Traveling

*sigh* I'm pooped. We arrived, finally, at home today. Friday morning at 5:30 am, my alarm boing-ed off (yes, it makes a *boing* sound) and signaled the beginning of a long journey. Though nothing compares to traveling internationally; it was still arduous. I had the kids, bags, my sister & her 7 week old packed in the car and headed down the road by 6:30 am. It was cold, drizzly and the weather was not happy I was driving. Mounting the passes by Crater Lake, there was already 6 feet of snow on the ground. Creeping along at speeds between 35 and 50 miles an hour, it took us almost 3 hours to reach our first pit stop of Bend. The clouds had thankfully parted while we ran in and out of WalMart & the gas station, to feed both the hungry humans and the car.

Once we were back on the road, the clouds decided that they were sad we had left Bend, and started crying. It cried all the way to Burns. We were able to up the speed since there wasn't any snow & ice, but still not fun driving in spats of rain. Potty stop in Burns and then we piled back in the car. Literally, 5 minutes down the road and Grant proclaims,

"I've gotta go to the bathroom!!"

Crap. Little did I know, that would soon be literal. We pulled over into a small turnout and I took Grant around to the side of the van. Since it's a van, we only have one door to open and act as his "stall". He kind of shuffled his feet, with his little red sweatpants around his ankles, and tried to attempt the roadside relief effort. He was not being successful, so I offered to hold him on my arms and let him sit, like a toilet and I would look away. As I am squatting in the gravel with my 5 year old slung between my arm and him clinging to my neck for dear life, a truck pulls up behind us. Crap again. She was peering over her steering wheel, assessing the situation, trying to figure out if we needed help. (it was pretty unpopulated out there) In her defense, I was next to the front tire. She soon realized we needed some privacy and pulled back out onto the road. I told Grant to just ignore her and get this DONE! (it had started to sprinkle rain again) I was thinking he had #1 to accomplish; noooo, a nice fragrant #2 was deposited at Mommy's feet. Double crap. Fortunately, we were traveling with an infant and we used a diaper to scoop up our "present" and be on our merry way. (I couldn't leave that desert blossom on the side of the road; wipes, tissue and all.)

Tune in for part 2 of our merry trip tomorrow! I'm going to bed, but darn it if I'm going to skip blogging!!

Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving get together! Now it's time to start the 8 hour drive to Boise, then another 5 hours over to Rexburg on Saturday. Fun fun fun. It has been a wonderful visit, but I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. No matter how great the hotel bed may be (there have been one or two) it's still not the same as my own beddy.

I am so thankful for a car that works without worries.
-- family that I care about and that I like to visit!
-- our health. Because with 4 little kiddos, the germs could be rampant!
-- beautiful weather! Fog every morning, burning off by quarter to noon.
-- lush, green nature walks on the mountain.
-- and friends that read my blog!! Even slogging through the boring posts with me! ;)

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

More visits

Sorry, today isn't going to be very literary. More of a square filler day . . blech. I don't like to post them, but hey, I'm almost done with this darn challenge. I WILL beat you, NaBloPoMo!! We went and visited the kid's other great-grandparent. I counted it up, and my kids have all four of their grandparents and six of their great-grandparents. That's pretty impressive! I think it's because Spencer & I are the oldest in both of our families. The senior kids in the family get that sort of advantage! ;) And at this point in our life and theirs, every visit is precious.

And a sneak peek at tomorrow's yummies?

Cravings

I have been having withdrawals for the last 7 years. That's how long it's been since I've had anything from Butte Creek Mill. This mill was built and began operation in 1872. On the banks of Butte Creek, pioneers erected a central mill where farmers brought their grain to be made into flour, cereal and cornmeal. And the stone has been grinding along in Eagle Point ever since. I grew up with their buckwheat pancakes and steel cut oats wherever my family lived. My grandmother would send my mom the mixes monthly. Those pancakes slathered with applesauce, steaming in a lovely pile on my plate; best foodie childhood memory, hands down. My sister and I ventured to the Mill and were catapulted back in time. Pushing opening the squeaky spring-loaded door, warm drafts of cinnamon enveloped us with open arms, welcoming us home. The black wood-burning potbellied stove crackled in the corner with a pan of spiced apples bubbling away on top. The amount of goodies had grown over the years. Rough hewn shelves groaned under their burdens of cracked wheat and cornmeal. Sacks of oatmeal, spelt flour and soup mixes lay in orderly rows while jars of spices sat behind the century old plank board counter. We both loaded our arm baskets with an assortment of goodies; hoping it's enough to tide us over. For how long? Definitely not 7 years.

Baby Taylor update

Who's ready for Turkey day?

I thought I'd throw up a couple of pictures of baby Taylor and let you see how big she's growing. Since Katelyn is a pretty busy mama, I'm doing some double duty blogging for her to keep the extended family loaded with their new baby picture fix! Enjoy.

Yep, nothin' like some bath time with mama.

And the oh so elusive smile. We caught a good one!

Who's taking my picture? Put your head down, baby. You're too tiny to do that!! (she's six weeks old)

Making Memories

I'm so thankful to have grandparents that can still take kids 'on adventure' like when I was a kid. We found some huge sugar pine cones up on the mountain yesterday. And we get to take these babies home! Just in time for Christmas.

Mairyn & her great-grandpa on the back porch

Zip begging for scraps and Jacqueline being the willing enabler

And finishing the day by making hot chocolate and homemade whipped cream with Great-grandma. Yum.

Long time gone . . .

It has been 7 years since I've been in Southern Oregon. I am ashamed it has been so long. I love this area. We stopped about 25 minutes away from Grandma & Grandpa's house to take a roadside potty break (Mairyn couldn't hold it ANY LONGER!) When I opened the car door, the fresh smell of wet pine and earth came flooding in and I was almost in tears. Oregon, my Oregon, I am home. Having always had a very mobile life (Dad, 20 years in the Air Force) we moved a lot. The saying goes, "Home is where your household goods are delivered", and my Mom did a wonderful job of creating an oasis in the middle of whatever state we moved to. But when we would go to Grandma & Grandpa's, we went HOME. H-O-M-E, home. Familiar places, food and faces were around every corner. We would spend every summer in Southern Oregon. Going to the dairy to buy squeaky cheese (cheese curds), visiting the Jacksonville Children's museum, picking blackberries; I could go on and on. I am practically giddy with warm fuzzies! It rained our first night, and in the morning, with the mist slowly rising out of the valley and the sun peeking through the pines, the Rogue River flowing along, I could hardly stand it. I am home!