I just love snowflakes! They are the one of the many things that brighten up winter after the excitement of Christmas is over. If you don’t get real ones outside, you can always make paper ones!

If I had lived near Wilson, aka “Snowflake” Bentley, we would have been friends. I just know it. I remember one time I was outside about to get in the car, years ago. I was trying to get out the door to some appointment related to homeschooling, and I was frustrated with one of my children. It was snowing and he interrupted my admonition to him by pointing out the beauty of a snowflake that had just landed on his mitten. That was enough to reach my inner Snowflake Bentley and soften my heart in the moment. I stopped feeling quite so grumpy and stopped to admire the beauty of the snowflake. For a moment, I could see its tiny, exquisite form as a perfect 6-pointed snowflake before it melted away.

If you don’t know who Snowflake Bentley is, watch this video below.

According to Familysearch.org, Mr. Bentley is my fourth cousin third times removed. Awesome! It’s doubly awesome that he was homeschooled. I just think it’s so cool that his mother was his mentor. It was his mother who recognized his genius for appreciating snowflakes and sacrificed the money to buy him the expensive camera that would take photos of snowflakes. For years, it’s been one of my personal traditions, in January, to read aloud the book Snowflake Bentley to at least one of my children, and then cut out paper snowflakes to decorate our windows. It’s been so fun for me, after moving back to Utah two years ago, to discover other people have this same tradition.

My daughter and I went to a move night to watch Pride and Prejudice with some of her scholar friends. The hostess, the mentor for her class at our homeschooling co-op (commonwealth school) had this lovely display dedicated to Wilson Bentley, aka Snowflake Bentley. See photo at the top. Isn’t it just one of the cutest things you’ve ever seen? I love it! She also had her dining room table decorated with snowflakes. They were on top of the table with a plastic see-through tablecloth over them. She said she bought them at amazon. She also had them all over her windows. As she said, it makes putting away the Christmas decorations fun because we know we can replace them all with our snowflake decorations for January. I’ve had the same thoughts for years!

I’ve thought a lot about how snow testifies of Jesus Christ. Snow has order, as Jesus does. It comes in a few different forms, such as plates, rods, and dendrites. Yet there is infinite variety within these forms to show the infinitely creative power of our Creator Jesus Christ. Snow, also, like fire, can give life, and destroy. It is a force to be admired and respected, just as fire is and just as our Creator is.

I have photos of me as a kid out in the snow, enjoying it. Then I got old and boring and didn’t like it because it’s cold. I moved to AZ to get out of it. Now I am back in Utah and am learning to love it. I’ve learned to just bundle and cover up and get out there and love it. Usually on Christmas Eve my kids always go sledding. In the past I’ve sent them on their own and stayed home to fix food. This past Christmas Eve I went out with them, covered head to toe with winter gear. I actually went sledding. It was fun!

Here are some fun videos I found of one of my favorite families, the Duggars, the Forsyths, and the Seewalds enjoying the snow. Happy snow days everyone!