Snow! Snow! Snow! and more snow?

Well it's snowing here AGAIN and it's not going to stop! I have to start with my trip to Toronto on Friday...

So 800am Friday morning some friends from my ward and I headed up to Toronto for the day. The roads were clear, no snow in sight. The drive up was speedy and clear and it was just nice to get together with friends with no kids and had some good laughter and discussions! When we got to the temple we had missed the 1100 session by 20 min so we left and decided to come back later. We headed over to the Aldo outlet to look for shoes. As soon as I walked in I of course did what I usually do...asked the people working there if they carried a lot of 11 size shoes, hoping that maybe they had a specific section for those of us with huge feet, probably filled with ugly shoes but nonetheless! They didn't and said basically I had to choose whatever I liked and see if they have the size, of course they did not look hopeful! So I decided to shop for accessories instead since nobody has different sized holes in their ears (well most of us). I found some cute earrings and a really cute scarf so that was fun! Looks like internet shoe shopping for me!

Then we headed to the best restaurant in Toronto...The Mandarin! It's a Chinese buffet but also has salad bar, beef bar, and a huge dessert bar...so dangerous! It was delish as usual and we all stuffed ourselves to the brim and had to roll eachother out! Like that wasn't enough, next we headed to the Lindor chocolate outlet! All the easter stuff was on sale at least 50% or more so we stocked up for our kids...and us of course! This weekend didn't really count for me food wise...I just turned the other cheek!

We then headed to the temple for the 300 session and barely made it. We were the only ones there, not a lot of people out and about that day because there was supposed to be a huge storm happening that day! It hadn't started yet so I just assumed the weather channel had been wrong. The temple was lovely and brought my spirit back to life. I always feel much closer to God while I'm there and I only wish I could go on a more regular basis to give myself a spiritual boost more often!

So we left around 530 and the snow/ice had started to fall...we hit traffic as soon as we hit the 401 and it was all over from there! What should have taken us 20 min to get to IKEA took us 2 1/2 hours! AH...I would kill myself if I lived in Toronto and had to commute every day...I don't know why people choose to do that...it's craziness! What a waste of time in the car! Well it wasn't a waste of time for us, of course we had things to talk about as women always do...but my body was not happy when we got to IKEA, just sore and needed to have a stretch on one of their chaise loungers, which by the way I really want! So we don't have an IKEA in Kingston and I was so excited to go! The one we went to had an awesome play place for the kids and so I'll for sure have to go back with my kids and let them go crazy! I'm looking for basement ideas right now as we're starting to develop in a week or so and I found some crazy things there that for sure I'll be using. THey are great for storage ideas and bookshelves! It'll be fun! So I got the toy box that I wanted to get all along and of course found a few other things. Jeni, they had a huge canvas of the eiffel tower, like you were looking from below up towards the top...it would be amazing in your main room on your big wall...Seriously you should go check it out...not expensive either!

So we had an hour there before they closed and so we started on our trip back. The roads were terrible! There has only been one other time that I traveled on worse roads and that was one of my trips back from Utah when I was going to school there. We hit Monida pass in Montana and needless to say I've never been so scared for my life! Anyway...the difference here is that the truckers on the road are crazy! They think they are invincible and drive so fast regardless of the roads. Once we got out of Toronto and were driving on a two-lane highway it only got worse and the plows only seemed to get one side of the road so if the semi truck was coming up from behind I had to merge over into the lane that wasn't clear and let them pass by so close I swear they almost clipped the side of my car a few times...and of course they spray huge amounts of snow and debris on my car at the same time! My arms and back were stiff the whole way home (4 1/4 hours) as I didn't want to move I was so full of anxiety and stress. Everybody slept except Coralee (thanks Cork) who kept me company in the front seat. There were a lot of cars and semis in the ditch, most of which I noticed had passed me on the road. Once we got within the vicinity of Kingston I was relieved and felt much better. We were definitely protected on that trip, though that didn't stop me from keeping a constant prayer on the tip of my tongue!

So as we were driving onto my street, I knew that Sean would probably still be awake worrying about me but I wasn't expecting him to be out on the driveway shoveling it at 2:30am! He was in his pajamas and snow coat shoveling and making the driveway available to have me park in the garage...what a sweetheart! So Harlee, Cork and Amanda all drove home and Suzie stayed here as she lives out in the country and her hubbie told her that she wouldn't make it to the driveway. The trip was a blast and I can't wait for another one probably in the summertime.

Yesterday Sean got up and did rounds at the hospital and then headed over to an auction they were having for all kinds of stuff (i.e. treadmills, furniture, spa packages, dish sets, etc). Anyway he ended up getting some sweet gift certificates for my Merry Maids, some gourmet cooking classes for 2 and a pedicure/brow wax package for me which by the way I really need right now! The rest of the day was chillin except when Brayden and I ventured out to the grocery store. It was literally raining ice, and hard! When we headed out to our car when we were done Brayden could hardly walk with the ice pelting him in the face! It was like that all day and night, hence the reason why church is cancelled today! I'm so glad because Sean is working today and I wasn't about to head out to church on icy roads by myself! He was completely snowed in this morning and it took him about 45 min to get out...earlier on this morning we hadn't set our clocks back so he was already an hour late for work...oops! One of his patient's was not doing good at all when he called into the hospital and so while he was trying to get his car out he asked the neighbor a few houses down if he would give him a hand as he had an emergency at the hospital and he wouldn't help! He was out doing his driveway too and didn't look like he was in a rush, you know when they are scraping absolutely every corner of the driveway, as opposed to Sean scraping only around his tires so he can hurry? "I have places to go to" he says...interesting how you see the true character of people in situations like that! I guess I shouldn't judge him but it made me irritated. I ended up going out to help push him out and he's off now. So today we're just hanging out, me and the kids. The snow and ice storm has stopped now but I'm starting to think that I'll never see the green grass again!

On a happier note my mom arrives here a week from today and my Dad in a few more days after her and I'm so excited! The kids can't wait too!

Here are a few pictures from last night. Sean and the boys enjoyed learning about the body in their body book and Taylor enjoyed being silly. She is truly hilarious and just so funny walking around like she owns the place!