snow! snow!

So, like I said yesterday, we woke up to see snow!  I knew it was going to snow the night before - josh was on his way home from another traveling stint and I was afraid the snow might delay his flight - but I wasn't sure how much we'd get.  It snowed briefly two years ago, but just a light dusting...certainly not enough to play in.

This is what we saw out our window:
After breakfast, we got all bundled up and headed outside.  Since there hasn't been a big snow while we've been here, I've missed out on fun and interesting Asianese snow culture.  For example, snowmen are popular here, but equally popular are any other creatures made of snow...like this snow buddha here:
It's hard to see the detail in this picture, but its a buddha sitting with hands folded in a prayer position.  Who knew...?
We opted for a more traditional snow approach, starting with snow angels:
We began work on a snowman and then headed inside for lunch and a respite from the cold. but first I had an onlooker snap a picture of the girls and I:
After lunch, we skipped naps and daddy came outside too, for a lesson how to make snowballs:

The girls had a great time playing, running, throwing, rolling and jumping in the snow.  I almost teared up watching them enjoy their first big snow.  I know, I'm pathetic and emotional.  I know.  


We also brought a bag of stuff to put on our snowgirl. (There are never any requests for any male-gendered anything in our house!  No snowmen here! Snowgirl was the request!)  We used my princess hat for her head, but emma was very concerned that it kept blowing off.

We got it to stick on long enough to take a quick picture:
We added seashells (yes, I save everything) for her buttons:
Our friend was downstairs helping us with kids and cameras, so she jumped in this one:
I thought the girls' first big snow would have to wait until we got back to america next year, but I was wrong. What fun times!