You have got to be kidding me!

Its' no secret that I am really cranky about the weather that we have been having. I was sitting at the computer at home yesterday afternoon looking at some pictures that I had taken over the week-end. I glanced out the window to yet another vision of snow falling and I seriously almost started to cry. The anger is actually dissipating. It's turning into sadness. I'm a broken woman. As I sat at my desk and stared out the window in stunned silence I experienced a moment of irony.

I looked back at the computer screen at the pictures, and then out the window again at the snow, and then back at the computer screen, and I almost slapped myself for my stupidity. The boys and I came out of church this past Sunday into some cool air, but there was no snow flying or on the ground, and we weren't wearing coats, so it was actually relatively pleasant in spite of the wind chill. I took them home, fed them some lunch, and then waited for Phil to come home from his Sunday meetings. Even though it was a nicer day than we had seen in awhile, I didn't go outside. Noah went down for a nap, Adam read a book, and I think I made a phone call. Phil got home an hour or two later and as he came into the house he announced that it was a nice day (again, we're talking in relative terms here) and he thought we should go for a drive up the canyon. Within just a few minutes we were in the car winding our way towards Sundance resort. After we turned off the main highway, we started seeing little patches of snow on the ground. It was a beautiful drive, and for some reason the snow didn't illicit the reaction from me that it gets when it's outside my front door. That's where I should have slapped myself at least once for being so stupid.

Once we arrived at the resort, we all eagerly jumped out of the car and began walking on the path, which took us past a snow melt stream and up, up, up the side of the hill. Adam and Noah were excited to be outside seeing things that they haven't seen for awhile (or never in Noah's case). Phil is never bothered by the cold like I am so he was looking and feeling refreshed. I was immediately cold. Slap number two should have happened right there. Why in the heck did I not bring more than a hoodie?

We kept walking. The snow was more abundant. The air was colder. My fingers were turning pinker. My nose was runnier. I was getting crankier with each step. Still, I managed to not slap myself and get back in the car.
Adam was leading the way, with Noah right by his side, and Phil and I bringing up the rear as we moved further and further from the car. I won't continue to bore you with the details of our frigid stroll through the woods, other than to say that by the time we decided to turn around and head back down the hill, Noah had joined me in my misery. In fact, I think it was Noah's pleas to Phil that got us turned back around. He got Phil to carry him, and with each step he said "I'm freezing," and "Car, daddy". Adam was running ahead so he was plenty warm, but I think that poor little Noah will always have that piece of Haiti in him that keeps him from ever enjoying the cold Utah weather. He probably thought that I should have been slapped too, for taking him out there. This is where I go back to sitting inside my house yesterday watching the snow fall and wondering why we decided to head to the hills on a Sunday afternoon that was actually somewhat pleasant in the valley. (There's the irony that I mentioned.) I've been complaining about the cold, wet weather for months now, yet on one of the few days that we have seen this spring that was actually bearable outside our house we decided to haul our family up the canyon to stroll in the snow. Next time, maybe I'll slap Phil when he makes such a silly suggestion.

This is where Noah decided that he had had enough of the cold. If his language skills were better I think he probably would have told me off. Can you tell what he might have been thinking?