Christmas Eve Blizzard 2009

The Christmas Eve Blizzard of 2009 ushered in beauty and peace as we celebrated the birth of Christ.

This year, Mary Catherine participated in our parish’s first Children’s Mass by singing in the Children’s Choir at 4:3o PM.  Earlier that day, rain and sleet had dominated the weather scene, and driving on ice-covered country roads to our tiny parish was a bit hazardous.  Amazingly though, after Mass (around 6 PM) we exited to a world of white.  Cars, trees, and the cemetery was blanketed in snow…but at this point the storm was just gearing up!

Mary was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, choir member this year.  She was the only “non-reader” and so we took home the song book several weeks in advance so that she could memorize the lyrics to several hymns.  She did a great job!

Believe it or not, Mary is part of this group she’s just so tiny you couldn’t see her.  I think I might suggest that next year they put the younger ones up front!

This is like a “Where’s Waldo?” picture.  Can you spot Mary?  She is next to her very good friend, Kate, who is dressed in purple.  Kate is the daughter of one of my closest friends, Erin over at The Little Things in Life.  Kate really took Mary under her wing sitting with her, singing with her, and guiding her through the weekly practices and Christmas Eve service.

After Mass, Erin was kind enough to invite the little ones and me to join her family in celebrating Christmas Eve dinner at her home.  I was able to quickly whip together my famous deviled eggs so that we did not show up to the dinner party empty handed!  It was wonderful to share such a delicious meal with good friends while blizzard conditions raged outside and my husband was on duty at the fire station!

View from the top of our driveway looking down toward the street on Christmas Eve.  When we left for Mass at 3:30 there hadn’t been a flake of snow; grass visible everywhere.  A mere 5-hours later, the minivan could barely make it up the driveway, losing traction halfway up the hill.  When we exited Erin’s home, my minivan was literally “snowed” in with 2 foot drifts on one side of the car!

Our home the night of the blizzard with porch lights ablaze!  (Taken from street level)

Our home on Christmas Morning.  As you can see, it was still snowing and would continue non-stop for another 2 days.  We had about 3 1/2 days of continuous snow during the Blizzard of 2009.  The last time Kansas City experienced an actual Blizzard Warning was in 1982!  The last time we had Christmas Eve snow was in the 1960s!!!

By storm’s end, we averaged between 8 and 10 inches of snow, with drifts easily topping 3 to 4 feet in some areas of the yard.  Tomorrow I will post our sledding, snowman building, and angel-making shots.