Is This Arizona? Yes. Yes, It Is.

You probably recognize the cabin, right? But the white stuff?

I love this place on earth. I love it. Ever since we bought the property, I've dreamed of driving north for a snow day, and when I saw flakes in the forecast for last Saturday, I got really excited. I must admit that I awoke in the middle of the night on Friday to check if it really was snowing when the forecasters said it would--around midnight.

It was.

I mean, I grew up in Idaho--the land of the eternally blowing wind and drifting snow. It was cold. And miserable. And long. But I also have fantastic memories of tubing and skiing and hanging on car bumpers as we slid along the ice.

I wanted my Arizona kids to experience the joys of snow. I sorted through our giant mostly unused pile of snow gear to find pants, jackets, hats, gloves, and boots for each of the kids, made a huge pot of chili, and we loaded up the car.

We left our house around noon and drove the quick 90 minutes north.

Micah kept checking the temperature on the car's screen and saying, "It needs to drop a few more degrees in order for it to snow. Come on! Get colder!"

Just south of Payson, the rain turned to flakes--big, beautiful, soft, Christmas card flakes. There was a cheer from inside the Suburban. (I may have led that cheer.)

Brad built a roaring fire in the fireplace and it was perfect.

I took a short nap, and this was my view.

The day was as perfect as it could be. Temps were just above freezing, so the heavy 2-3" melted quickly, but not too quickly.

There was plenty for eating and building and leaving footprints.

The entire high desert landscape changed. I couldn't get enough of it.

See how warm it was? Running water in the creek bed, snow lining the banks.

It was the perfect snowball fight day. The snow packed easily, and it was still warm enough that AZ kids didn't get cold.

While all of the kids were good sports about snow in the face or down their shirts, Micah was especially good about it. He would get a face full of it, take a quick breath, shake it off, and bend down to form his next snowball.

The best part? After dinner and a quick clean of the cabin, we piled back in the car and drove south 90 miles to 55* weather.

I love Arizona.

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P.S. I know most of you are suffering through the aftermath of the season's first huge storm and can't escape back to warm weather. It is a touch chilly here today (52* high), but any and all are welcome to come stay here in the warmth with us!