What to say...

I want to post something today, but I honestly have nothing to say. I feel like my life isn't that exciting to write about. I thought about posting about my recent crafty projects, but I don't have any good pictures of them. Well, I may have one or two I could use.

I could tell you about my Christmas trip. Maybe I'll do that. I also don't have many good photos, but I'll use what I have. Maybe it should be a goal for this year to take more pictures.

I went with my parents to Medford Oregon to spend Christmas with my sister Sharon and her cute family. We left on Friday, Dec 21, from Salt Lake. We went to Elko that day, which was a quick and easy drive. The next day was not the greatest. The roads were snow covered for long stretches, which made for tense driving. Luckily my dad was driving, and he is a good driver, so I wasn't worried. I also woke up that morning feeling pretty sick. In fact, I hadn't really slept that well all night. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the 11 hour drive, so I asked my dad to give me a blessing. Which was the miracle we needed that day. I didn't feel great, didn't eat much all day, but I survived. And, the best Christmas miracle of all was that no one else got sick while we were at my sister's.

Medford is a beautiful place. We didn't get to see too much of it, since it was always foggy or rainy while we were there. The temple is beautiful. Sharon goes to church right next to the church. Lily did not want to go to Primary alone, so I got to be her buddy. It was fun to watch her with her teacher and peers.

Christmas Eve we went to a few fun places. Sharon took us to the Rogue Creamery, to taste the award winning bleu cheese there. We also got some yummy cheese curds. And just next door was Lille Belle Chocolates. We had to go check it out too. Dad tried their sample of 3-hottest-chilies chocolate - we aren't sure why he did that. But the other samples were delicious.

Our last stop was the Harry & David Country Store. That was really fun. It is kind of like a specialty grocery store, with good produce, plus all the other Harry & David products. They were giving out lots of samples, so we got to try a few fun things.

When we got home, we had naptime for a few hours, then we started the Christmas Eve festivities. We made gingerbread trees (ice cream cones upside down), which the little girls loved. The boys were watching a movie and couldn't be bothered, so all of us girls made one, or two. And ate lots of the candy too. (That's what you are supposed to do when decorating gingerbread trees, right?) We opened Christmas pj's - for Lily & Ella, and me and Sharon, thanks to Rob!

Lily hugging her Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve. I know it's not a great picture, but I was fairly unsuccessful in getting good pictures of these girls. They don't sit still long enough.

Christmas morning was fun. I like being with little kids on Christmas morning, they are always so excited about everything. And Lily did a good job of being excited. Ella did too, but Lily was more involved and understood more what was going on. They both got lots of fun toys. I got a couple of books from Rachelle, the Parenthood season 1 dvds from Sharon, shampoo & conditioner & lotion & such from Jeanette. I had already opened my snow shoes a few days earlier, so we didn't have to bring them on the trip. Thanks to mom and dad and Rachelle and Jeanette for them.

Here's the living room after the present opening on Christmas morning. Lily is wearing the hat I made for her. Rob is checking out his new saw he got for Christmas.

The rest of Christmas day was just a quiet day at their house. Mom and Lily and I went on a walk around the neighborhood, because the rain had finally stopped.

It was so fun to see Sharon's new house, and her new town. I must say I like it lots better than her last town. I will come back to Medford to visit. And i love that it is so close to the ocean.

Wednesday morning we left Sharon's house, and headed south to California. We took the long way, and drove out to the coast, at Crescent City. It was rainy and cold and really windy, but we still got out and walked around a little bit. And the wind and rain continued all day long. We stopped at a few more places along the way. Drove through the Redwood Forest. Ate lunch in Eureka at the Sea Grill restaurant.

We made it to Napa, to my grandpa Rod's house, that evening. I was excited, and nervous, to see him. He is in the advancing stages of Alzheimer's disease, so I was nervous to see him like that. And it was about how I was imagining things. He is pretty disoriented most of the time. Sleeps a lot. I'm not sure he really knew who we were.

The next day, Thursday, we did take him for a drive around Napa valley, and it seemed like he was more aware of what was going on then. He was joking and talking to us more. The grandpa I know came out for a little while. But it didn't last.

We toured one of the assisted living centers that Grandma Sharon is trying to get him into. She has been taking care of him for many years, and it is time for this change. She is tired, and he is getting harder to take care of. It is sad to think about him having to move, but I think it is for the best. The place we visited was really nice, and we liked the director who talked to us and gave us a tour.

Saturday started really early, like 3:30 am early. Yes, my parents are early risers, and early travelers. So we got up and quickly showered and packed up. We were in the car pulling out of the driveway at 4:21 am. My dad had been worried about driving over Donner's Pass, since there had been storms and bad roads in the days before we headed that way. But luckily we picked a good day to travel it, because we saw snow on the side of the road, but none on the road, at least until we got over the pass and down into Reno. There was snow on the roads in Reno, but I don't think it lasted for too long. We ate breakfast in Reno, at 7:30 am.

And then the next 9 hours are pretty much a blur. Snow. Road. Knitting. Reading. Talking. Gas stop in Winnemucca. Lunch stop in Elko. Passed the Fun Bus broken down on the side of the road. Boston Baked Beans. Caffeine Free Diet Coke.

I was done with the car, done with driving, by the time we got back to my house about 5 pm. I was glad it was not midnight, but it was still a long, boring drive.

But I'm so glad I got to go on this trip. It made for a different Christmas than normal, but it was good different. New experiences. More memories.

And now I can say that I saw the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in 2012.