Our Adventure...

Our drive home started off like any other...

A little sleeping,

A little being goofy,

A lot of movie watching,

And some Leapster playing.

About 20 miles after we started driving, the snow started. And it didn't stop. It was slow-going, but we had no choice but to keep going, until...

At LaGrande the highway was closed & we had to exit. We had no idea what was going on. At the exit was a gas station that was filled with cars. Brandon ran inside to see if he could find anything out. A police officer told him that further down the freeway on a mountain pass we were going to need to drive over, a bus crashed and went over a guard rail. They said there were numerous fatalities & the road could possibly be closed until midnight. We got to LaGrande at 1:30 pm, so we had a lot of time to fill! There ended up being 9 deaths. So sad! We took the kids to McDonald's for ice cream & to play while we figured out what to do. We decided we better book a hotel fast before all the rooms filled up.

And so we ended up spending the night in LaGrande. I made sure that the Hotel had a pool & I ALWAYS pack swim clothes (for times like this!) so the boys could go swimming.

I'm pretty sure they were glad the road was closed & they were able to get out of the car!

And how cool is this? When I got to the pool I immediately recognized a family there! Our friends from our old ward in Gladstone were there! They were also coming home from Christmas in Utah! What are the odds of that?!

After a nice long swim for the kids & a nice long chat for the adults, we found a pizza place for dinner,

that had an arcade attached to it.

I was bummed that we had to stop. I just wanted to get home. I was sooooo ready to sleep in my own bed! But the unexpected stop ended up being really fun & a nice break from the loooong drive!

More Utah Fun!

A visit to my family wouldn't be complete without some serious game playing! My mom & I also did 1 1/2 puzzles. I had to leave one only half finished:(

And on this trip we did a lot of relaxing & snuggling.

That's our favorite thing to do!

We visited Brandon's brother, Dave, & his family in Sandy. Kelsey was there with her new hubby & we went to her work to buy a few things. She works for Goal Zero. They have the coolest stuff there! We got a solar-powered charger for our phones & solar-powered speakers. So when the power goes out & everyone else's cell phones die, ours won't! Anyways, this is what is in the foyer! What a fun place to work!

We met some friends at Bajio's (Yum!) for lunch & leave it to Hudson to crash into a chair & get a huge goose egg on his head! I swear he is the clumsiest kid I know! Poor Hudson:(

Let It Snow!

And it did! A Lot! And my boys loved it!

They went sledding and had a BLAST!

Lights at Temple Square

We spent the day in Salt Lake & visited the brand new City Creek Center with our friend Cadie. Such a cool mall!

Then we headed to Temple Square to look at the Christmas lights.

And I had fun playing with my new camera:)

ChRisTmaS mOrNinG

The boys let us sleep in until 7:30. Actually, I woke up at 7:00 so excited & wishing they would hurry up & wake up:) Christmas morning is the only morning that I ever wish this!

Checking out what Santa brought.

Santa gave each of the boys a magna-doodle with a note written on it!

This was the year of the tools for Brandon! He got this kit & a multi-max tool. Hmmmm... I see home improvement projects in the near future!

And Santa did not forget me, either! I must have been extreeeeeemly good to get this present. And he even gave it to me early, so I could take pictures with it on Christmas Eve:) It's a Nikon D7000 SLR camera! I have a lot to learn about it & how to use it, but I am so excited to learn!

I've never seen a kid so excited about undies! But they aren't just any old undies, they are Ninjago undies!

Porter scored with Batman undies AND slippers!

And we can't forget the stockings!

That is one scary Hulk!

Some of the Uncles doing what they do best...

After we explored all of Santa's treasures, we had our yummy traditional breakfast of sticky buns & hot chocolate. Grandpa & Brody even had a few minutes to snuggle in bed:) Then we got to work on the massive pile of presents under the tree!

Grandma knew just what to get Porter!

My mom loved the picture I made for her:)

I got Porter a subscription to the Magic School Bus Science Club. He will get a package in the mail every month with fun science experiments to do! I can't wait for school to start again:)

Hudson got a membership for the whole family to the brand new Portland Aquarium! Perfect for lots of field trips!

Brandon (my brother) made this box for my dad. What talent!

Since Porter was living with Grandma & Grandpa for the last little while, he was designated the present wrapper. My mom said she did not wrap a single present! After Porter wrapped all the presents my mom needed wrapped, he started finding things to wrap... a bag of chocolate chips, a couch pillow, a box of candy canes...  it was a surprise to all of us what was under that tree:) Porter made & wrapped a special present for Lady, my mom's dog.

He made a house for her out of a card board box with a pillow in it. Then used an entire roll of wrapping paper to wrap it! Too cute!

Grandma LOVED the gift that my boys got for her:)

More Batman:)

My dad sure did like the picture tile I made of his grandkids!

A girl can't have too much jewelry. Just sayin'.

And more books! Lucky kids have a mom AND a grandma for a teacher:)

Batman Legos (I'm seeing a theme here!)

Thank you Grandma Hoopes for these cute outfits!

We had such a great Christmas. This has been one of my favorite! My kids are at such fun ages! I feel so very blessed for all that we have. The gifts are such a fun part of Christmas, but what I love the most is teaching my kids about the birth of our Savior and the reason why we celebrate Christmas!