A White Thanksgiving... {updated}

So much to be grateful for this year!  A beautiful white Thanksgiving holiday at my brother's house in Northern Idaho.  We bundled up the girls in snow pants, fluffy jackets and insulated boots and gloves and they spent hours outside playing in the snow, sledding and building a snowman with their big brother, Michael.

Gwen quickly ducked outside (into the falling snow) so I could snap a quick photo of her without all of the overstuffed snow attire. 

Maddy loved the way the soft snowflakes felt on her upturned hands!  A few minutes later, we all pulled on our snow pants and fluffy coats and gloves and built a sled run!  Then we played on that for the rest of the day!

Michael built this cool snowman.  More about that later.

David and Barbara have this beautiful mural painted on the wall  near the stairs to the master bedroom loft.  A perfect backdrop for our handsome family!  From the left:  Barbara, Michael, Andrew, Gwenny, David and Madeline.

This is Maddy and Gwen with their Aunt Barbara.  My brother had the good sense to marry this very special woman almost 23 years ago (he knew her his entire life).  I never had a sister so it's incredibly cool to have a Sister-in-Law that is so easy to love! 

When we weren't outside playing in the snow (or eating!), we were watching the Harry Potter series or playing "Angry Birds" on our iphones/ipod.  We're big fans of H. Potter and A. Birds!

Here's a fun artsy "Hallmark Card" version of Michael's snowman creation.   Uncle David tried to find some coal for his eyes but the coal sack was buried under several feet of snow so he offered up some big buttons to use as eyes instead.  And what to use for buttons on his body?  Well, Dibs ice-cream bites of course!  In the 18 degree weather, they'll probably last until spring (if the deer don't decide to eat them first).    The carrot nose froze quickly and was so heavy that it hardly stayed attached to the face!  Who knew making a snowman was so challenging!?  ;)

This is Gwen and Maddy with sweet playful Zorra.  She's a hunny of a dog and a solid member of the family.  My brother thinks she's a Rottweiler/Border Collie mix but I think she might  be a Rottweiler/Labrador mix.  What do you think?

I hope everyone had many blessings to count this Thanksgiving holiday!