Thoughts:

These come first this time. We left to go to Sunriver, Oregon Tuesday night and got home just before midnight last night. My mom rented a large cabin for our first "family reunion". It was SO fun. It's been a long time since my whole family has been together- I love them so much! It was cool because we all arrived at the cabin at about the same time and everyone was so excited just running around giving hugs to each other. Jake brought a laptop- and we had the internet, but it was a little slow, and to be honest, I wanted to take a vacation from technology and just hang with the fam- thus no entries over the holiday.

Funny moment of the trip that I will probably never live down:
So we left Tuesday night and drove to Twin Falls, Idaho to stay the night there and drive the rest of the way Wednesday. It helped to break up the trip a little. Before we left I scoured the internet looking for a deal on a hotel/motel to crash for the night. I found some good deals- but really wanted queen beds (instead of doubles) since I knew we would be getting in late and not wanting to pull out and set up the portacrib- which meant Dekker would be sleeping in bed with me. I finally found a really good deal at "The Crest Motel"- it was about the same price as Motel 6 but had queen beds- so I figured it would be about the same standard- nothing fancy but a place to sleep. When we got there though it looked like something out of a horror movie! Aside from Guatemala, this was the worst place I've ever stayed. Jake was laughing so hard- when we walked into the room we saw they provided a fly swatter- and soon found out there was a reason for that. There were 3 flies that buzzed around the room the entire time (at least Josh had fun chasing after them). I'm notoriously known for being "frugal"- but this I'm sure will forever be the story told as an example of just how far I'll go to save a buck. The sink wasn't really even cocked into place and could almost be lifted out of the cheap counter it sat in. It looked as if they'd recently regrouted the shower- but didn't wipe the tile clean in the process. The place was so dirty feeling I wouldn't let Dekker crawl on the floor. Luckily we were there for just the night and long enough to get ready in the morning. The sad thing is I would have gladly paid more for a nicer place had I known it would be so bad- but it was too late and we were too tired by the time we got there. I thought I'd found a good place since it was offering queen beds! Oh well. Just have to laugh about it.

The cabin at Sunriver though was awesome. Very spacious. It had a sauna and jacuzzie, nice fireplace, pingpong table and big screen TV. It was just a few minutes from Mt. Bachelor, and they opened that weekend! They didn't have much of a base, so they only had two lifts running- but tickets were discounted and we had a blast!

Thanks:

So many things from this weekend....

1. Fab food! Buttermilk biscuits, egg nog, turkey, orange rolls, crepes, cookies, pies, and all the rest! My mom knows how to fill our bellies.

2. Fireplace. I love the warmth that a fire brings to a room.

3. Entertainers. Everyone took turns playing with and helping take care of my two boys. It was nice to have a break and see everyone else make fun memories with my kids.

4. Snowboarding. Neither being pregnant or recovering, means that this is my season- and what a fun way to kick it off with my family!

5. Holiday sales! Its a tradition to wake up early Friday morning and go to the Fred Meyer sock sale. We stocked up on socks and other finds and also hit Eddie Bauer Outlet and Target. I spent a lot of money, but hey- it was in Oregon so I got great deals at the sales, and didn't have to pay sales tax!

6. Movies. We watched some fun ones: Nacho Libre, Hitch, Rocketman, The Man who knew too Little, Flushed away. Funny and silly ones that were fun to have on in the background.

7. SSX Tricky. I think that's the name of it. This is about the only video game I play on the game cube that my family brought. It's a snowboarding one where you can do all these totally unrealistic tricks and race through some crazy terrain. It's lots of fun.

8. My family!!!!!!!! It was so fun to hang with them. I haden't seen my neice Kjerstin in way too long. To get to talk to Garrett and hear about his mission... to go snowboarding with my brother Brian and see him die laughing after scaring the living daylights out of Garrett, Kari, and Kjerstin on our way back from boarding (they were all asleep in the back and he slammed on his breaks and honked his horn- sending them flying out of their seats)... to get my mom's sweet hugs and just BE with everyone. I love them all so much!!!!!