The holidays just a few days belated..

I feel the need to post about the holidays, traveling, and our last weeks in Wichita Falls. Then I can move onto the epic trip to Oregon that almost did us in and first weeks in "the valley."

Daniel and I have decided that we can't do anything easily. A trip to visit family for the holidays would not be complete without having to pack up the 5th wheel and take it into a dealership for some "work." We always seem to have work/ repairs done at the most convenient time! Each time we go through the process of hearing "Well we may not be able to get parts over the holidays, the factory has shut down. The turn around time is usually 2-3 weeks but with the holidays we just don't know. How about you pay upfront for the part and we will reimburse you." We have learned over the past 3 years, because we are young, we will hear this nonsense again and again and we know the game. So with our "education" to tell the dealership exactly what we want as well as, a time frame and through many phone calls it always seems to work out. This holiday season we were getting a new refrigerator installed only to discover that our bedroom slide has mechanical issues. No these two don't go together but we always uncover a new little issue! Two days before we were due to leave Daniel calls me to say the truck won't "go" and he is on the side of the interstate! YEA! A few thousand dollars later we were able to pack up, drop off the 5th wheel, and head out for an undetermined amount of time for the holidays. We were not sure how long we would be gone as D's company "messed up" on his holiday vacation.

We got to my grandmother's house in Dallas late on Christmas eve eve. We were both so glad to do laundry, spread out, wrap presents, finish up Christmas shopping, and not deal with anything related to the 5th wheel. Christmas as usual was great! I must have been a good girl again this year because my family made me the proud owner of the long lusted SLR camera complete with extra lenses! WOW! Thank you everyone and as expected paparazzi sprung right into action! ;) We had an amazing time visiting with family, loving on Connor, and relaxing. Thank you all so much for the wonderful presents!Daniel and I headed to Austin on Christmas night to prepare for a celebration with his family. We had another great Christmas celebration and were able to get in quality time with the entire family. We met the newest addition to the family..little Jacob. I think everyone enjoyed watching me squirm holding a 2 week old. All the kids are at such a fun age and we enjoy watching them have so much fun!! Thank you for the wonderful Christmas presents! We appreciate all of you so much!

Frock FamilyBoles Family

Another highlight of Austin was meeting several friends for dinner at Chuy's. All I can say it was was yummy! We had a large group with all the couples and kids. We met baby Leo and Aaron assured Daniel and I its easy having a newborn at home! ;) Kropp, Tool, and Shellenberger families we enjoyed catching up with each of you! I hope we can make it back again soon!! (I am sad I didn't bust my camera out.)

We headed back to Wichita Falls on Monday to pick up the 5th wheel and prepare for D to go back to work. The last few weeks in the area were busy preparing for travel, trying to not get sick, and saying good bye.
New Years Eve was very low key.We went to dinner and were back home in time to watch the ball drop. We celebrated with frozen yogurt..I know... wild!

We met up with Jay and his wife for a night of hockey. We had so much fun with them! Thank you guys for a fun evening!!!We also made a quick trip out the lake to close up the cabin for the winter. It was so cold...we were only there for a few hours. I wanted to so much to feel the heat of the summer and jump in the water. No such luck!
The weekend before we left to drive north we headed over to my grandmothers. She was so nice to ask us if we wanted to come over, do laundry, see friends, and run errands, before we hit the road for the long trip. Poor Daniel between the migraines and morning sickness, he has been having to do the laundry, shopping, and attempting to feed himself. It was nice to get caught up as well as, see a few friends, do some shopping, and relax on the couch. It snowed all day on Sunday and we enjoyed spending a day on the couch! Mom and David-Thanks for having us! The babies love running around in the garage!It soon became time for the trip to Oregon. We had planned to leave early on a Saturday morning and arrive on Monday. This schedule would allow for Daniel to rest on Tuesday and start the new rotation on Wednesday. I will say in advance ..it didn't go as planned. Stay tuned.....