Christmas, on the road

We decided a bit last minute to go spend Christmas with our families. Its such a hard decision every year because staying home is easy, comfortable and fun... but we know how much our parents appreciate seeing our kids on the holiday and we do always have fun there :) 

When we realized it would be decent weather over the pass, we decided to go for it. 

Jason bought travel DVD players and ear phones for the kids - both ended up being perfect for our trip! I stocked up on new travel (mostly trivia) games and we set off for the long drive. 

We decided to break it up into a 2 day trip and to stay over in Oregon, so we didn't have to do 16+ hours in one day. 

here we go! 

our stop over at a hotel in Oregon. 

Ends up its perfect to drive about 7 hours the first day and 5 1/2 the second day. 

arrived at my parents house just in time to watch the Seahawks beat the Rams (!!!) 

and the next morning my Dad made us killer omelets. 

He has a real gift and has no idea how much money he'd make if he opened his own place. 

#dailyclouds from my parents front yard. 

all the kids that had winter vests on, with my Mom. 

Christmas morning 

all the grands on Christmas Day. 

Its so weird to see my nieces and nephews that were once toddlers, all grown up into 

full blown teenagers. My mind still places them all around Miles and Kara's ages and then when 

I see them in person, they're all taller than me... voices are becoming deep, getting ready to drive 

their own cars and going on dates. I feel like my head spins for a while :) 

Christmas Eve breakfast at my in-laws! 

my heart melts when I find these two cuddled up sleeping. 

It tells me that Miles woke up scared or fussy and Ethan took over as big brother and comforted him, 

Rachel with her Uncle Jeff. 

the Great Grandmas. 

These two ladies have had one rough year. 

Especially Grandma Elsie (on the left). 

We thought we had lost her in May. Jason flew out to say goodbye and support his parents, 

and by the time he flew back home, Grandma was much improved, amazing even the Doctors! 

We've seen God heal her and restore her back to her old self and even though she struggles with her memory, she is doing really, really well. 

seeing my kids show affection and care for their Great Grandmas makes my heart so happy. 

painting nails with Auntie Jenny :) 

making homemade ice cream! 

headed back home! 

Shasta, from the mirror 

we stopped off at Costco and bought bathing suits so the kids could 

enjoy the pool at the hotel we stayed at. It was the highlight of the night. 

Washington showed off for us upon our return ;-)