I'm in love with winter!

A snow-covered branch on one of our snowmobiling
trails in Michigan. In the background you can see our sleds.

Snow the day before Halloween? I'll take it. I love snow. Winter is by far my favorite season. I'm not rushing Christmas and I'm not skipping over Thanksgiving, I'm just excited for winter and the snow. I love the cold, crisp and refreshing air that comes with winter. The winter wonderland that is present right after a snowfall is one of my favorite winter scenes. Hot chocolate and cookies, zoo lights, ice skating, snowball fights and shoveling the sidewalk, you name it and I love it! I even love putting my new flannel sheets on my bed.

My sisters and me at the
Toledo Zoo Lights

Winter at my parent's house is something that I hold near and dear to my heart. I can remember being four or five years old, clean from a bath and all snuggled up in my fuzzy pink robe. My older sister had the same robe and we stood at the front window. We sang "Oh where, oh where can our daddy be?" until we saw our dad's S10 pick-up truck pull into the driveway. I remember decorating our house with my mom's favorite decorations, snowmen. Each year we would put the snowmen in the same place as years before. We would put them up a few days after Thanksgiving and leave them up until the last of the snow melted. 

As I got older, we went on weekend snowmobiling trips. We would pack up the truck and the snowmobiles and head up to Grayling, Michigan. We would ride 100 miles a day, eat at local restaurants, and at night, we would sit around and relax. The snow-covered trails, the hum of snowmobile in my ears, and the subtle wave as we passed other riders will forever be etched in my mind.

To this day, we still ride our snowmobiles around home, we still decorate the house with mom's snowmen and every once in a while, my sisters and I will break out singing, "Oh where, oh where can our daddy be?" I look forward to the coming winter months, especially Christmas break. I can't wait to lay on the living room floor next to a hot, crackling fire, eating popcorn and watching Christmas movies. I can't wait to hear the snow crunch under my boots, while I'm all bundled up in my winter gear. I might even get to smell the two-cycle engine oil from our snowmobiles. No matter what, spending time with my winter-loving family is something I look forward to every year. 

One of my favorite pictures from
snowmobiling. 

A snowy trail in Michigan.