Yes, we really are still here. We had a crazy start to the month; I finished orientation (YEAH!!!) , Jake finished another quarter, we dealt with Seattle snowstorms, and travelled home for Christmas. Oh, and the last time I tried to blog my computer wouldn't let me download my pictures. This all culminated in a perfect storm of me not blogging. But, I am still alive, and now for your viewing pleasure, here are the highlights:
We tried to be somewhat festive before we left Seattle. We took a bus ride downtown to go see some of the Christmas sights, including these incredible gingerbread houses. The kids were more impressed with the bus ride.
Our original plan for holiday travel was for Jake to pick me up from work at 7:30 in the morning, and then leave right from there and drive to Idaho. Well, as I was at work, it started snowing. . . and snowing. . . and snowing. Let me just tell you, Seattle+snow=craziness. Seattle+lots and lots of snow=the Twilight zone. I couldn't even leave work until 8:30 (the hospital wouldn't let anyone leave until the units were staffed), and Jake finished packing up the car and left to come get me. At 9:30 he called and said that I was going to have to walk 9 blocks to get to him, because he had been in 2, yes 2, very minor accidents. He was on a street parallel to the hill, and started sliding sideways (in our SUBARU OUTBACK, mind you) into a car illegally parked and abandoned at the corner. Luckily, no damage to either car. So Jake decides to put chains on, but doesn't get very far before a little VW Golf thinks it's going to somehow be able to drive on the snowy streets, and slides into us (no damage again), leaving us pinned on the street. They got chains on the Golf and got that out of the way, and we were able to finish getting our chains on and back up onto the curb to get out. While all this chaining was happening, we saw 3 accidents (two other cars hit the illegally parked car), so we had a narrow window to escape. Luckily, we got out, and started driving to get on the interstate, thinking we better get out of Seattle while we could. We ended up having to drive 3 different ways to find a way to the interstate, since they kept closing roads because they were too steep and slick. As we're driving around, we saw abandoned buses, cars, and other mayhem. It was seriously nuts!
So, finally at 11:30 we got out. Snoqualmie Pass seemed like a breeze in comparison. We were pretty beat, though, so we decided to stop overnight in Oregon.
The kids had had enough of sitting in the car and needed to do something active, so we found a hotel with an indoor pool and went swimming. We didn't have a swim diaper for Ells, since this all wasn't part of "the plan", so her diaper got pretty soggy. I just had to take a picture of her little bum, because with it being so bulbous I thought it looked like a bumblebee with a stinger. :)
We finally made it to Idaho a day late. The kids had a great time.
Connor loved wrestling with Uncle Aaron, and both of the kids followed Amber around nonstop (thanks again, sis!).
We drove up to Bozeman Christmas Eve, and were blessed to spend the holiday with the majority of Jake's family.
Ellie was fascinated with "Santa", but just so long as Grams was holding her
We did a little Christmas day service project and assembled some hygiene kits to take to local charities. It was a good reminder of why we really celebrate the season- the birth of our Savior.
The cousins all had a good time with their toys, movies, and of course art projects. . .
. . . and the snow! They played in it every day, which made for some great Daddy bonding time :)
We went to church at a little branch in Gardiner, MT with Jake's parents. Halfway through Sunday school, this was on the lawn. An Elk. On the lawn. Apparently he's a regular, but we "city folk" thought that was pretty cool :).
We tried to be somewhat festive before we left Seattle. We took a bus ride downtown to go see some of the Christmas sights, including these incredible gingerbread houses. The kids were more impressed with the bus ride.
Our original plan for holiday travel was for Jake to pick me up from work at 7:30 in the morning, and then leave right from there and drive to Idaho. Well, as I was at work, it started snowing. . . and snowing. . . and snowing. Let me just tell you, Seattle+snow=craziness. Seattle+lots and lots of snow=the Twilight zone. I couldn't even leave work until 8:30 (the hospital wouldn't let anyone leave until the units were staffed), and Jake finished packing up the car and left to come get me. At 9:30 he called and said that I was going to have to walk 9 blocks to get to him, because he had been in 2, yes 2, very minor accidents. He was on a street parallel to the hill, and started sliding sideways (in our SUBARU OUTBACK, mind you) into a car illegally parked and abandoned at the corner. Luckily, no damage to either car. So Jake decides to put chains on, but doesn't get very far before a little VW Golf thinks it's going to somehow be able to drive on the snowy streets, and slides into us (no damage again), leaving us pinned on the street. They got chains on the Golf and got that out of the way, and we were able to finish getting our chains on and back up onto the curb to get out. While all this chaining was happening, we saw 3 accidents (two other cars hit the illegally parked car), so we had a narrow window to escape. Luckily, we got out, and started driving to get on the interstate, thinking we better get out of Seattle while we could. We ended up having to drive 3 different ways to find a way to the interstate, since they kept closing roads because they were too steep and slick. As we're driving around, we saw abandoned buses, cars, and other mayhem. It was seriously nuts!So, finally at 11:30 we got out. Snoqualmie Pass seemed like a breeze in comparison. We were pretty beat, though, so we decided to stop overnight in Oregon.
The kids had had enough of sitting in the car and needed to do something active, so we found a hotel with an indoor pool and went swimming. We didn't have a swim diaper for Ells, since this all wasn't part of "the plan", so her diaper got pretty soggy. I just had to take a picture of her little bum, because with it being so bulbous I thought it looked like a bumblebee with a stinger. :)We finally made it to Idaho a day late. The kids had a great time.
Connor loved wrestling with Uncle Aaron, and both of the kids followed Amber around nonstop (thanks again, sis!).We drove up to Bozeman Christmas Eve, and were blessed to spend the holiday with the majority of Jake's family.
Ellie was fascinated with "Santa", but just so long as Grams was holding her
We did a little Christmas day service project and assembled some hygiene kits to take to local charities. It was a good reminder of why we really celebrate the season- the birth of our Savior.
The cousins all had a good time with their toys, movies, and of course art projects. . .
. . . and the snow! They played in it every day, which made for some great Daddy bonding time :)
We went to church at a little branch in Gardiner, MT with Jake's parents. Halfway through Sunday school, this was on the lawn. An Elk. On the lawn. Apparently he's a regular, but we "city folk" thought that was pretty cool :).We came home (uneventfully, this time) on the 30th, and then I got to spend New Year's Eve with my closest friends. . at work. Ugh. We've been in a state of upheaval the last few days, since we decided to change rooms with the kids so they could have more room to play. It's finally to the point where I think I can finish putting away the last "loose" stuff tomorrow.
So, there you go. We hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas filled with the love of our Savior!
3 comments:
We heard about all of the snow craziness in Seattle! Glad you got out while you could, but we were sad we missed you this time!
Wow! I keep thinking I miss the snow, but maybe not.:) The pictures of it do look beautiful though. I'm glad you had a nice vacation.
Wow, I can't decide if you're crazy for still leaving Seattle or lucky for getting out! probably both! I think we would have turned back! Glad you had fun!
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