not happy.

Looking out our back door.

Snow drifts out our back door.

Our car is completely covered in ice.

The Weatherman Was Finally Right

...and it is really messing things up. Yesterday the weatherman predicted 6-10 inches of snow with freezing rain following. Well, last night became a blizzard in the Portland area, with 30-50 mph wind gusts and visibility of only a mile or less. Although it was neat to see, it was very cold and I was out at the tree lot from 12-6PM. We closed down at 6PM due to the weather. The funny thing is that when the storm hit yesterday, it was still fall. Winter officially starts today.

Here in Fairview, we received 8 inches of snow according to the weatherman this morning. We are now have freezing rain and there are freeways closed from Troutdale to The Dalles, about a 70 mile stretch of highway. Chains are required for all travel on the freeways and for all travel around town. RIght now, it is 18 degrees in Fairview.

This has affected us also with Jim's flight home last night being cancelled. Right now, his flight is delayed to take off this morning and possibly will not happen today. It was scheduled to take off at 8:45 and was delayed to 9AM and now is delayed to 10AM. We are praying that he gets home today. The longer it is delayed, the harder it will be to get home as more and more flights are full. He talked about renting a car and driving home. Please pray he gets home. Jermaine also is stuck at the airport waiting to get home. He was due in yesterday afternoon and his flight got cancelled also. He was in Las Vegas and this morning he is flying to San Jose because of the delays in weather. If that happens, Jim and Jermaine may be able to visit for a while. Maybe they could even get on the same flight home. Jim had talked about renting a car to get home and driving up the coast. I just heard that one of the routes from the coast to Portland is closed also. So, getting home is going to be interesting. We just want them home by Christmas.

When the sun rises, I will try to get some more pictures to show you. For now, I am going to go and get a cup of coffee and settle in for the day. Hmmm...good thing I did most of my Christmas shopping. Sounds like a good day to do my Christmas baking.

It's Snowing Again

Who would have thought waking up to rain and 37 degrees at 7:30 in the morning, would result in snow like this by 10:00 in the morning? It is absolutely beautiful!