Snow storm after snow storm after snow storm!

Snow started falling in the end of January on the 27th. Little did we know that the next 30 days would have nearly 2 feet of snowfall!

More fell on January 30th. Jared and Dani were at Nana and Papa's, and since it snowed and was going to turn to rain, Jared had to quickly put together a snowman (at 12:15 AM!). It took all of 5 minutes to build one almost as tall as Jared because of how dense the snow was.

He lasted over a week with the cold temperatures and into the next snow storm!

February 8 was the first of a very snowy month of February. The kids went to bed knowing they were going to have a great snow day! 

Jared strategically shoveled the snow into good piles for the kids. If you look closely, you can see the snowman from the storm a week and a half ago.

They went and knocked on Ava's door, and they built a giant snowman and 2 different igloos.

Another fun snow day tradition is for Dani to make cinnamon rolls. Yum!

Later in the afternoon, we made our way over to Dulle Park for some awesome sledding.

More fresh snow fell on February 10 on top of the snow that was already on the ground.

Another February 15 snow storm meant that we would have yet another snowman in the front yard next to the last one, which had already melted quite a bit. We did a bunch more sledding over at Dulle Park on the 16th.

and on the 17th, Jacob got his brothers and some friends together for an epic backyard snow football game.

February 19 had more fresh snow, meaning more sledding, in both the side yard

 

and over at Dulle, where Kate found one of her friends sledding too.

 

The creek had frozen over, so the goal was to sled all the way down past the shelter and onto the frozen creek.

By the 24th, a warm spell meant that almost everything had melted!

Starting the year off right

Jared has been working at home for the last 9.5 months, so it has been a long time since he ran downtown. So, January 2, he decided to drive downtown and run a familiar route.

Liam decided he wanted to do some work with the random leftover wood scraps, so he got out the power tools and drilled holes and fastened them together.

Torin has lots of different ways he likes to ride the hoverboard. Is it creative or lazy? I'm voting funny.

The kids started the year with a flannel board story and then decided that all attendees needed to rate them, give suggestions, and have the option to subscribe to future shows!

After Torin gets up, he likes to go join Dani on the couch for a little snuggle before getting started with his day. It is a bright spot in both of their days!

When he's not snuggling Dani in the morning, Torin likes to wrap himself up and sit next to the fire.

Torin was home with a little cold one day, and he decided to read outside of Jared's "office."

Dani got creative with her hair style a few times, using the wavy iron. She was smiling pretty much the entire rest of the day! Even the kids noticed!

Not sure why we took this picture of Jacob, but he sure looks handsome!

Our wine rack in the butler's pantry is being put to good use! We are so classy!

Torin was pretty proud of his frosting work.

We love hot sauce! Clarification... Jared loves hot sauces! To be fair, there are specific purposes for each. Tabasco is good on taco salads and guacamole. Sriracha is good on rice and beans. Ghost pepper and Carolina Reaper are both good in cream-based soups and mac and cheese. Green Dragon is good on everything. Sambal is for Asian foods. Cholula and Tapatio are good on eggs and breakfasts. Burman's hot sauce is a good wings sauce. And of course, Buffalo Wild Wings Spicy Garlic is good with chicken. Not overkill at all.

Skiing with the family

We spent a Friday afternoon at Perfect North after a week of cold, meaning the snow was super soft!

Jacob and Claire got more and more comfortable and were able to ski all over the hill while Dani and I stuck with the 3 youngest - which meant no pictures with the teenagers.

It is always fun to ride the lifts with our kids

By the middle of the day, Kate and Liam were skiing all of the blues. Liam decided to go on the terrain park and hit some jumps. Liam had a big yard sale.

Torin skied well and confidently until he was run into (Jared wasn't happy with the mom, who tried to downplay it for her son by saying, "that was awesome!"). After that, he was pretty nervous and seemed to keep looking up hill for a runaway skier.

Backyard fire pit

Giving Jared a warm-weather gift in the winter time doesn't stop him from using it before its season (see paddle boarding in the Puget Sound in January!). This year, Jared was given a portable fire pit ... and a kitchen torch!

He decided to use both not long after Christmas

It was REALLY cold! The fire struggled a little to get going, 

but we persevered and we ended up making lots of smores.

including using Reese's thins for chocolate. They were delicious! Hopefully next time it will be a bit warmer.

New River Gorge

On the way, we found a little waterfall - Kanawha Falls. Since we are kid free, we can stop at random waterfalls!

Our anniversary trip this year took us to the New River Gorge! We stayed at Adventure on the Gorge, a short walk away from short hikes on the rim.

Day one, we went on a short run on a trail along the canyon rim and watched the sun set

 

The view of the bridge was very cool, but 

the sun setting over the gorge was BEAUTIFUL!

We went skiing at Winter Park, a 40 minute drive away. It was a great day to go because we had fresh snow!

It was pretty busy, and we ended up riding the same 2 lifts over and over. Except once, which we realized we should have just stayed on that other lift!  

It was a super cold day, but we has so much fun having a nice ski day ourselves!

The sun even came out by the end of the day.

After skiing, we took a hike on the other side of the bridge out toward the rim.

The trail was fantastic again!

The location was great - we were in a cabin in the gorge, spending time making goals, reconnecting, and hot tubbing!

Food was an adventure - a few of the places we planned on eating were either closed (fire), closed (became a market during COVID), or closed (at 6:00 PM!). But, we were able to find the original Pies and Pints and a few other places to eat.

When we got home, Kate had made us a special anniversary giant cookie pie

A completely surreal day

Traditionally, this date is not a date that is memorable. However, for the past few months, President Trump has called into question the results of the election that he lost, claiming that he won (by a lot) and that the election was stolen from him through massive fraud. Though those claims have been heard in court and dismissed, this narrative continued without strong objection from the Republicans, which allowed it to gather strength.

This lead-up to Wednesday, January 6 led to the expectation that during the vote certification in the House of Representatives, there would be objections made, but that ultimately, President Elect Biden's victory would be certified.

That morning, 16 blocks away, President Trump held a rally, again saying that the election had been stolen, that they needed to fight, and to march down to the capital and show strength.

After some states were certified, Arizona was objected and the houses separated into their separate chambers to deliberate. That's when the chaos started.

The protesters marched from the President's speech to the capital, went up the steps, and eventually entered the capital building. The Senate and House were evacuated, and soon, protesters entered both chambers. They wandered the halls, entering congressmen's offices, including Speaker Pelosi.

After all was said and done, 5 people had died, including a capitol policeman. Though the confirmation was delayed, it finished later that night as President Biden's election was confirmed.

It was a surreal day. The Familia Jensen text chain was ringing nonstop! We could not believe the actions of a group against our country. It also highlighted the growing polarization and disillusionment that people are feeling and the antagonistic feelings that many have. It made us grateful that in our family, on both the Streeter and Jensen sides, even if our political views are not the same, that we are willing and able to respectfully listen to and share with one another.

New Piano!

We recently bought a new baby grand piano! We love the way it sounds, and it gets played all the time. Jared will often take a 10-minute piano break on the new piano during his work from home day.

The old baby blue piano now resides downstairs. Fortunately, the piano movers were willing to take it down the stairs. Liam still prefers this one!