2nd stop!
After leaving Jason's parent's house Saturday afternoon, we headed out to where my parents live, to surprise my Dad. My Mom was supposed to be getting the surprise as well, but due to some scheduling conflicts, I ended up having to tell her we were coming a couple weeks beforehand.
We knew my Dad would be watching the Seahawks/49'er game, so we planned to have Ethan walk in and very casually say "Papa, I wanted to watch this with you." and see how long it took my Dad to get the surprise... or have a heart attack, which we were worried might happen ;-)
His face got white as a ghost and he just stared at Ethan in disbelief. He told us later he thought he either had a stroke or had fallen asleep on the couch and was dreaming Ethan there.
the girls took about 2 minutes to go get the dress-ups on :)
after watching football, you have to play football.
my parents with 2 out of their 5 kids.
my Mom is laughing at me because I didn't realize this was the "funny" picture :)
Bettis, Smoaks and Arnold families.
I think my Dad is due before me!
My Aunt Julie with her baby, Sarah.
Time spent with family was so fun and cherished.
The trip went by in a whirl, but it was so worth it.
The drive was long, sure... but sometimes it takes a long drive to see the ones we love.
Oh! We learned how to play Cranium and to my surprise, I loved it!
We knew my Dad would be watching the Seahawks/49'er game, so we planned to have Ethan walk in and very casually say "Papa, I wanted to watch this with you." and see how long it took my Dad to get the surprise... or have a heart attack, which we were worried might happen ;-)
His face got white as a ghost and he just stared at Ethan in disbelief. He told us later he thought he either had a stroke or had fallen asleep on the couch and was dreaming Ethan there.
Shortly after the surprise, watching football.
after watching football, you have to play football.
I love capturing the "before the actual picture" shot.
My brother-in-law Jeremy is quite shy and lacks a sense of humor...
as you can see.
Christmas morning...
My Uncle, Aunt and cousins came from Sacramento to celebrate with us!
They brought waffle mix and my Uncle made the best strawberry waffles, ever.
My Dad came around the corner with this hat on and the red wax lips and had us
all dying laughing. I think the kids were a bit worried :)
at the park, with blow up rocket balloons...
my Uncle took this one of us.
Merry Christmas 2011!
Time spent with family was so fun and cherished.
The trip went by in a whirl, but it was so worth it.
The drive was long, sure... but sometimes it takes a long drive to see the ones we love.
Oh! We learned how to play Cranium and to my surprise, I loved it!
We left that night and spent the night in Sacramento, to give ourselves a head start.
Ended up leaving Sacramento around 8am and arrived at our home in Washington just
before 10pm. The drives were long, but totally worth the time with family!
I already mentioned this on Facebook, but I have to say it again...
our kids did amazingly well on both drives. Every time we make the long haul we
worry that its going to be too much for them and every time, they totally shock us!
We're talking NO complaining; I think Ethan asked a couple times
"are we almost there?"
They don't have video games or anything, just movies to watch on the DVD player, naps
to take, make believe games to be played, lots of alphabet game playing, and
good ol' fashioned "look out the window at things we're passing by".
We're thankful for 3 very good travelers.
Comments
what a BEAUTIFUL time spent with family. looks like so many amazing memories! love the pic of your youngest drinking the cocoa with her waffle and candy cane. so freaking cute!!