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I have been trying to wait to post this until the saga was complete, but I cannot wait any longer. As most of you know, Maryland and surrounding areas was hit by one of the biggest snow storms we've ever had this past weekend. It started snowing a little after noon on Friday and didn't let up until late Saturday afternoon. Here's what it looked like out of our back door Saturday:

The Bible is there for a little perspective. Out front, my car had disappeared and Jen's was barely still visible.

Molly and I played in the snow a bit (and shoveled a bit as well). While outside, we heard a loud snap. A neighbor's tree had buckled under the weight of the snow and snapped right in the middle of its trunk.

How much snow did we get? Officially, the news says 33.8 inches. I measured just under 32 in our front yard, but there was still and inch or two on the ground from the last snowfall. I generally measure a bit less than the official number, as some of the snow blows around.

How much snow is that? Well, it's basically my legs.

On Sunday, I shoveled our driveway out. Here's what it started to look like halfway through:

The problem you can see here is that while I may clear my driveway, it does no good unless the snow plows come by to clear the streets in our neighborhood. They always come by within a day after a snow storm, so we thought they'd come by Sunday. They didn't. Howard County then assured us all streets would be plowed on Monday. Well, that didn't happen either.

It's now Tuesday. We've been snowbound since Friday and we're running low on certain supplies (like milk). According to the forecast, we're about to be hit by another snow storm dropping between 10 and 20 inches of snow. Consequently, the snow plows have been pulled off of plowing neighborhoods and have started preparing (salting) the main streets for the new storm. Because of our need of supplies and the imminent storm, we gave up on waiting. We got my mom (who was plowed Sunday) to come pick up Jen to take her to the grocery store. Jen walked through the snow to meet her on a bigger road that has been plowed. Here's our hero returning from the store with the needed supplies:

I'm not sure when our street will be cleared. Perhaps Thursday or Friday. We're all very ready to have the freedom to go where we want back. I'll update here when we manage to escape.

Aunt 'Chelle, Uncle J and Emmie were in town last weekend to meet Leah. Michelle scheduled their trip for 10 days plus 2 weeks after my due date and it's a good thing she did! It gave us a few days at home by ourselves in between G'Mom and Grampa leaving and them arriving.

Michelle kept saying that Leah was so snuggly!

Leah wasn't sure what to make of Uncle J.

Emmie was the baby of the family for several months, but was happy to transfer that power (by laying on of hands, of course) to Leah.

This was our best attempt at a picture of the three little girls. Apparently, Emmie thinks Leah needs to lean in as well.

You can see more pictures from their visit here.

Aunt 'Chelle and Emmie came to visit for a few days this week. We had a great time reading books, going to playgroup, swimming at the pool, and playing at the playground. Molly did wonderfully with Emmie and I'm excited to see her as a big sister! Here are a few highlights from our week.

It was sad to see them go today, but we'll see them again in 6 weeks! You can see the rest of the pictures from their visit here.

Chad and I were married seven years ago today, but we've been together for almost 12! It's been a wonderful journey together, and I know it's only going to get better!

If you're feeling nostalgic and want to relive our grand day, you can see pictures here.

Today our Young Adult group held its 3rd Annual Field Day. It's all about reliving games from your elementary days. This year's game lineup included: dizzy bat layup, tricycle races, egg spoon relay, three legged race, sack race, toilet seat horseshoes, water balloon launch, jumbo golf, tug o war, and tiki thunder hockey.

Here's Eric kicking off the dizzy bat layup relay.

Pete shows us how to ride the tricycle.

Don't drop that egg, Amy!

Apparently, the most efficient way to transfer the potato sack to the next person in the relay was for the person finishing their leg to dive on the ground and the next person to pull the sack off their legs.

Surprisingly, tricycles can be used by toddlers as well as adults. Molly and Owen had a great time on them.

Yes, we had an event where we tossed toilet seats at a stake in the ground, similar to horseshoes. Gabe had very good form.

Here's Susan about to launch the water balloon for Andrew to catch.

Owen is ready to help his dad with his giant golf chip shot.

And finally, here's the whole gang.

Friday night we celebrated Caroline's graduation/18th birthday with a very large party (mostly teenagers, only a few of us old fogies).

We spent much of our time on the back porch, where Chad and I got a break as Molly was entertained by Aunt EA and lots of jumping.

Molly was happy to see Aunt Caroline, but she of course didn't stop eating cake. Nothing's better than cake.

Molly made sure that she was at the center of attention, and the circle, as much as possible.

Another fun activity was to run around the house with Aunt EA.

We celebrated my 29th birthday last weekend. Sunday, Molly and Chad treated me to dinner at Eggspectations. Molly was in a very cuddly mood before we left.

On Monday, we celebrated again with more family. As you can see, I was very excited about my Cheesecake Factory birthday cake - half banana cream, half white chocolate raspberry!

Chad likes to say now I'm in my 30th year, but I kindly remind him that I'm only 29 and not "old" like him!

Yesterday we celebrated Chad's 30th birthday! It was a low-key celebration, as requested by the birthday boy, with dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, then back to his parent's house for presents and an ice cream cake.

Molly couldn't wait to help Daddy open his presents.

The big gift of the night was this new Weber grill. Our current grill has been on the outs for way too long, so Chad's looking forward to setting this up and getting to grilling.

Molly enjoyed eating her first ice cream cake!

We've spent the past two days celebrating Molly's 2nd birthday! First we had a Blue's Clues party on Sunday. I decided to make her cake this year. It turned out cute, but I give credit to cake decorators - it's not as easy as I thought!

Along with themed snacks and "puppy ear" party hats, there was a Blue's playhouse,

presents,

cake and ice cream,

and lots of dancing!

Then today we celebrated just the three of us. We had pizza, cake, ice cream, and opened a few more gifts. Of course, Molly had to play with her newest toys before bed.