As many of you know and have seen, my little family and I packed up our minivan and headed to Washington to spend Christmas with my parents. It seemed a good idea a few months ago, but who would have guessed it would be record breaking snow fall in Spokane and many snow storms along the way. I will try to make this story brief but we will have to see.
We started out Friday afternoon on the 19th. We drove to Flagstaff and stayed the night with Samantha. So far so good even though they had back to back snow falls ending on Thursday. Thanks to Sammy's shoveling we were able to make in up their driveway. Barely. We only had an eight hour drive to Spanish Fork so we left at leisure the next morning. Uneventful drive if you don't count the 3 boys in the back seat asking for something every other minute. And my husband commenting every 5 minutes on the views and how nice it would be to take a picture with the camera that I forgot to pack. I can't think of everything! But the highlight of this leg of the trip was stopping in Nephi for a potty break and having Santa pull up right next to us in his truck. He was really good and took time to talk with the boys.
We got to Seth Big's house at about 4:30 had dinner and visited with him, Jill and their 3 girls. For those of you who don't know Seth, he is my cousin and we are close but it has been ages since I have seen him. We call him Seth big because I have a younger brother named Seth as well. We went to church with them on Sunday then had to make some adjustments to our plans because of a storm that was hitting the Boise area and a storm heading to the SLC valley. We crammed in a visit with Grant and Darla as well as Jeremy and Brigitta. Great to see all of them.
We left Spanish Fork at 4am Monday morning and pretty much had bad roads off and on all the way to Kennewick. The roads accounted for slow driving and accidents that turned a normal 10 hour drive into 16 hours. The kids held up great considering the time stuck in the car but as we neared the Tri Cities they were done. Especially Van, so we decided to stop and stay the night at Derrick and Amy's. They were all ready for us even though they had little warning that we were coming. Again, great to spend some time with them but I do wish I had a camera to take a picture of Deek's mustache thing he has grown. But I couldn't complain too much considering Walt stops shaving when he is on vacation and was sporting a full beard himself. We left Kennewick the next morning and completed our long journey to Mom and Dad's. Clayne and kids were there to greet us as well and since Mom has a camera, here is where the pictures can begin.
We went down to the lake to see how frozen it was. There was so much snow that the lake wasn't completely frozen. The kids were disappointed.
Van's first time in the snow, and Dad throws him in. Nice.
For the next week we didn't go anywhere because it wouldn't stop snowing and the roads were closed or we didn't feel like driving on them. Mom and I did go out to do some last minute Christmas shopping before the storm hit. Mom gave instructions that the boys were to dig out the Nativity while we were gone. We can't celebrate the birth of Christ if he is buried in snow. Walt found the baby Jesus and exclaimed "I found Jesus, I'm saved." This will be Mom's repeated story for the next month or so.
Christmas was nice and laid back. The biggest hit was the bike Van received from Santa. Max and Ian wouldn't stop riding it all over the house. We took the kids sleding but we mainly just enjoyed time together and relaxing. It was nice not to have any commitments.
Van and his new bike.
The boys loved playing with Mom's lincoln logs. Max's creation.
We did venture out finally to go see Clayne and Kelli up on the mountain. The kids had a blast playing in the deep snow and playing with their cousins. Clayne built forts in their yard the day before. You can really see how much snow they had.
We then decided to go to Lanith and Steve's for New Year's Eve then head home on New Year's Day. The forcast showed that Thursday was going to be the warmest without storms. And it was a good thing too, since that night and next day a lot of snow fell in Spokane and we might not have gotten out of there.
It was great to see Lanith and her family and all the things they have done to their place. We didn't do much of anything to celebrate the new year but then again we are old and boring. There was food and a movie but Walt went to bed before midnight since he was driving the next day. Walt did spend time getting the car ready and did find a nail in our tire. So after getting that fixed we left Ephrata at about 10am and had a clear drive to Provo. We stayed at Heather and Kirks that night. And it was really good to see Heather and all the work they have done on their place. And I hope we didn't leave the house a mess when we left. We visited with family in the area and went to some of Walts old stomping ground at BYU.
Since the weather was holding up and a storm was expected late Friday night we decided to leave Provo and drive through the night. Plus, by this time I am tired of hearing "Mom can I have this and Mom can you get me that and can you fix the movie." They will sleep and I will get a break. We had great weather all the way home and pulled into our driveway at 4:30am Saturday morning. It is good to be home.
We had such a relaxing trip, except for the driving, and we loved spending time with so much family. My parents are awsome and it was good to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Pruitt. Thank you Seth and Heather for letting us crash your homes. I love the Perrins family. You guys are all awsome.
If I ever do that drive again, which is doubtful, it will be in the summer. Next year the parents are coming here for Christmas. I just wanted to add one picture of Walt out clearing the snow.
