We spent Easter with family in California in nice 70 degree weather. On our trip back we squeaked in just as the leading edge of this blizzard hit. From Thursday night until about 4pm on Saturday we had non-stop blizzard conditions. The snow is still coming down a little but the storm is passing. The pictures below are what it looks like out our front door.

The drift next to the house is at least four feet deep. The drift I backed the van into is three feet. There are between one and two feet on the ground between our front door and the street.

I have to say, I really love the El Paso County snow removal folks. The grader came through our cul-de-sac and left a four foot high, three foot deep mountain of hard pack and landscaping-rock sized chunks of snow at the bottom of the driveway. We aren’t going to make it to Mass tomorrow.

We didn’t have it as badly as the folks up the mountains who spent the night in shelters after I-70 was shut down. The national guard had to bring in supplies and as of now the interstate is still partially closed.

I can’t believe a week has gone by and I haven’t posted this yet. Thomas Edmund Paul was born on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul three hours after Father came to bless our house. This was our seventh home birth and everything went as smoothly as ever.

Congratulations to the Willets on their new one, too!

Overheard in the car:

Lucy (9): “I want Mr. Norris to be president.”

“Who?”

“Chuck Norris. The pro-life candidate.”

“Do you mean Chuck Baldwin? Chuck Norris isn’t running for president.”

“Oh, I guess so.”

I’d probably vote for Chuck Norris if he was running.

H/T to Shrine of the Holy Wapping by way of St. Mary’s Aggies.

Some friends who have a wonderful Catholic family of 9 kids, all home-schooled, are in the final 10 of a $25,000 college scholarship contest (and the parents are Aggie Catholics if you needed more incentive). They created a great video, but now need your votes to help them win. Go here to vote for them (yes, you have to fill out a short registration).

My mom started posting lists of movies for each month related to the saints and feasts of the month. Here’s January and February.

Andrew (6)

There are two dangerous places in the United States. Yellowstone and Iowa.

We later figured out that he meant Hawaii.

‘Nuf said.

So our second graders don’t have to learn about this.

• No matter how many times the kids go to the bathroom before you leave the house, someone will have to go within an hour after you leave. Especially if you have just passed the last rest stop for 60 miles.
• Expecting the kids to use the the trash bag you gave them for their snack refuse is wishful thinking.
• No matter how big your vehicle is, it’s never big enough.
• Calexico is a border town. No matter how nice the neighborhood is, if your kids are white they are targets for cross-border kidnapping. Don’t let them play in the front yard.
• “Hairlip” is actually spelled “harelip”. That explains why I never understood where the word came from before.
• Dates, like coconuts, come from Palms which aren’t actually trees.
• It can rain in Southern California in the winter. This is the first trip in twelve years where we saw rain and it fell continuously while making a three hour drive at night over the mountains.
• Bad Catholic music is everywhere. Even in parishes with good priests. (ZING Allelulia clap, clap, ZING alleluia clap, clap, ZING alleluia to the Lord) Bleghh.
• The developers who built the neighborhood near my in-laws house are voting for Hillary. The streets are all named after presidents. Traveling down Clinton street you will find a cross street called Hillary.
• The head of the Imperial Valley Democratic Party is an Extraordinary Minister at his parish.
• Having thirteen cousins under the age of nine together for a sleepover will tax your patience to the limit.
• The three-year-old’s bladder is triggered by any mention of water or bathroom.
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe gets worse on the second viewing.
• Watching the series summary before the new episode of Lost and then the season premier leaves me knowing as little as everyone else who has been watching for the last couple of years.

Andrew (6):

“I know a lot about spiders. Like, that they have ten legs.”