Terry's Focus

The first words Bryan spoke to me this morning were, "We're not having the yard sale." I remember waking up and hearing the sound of cars driving in rain a couple of hours earlier and replied, "Because it's raining." He asked how I knew.

Just then the sound outside changed. It sounded like....sleet?

I looked out my bedroom window. There was too much wet in the screen to see clearly. (We have solar screens. They are very dark...and when it rains, the little holes fill with water.) Is that...white? YES! It is! "Hey, everybody--it's SNOWING!"

WOW!

Sounds of excited children running to get dressed. I wonder what I'm going to wear. And I slip a pair of sweat pants over my flannel pj bottoms. Turtleneck and vest next. And I actually have to find a pair of shoes to put on. (I hate shoes. I wear flip-flops or slip on sandals if I go outside close to home. I only put shoes on when absolutely necessary.)

Within minutes, they're all outdoors! They have socks on their hands because the only one who owns a pair of gloves is John. And he can't find them.

I make my brother-in-law get up. Get the camera! Get the camcorder!

John and Steffie and gathering the snow on the lawn to make a snowman. I tell them, "No, no. You make a snowball and roll it over the snow to make it bigger. That's better!"

Delton finally comes out with the camera to take pictures. He stands in the street and gets pictures of the kids. I stand behind the porch pillar so that he can't get a picture of me.

Little hands are getting very, very cold. It's not really snowball snow. It's sticky enough--but, it's way too wet. And their socks get soaked through in minutes. A couple of them have gone inside and changed socks again. (They used up a lot of the socks in the odd sock bin.) But, soon enough their hands are frozen.

I go inside to make some real cocoa. I use Sweet 'n' Low instead of sugar. And soon the troops come in for some cocoa and warmth.

Delton tells the kids to stick their hands under their armpits to warm them up. Then to wrap them around the mugs of cocoa. Oh, that warm mug feels so good. Soon, they're ready to go at it again.

We decide that this is definitely an oatmeal morning. I measure out the water and put it in a pot. I measure out the oatmeal and I leave Delton to make the oatmeal while I go back outside with the kids. Because they already know that this is a precious moment in time because the last snow like this one was before they were born.

My son says, "This is the bestest day of my whole life!!!!" And he's said it at least three times so far today. And "Mom, I love you. Thank you for teaching me how to make snowballs bigger."

For those who live in snowy climes, you have to remember, this is Las Vegas. And this is the FIRST time my son has ever seen snow.

The sound outside right now is wet. The snow is already melting off of the rooftops.

After eating their oatmeal, the kids are outside again. They've gone down the street to play with some other kids. They are "robbing" the snow from other yards and taking it into one yard to make a mini hill. Two feet of packed snow on which to slide down on a skateboard with the wheels removed.

As for me, I've been praising God and asking for an encore on Christmas Day. And I've been walking down the street singing Christmas carols.

It will be fun to see the pictures that Delton took. Not just of the kids. (And this is the first snow for not just John--but, for Steffie and Carrie as well. Bryan's biological dad has taken him to Mt. Charleston during the winter and he has played in snow before.) But, also of the mountains to the east and the north. And the house across the street--Christmas figures in the window, snow on the vehicle in the driveway and on---the cactus. Snow on the palm trees.

The temperature is now in the low 40's and the snow is melting fast. Now that I've gotten warmed up a bit, I'll be heading back outdoors. I may hibernate in the summer; but, I'm not going to let weather like this go to waste!