1180 miles later...

Well, the last few weeks have flown by. The weekend before xmas Tay and I headed to his future home site Boise, ID. We rallied through the long desolate road called highway 26. Beautiful and very remote. Our mission was to meet Taylor's potential roommate. We found our way to a quaint irish pub in downtown Boise, The Ha Penny. I was thrilled to see they had Boddington's on tap. We downed a few pints and Jonene and her friend met up with us. After another pint it seemed that it would work out fine. The next morning we headed over to check out the digs and found that it should work out great. He even gets a spot in the garage. Fabulous! We headed out to Kuna to check out Taylor's school and after a mere 14 hours of being in Boise we once again got on the dreaded highway. Much to our dismay there was alot more snow but as we got closer to Bend it got sunny and dry. The trip was made even better by a little text message from our great friends that at 2:08 on Dec 21st Bjorn Thurston Blankenship made it safely into this world. We were so excited and the rest of the trip flew by.

Now fast forward two days and yes, once again we are back in the car. I thought about decorating it, but never did quite find the time. We braved the crazy roads and made it to Tacoma, Wa to spend the holiday with my Dad and Margi. It was super fun to see my sis and my step sister and my little niece, Lili. All in total Dad had 17 people over. The wine flowed freely and we had a fantastic italian dinner. It was really fun to see my little niece and her friend Johnny open their gifts. There is something about kids and the joy that they excude. It's just pure happiness and very catching.

The day after xmas once again we got into our lovely home away from home, dog and all and headed to my mom's in Yakima. My sis caught a ride with us and we had smooth sailing over Snoqualmie pass. Mom was great as always and it was good to be in the home I grew up in. We had a yummy steak dinner and were excited to give my mom her cool stained glass window that we had made for her stairwell. Can't wait to see it installed. She loved it!

Saturday came up quick and we headed back to Bend and much to our delight the bridge that was supposed to be closed and cause a long, annoying detour was actually open. That was a very nice surprise and we got home before sunset.

So this week has flown by and Taylor is getting ready to leave on Sunday for Northwest Lineman College. Sad but inevitable. I'm not letting myself get all weepy until after he leaves. So to everyone Happy New Year. I hope this year brings you peace and all that you wish for.

And for a good laugh. We were fascinated by this display of ultimate red neckness and thought you all might enjoy!