Better Late Than Never... Here's The Christmas Post!

Because we were able to get a week and a half off for Christmas this year, and because we have a sweet puppy that we couldn't leave home all by herself, and because we enjoy road-trips, we decided to drive up to Washington for Christmas this year.  We broke the trip up into 2 days to make it easier on ourselves and Mayzie and also because then we could get there sooner.  Tuesday (the day we were planning on leaving) we woke up to between 6-8 inches of snow.  The roads were a mess and the canyon was closed for a while.  We were planning on leaving that night to drive to Boise and we weren't sure how the roads were going to be, but a few hours later the plows started to get the main roads clear and I made it to work. 

That evening after work our friends the Gardners stopped by.  We had just seen them for Thanksgiving and it was fun to see them again so soon!  We played and visited for a bit, had some dinner, and then our other friends Bridger & Stacy came by.  We all got to talk for a while and it was sad when everyone went home, but we had to get on the road!  We cleaned up and finished up packing and then hit the road!  Fortunately, the worst part of Monday's snow storm had been right over Provo, so by the time we made it to Salt Lake the roads were relatively clear.  We stayed in Boise Tuesday night, slept very little, and then got back on the road again early Wednesday morning.  Again we were fortunate that the roads were pretty clear going through the mountain pass and we had no delays. 

We were a bit confused as we followed a police car down the main road and then onto the driveway for Chris' parents house.  A police escort?  Turns out Chris' little sister had called 9-1-1 (upon the urging of her sweet little angelic friends) to see if it would work.  It did!  Chris' dad talked to the officer and then he went on his way.  What a way to start the holiday! :-)

We spent the next few days doing last-minute Christmas shopping, wrapping presents (ok, not me but everyone else Lol), working on a puzzle, making gingerbread houses (in a girls vs. boys competition which the girls won!!), watching movies, and just hanging out.  On Christmas Eve we went over to Grandpa & Grandma Roundy's for the traditional dinner, reading of the Christmas story, and a Christmas message from Grandma.  We got home in time to open our sibling gifts, get everything ready for Christmas the next day and closely track Santa's progress as he began his journey traveling around the world.

Christmas morning dawned early as we gathered to see what Santa had left in our stockings.  He was very good to us this year!  We also opened the rest of the presents and then cooked a yummy breakfast.  That afternoon the flu bug hit.  Chris and Tucker went down Christmas Day and we were hoping everyone else would avoid it. 

The week after Christmas was pretty low key as we alternated being sick and taking care of the sickies.  By Wednesday we were thinking that it was over and that Dad, Spencer and I had avoided it, so we planned to go to Seattle on Thursday.  I was super excited to go because I'd never been there before!  Thursday morning we were getting ready to go and then Spencer got sick.  We decided that he would just stay home and the rest of us would go.  It was a beautiful drive, and I really enjoyed seeing the greener side of the state.  We stopped at the outlets and did some shopping before checking in to our hotel.  It was actually sunny outside but it was freezing cold!  We drove through downtown and then went to see the Space Needle.  The line to go up was crazy long so we didn't do that, but we took pictures and walked around a bit.  Then we decided to go for a ferry ride.  We got some gorgeous pictures of the Seattle skyline, but I started feeling crappy so I didn't enjoy the ride as much as everyone else.  3/4 of the way through the return voyage, the flu bug caught up with me.  I spent the rest of our Seattle trip in the hotel.  Not fun!  (My sweet friend Kelli, who we were planning on hanging out with while we were there, came to visit me and brought me some anti-nausea pills.  I'm sure they would've worked if I could've kept them down.  Thanks anyways, friend!)
Here's a picture of us on the ferry.  The skyline behind us is amazing!

I wasn't feeling up for much the next day, so we headed home after another quick stop at the outlet mall.
That night, New Years Eve, Chris went and hung out with some of his high school buddies and then came home and watched tv with me until midnight.  Not a very exciting evening, but good enough for us!  New Years Day we watched some football, helped pack away some of the Christmas decorations, and took it easy while I was on the mend.  Sunday we packed up the truck and headed for home.  This time we had Kassie with us, which was fun!  The more the merrier (although I don't know if she'd agree)!  We drove straight through so that I could be home for work on Monday.  It was not quite what we expected out of our vacation, but we had a great time being with family and celebrating the Christmas season!