Monday morning we headed over Santiam Pass to Aumsville which is a small town East of Salem. That is where my family lives. Our trip over was fairly easy. There was lots of snow but we felt quite safe in our travel. The worst of it was when we came to the valley. They have been experiencing ice problems. It was wild to see the Salem area covered in snow. What a beautiful sight. The kids are so use to the Juniper trees and other fir trees that all the deciduous trees looked fake to them with all the snow and ice on them. Emma kept saying that the trees looked fake.
As soon as we got in we made a pit stop to buy the fixings to make 5 pounds of fudge. This was our gift to my dad for his birthday. He needs a little fattening up! I am sure I will here abut it in January when mom calls and says dad needs to go on a diet because of me. I did well and just took one bite of fudge to make sure it was edible.
After making fudge, Michael, Kimmie, Jeremy and I left for Costco to get my parents Christmas gift. We have been working the past week on gathering 300 pics of our families to put in an album for them. All the way home I was stuffing pictures in the album in the dark car so that it was done in time. When we got back to Kimmie's house almost the minute we got in the house the power went off for nearly an hour. An adventure to be sure. In the dark I was still stuffing pics in the album. Jeremy was successfully making our dinner on the gas stove top, and the kids found enough flashlights to keep them occupied. We made my mom join the kids in the dark room so we could finish stuffing the album. You know, these are memories that we will have for a lifetime. I will always remember this night!
The lights came on just as it was time to eat. Good timing! We had a delicious meal of cheese ravioli with sausage marinara sauce and french bread. After dinner we did our present exchange and really enjoyed watching my two nieces as they tore into their presents. Isabella is 3 in April and Natalie will be 2 in March.
The highlight of the evening was watching mom and dad open the album that we put together for the year 2008. Now mom wants one every year. I can see why...I need an album myself. I promise myself to start on this project much earlier this next year. It was definitely a gift from the heart. It would have been easier to go out and buy a thirty dollar gift, but this one will last forever.
Our trip to Aumsville was short, just short of 24 hours but fun. Oh, except I forgot to mention that Jeff and Amanda threw up Monday night. We are hoping that it stops with them. Jeff is blaming it on anxiousness and Mandi thinks she is allergic to raviolis. I think they are in denial! It's called sickness!
We are now in Grants Pass with Michael's family. So far this morning everyone is well and we are having a relaxful morning. We had a little dusting of snow and it is trying to snow some more. I guess we brought it with us! Maybe we will have a white Christmas after all.
I have lots of pictures to post but my in laws internet connection is too slow to upload. I will post them later.
1 comment:
hooray, call when you can so we can plan a time for friday. can't wait to see you.
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