Christmas in Grants Pass

We spent a good part of our Christmas vacation in Grants Pass with Michael's side of the family. This is our home town! Both Michael and I grew up there. This is where we got married and where our two middle kids were born. Three + years ago my parents moved out of GP to the Salem area, leaving just one set of parents there. It still feels very different to visit and not go to my old house that I grew up in. There are a lot of memories for both Michael and I and even for our kids. While we were there we drove by almost all of the houses that we lived in and took a trip down memory lane, driving by those places that mean the most to us.

Christmas Eve was spent going to the Christmas Eve service at our home church. This was the first year in almost 15 that Michael has had Christmas Eve service off. It was so nice to sit together as a family and enjoy someone elses creative work. This service was a wonderful way to prepare our hearts and minds of the true meaning of Christmas. What fun it is to see friends and folk from our past. My youth pastor is now the senior pastor and his family did the service. His four kids are all in high school now. Each of their four kids played an instrument in the band and led us in worship. I greatly enjoyed seeing them and how they have grown; both in appearance and in the Lord. Michael and I shocked a few people with our kids and how they have grown. One dear lady that I have known almost all my life commented on how she remembered me at Mandi's age. I am sure I wasn't near as poised and mature as Mandi is. Boy, how time flies!

After the service the family got together to do our Christmas present exchange. Every year we draw names and give to that person. This year we did something different. Instead, everyone got a five dollar gift or less and we played a fun little game to see who got what. This was orchestrated by my 20 year niece, Bre. She wrote a cute little story that involved all of our names and every time she read the word right or left, we had to pass the present we were holding that direction. It was so much fun! We all had a great laugh and enjoyed seeing who got what! We had lots of fun with Micahel's parents, his sister Nancy and her husband Dave and their two girls, Bre and Kady. Michael's brother and his wife and kids were in Texas visiting family. They were greatly missed!

Christmas morning was wonderful. We actually slept in later than six this year. The kids were instructed to stay in their beds until 8:00 am, of course we really didn't enforce this. We saw what Santa brought, opened stockings and had a yummy breakfast prepared by my mother in law. Later that day Dave and Nancy and girls joined us for Christmas dinner. I went to bed early because of a bad headache, but all in all it was a beautiful Christmas. We kind of missed the snow though. All we got in GP was lots and lots of rain.

The few days following Christmas were fun and relaxful. It continued to rain, rain, rain, but we were able to enjoy a couple of movies that are out in the theaters. The whole family saw "Bedtime Stories" together. This movie entertained both the youngest and the oldest. We never take the kids to the theater because of what it costs us as a family of six, but thanks to Nana and Papa for treating us!

Michael and I got to go on an extended date on Friday night. We enjoyed dinner and another movie. We also had fun shopping for Joshy's birthday which happens two days after Christmas. I am still trying to figure out how to make his birthday extra special and not just thrown together at the last minute because of Christmas. He turned 5 this year and for the first time it is a big deal!

Saturday we heading home. We got a later start than desired because we were celebrating Joshua's birthday with family. We left town around 2p.m and drove 1 1/2 hours before finding out that HWY 62 was closed due to falling trees on the highway. We had to make a quick decision because it was getting dark and the weather wasn't the best. We stopped off at the nearest small town, Shady Cove to plug in our dead cell phones. I felt very uncomfortable traveling the long way to Redmond via Lake of the Woods in the dark and on snowy, icy roads, but Michael's job requires him to be there on Sundays. Michael made a few calls to see if any of our worship leaders who lead on occasion could fill in for us last minute. The family prayed hard and Michael was able to get a hold of someone who was very willing to help us out. We headed back to GP to spend a couple more days with family before coming home today. This made my mother in law very happy!!

We are home now and have tons of wash and unpacking to do. I am back to making meals and cleaning house. The snow, sadly has melted but it is good to be home. I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to GP and I even wondered if I would like to live there again, but decided that I love Redmond so much- this is definitely home.

Here are a lot of fun pictures of our Christmas in Grants Pass.