Snow is here and electricity is gone

Thursday 18th: At 6:53 pm we looked outside and were thrilled to see it was snowing. I had just seen a fb post about a nearby friend whose children were out in the snow in excitement - so I quickly had a look. I were so surprised to already see it building up on the deck.

By 7:30 that snow covered portion of the deck was completely white. I got Asher into bed and told Rachel and Hezekiah that they could go out for a walk in the snow before Hezekiah went to bed. He was thrilled (photo taken at 7:42).
And just look at how big those flakes were. Many people said (as we agreed) it was the biggest flakes they had ever seen. It was lovely and calm and the snow just kept falling.

So much excitement. We had heard about possible snow overnight - so it was lovely for these two to get to enjoy it this evening already.

Puss had her first snow experience and it seemed she could not work out if this stuff was scary or fun. We had fun watching her.

7:46pm and there had already been that much fall. How exciting to go to bed and wonder how much there will be by morning.

9pm: The trees also look so beautiful with each little branch hung with the delicate white fluff.
I woke at 2am and it was still snowing. When I woke again at 4 the lights were out. I was thankful Hannah wasn't home - as she normally wakes crying if the power goes off (and with that the light in the passage). Thankfully it didn't worry Hezekiah and Rachel.
It was a bit of a challenge in the morning though. It's still very dark at 7am. So Rachel and I got candles lit and around the place (safely high enough from Asher's little hands).
Thankfully I have been doing a good job of keeping the log burner going through the night. Brendon normally sets it up at night and gets it stoked again between 4 and 5 when he gets up. I just got into the habit of doing it myself at 5 before Asher's feed. She got used to the routine of it too and patiently waited for her milk.
So at least the fire was hot and ready for our breakfast preparation at 7. I was so thankful we could still have a nice hot porridge - even without any power.
It was also so beautiful outside. We opened all the curtains - not because it helped give any light - but just so that we could look out and enjoy it.

It's a funny blue colour with all the snow about this early in morning before the sun is up. I took some photo to just remind us too. It was a lovely experience in itself and we were in a way thankful for the power out - as it gave us the opportunity to enjoy this.

A solid 10 cm fell overnight.

7:49 and there was finally a bit more light outside. We had seen the snow plow come past earlier (thanks to the curtains being open), but this time Hezekiah was outside and I was at the door - so I managed to get this (although blurry) photo of it as it whizzed past.

Hezekiah enjoyed just looking around. It really is a winter wonderland when you get a snow like this. It is a real blessing and brings so much excitement to the children. It's also such a wonderful time to just reflect on the marvellous beauty of God's wonderful creation.
I called the Champion Centre and they were open (no snow in town). I called a friend to confirm that the Weka Pass was open (as the road had been closed the night before). So with no power at home - I was more than happy to head off to town.

9:05am: This was driving down the main road in Waikari. It was just so picturesque. Thank you for this beauty Lord.

It was also nice to see the blue sky.

Heading into the Weka Pass it looked very misty still.

That cleared though and it was lovely to see the Weka Pass covered in snow.

I will leave the rest of the day's photos for the next post.